Hay Mate drought relief concert to raise money for farmers
YOU know you’re at a drought concert when just the sight of green grass had the crowd screaming with excitement at Hay Mate: Buy A Bale — A Concert For The Farmers.
NSW
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YOU know you are at a drought concert when just the sight of green grass had the crowd screaming with excitement at Hay Mate: Buy A Bale — A Concert For The Farmers.
Farmers and graziers who have battled to keep their livestock alive in the driest 18 months since records began in 1900 are being treated to emotional performances by Australian music legends at Scully Park in Tamworth.
The Sunday Telegraph-supported concert saw eight-time Golden Guitar-winning artist Adam Harvey open for headliners John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Guy Sebastian, Jon Stevens, Andrew Farriss and The Veronicas.
Exciting as that was, the mere sight of green grass was a massive thrill for concertgoers such as Liverpool Plains horse breeder and trainer Kim Evans.
“We yelled when we saw the green grass and had to run to it so we could sit down and enjoy it,” Mrs Evans said.
Mrs Evans and her husband Clay, both 45, from Willow Tree, an hour south of Tamworth, bought a top-of-the-line mower three years ago and have only used it three times since — to keep weeds down.
The couple spends $2800 on hay and grain every week to feed their 45 horses, which has taken an enormous financial and emotional toll.
“This drought has really taken it out of us and so it’s so nice to sit back and enjoy some music and relax,” Mr Evans said.
Every dollar raised from the event went towards farming charity Rural Aid.
More than 4500 farmers have sought help from the charity already this year, including Amanda Mullins, 55, from Bective, north-west of Tamworth, for whom last night’s concert was the first time she hadn’t been wracked with anxiety in three years.
“The drought has been horrific, just debilitating, but tonight I was reminded what normality feels like and that everything will be OK one day,” Ms Lynch said.
Ms Mullins saw her best friend from school, Jacinta Vetch, for the first time in 30 years after Ms Vetch travelled from Brisbane to be part of the drought relief cause.
Every week, 30 road trains loaded with hay leave Western Australia. But that is only enough for 300 farmers.
“We have to draw a line somewhere and we understand that’s hard for those farmers who miss out,” Rural Aid general manager Wayne Thomson said.
All of Rural Aid’s hay from Western Australia is going to the worst-hit farmers in Dubbo, Walgett and Lightning Ridge but a new crop of Victorian hay will be cut within two weeks and the charity will expand from 30 road trains a week to 60, which will mean hay for the badly affected Upper Hunter.
Grazier Warwick Moore, from Werris Creek near Tamworth, was up at 5.30am so he could still put in seven hours on his tractor and be at the concert in time to see Adam Harvey.
Mr Moore has spent $1000 every day this year to keep his 300 cows and calves and 250 ewes and lambs alive.
All the Moore family want for Christmas is decent rain, which will see their freshly planted sorghum crop survive and bring in a rare source of income.
“I should be home planting sorghum, to take advantage of 60mm of rain we had in the last fortnight but I couldn’t miss this concert for the world,” Mr Moore said.
The crowd sweltered under their Akrubas during the 30-degree day, but dusk brought the mercury down to 21 degrees and the concertgoers to their feet.
Barefoot mums with toddlers on their hips swayed to As Days Gone By by Daryl Braithwaite, while leather-skinned farmers enjoyed a cold beer and a chat about the price of fencing labourers, and teens sat on shoulders fawned over Guy Sebastian.
BALING OUT A MATE FOR A GOOD CAUSE
AUSTRALIA’S richest man lent his horsepower to Aussie legend Daryl Braithwaite so he could jet to Tamworth in time to sing for drought-affected farmers at today’s Hay Mate concert.
Cardboard box mogul Anthony Pratt lent Braithwaite a family jet, which whisked Braithwaite from Melbourne to the country music capital after he performed at the Cox Plate horse race.
According to Braithwaite’s manager, Glenn Wheatley, Billionaire cardboard heiress Heloise Pratt, who is Anthony Pratt’s sister, didn’t hesitate to offer the plane when she heard The Horses singer was in a bind.
“Daryl Braithwaite will step out of the plane and straight on the stage in Tamworth,” Wheatley said.
Passengers flying in to the Australian home of country music aboard a special charter flight are filing into the Qantas business lounge for a champagne breakfast, where pop star Conrad Sewell performed today.
According to Melbourne cattle farmer Vicki Macdermid, who was aboard the charter flight to Tamworth, the jocular rivalry between Victorian and New South Welshman is put aside when farmers need a helping hand.
“When farmers are facing such a tough drought, the state boundaries don’t mean a thing,” Ms Macdermid said.
“I have a farm in Pakenham South (an hour’s drive southwest of Melbourne) and we’ve been quite lucky, we have really good pasture, which is why we have to pitch in for our mates doing it tough.”
The self-confessed John Farnham tragic shelled out $6000 to buy a tropical getaway to Hamilton Island for four people in an auction hosted in the Qantas business lounge by Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew and Channel 9 newsreader Vanessa O’Hanlan.
Bartholomew, who has been covering the drought for Sunrise, paid tribute to The Sunday Telegraph for leading the coverage of one of the worst droughts in living memory.
“The Sunday Telegraph coverage brought the drought to everyone’s attention and certainly we were shocked to see people had been really battling for six months or more and there’d been radio silence from the media,” she said.
In her reporting of the natural disaster, Bartholomew has had to console hardened farmers on the brink of tears discussing shooting livestock they can’t afford to feed.
“People in the bush are used to dealing with drought but this is something entirely different - it’s harsher and harder than anything we’ve seen,” she said.
“You see farmers grazing cattle on the sides of road, which they haven’t had to do for many years and to consider that’s the last bit of feed they have and they don’t know what’s next is truly heartbreaking.”
Veteran captain and Gary McKenzie flew a Boeing 737 to Tamworth this afternoon — a rare sight for locals accustomed to propeller-powered aircraft.
“I was born and raised in Tamworth — I’ve seen first-hand how resilient and proud country people are but this extended drought is truly crippling,” Mr McKenzie said.
“It’s not just about helping financially, it’s about showing regional communities, not just in Tamworth but all around Australia, that we are both aware and we care.”
The belly of the plane was stuffed with more than half a tonne of donated pet food for working dogs from drought-affected farming families.
Making the most of the empty cargo hold on flight QF 1360, Qantas employees rallied together to collect 650 kilograms of pet food for working farm dogs.
Every dollar raised will go towards farming charity Rural Aid to spend on drought relief, which will include the proceeds of a Qantas charity charter from Sydney to Tamworth.
More than 6500 people have bought tickets to the Scully Park event.
“I stand by holding the concert in Tamworth,” Wheatley said.
“We’re going to ground zero of the drought and bringing some fun to the farming heartland.”
Gates open at midday.