Te Puke district farmers rally round to help Hawke's Bay brothers

As the light fades, donated bales have been loaded onto a truck to take them to drought-stricken Hawke's Bay.

Te Puke Young Farmers have tapped into the generosity of the rural community to send aid to Hawke's Bay.

The eastern region is in the midst of a drought that has seen farmers spending huge amounts on supplementary feed.

Te Puke Young Farmers chairman Andre Meier says he learned that farmers in the Wairarapa had banded together to send bales to Hawke's Bay and decided to see if it was possible to do the same from the Te Puke district.

''I went and talked to Japie Jordaan from Jordaan Contracting to see if he was willing to supply a truck and trailer at his cost to take down to Hawke's Bay and he was more than happy to do so. So then it was just a matter of me asking for bales and ringing up farmers and asking if they had a couple spare.''

Meier says the response was awesome with donations coming from an area stretching from Pikowai to Te Puke.

''The whole district donated bales and we actually had more than a truckload when I had a phone call from Patrick Wilson from BOP Groundspread and he offered a truck and trailer to head down.''

He says some farmers have already eaten into their winter supply and were ''gutted'' at not being able to donate.

''But they said if we do something like this again to be sure to give them a call and hopefully they will be in a better position.''

The bales will be distributed by Hawke's Bay Rural Support.

''The trust said the hardest thing is to get the farmers to accept the bales down there for nothing. They are proud and prefer to pay money, but they are accepting them now.''

Meier says the initiative will probably be a one-off.

''I think our summer put a lot of pressure on farmers around here as well. Everybody that could give bales did. There are some that would give more, but they may have been putting themselves under pressure and we didn't want to do that.

''The farming community throughout New Zealand sticks together and supports each other.''