Community rallies behind ‘Lend a Hand for the Land’ initiative
With several Victorian studs left reeling from the recent catastrophic floods in the region, the local community – both equine and further afield – has rallied around the thoroughbred breeding industry to help with the resultant clean-up, with Noorilim Park’s Chris Kent calling the effort “inspiring”.
More than 100 people had registered to volunteer with the Lend A Hand For The Land initiative, which was set up by Merricks Station farm manager Dee Gess-Jones.
Ensuing wet weather led to the planned event yesterday to be postponed, however on Friday a group of volunteers turned out at Nagambie-based Noorilim Park to clear debris from paddocks, mend fences and clean equipment, while volunteers at Hilldene Farm in Seymour also helped recover the property.
“We had a group of about 30 people here on Friday and we got about a month’s work done in one day,” Kent said.
“We were able to really get the farm back on track and it was great to see the turnout of people from the other farms, people in the industry, but also people who are just spectators of the industry, and to have their support was just fantastic.
“People were moving logs, scrubbing walls, picking up feeders in paddocks, but the biggest thing was getting the fence line done. We had four teams of six to eight people doing that for half a day, I’d dread to think how many kilometres of fencing we repaired.”
Noorilim Park were able to move all livestock, which numbered around 200, to safety when the river burst its banks last month and flooded the property, while neighbouring farm Yulong Stud lost two foals when they were inflicted with rising flood waters during the same week.
“We can’t thank the organisers of the event enough, Dee from Merrick Station and all those who have helped.
“I counted 17 farms at one stage who took on horses to lend us a hand during the floods.”
“We’ve currently got a pump working 24/7 to pump water out of the farm and into the river so we can get in there. We won’t be able to use the paddocks straight away but we can prepare them to be resewn for use in the autumn.”
Gess-Jones was overwhelmed with the response from the industry and the general public, and said more days would be held in support of the affected farms in the coming weeks.
“It was absolutely fabulous,” she said. “We had a brilliant day helping two of the Victorian farms on Friday and we’ll run some days later in the year as some farms are still underwater.
“All up, we had about 40 people turn out but we were really able to knock on the head the really big jobs and help those farms get back on track so they can head into their yearling preparation and finish the breeding season. They were extremely appreciative of the help received.
“The Victorian breeding community and Victorian people as a rule just came together and did what they could. We had another 40 people volunteer over the Saturday and Sunday, but unfortunately we couldn’t have that day due to the weather.”
New dates for the Lend A Hand for the Land initiative will be revealed on https://lendahandfortheland.com.au/, where those interested in helping can also sign up as volunteers.