REBECCA HARPER Waipukurau farmer Marcus Peacock is the lucky first recipient of a truckload of hay, donated by a Taranaki farmer. The load of 33 round bales arrived at his property Hononga Farm, Waipukurau, yesterday afternoon and he is delighted it means he can carry some stock through the winter. He hasalready sold some cattle and is carrying only about 50 per cent of what he normally would at this time of year. However, the donation means he can now hold onto the cattle he has left, shut up the paddocks to let the grass grow, and feed out hay. "It's nice to be able to carry some cattle through to that spring growth," Mr Peacock said. With the recent rain the farm had turned green again, but it would still be some time before grass growth really kicked in. "It's fantastic them digging into their own pockets and helping us out," he said of the Taranaki farmers. Although Mr Peacock had only been farming in the district for a few years, he said many farmers who had been in the area a long time had sent feed away to the Manawatu during the devastating floods and down South when they were badly affected by snow. "It's good to see what goes around comes around. Hawke's Bay is experiencing some tough times and it's nice that our generosity in past times is being rewarded," he said. Waverley farmer Roger Dickie last week challenged Taranaki farmers to band together and come up with 50 truck loads of supplementary feed for drought-affected Hawke's Bay farmers. West coast farmers experienced a "boomer" autumn with exceptional grass growth rates, meaning that compared to a normal autumn, farmers in the area had huge feed surpluses they did not need to feed out. "Surely we can get by if we give away 10 to 20 per cent of that surplus to help the less fortunate in Hawke's Bay," Mr Dickie said.
