A HANDFUL of Mid North farms and businesses have banded together in an effort to help farmers struggling with drought in Qld.
Auburn businesswoman Judy Searley launched the Building a Haystack for Qld campaign in February, asking farmers with excess hay to dig deep for the appeal, along with haulage businesses or truck owners who might be able to help.
Those calls were answered, with Judy managing to cobble together a road train load of hay - 72 bales - to send to Charleville, Qld.
The truck was loaded at Manoora on Friday last week before it took off for Charleville on Saturday morning.
Judy followed the truck up to Charleville and was present when it was unloaded. She said the farmers up there were speechless and overwhelmed by the support.
"They can't believe people are thinking about them that much," she said.
"It has been a huge eye-opener for me.
"I had a bit of knowledge about how bad things were in Qld but I was taken around on one of the properties on Tuesday afternoon, which made me realise how bad it is and how long it has been this way."
IOR Petroleum covered the cost of fuel for the truck.
* Full report in Stock Journal, March 27, 2014 issue.
