Relief on the way for Macleay farmers as donated fodder hits the road

Six truck loads will be delivered to the Mid North Coast this week, while a further 25 to 30 loads will arrive over Easter.

Organiser from Need for Feed Jim Parrett said people from southern NSW and from across Victoria have come together in support of Mid North Coast farmers.

"All of the fodder has been donated by farmers down here. We do these sorts of runs every six weeks or so, but also help out when there's an emergency," he said.

"All of the farmers have banded together to make this happen."

Need for Feed has been supporting Australian farmers and rural communities in times of need since 2006.

"It's just what we do, we try and help where we can," Jim said.

"There's nothing harder than having isolated livestock that don't have any food and are distressed."

The truck loads of hay will be delivered to Weismantel Heavy Haulage in South Kempsey before distribution gets underway.

St Paul's College Agriculture teacher Graham Bramley will be coordinating the distribution to local farmers.

"We will be receiving the first load at around 3.30pm today before more truck loads are delivered over Easter," he said.

"We're still working out how we will distribute it to farmers, but hopefully roads will start re-opening from today which will help us."

There have been hundreds of farmers impacted by the flood and Graham said it will be a difficult task to work out who needs the fodder.

"We need to go through how much we are going to get for our farmers and then divide that up as best we can," he said.

"Kempsey is used to floods and we look out for each other, so we're asking people to be patient while we asses the worst situations first and get the fodder where it needs to go.

"If you know people who have been hit hard, we encourage you to contact us."

Locals in need of fodder can contact Graham on 0409 459 056.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services are working together to manage the effects of the flood event on agriculture and livestock as Agriculture and Animal Services Functional Area (AASFA). They can also help with emergency fodder, veterinary assistance, stock destruction and burial and livestock feeding and management advice.

The AASFA has a dedicated hotline for producers to call to report damage and stock losses, as well as request assistance. Call 1800 814 647.

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