Convoy of hay supplies for Rochester farmers
The Baw Baw Old Engine and Auto Club and the Trafalgar Truck Restorers Club united with community minded businesses and individuals recentlyto donate 11 semi trailer loads of hay to farmers in the Rochester area following floods in the area in September last year.
The floods, which occurred when the Campaspe River burst its banks, led to widespread damage to homes, businesses and farms across large parts of northern Victoria.
Grass in the region, which was ready to be mowed, was inundated with water and mud and not able to be harvested for hay or silage. Whole farms needed to be resown meaning no fodder could be grown for a year.
The Baw Baw Old Engine and Auto Club is based in Darnum - adjacent to the recreation reserve - which is where much of the donated hay was cut and baled. Tylee Contracting donated their time and equipment for the harvest.
In all, 37 bales of hay were baled from the club grounds and another 40 were donated by club members. A further 263 bales were sourced locally and delivered to the Rochester area by trucks owned by members of the clubs. Many of the bales were delivered to Rochester on historic trucks.
Club secretary Rod Boreham said while members had been involved with hay runs to the north in times of drought, seeing the damage caused by the floods to farms was a real eye opener. “Members who visited said it was a real awakening to talk about and see the flood affected farms and farmers, and to find out how they coped with and are trying to recover from the floods,” he said.
After delivering the hay, members gathered with some of the Rochester farmers to have dinner and drinks before camping at the Rochester football ground. “It was the first occasion that some of the Rochester farmers had had time to relax in months,” said Rod. “It was a great night.”
The football club cooked breakfast on Sunday morning for the Darnum crew before they returned home.
The Baw Baw Old Engine and Auto Club and the Trafalgar Truck Restorers Club leases land in Darnum from the Baw Baw Shire Council. The two organisations are developing it for the clubs’ activities. It is now known as the “Darnum Historical Complex”.