02/06/2020
It's all about giving a helping hand!
Locally we have been through a hot Summer and dry enough Autumn, leaving local farmers with minimal grass covering and supplement feed that has already been tapped into.
A huge thank you to the generosity of the farmers with their donations of supplement feed and for the money that was donated instead of supplement feed.
Also, a big thanks to David Bevege Contracting for the use of your tractor for unloading and loading trucks.
The drivers have reported back that they have received so much gratitude from the farmers in the Hawkes Bay who have received this much needed feed.
Thank You to all who was involved.
Progress Transport Piopio Chris Wise Chris Keech
Local farmers helping
NORTH King Country farmers have delved into their own resources to help those who are struggling in the drought-stricken Hawke’s Bay.
The region has been in drought conditions for more than 50 days with NIWA saying Napier had its driest period ever between January and April.
After seeing relief efforts begin around New Zealand, one local man wanted to show that North King Country cares too.
Chris Keech appealed to local farmers, requesting they donate feed from their reserves and 20-30 of them obliged.
“I work at Silver Fern Farms, so I deal with a lot of farmers and I wanted to show our support,” says Chris, who is a livestock buyer in Ōtorohanga.
“Through a time like this with drought, people can really struggle. A few clients of mine said they would fully support the cause.”
FIRST LOT GONE
Farmers from Awakino to Ōtorohanga donated 130 bales of hay and the first load was delivered by Progress Transport on Wednesday.
Chris says: “Originally I was only going for one load, but we’ve got three. I rung Progress Transport and Scott [Lyford] said they would support us.
“They’ve gone around and collected all the bales from everyone the last few days. Two more loads went over on Friday.”
Chris Wise Contracting also transported one of the two loads.
IMPRESSIVE
One farmer who donated four large round hay bales was Jo Alcock who runs a dairy goat farm on Pukerimu Rd near Te Kuiti.
Jo says the number of bales donated by local farmers is impressive considering the North King Country has also been in drought.
“We’re not sitting like we normally do going into winter. We could do with a bit more rain and warmer weather,” she says.
“I doubt anybody’s sitting on heaps of feed saying, ‘I don’t need it, it’s spare’ and I have heard of silage going up to $130-$150 a bale.
“To get this much donated is good because people could be selling it.”
HELPED BEFORE
Jo milks 680 does which live in a big shed on the 120ha (296ac) farm — home to her dad John Easton’s 150 dairy grazers.
John and his wife Pam have lived there for 45 years and have also previously helped those in need.
They sent feed to the South Island on a train when farmers were struggling in similar conditions about 20 or 30 years ago.
Jo says it was an easy decision to provide support for those in Hawke’s Bay.
“I just had to make sure I wasn’t going to run mine too short. It’s not a huge amount out of our pile with feed left behind,” she says.
“It makes a difference for those guys who have nothing. I feel sad for the poor buggers. If they don’t get rain soon, they’ll be hard pushed.”
MONEY DONATED
Progress Transport manager Scott Lyford supported the initiative because the farmers were.
Scott has been working at the Piopio-based livestock and general and bulk cartage company for more than 13 years.
It is not the first time they have helped during tough times.
When Northland experienced a drought “a long time ago,” it transported feed there from Taranaki.
Scott says they spent more than a day driving around the North King Country loading the donated feed.
“That’s the farming community. This is what we do and why we work in this industry,” he says.
“We’ve also had people ring up with no silage who wanted to donate money for the cause. I’ve got $700 worth of donations.”
The donations helped to pay for Progress Transport’s second delivery, after they made the first trip for free — which would typically cost $2000.
Caption:
PROGRESS Transport manager Scott Lyford was happy to help Silver Fern Farms’ Chris Keech, who organised a donation of feed from North King Country farmers for drought-stricken farmers in Hawke’s Bay.
