Save SA Farmers' Livestock - Giant Hay Bales appeal

March 2025 - URGENT APPEAL

[ This article last updated - Tuesday 25 March 2025 ]

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IMPORTANT UPDATE Thursday 13 March
There has been much media attention of late about Hay being either stopped at the border or not funded by the South Australian Government. This does NOT reflect our Rotary / Farmers Relief Agency deliveries!

We are delighted to have a very healthy, respectful relationship with the Government of South Australia and the Department for Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA). They generously fund our transport costs!

Our hay trucks are running smoothly to our farmers, on time and unhindered. THANK YOU to all the members of our public donating to support us. Sleep soundly knowing your investment gets clean, first grade hay, to its destination fast. The Government's border diversity safety inspection teams know our hay comes from a snail and fruit fly free zone in Victoria, protecting farms across South Australia's wider agricultural zones!

Most importantly, 5 Star ticks of approval have been received from farmers' Sheep / Cows etc, who seem to be able to smell the sweet aromas of the hay as our Trucks enter their homes!  :-)
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Farmers across South Australia, particularly in the mid-North region, are in desperate straits trying to find enough food to feed their Sheep, Cattle, Horses and more.

Food is running out! Animals are starving. Suffering. Dying. The drought has hit hard!

Rotary, with your help donating, has a way to get hundreds of first grade! huge Round Hay Bales at a crazy discounted price of $110 (current RRP ranges between $170 and $300) from Victorian farmers wanting to assist their SA compatriots, as we were able to assist them last year.  BTW - all donations from $2 and up are Tax Deductible by clicking on the Donate buttons or scanning the QR code on this page.

The Government of South Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) has already committed to paying the Freight costs for Truckies transporting the Hay to S.A. Rotary is so grateful for this commitment!

Hence, Rotary's focus is to raise funds to buy the Hay. Rotarians are volunteers, so the money we raise goes straight to this purpose, it's not burnt up in wages.

Of note, South Australian grain producers' crops for 2024 were identified as being on average 93% below normal yield. The drought has hit S.A. hard, with our local back-up supply of hay and grain dwindling.

Rotary has been approached to partner with Farmers Relief Agency Ltd and others, to get these Bales of Hay to local farmers.

Every $3,520 we raise purchases 32 Bales - which means another full truck can head to South Australia. See the photo on this page showing one of the trucks being loaded.

SUMMARY

$     27.50 donation
       = 1 Quarter of a Hay Bale - 150kg
$        55 donation 
       = 1 Half of a Hay Bale - 300kg
$      110 donation     
       = 1 Whole Hay Bale - 600kg
$    3,520 donation 
       = 1 truck load of 32 Bales - 19.2 Tonnes
$   88,000 raised
       = 25 truck loads - 800 Bales - 480 Tonnes
$ 176,000  raised
       = 50 truck loads - 1,600 Bales - 960 Tonnes ... etc

<< CORRECTION - 8 March 2025 >> We originally told everyone that farmers would receive standard round bales weighing 270kg each. Instead, farmers have been receiving over DOUBLE what they expected - 600kg per bale. What we did not realise was that our bales from Victoria have been packed with a new, high density method, over doubling the volume of hay in a round. Not a bad problem to have! So in effect, we are doubling our hay deliveries :-)  We were wondering why our farmers were smiling so much!

Any amount you can afford to donate to offer to help us raise our target will be greatly appreciated, not only by Rotary, but the animals of the farmers you are supporting.

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DONATE ONLINE - Tax Deductible Receipt Issued

https://donations.rawcs.com.au/42-2024-25

Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) (our Club's path for collecting Donations) is a registered charity with the Australian Government ACNC and ATO. Donations are Tax Deductible. We are grateful for RAWCS' charitable commitment to support all 80+ Rotary Clubs in South Australia plus all other Clubs across Australia.

Please note : 94.5% of all Donations go directly to our project. Our Rotarians running the project are volunteers - so no wages are paid to make our drought relief project happen.

