Dilly Drought Drive delivers

Set up for locals to help locals, the Dilly Drought Drive has had another hectic fortnight of water and cattlefeed deliveries to seven thankful farmers.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve dropped nearly 200,000 litres of water to all the farmers”, said Sharon Robertson, organiser.

One of these farmers doing it tough is Lynette Rideout-Keanelly from Top 40 Orchard. She says, “Christmas this year, we’re okay. It’s going to affect us at Christmas in five years’ time. I’ve got young trees that should have already been in and actively growing.”

Brett Hayter, who has been farming for 40 years at the Werombi Hayter Farm, has never seen it worse. “We’ve gone 14 months with next to nothing, probably about a third or
less than our average rainfall. So we’re going into winter with no fodder whatsoever,” he says.

Despite this crisis, the farmers feel that adequate help hasn’t been forthcoming from the Government.