School students are doing it tough in the drought too, so Port Fairy local Molly Hocking is raising money to give them a helping hand.
The 16 year-old is in year 10 at Warrnambool College, and is also in the midst of a Certificate II in Agriculture at Rural Industries Skill Training (RIST) in Hamilton.
But she’s been taken aback by the plight experienced by her northern counterparts, so has decided to fatten up a steer and a heifer to sell at auction, with the proceeds to go to the agriculture class at Bourke Secondary College, NSW, which is currently out of action because of the drought.
“Often the kids are forgotten about during these times, and I just wanted to help some people my own age,” Ms Hocking said.
“I knew I wanted to do something for a school affected by drought, so I rang around, and every school that I rang said Bourke was the most affected.”
The 18 month-old steer and heifer were self-bred out of the Hocking family’s Tiger Lilli Angus stud, with Farmgate Stockfeeds having donated feed in the last two months to help Ms Hocking’s quest.
She said they were specially selected out of the herd.
The steer and heifer are set to be auctioned at Mortlake in mid-November, supported by SKB Rodwells.
She said her aim is to raise enough money to fund an excursion for the class.
“A lot of them have never been on an excursion before, and a lot are missing school at the moment to help their parents feed livestock,” she said.
She said she wants the students to know that the rest of Australia is thinking about them.
And farming has been in Ms Hocking’s blood from a young age, having grown up on her family’s farm.
“As soon as I could do anything, I was involved,” she said.
“When you’re brought up in it, it’s in your blood, it’s all you know.”
Ms Hocking has also started a GoFundMe page, ‘Drought kids dream too’.
You can support her here.