The Burrumbuttock Hay Runners are committed to helping farmers who are facing real hardship in the face of severe drought.
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Aussie farmer Brendan Farrell is the fourth generation farmer from Stanbridge, in South West NSW, who started this group to help his counterparts around the region, including those in the North West.
He first got involved after reading an article in November 2013 about a family in Bourke struggling under drought conditions.
A recent rant on social media has gone viral. “In the last four years we’ve done 13 hay runs,” Farrell said. “We’ve tried to help as many farmers as we can: 12,500 of them. Raising money, scraping the barrel, all the time trying to get fuel in trucks for farmers in need to get this drought that doesn’t go away.”
“It’s been getting drier in NSW down to Mudgee, Bathurst, Collarenebri, Narrabri, right up to Bourke, right back up to Longreach,” he said, before trying to understand the imbalances in funding.
He is “buggered and baffled” that $146 million is being given to train Vietnamese workers whereas charities are trying to make ends meet. He wonders why that money wasn’t given to Australian industries “that are hurting”.
