The first truck load of hay from the Hunter Buy A Bale Campaign has been delivered to a farm at Glen Oak.
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And the beef cattle soon started blaring for a bit of it after the single-trailer load of 40 round bales pulled into the paddock.
Not long after they started to appear, eager to munch on some of the hay.
Farmer Norman Stork, his wife Sharon and his son Danny were equally overwhelmed – and amazed – at the support.
They told the Mercury two weeks ago about the severity of the drought, including how there were no feed in the paddocks and their dams were either barren, or drying up.
“It takes some of the pressure off, we have been hoping it would rain but it hasn’t,” Norman said.
It is really a great relief, it was a worry – you have to feed them and they are relying on you,
- Beef farmer Norman Stork
“It’s very humbling too,” Danny added.
Truck driver Jack Gordon jumped at the chance to help support the cause and brought the hay over from Guyra.
It’s the first time he has ever been involved with the Buy A Bale initiative.
“It’s just a job until you get to the other end and you see the looks on their faces and how grateful they are for it all, it makes it a good job,” Mr Gordon said.
Rural Aid bought the 40 bales from farms in that area through the Buy A Bale Hunter funds.
The campaign - which is a partnership between the charity and the Mercury, Newcastle Herald, Dungog Chronicle, Scone Advocate and Hunter Valley News – was launched on Wednesday and raised more than $20,000 in the first 48 hours.
Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder praised the community for strongly supporting the cause.
We are going famously well, particularly when the majority of donations are coming from addresses in the Hunter, which is great,
- Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder
“We will get donations from the rest of the country as well, but it is great to see locals supporting locals.
“It’s really important that Hunter people are supporting their own farmers.”