When Peter Henderson’s sheds burnt down in the 2019-20 East Gippsland bushfires, it was farmers from Western Victoria who turned up with trucks of feed, no questions asked. Now, the Orbost farmer is returning the favour.

Henderson, with help from the Heyfield Lions Club, has rallied the community to help donate 10 truckloads of hay bales to farmers in Victoria’s south west, one of the regions most impacted by drought, as part of a wider relief mission from charity group Aussie Hay Runners.

The gesture is a reminder of the mateship between farmers, east to west, built on the quiet understanding that when times are hard, you back each other in.

One particular truckload from Aussie Hay Runners has thrown a lifeline to a young Cooriemungle farming family.

Dairy farmer Michael Beecher told the West Vic Brolga the semi-trailer of feed from Aussie Hay Runners arrived this week, just as he was preparing to sell off young stock to keep the rest of the herd afloat.

“The timing of the hay couldn’t have been any better,” Beecher said. 

“They’ve really saved us to be honest. Otherwise we’d have to sell lots of young stock and move them on—it’s just bought us a bit more time.”

Beecher and his wife Katie moved from Shepparton to the Corangamite Shire’s south with their three children less than two years ago, purchasing a farm near where Michael grew up. 

He hoped the move would see him avoid the dry conditions often facing farmers in the state's north.

Instead, he walked straight into another dry spell—this time with a large mortgage, falling milk prices and no safety net. Compounding the pressure, his Melbourne excavation business collapsed during the downturn.

“We came into it at a high price,” he said. 

“Then with the milk price cut and the drought that came in with it, the timing couldn’t have been any worse for us.”

The farm currently runs 300 milkers and 160 young stock, but Beecher said he’s already had to offload many animals just to manage water and feed. 

The young cattle that remain have been "going backwards", and he said buying hay simply "wasn’t viable".

“It would've cost around $500 to $600 a tonne delivered just for straw,” he said. “To spend that when you’re already struggling to pay your bills—it's just not possible.”

That’s why the hay run made such a difference.

Beecher said George Leishman from Rural Financial Counselling Services, whom he was connected to via his milk processor, helped him access state government support during their toughest months – and got the family’s name on the hay run list. 

Even then, he hadn’t expected anything to come of it.

“We registered, but I didn’t think anything would happen,” he said. “When the truck turned up in the yard, I just thought—wow. That is great timing.”

He recommended other farmers who need help access the financial counselling service.

The feed donation means Beecher can now hold onto his young stock—the future of the farm—and slowly work toward rebuilding his herd numbers.

“We just need those replacements coming through so we can build our numbers and get back to where we were,” he said. 

“It’s not really sufficient enough for our debt levels at the moment.”

With help from two backpackers, the Beechers are doing everything they can to keep the wheels turning on the farm. But Beecher said it hasn’t been easy.

“We’ve been hit with a few different sticks over the last 12 months,” he said.

Still, he’s not giving up.

“We can’t walk away now—it would just be a disaster,” he said. “Plus the kids and the family have settled in here. And I do enjoy the job.”

How a Gippsland idea made its way to West Vic

Henderson, a dairy and beef farmer, had the idea of donating hay bales to drought affected West Victoria farmers at the beginning of June. 

The Gippsland Monitor spoke to Henderson, who said he wanted to return the favour for the donations of hay he received from West Victoria farmers in 2019-20.

“It was when we'd been in a significant drought and then we got a bush fire that burnt us out and burned all our hay sheds,” he said.

“Truck after truck turned up from the Western District over to our area to help us out.

“I'm donating a full truckload and sending my truck over. I just wanted to try and repay the favour. It's only in a small way, from what we could round up from just a very small area.”

Henderson doesn’t expect to donate more hay but said; “if things were horrible and we had a good spring and stuff was still no good [in Western Victoria]? Yeah, I'm sure people would [help out].”

Henderson said the final donation was over 300 bales, which is 10 to 12 trucks worth of hay.

What’s causing the dry conditions?

A report by Environment Victoria notes that Victoria’s cool season rainfall has already decreased by about 13 percent, which is part of a broader pattern of decreasing rainfall in southern Australia. 

These systems push rain-bearing cold fronts further south, away from Victoria, resulting in fewer rain events during the cool season.

The report explains that the increase of persistent high-pressure systems over southern Australia is one of the “primary reasons” for reduced rainfall since February last year, caused in part as a consequence of mining and burning coal, oil and gas. 

These fossil fuels, when burnt, pump out carbon dioxide and methane that becomes trapped in the atmosphere and increases global temperatures.

Header image: Cooriemungle’s Michael and Katie Beecher with kids Miguel, Navy and Luie.