Aussie Hay Runners have become somewhat of an institution in rural NSW. Since 2019 they have delivered an incredible 37,000 bales of hay to farmers in need, at a staggering value of $3.5M. That’s more than a charity, that’s a personification of the Aussie spirit.
We spoke to the woman behind this incredible movement, Aussie Hay Runners founder, Linda Widdup.
“It’s a hand up, not a handout” says the unassuming Victorian truckie who conceived the idea to deliver direct relief to drought-stricken farmers during the grips of the 2019 dry in the form of bales of hay.
“I came across a post on Facebook about how hard the drought was hitting in Dunedoo, and I just thought to myself, I can’t sit there and watch people suffer. I got to work sourcing fodder and hay, and our inaugural run was born.”
“When we got there, it was 50-degree heat, everything was dead, the ground was cracked, and they were in the grips of an eight-year drought. It was heartbreaking.”
At the time Linda had no idea just how huge this movement would become, or how far it would take her. She just wanted to help.
She was overwhelmed by the initial support from her truckie mates and from communities who weren’t in drought, and happy to donate surplus feed.
“We’re talking about generational farmers who had thousands of breeders and were now down to their last 50 head of cattle. It just made me more determined to help them.”
“I headed towards Dubbo and put a call out on Facebook when I got to Elong Elong, (50 kilometres away) and by the time I arrived I had thirteen trucks.”
These days the magnitude of the contribution is almost overwhelming, with more than 1000 trucks completing 36 runs to countless farmers and travelling 2.5 million kilometres across Australia.
“To be honest, back then I didn’t realise it was a mental health issue as well, but when these people saw the trucks roll up their drive you could just see sheer relief. Then as we completed more runs, I started seeing a bit of a pattern.”
“I saw grown men crying with gratitude, and on one particular run to Grafton I had a farmer collapse on my shoulder just so, so grateful for our help after his community had suffered the awful floods of 2022.”
This particular event inspired Linda to empower her growing fleet of truck drivers with some background knowledge and training on mental health.
“Aussie Hay Runners needed to be more than just hay runners. We needed to be equipped a little bit more with some skills, identifying the problems and the mental health issues that were going on.”
Through a mutual friend, she reached out to Grafton based RAMHP Coordinator, Samantha Osborne and opened a dialogue around where she wanted to take Aussie Hay Runners. Linda wanted her truckies to be able to report back to someone when they identified a person who they felt might need mental health support.
“There are so many truck drivers and volunteers within the Aussie Hay Runners family, and Sam started to coordinate some amazing online training for our guys. Now we can report back to RAMHP and identify people we think might need a mental health check.”
“As we speak, I have guys sitting in their tractors and trucks listening to their online training modules and every truck is now equipped with a RAMHP kit we can pass on to people, allowing them to access a multitude of services from the privacy of their own home.”
With mental health training under their belts and the growing desire to help rural people in need, Aussie Hay Runners have become a powerful force in the drought relief space, and Linda is excited about the future of the movement.
“We’ve helped thousands of people, and we’ll continue to help thousands. Aussie Hay Runners is going from strength to strength, and with the training we’re receiving from RAMHP, our guys are a lot more confident with knowing how a farmer feels.”
Despite being humble about her astonishing achievements with the hay runners’ movement, Linda was recognised in August with a well-deserved accolade; being inducted into the Women in Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.
“I was so grateful to receive that honour, but to be honest, my greatest reward in all of this is just to see the looks on the farmers’ faces when we rock up with bales of hay.”
You can follow the convoy here: https://www.facebook.com/aussiehayrunners