Rapid Relief Team (RRT) truck driver volunteers deliver much needed aid to SA farmers

They’ve seen a lot in their time, but nothing like this. Driving through SA’s Mid North to deliver drought aid to farmers, truckers have been left emotional at the scenes they’ve witnessed.

Truck driver Jon Arnot had seen drought before – but nothing like this.

Driving through South Australia’s Mid North on Thursday, the volunteer trucker was left misty-eyed as he passed bare paddocks and hungry livestock.

“There’s poor sheep in the paddock. There was just no feed,” he said, visibly emotional.

“Our hearts go out to these poor farmers and the local businessmen.”

Jon and his son Charles were among dozens of Rapid Relief Team (RRT) truck driver volunteers who left Grenfell in NSW at 3am Wednesday, hauling 1500 bales of donated hay from Queensland.

Charles Arnot, 18 in Jamestown SA. Picture: Ben Clark

The 1700km journey ended at 3pm Thursday, when the convoy rolled into Jamestown, delivering more than just fodder – it brought hope.

“We grabbed it with both hands to help these poor, devastated farmers,” Mr Arnot said.

“We’re here to show care and compassion and see what we can do to help and make the farmers smile.”

The hay drop is the centrepiece of Farmers Community Connect, an event being hosted Friday by the RRT to support locals with free fodder, hot meals, and face-to-face time with service providers.

Hay Run trucks entering Jamestown SA. Picture: Ben Clark

But for many, the true heart of the operation was in the drivers – many of whom know drought first-hand.

“A lot of our drivers today are farmers themselves,” said Mick Dunn, RRT’s national operations manager.

“They remember the times back in 2018 and 2019 when hay came from this area to help them – now they’re delighted to return the favour.”

What began as a plan to deliver 1000 bales quickly grew as the scale of need became clear.

“We increased that to 1250 and ended up getting to 1500,” Mr Dunn said.

“The drivers were all for it – many even volunteered to squeeze in more bales. It just shows the spirit of this initiative.”

Truck driver, Karl Mansley in Jamestown SA. Picture: Supplied

Supported by a $195,000 SA Government grant, hundreds of farmers will gather at the Friday’s event, including Malanary sheep grazier Sarah Voumard, who had just run out of feed.

“We’ve just used the last of the hay that we’ve got currently,” she said.

“It’ll be great to have those bales out there, especially with lambing ewes.”

For Sarah, the drought has turned daily life into a constant balancing act.

“It’s all about ordering (feed) in good time to have it on the ground for your livestock,” she said.

“You’ve got to be thinking a few months ahead all the time during this drought.”

With barely 6mm of recent rainfall, she’s hoping this hay run will buy enough time until the skies deliver relief.

“We need that 10-20mm to get down to the subsoil moisture, especially with our clay soils,” she said.

Charles Arnot, 18 in Jamestown SA.. Picture: Ben Clark

The event marked RRT’s 33rd Farmers Community Connect.

The event marked RRT’s 33rd Farmers Community Connect, and the team’s biggest in SA to date.

“We’re really sympathetic with what farmers are going through,” Mr Dunn said.

“Thanks to the government support, we’ve been able to extend this event further and help more people.”

For volunteers truckies like Mr Arnot, the memories of kids waving from fence lines and parents cheering on the convoy are what will stick with him.

“Little children were out there, telling us to toot the horn and waving,” he said.

“It was a good long journey, but it was well worth it.”

Clipping costs: Next gen takes up shears as drought tightens grip

At just 16, Ryan McKay is already grappling with the harsh realities of farming through drought.

The Peterborough teenager has turned to shearer training in a bid to cut costs and become more self-sufficient, signing up for a shearing school running in Jamestown this week.

“If you can shear your sheep yourself, there’s one cost going down – you don’t have to pay a shearer,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s not going to cost you anything besides your gear.”

Running 1500 sheep, his family has had to make hard calls – culling where they can and counting on Thursday’s hay run to keep their lambing ewes alive.

He’s one of several young locals supported by The Advertiser Foundation through the For Pete’s Sake drought relief campaign, which has donated $5500 towards shearer training for youth in Jamestown and Peterborough.

Shearer Woolhandling Training instructor David Reichelt, with nearly 50 years in the industry, said the drought had made training schools more vital than ever.

“We’ve got a lot of students now trying to learn how to crutch their own sheep and shear a few so they can cut down on costs. Because when it gets dry like this, there’s not a lot of money around.”

But another major issue is keeping the workforce going.

With high turnover and rising costs, he said, the industry’s survival depends on fresh hands picking up the clippers.

“Just off the top of my head, I think the longest anybody’s in the industry’s three years,” Mr Reichelt said.

“So we need a lot of people keep coming through otherwise we’ll really be struggling again.”

Originally published as Rapid Relief Team (RRT) truck driver volunteers deliver much needed aid to SA farmers