The small 5.5% fee RAWCS does deduct from donations is needed to cover a range of genuine out of pocket costs. They're minimal. But you can't run anything for free these days.

Please do not be dissuaded by this fee. Be comforted that virtually all of your donation will be feeding livestock FAST + the remainder will do future good.

Donate Online Here :
https://donations.rawcs.com.au/42-2024-25

Thank You!

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For more information or to make a donation,
please contact Rotary Adelaide Central Vice President
Bill Marles on 0410 523 106 or
email him at Hay@RotaryAdelaideCentral.org.au

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If you know a Farmer doing it Tough
Please encourage them to register for support. This online form allows them to tell us their story and even send us photos or videos if they choose. Farmer registrations continue to grow by around 10 per day.
https://access.berts.world/241128487290055

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Track Our Trucks and Deliveries

TRUCKS 15 & 16 left Victoria Saturday 22nd March. One Truck delivered to two farmers in Walloway in the Mid North on Sunday 23rd, and the second truck to one farm near Peterborough and a second farm in Orroroo. 4 Farms in total assisted with 64 Bales between them.

468 Bales & 281 Tonnes of Hay in total to date.

TRUCKS 13 & 14 left Victoria Wed 19 March. Delivered Thurs 20th.
1 truck to farmers in Karoonda, the second to Palmer and Mount Torrens. All have had failed crops for the last two years and have no feed or hay reserves. One farmer has 280 white suffolk sheep, which is a unique genetic breed developed here in SA.

In Mount Torrens we are heading to both a dairy farm and beef cattle station. The lack of feed is now affecting milk production, which will have flow on effects to households in South Australia. Five farmers will be supported this trip.

TRUCK 12 left Vic on Fri 14 March - bound for 2 farms in Melrose & Wilmington in the southern Flinders Ranges! Delivered on Saturday 15 March. Between trucks 10 to 12, another 96 hay bales, weighing 57.6 Tonnes. 

TRUCK 11 left Vic on on Fri 14 March to help 2 farming families arround Carrieton in the mid-North! Delivered on Sat 15 March. 32 Bales.

TRUCK 10 left Vic on on Fri 14 March to help 2 Farming Families around Wilcherry at the top of the Eyre Peninsula! Delivery on Sunday 16 March. 32 Bales. 19.2 Tonnes of hay.

TRUCK 9 left Vic on Mon 10 March - bound for Stockwell & Towitta in the mid-North! Delivered on Tues 11 March. 34 Bales. 20.5 Tonnes of hay. 

TRUCK 8 left Vic on Mon 10 March - bound for Brinkworth & Nelshaby & Truro in the mid-North! Delivered on Tues 11 March. 34 Bales. 20.5 Tonnes of hay.

TRUCK 7 left Victoria on Tues 4 March - bound for Ponde & Sandalwood in the south-East! Delivered on Wed 5 March. 18 Bales. 6 Farms assisted between Trucks 5 to 7.

TRUCK 6 left Victoria on Tuesday 4 March - bound for Robe and Mt. Benson in the south-East! Delivery on Wednesday 5 March. 16 Bales.

TRUCK 5 left Victoria on Tuesday 4 March - bound for Robe and Nora Creina in the south-East! Delivery on Wednesday 5 March. 14 Bales.

TRUCK 4 left Victoria on Tuesday 25 February - bound for Eurelia in the mid-North! Delivered Wednesday 26 February. 128 Bales in total to date!

TRUCK 3 left Victoria on Tuesday 25 February - bound for Willawie in the mid-North! Delivered Wednesday 26 February.

TRUCK 2 left Victoria on Tuesday 25 February - bound for Pekina in the mid-North! Delivered Wednesday 26 February.

TRUCK 1 left Victoria on Monday 24 February - bound for Orroroo in the mid-North! The first 32 Bales on the way. Delivered Tuesday 25 February.