Farm Angels campaign to help farmers going through a tough time

A Queensland farmer had spent the last few years recovering from drought and a mice plague when another catastrophe threw “salt on the wound”.

A sixth generation Queensland farmer has survived tough droughts and even a mice plague that destroyed his land.

But when he got the devastating news his house had burnt down less than 24 hours after going on his annual holiday, Tony “Nobby” Dolbel and his wife Leisa’s whole world shattered.

Nobby and his family lost their house in a fire months after a mice plague destroyed the region. Picture: Supplied

Mice had nested in the motor of their fridge, causing it to overheat and catch on fire.

“The forensic team told me after they’d checked. I don’t know how they worked it out but they could tell it started in the fridge on the back deck of the house,” Nobby told NewsWire.

“I didn’t tell him anything about mice and he asked me, ‘Would you have had any mice’?”

Months before his house burnt down, Nobby and his neighbours were inundated with a mice plague that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to properties across the region.

“I’ve never seen a mice plague like we had,” Nobby said.

Mice were caught spilling out of farm equipment during the 2021 plague. Picture: Facebook via NewsWire

Hundreds of thousands of mice ruined many livelihoods across the region. Picture: Supplied

“At night, it was like the ground was moving and there were just absolutely thousands and thousands of them.

“The wife was catching 100 a night on the back deck but thankfully they never came in the house.”

Nobby said the mice would nest under grain silos and feed pens.

He even lost a mob of cattle after mice got into the feed mixer and contaminated the feed, costing him a few thousand dollars in income.

But the final blow came two days after Christmas in 2021 when he got the call the family home had burnt down while he was more than 300km away in Hervey Bay on holidays.

Nobby’s house burnt down in 2021 after mice had nested in a fridge. Picture: Supplied

The family lost nearly everything in the fire. Picture: Supplied

“We were all just getting back on our feet after the drought and the mice, then to really throw salt on the wound, the house burnt down,” Nobby said.

“It was a big loss, a terrible big loss.”

The fire had ripped through the house, burning almost everything but some wedding photos that had been stored in a cupboard with a blanket.

“When the fire brigade got there, the roof was down on the floor and the floor had burnt out,” Nobby said.

“Maybe the water tanks had melted on that end of the house but the water tanks wet the photo albums but luckily they were salvageable.

“It was a very big loss for the wife.

“I would not wish it on anybody, losing a house and everything. It’s a terrible feeling.”

While the farming family spent the next few years living in their caravan trying to get back on their feet, Farm Angels stepped up and became a lifeline.

Nobby and his family received help from Farm Angels after their house burnt down in 2021. Picture: Supplied

Nobby said his family had used the charity to cart bails of hay to drought stricken farmers for years.

“The day (the fire) happened, they were on to us,” Nobby said.

“It was hard for me to accept help from other people because we were used to offering help ourselves.

“But they had the shop in town and it was lovely what they did.

“Whatever (Leisa) needed in the shop, she got.

“There were vouchers for shops and local shops.

“They were very, very good and that’s why we still help them.

“Farm Angels helped our family through back-to-back disasters and provided comfort and support in some of our darkest days.”

Nobby and Leisa have since found an “absolutely beautiful” removal home on the Sunshine Coast that was relocated to their property on the Western Downs.

Nobby said their new “mansion” had five bedrooms and he was happy that “out of something really, really bad, something really beautiful” had come from the pain.

Nobby says he hopes others can support Farm Angels during their Flanno for a Farmer campaign. Picture: Supplied

Three years on, Nobby is hoping others can dig deep to help struggling farmers going through tough times.

“We’re back helping them a bit. We’re just back on our feet again after that,” he said.

“The Farm Angels are only a phone call away if we did need anything, but we’re back helping other people again.

“There’s always someone whose needs are greater than yours.”

Farm Angels’ upcoming Flanno for a Farmer campaign will be held on August 23.

The charity also supports those struggling with their mental health.

A 2021 National Rural Health Alliance study found one farmer contemplates suicide every 10 days, which is 59 per cent higher than non-farmers.

The campaign is encouraging one million Australians to don their best flannelette shirt and raise money for farming families in need between July and August.

Originally published as Farm Angels campaign to help farmers going through a tough time