Community
10 July, 2025
Welcomed arrival
RESIDENTS are being invited to form lines along the streets of Camperdown to welcome a special convoy which will provide much-needed feed to farmers.
The convoy of 38 trucks will be bringing $500,000 worth of hay into the south west district as part of a Need for Feed drive as Victoria continues to struggle with drought conditions.
The trucks are due to arrive on Saturday via the Princes Highway before turning off at Cressy Street to arrive at the site of the old Camperdown Saleyards.
Need for Feed founder Graham Cockerell said the trucks were due to arrive in town between 5-6pm, with drivers staying overnight.
“There will be a dinner on Saturday night for ourselves and some of our recipient farmers, put on by three of the local Lions Clubs – Camperdown, Simpson and Colac,” he said.
“On Sunday, the boys will go out and do their deliveries.
“All the hay is from New South Wales – the hay has all been purchased out of donations.
“We could do with more – we don’t have a lot more hay to shift, but we have requests for assistance well in excess of what we’re able to bring down.”
The hay will be delivered across the Corangamite, Moyne and Colac-Otway shires, with Mr Cockerell saying the current delivery will assist around 120 farming families.
“We need to do at least double that just in those three shires,” he said.
“We’re limited to those three shires at the moment because they have been the worst affected – they’ve had the lowest rainfall on record for the longest time.
“We’d already done Glenelg and Southern Grampians last year – we’re going to need to go back there again, but we’re going to need more money to do it.”
Need for Feed is open to financial donations, hay donations and volunteering – all of which will go towards supporting farmers during tough conditions.
For more information, to donate, or to sign up as a volunteer, visit http://www.needforfeed.org/.
Read More: local, Camperdown