Southern hay aids NI farmers
When heavy snowfalls struck South and Mid-Canterbury, Hawke’s Bay farmers rallied to send stock feed to the region. Now Cantabrians are returning the favour.
On Tuesday, the first of many container loads of hay bales left Ashburton by train, bound for the drought-hit region and that was followed on Wednesday by 53 bales of silage from Silver Fern Farms Pareora.
The precious cargo is the result of a feed campaign launched by Timaru sheep and beef farmer Nicky Hyslop, who picked up the phone after seeing the Hawke’s Bay plight.
‘‘I rang five farmers, who rang another five farmers and they all said ‘yes’ to contributing feed. It grew from there.
‘‘We started making inquiries about how we could get it to
Hawke’s Bay and it was looking really difficult until I got a call saying KiwiRail was offering to help. That was the game changer.’’
KiwiRail will shift the donated feed from the South Island to Hawke’s Bay free of charge.
‘‘On top of the Covid-19 crisis, the prolonged drought in parts of the North Island has put some farmers and stock under great stress,’’ KiwiRail group chief executive Greg Miller said.
‘‘We move dairy products, beef, lamb, horticulture and viticulture for the rural sector so it is one of our most important customers, and we’re pleased to support it now at this time of need.’’
While freight volumes were still recovering after lockdown, KiwiRail had the capacity to transport up to 10 40-foot containers of hay bales per week from Ashburton.
At Pareora, south of Timaru, Silver Fern Farms plant manager Bruce McNaught said he was aware of the plight of the Hawke’s Bay and had been contacted by his farm manager Robert Grant on Monday who told him the operation had spare baleage.
‘‘Rather than selling it off, we can donate it,’’ he said.
Federated Farmers’ South Canterbury president Jason Grant says that a few years ago, Hawke’s Bay farmers were among those who helped out in South Canterbury after big snowfalls, ‘‘and now we’re happy to be returning the favour’’.
‘‘Feed is short all over the country but we’re not in as bad a position as Hawke’s Bay. Sometimes, our farmers are donating a few bales even when they’re in a tight position themselves because they know how it feels to be under pressure like that, and they want to help.