TONI Bell didn’t have to look far to comprehend the tightening grip of drought in the region.
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“I think it’s when I went to my horse paddock,” he said.
Kicking dusty ground in the paddock holding his four horses, Mr Bell knew he had to help somehow.
“I thought, this is what’s happening to me with four horses, imagine what farmers are going through,” he said.
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Mr Bell has helped coordinate a truckload of livestock salt licks to be delivered to the region on Monday.
While he’s not a farmer and said his only connection to the industry was being someone “who gives a shit”, Mr Bell was struck by the costs faced by agriculture in the region.
“I spoke to one farmer who said they ‘just got back from throwing $1000 in my paddock’,” he said.
“They’re spending $1000 twice a day to feed animals.
“The government has $50,000 loans with a seven year interest free period, that's going to last farmers 25 days.
“It’s too little too late.”
Through a team effort of locals, 23 tonnes of licks from Olsson’s salts in Queensland was delivered on Monday.
Working with his friend Greg Douglas and he coordinated transport through Parry Logistics which was paid for by Rural Aid, following a call to Barnaby Joyce’s office.
The blocks were delivered to Westdale business Aus-skips on Monday.
Mr Bell said he had called around to a number of charities and government bodies to get an idea of people who were in need in the region.
“We’ve got about 30 farmers on the list, some were feeding 10 cattle, some were feeding hundreds,” he said.
Mr Bell said the blocks could help cattle get important minerals like calcium.
Since the start of May, rain gauges at Tamworth airport have caught a miserly three millimetres.
According to Elders Weather, the average total rainfall for May and June since 1993 is 88.9 millimetres.
Mr Bell said people could in touch at 0400 459 913 if they knew of someone doing it tough who might benefit from a lick block donation.