STANTHORPE DROUGHT

If we cannot help everyone

Then let us help as many as we can.

You Have A Friend
SUPPORTING OUR FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
During the 7 year drought

Please Note: No funds from our charity to help and support the local homeless/marginalised in the Tweed, were used in our Drought and Flood Support.

The financial support for the Drought and Flood Campaign was though a specific Drought Fundraiser and also a most generous sponsor - James Frizelle.

The Drought

The drought in Queensland and NSW dragged on for over 7 years. In parts of Queensland they are still in drought as of September 2021.

However in much of the eastern Australia and inland the farmers have started recording good rainfalls..

You Have A Friend has seen the devastation that farmers have had to endure during the drought and as a charity we decided to help as many farmers as we could and choose the Stanthorpe/Texas/Goondiwindi district to try and help with the drought and lack of water.

As of December 2019, You Have A Friend Inc donated over 600,000 litres of water by way of stock water and drinking water to local farmers. Filling their tanks with assistance from local water carriers.

It was apparent to us that we needed to do more than just filling dams and tanks for the farmers. Sadly evaporation often reduced the water in dams by as much as 20%.

So, we decided on a new system which we hoped would help farmers. With the support of a wonderful sponsor - James Frizelle, we were able to provide much more than just tanks of water.

We designed a system of linking 2 x 23,000 litre tanks with poly piping and also to the farmer's dams.

This system has been most successful and to date (September 2021) You Have A Friend has provided tanks and piping to 12 farms in the Stanthorpe district.

We supplied the tanks and also the piping. The idea being that we would fill the tanks with water and once the rains broke, water could be pumped from the dams to the tanks which could be located in different paddocks. During the drought You Have A Friend would pay for the 23,000 litre tanks to be filled to save the farmer and his livestock.

This system of double tanks linked to dams and to each other can always be used and has proved most successful.

The Consequences for Many Farmers and Their Families

During the 7 year drought, farms were dying and many farmers had to abandon their properties.

Animals were being disposed of - shot and buried becase of lack of feed and water. 4 - 5 generations of breeding stock!

Farmers were forced to remove their precious fruit trees as they had no water. Trees that they had grown and nurtured for many years and provided wonderful fruit.

In many cases the wild dogs would kill a number of the farmer's sheep at night on their properties.

And yet, these wonderful people never complained. When we asked many as to how we could help them, almost always the answer was "I'm ok. There are far more people worse off than me". They are lovely, hardy and proud people.

I have included pictures of the drought as we saw it when supporting farmers in the Stanthorpe, Texas, Goondiwindi, Moore, Gunnedah area