Farmers from across the region are reaping the rewards from the Hay Mate Buy a Bale Drought Relief concert that was held at Scully Park in October.
More than 250 will pick up their share of 2000 hay bales at Tamworth’s old saleyards over the next two days.
The concert which featured John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Guy Sebastian, John Stevens and many more famous Australian artists raised 2.8 million dollars for Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale fundraiser.
Concert organiser Glenn Wheatley was back in Tamworth on Tuesday morning to meet some of the local farmers and said it was an experience he’ll never forget.
“I’m so thrilled to see all of this activity now and I mean look at these bales being loaded up onto the farmer’s trucks.” Wheatley said.
“These farmers, the look on their faces, it’s just a moment I’m going to cherish, I’m so happy that we’ve been able to do this for them.”
CEO of Rural Aid Charles Alder was also at Tuesday’s Hay pick up and said the one million dollars worth of hay being collected is a testament to all of the Australian’s who donated.
“Not only the locals who enjoyed the fantastic concert but Australians far and wide, as far away as the Northern Territory and Broome and those here in Tamworth who donated at the concert.” Alder said.
“It was a fantastic event, well received by everybody and it’s great to see the funds making a real difference to the farmers who are most in need during this drought.”
Thank you to all who attended the "Hay Mate" concert to raise money for the wonderful gift of hay we received last week, the response was truly amazing. The work and organization involved in delivering that huge quantity of hay to Tamworth and loading it onto our trucks was amazing, the team was so organised and worked like a well oiled machine. Everyone was so happy and the goodwill could be felt in the air. Tamworth farmers salute you all and wish everyone a healthy and happy Christmas, you certainly have made ours a much brighter one