Offering support to drought-struck farmers
AUSSIE Helpers co-founder Brian Egan has never seen as many dead livestock as on the farms around Dubbo. And with his main aim being to keep breeding animals alive, saying he has his hands full is an understatement.
“Out in your area, I’ve never seen so many dead stock on farms,” Mr Egan told Dubbo Photo
“These are cattle that are dying from lack of feed. They don’t have enough food in their gut to keep warm in this cold weather, so they are just getting pneumonia and dying.”
But with Yeoval farmer Krystal Haycock appointed by Aussie Helpers as its NSW Drought Coordinator, the group now has someone to help manage operations and help the increasing number of farmers seeking support during these hard times.
“So now I’ve got somebody that knows about the business and who can handle people to take a bit of the load off me,” Mr Egan said. “We’ve just got so many things going on at the moment, it is a big job..”
Ms Haycock is very excited about her new role but admitted that it would also be a difficult path.
“I know I’ve got a really, really tough road ahead,” she said.
“Over the next month, it is going to be absolutely critical to get as much hay and feed out there as possible.”
As well as assisting farmers with the physical aspects of their role, the group is also helping with the emotional impacts of the drought.
“Mental health is really starting to fail, I’ve never experienced speaking with so many strong farmer types that are actually broken,” Ms Haycock said.
“At the moment, our psychology service is taking 50 phone calls a week from suicidal people and 80 per cent of those are men.
“Brian has been doing this for 16 years, and he has never seen so many distraught people. So many people are calling up in tears now, whereas when I first started the job six weeks ago, it wasn’t like that. They were ringing and asking for help, but over the last two weeks people are becoming more and more severely emotional,” she said.
If you would like to support our farmers, non-perishables can be donated at Aussie Helpers collection points, located at the Atlas Motel and South Dubbo IGA. Vouchers and cash donations are also welcome, as are volunteers that would like to lend a hand.
Aussie Helpers can be contacted on 1300 665 232 or phone Brian directly on 0488 123 400.
Their 24/7 virtual psychologist text line is 0488 807 266, offering a free text counselling service for farming families experiencing depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, failure or domestic violence. www.aussiehelpers.org.au email: admin@aussiehelpers.org.au If you or someone you know needs further assistance, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.