Today, the Lismore App saw many smiles on the faces of Primary Producers in our region, all attending the Rapid Relief Team (RRT) Farmers-Community-Connect event in South Lismore.

Ron Arkcoll the Managing Director for RRT Australia told us they had responded a second time because the need expressed from so many farmers contacting them was clear, and the donor response, wanting to support the Northern Rivers community was huge, after the videos circulated of flood-impacted animals and farms in Lismore, Richmond and the Clarence Valley.

Feed For Friends, Sally Power (left) and Nerissa Cooksey (right) supported this farmer, Krystal Faint (middle) and many others to get registered for this round of feed support

Farmers registered for Farmers Community Connect, over a 4 week campaign period, by going to their website and filling out a registration form which is detailed in asking for their PIK number, that farming is their primary source of income, the size of their property and the number of head of cattle etc that they have, so the RRT team can ensure the feed support is going to those who most need it, and where it will have the highest whole-of-community impact.

Farmers were allocated feed until the cut-off registration date of May 30. Support from other organisations, such as Feed For Friends ensured they were advocated for and aware of what was occurring, and what support was available to apply. Sally and Nerissa from Feed for Friends said that today's event supplied 80% of the primary producers on their list with Prime A-Grade Feed, and Rye Grass Seed, which was imperative for the regeneration of paddocks going into the future months.

Ron said "We haven't supplied seed in our 30 Farmers Community Connect events previously, but we surveyed over 300 local farmers and they told us that's what they wanted, so we got it! We also chose to get a Rye Grass seed that was treated with a mould resistant product called Ultra strike, at a higher cost, to ensure that it has a better chance of greater feed viability, going into the end of Winter and Spring.

"The farmers get 3 cuts out of this crop, with one bag covering a hectare or 2.5 acres approximately, that's equivalent to about 20 bales of hay, and reiterating that it not only will last farmers, but it's also cost-effective in the way that RRT handles the donations that come in. It meets more than just the immediate need, and it's the community telling us, what they know they need and what will work best; we also worked closely with Norco Agronomists to ensure Hay Quality and choice of what we brought up, before signing off on anything.

"At RRT we pride ourselves on doing everything to an A Grade level, and I believe that's supported more farmers to feel safe to receive the support we are offering this time around, as some may have chosen not to receive support from previous bad experiences with charity-donated feed e.g. which was mould affected or low protein."

Bags of Rye Grass were delivered to farmers for longer support

We asked Ron what RRT was seeing in regards to larger feed shortages and he said "Farmers need to plan ahead, most definitely. We saw, in the space of 2 months, a difference in the availability of feed, and the price, in fact, many of the feed suppliers and farmers who supplied this feed, did so out of their own feed sheds, in order for us to be able to go ahead. This time we brought up 1241 large bales of hay, on 25 B-Double Semi-Trailers."

Feed For Friends has already got future feed needs lists filling up, and Ron says "if we can get Government support, bringing tangible effects to Governments monetary initiatives, we can have a much greater and longer-term recovery impact that farmers and the community have asked for and lead, which we haven't had thus far. Larger corporate donations, particularly as we come to the end of the financial year, will also mean we can continue to support Lismore and Northern Rivers Farmers, and we can see the extent of the devastation to the region, which is far from over, which is why we have come up again."

Mayor Steve Krieg came down to speak with farmers and RRT and said it was a wonderful sight to see for our farmers

RRT volunteers supplied B-Double Trucks, drivers and then, the volunteers who had driven the feed and seed up, supported the running of the event, there were 50 volunteers there helping to support farmers, with only 5 paid staff.

Ron said, "100% of the funds donated, go to farmers, we have other sources of funds which pay for our administrative fees."

During the first run RRT did, they had 112 farmers register, this time around 269 farmers were supported in the Lismore, Clarence Valley and Richmond Valley LGA's.

If you would like to support the farmers of Lismore you can donate here