Eighteen months on from catastrophic floods, Lismore farmers continue to provide food and fibre for the nation, despite their difficult, ongoing flood recovery.
Some farmers are living in sheds, some haven’t had income for months and exhaustion is rife.
Rural Aid volunteers have spent a week easing the load for these farmers; repairing fencing, cleaning beehives and tidying orchards on the Northern Rivers.
27 volunteers from across Australia jumped in to lend a hand across six farms.
Pecan grower Scott Clark said recovering from the flood has been all-consuming.
“Most of the time, it’s been quite a struggle to get out of bed,” Scott said.
He said he “couldn’t thank Rural Aid enough” for the volunteers’ efforts.
“They’re not real big jobs but to have them out of the way is very helpful. It’s a load off our minds,” Scott said.
Cattle farmer Alyson Bruggy also thanked the volunteers for their hard work.
“It’s amazing that people are happy to put their hand up to come along and do just about anything to help out,” she said.
“It means a lot to us. They’re getting the extra jobs done that we just can’t get to; it’s definitely speeding up progress.”
Rural Aid Farm Coordinator Grant Miskimmin said the region is still reeling from the floods.
“The level of flooding was just horrific… it’s very hard to comprehend,” Grant said.
“Rural Aid has been honoured to help Northern Rivers farmers with financial assistance, free counselling, Multikraft probiotic solution, the Farm Army platform and hay drops over the past 18 months. And it’s great to be here now with a team of hard-working volunteers.”
“Some of these volunteers have come from as far away as Melbourne all the way up here to lend a hand.”
Volunteer Barbie De Witt said helping on the farms has given her a better appreciation for how resilient farmers are.
“I have learnt so much about how tough it is to be a farmer. When you live in the city you are oblivious to the hardships that they go through.”
The volunteers stayed at the Lismore Showgrounds.
Tools and equipment for the week of works were purchased from Northern Rivers shops.
Local organisations, including the Lions Club and Hospital Auxiliary, generously catered for the volunteer cohort.
About Rural Aid
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au