When the going gets tough, some farmers get out and do their bit to help.
Swan Marsh dairy farmer Jason Smith admits the past two years have been the hardest of his farming career, but that hasn’t stopped him from helping to co-ordinate a huge delivery of hay relief to south-west Victoria.
As Simpson and District Lions Club president, Jason helped to facilitate the Need for Feed convoy of almost 40 trucks full of hay to the region on July 12.
He’s somehow managed to fit in the volunteer work around trying to keep his farm afloat during the drought.
After being forced to lay off his two full-time staff due to the financial impact of the crisis, Jason has been working 4am to 10pm, seven days a week.
He can’t afford to slow down or take a break, but seeing some relief come over the horizon was worth every minute of his volunteer contribution.
“I’ve never felt so emotional and thankful and proud as when I watched the trucks come into Camperdown on Saturday night,” he said
The trucks brought about 2000 bales of hay worth $500,000 from northern NSW.
It wasn’t enough to solve the region’s feed demands, but it was enough to ease the pressure and bring the community together.
More than 200 people celebrated in Camperdown after the hay convoy rolled into town, with Lions Club members from Camperdown, Simpson and Colac organising.
“The whole community came together,” Jason said.
“This drought doesn’t just affect farmers — it affects everyone.
“Everywhere we turned, people would help, and it gave everyone a bit of a boost.
“It was such a great atmosphere in the room. All the Lions clubs were so proud to pull it off, and we even had four people ask about joining.”
Droughts are nothing new to Jason, but this one has been extreme.
A fifth-generation dairy farmer from northern Victoria, he grew up at Gunbower, and progressed from owning 30 cows to buying his own farm at Horfield in 2010.
Ironically, that farm was sold because of the dry weather and escalating water and feed prices, with Jason moving to a leased farm in Simpson in 2013.
Four years ago, he moved to his current leased farm at Swans Marsh.
“We’ve all gone through droughts,” he said.
“I went through the millennial drought up north, but through all of those, we could still access fodder at a reasonable rate from other parts of the country; no-one has anything this time.
“It’s been the hardest 18 months-two years of my farming career.”
Because of demand from more than 400 applications, south-west farmers received relatively small amounts of hay — but it was gratefully accepted.
Need for Feed is hoping to access more supplies to arrange another convoy to the region.
“Because we had so many people apply, and we couldn’t get enough hay, we had to spread it pretty thin, but it was absolutely amazing,” Jason said.
“I’ve dug a deep hole, like most farmers, in borrowing money to keep the cows going, so this donation gives me an extra week before I have to buy something else.
“It takes a little bit of pressure off, and it’s more about the mental health kick that you get from the truck coming into your property.”
Jason has been feeding rice straw purchased from Cobargo and pouring molasses on it to make it palatable for the cows and some lucerne and clover hay from Finley, again a long way away and landing on his farm for $700 a tonne.
He has been mixing the expensive, higher-quality stuff with the cheaper filler.
Jason has tried a bit of everything to survive the drought — he’s sold cows and sent some to be parked at the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, and let go two full-time workers because he couldn’t afford to pay their wages.
“I’m doing everything on my own which is tough. I never do under 120 hours a week. It’s a 4am start and 10pm finish, seven days a week,” he said.
“All the money is going into feed. The money that would have gone to staff is going into feed. I’m just plodding along and have to keep going. I find that if I keep moving, I can get it done.”
The cows only got milked once a day a couple of times because Jason didn’t have the time, but their production is down due to the lack of feed, so it wasn’t a big issue for them.
Jason planted annuals for good-quality silage and spent $100,000 on lime and fertilisers, only to have them fail due to the lack of rain.
Watching them struggle to get out of the ground added to his stress.
It’s green now, but it’s not really growing because it’s too cold and the soil temperature is low.
One positive was good groundwater for the stock, though the dams are still not full.
Trying to organise the Need for Feed event at the same time was tough, but worth every minute.
“I’ve been doing it really tough, but some of the stories I’ve heard when talking to farmers are heartbreaking,” Jason said.
“Some haven’t had hay since May and their cows aren’t in a condition to sell. Giving them a reason to get off the farm was good for everybody.”
Jason is about to start calving and will have to employ staff again, and can see a light at the end of the tunnel, albeit a long tunnel.
“You know you’ve got good money coming, but you’ve got expenses now because you’ve got no feed, and there are worries about cows calving in poor condition and energy deficiencies,” he said.
“I’m going into spring with a hangover of debt and still needing hay, but there is a feeling that I can see my way out.
“There’s still a long road ahead. I don’t think I’m going to be able to breathe properly until the end of September or early October.
“To save your mental health, you’ve got to think, it’s not going to rain, the grass isn’t going to grow — how are we going to deal with this.
“If you just hope that everything is going to come good and you’re not ready for it staying bad, it gets harder to cope.
“It’s such a dance with creditors. We’re going to be feeling this at least for another 18 months, but thank goodness a decent price has come in.
“They’ve upped it because they realised that without it, they weren’t going to have anything.”