Biggenden beef cattle farmer Norm Schonrock learned the hard way that simply hoping for rain isn’t enough.
During the 2019-2020 drought, he helplessly watched his livestock deteriorate and perish as the dry conditions worsened day by day. As his doubt turned to dread and then desperation, Norm sold what he could, but with prices at rock bottom it made little difference.
“It rained eventually, as it does, but we decided after we would try to be a bit more drought proof rather than just carrying on hoping for rain,” he said.
Having learned the hard way and in drought again only months after the floods swept through his property, Norm is now destocking his cattle and calves- a last resort measure of selling his livestock for whatever the market is offering. Sometimes, it’s cheaper to just destroy the animals. This is a harsh but common reality for farmers right now, working their way through the toughest drought conditions we’ve seen for years.
As Norm feared, the rain still hasn’t come—but Rural Aid has, delivering fodder to the area as well as offering volunteer assistance to help mend his fencing that was severely damaged during the 2022 flood crisis.
“We knew the good weather wasn’t going to last forever. It’s a great thing to have that little bit of extra help, and the extra help with the fodder,” he said.
Robbie Radel, a fifth generation dairy farmer from nearby Coalstoun Lakes agreed.
“For me, today has been a really enjoyable day. Rural Aid very generously brought about 200 big square bales of fodder for drought-stricken animals,” he said.
But the assistance Robbie and his neighbours received meant more than just a boost in their feed stores, and he wants other farmers to understand there is support available to them.
“It’s been good to see people turn up and to have a bit of fellowship. Rural Aid have come into our region and they’ve delivered in a time of need. Well and truly worth the five minutes it takes to sign up,” Robbie said.
As drought and bushfire conditions continue to worsen across the country, Rural Aid is fielding a huge increase in requests for assistance. With counselling, fodder, volunteer, and financial support needed now more than ever, we ask our dedicated supporters and all of Australia to join us in standing our mates in the bush.
Learn more about the work Rural Aid is doing to support our farmers and rural communities, and what you can do to help here