The spirit of giving is very much alive and well in the Inverell area with one local truck leaving for Queensland next week to deliver a load of hay to farmers in severely flood-affected regions.

Two farmers from Rob Roy, Kevin Tonkin and Craig McDonald put their heads together, deciding to donate 30 round bales of hay to farmers who lost most of their feed in the flood waters that swept through the sunshine state in December and January.

The truck, supplied by Barry Hobday of Hobday Transport and driven by his son Jeffrey, will set off on Tuesday evening with approximately $3000 worth of hay, destined for Dalby to be delivered first thing on Wednesday morning.

The hay will then be trucked out by local farmers and assistance workers to areas the worst hit in and around Grantham, Warwick, Oakey, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, some of which are still cut off for public traffic.

Another hero in the story is Brian Leadbeatter of North West Petroleum in Delungra, who offered his fuel for the cause donating $400 worth of diesel to fill the semi-trailer.

The contaminated water flooded many grazing and cropping areas of farms in the state’s southwest, and farmers estimate it will take months for healthy vegetation to rejuvenate in paddocks.

Jeff Hobday said he was excited to be driving the hay up to rural producers in Queensland and was originally inspired by locals from Bundarra who had undertaken a similar mission in previous weeks.

Jeff said the farmers had been incredibly generous and felt their Queenslanders neighbours simply needed it more than them.

“It’s hard to believe what has happened and we are just trying to do our bit,” he said.

© 2011 Inverell Times

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