Related: Eye on dry in Central Victoria
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As another big dry bites, many central Victorian farmers are struggling to keep their operations viable – but one farming family from Wanalta still managed to make a major donation to The Royal Children's Hospital this week.
The Ogdens are carting in water to their Wanalta Park sheep farm, though farmer Billy said they had been through tougher times.
“If you think a farmer has a bad day, well go down to the Royal Childrens’, when you walk in those doors and see all those kids, that puts everything into perspective – hundreds of families get heartbroken all the time,” Billy Ogden said.
“Farmers get by, that’s what you do out there, but you never know when you are going to need help.”
The Ogdens have had to call on that help before. In 2013, their newborn son Heath was flown to Melbourne with pneumonia.
“He had a tube inserted into his left side to drain out mucus and pus on his lungs,” Kat Ogden said.
“Now look at him, he’s firing on all cylinders – and more!”
And they’ve seen other farming families saved from tragedy by the Melbourne hospital.
“My best mate’s daughter was real crook with cancer, she had an ongoing battle for 18-months with tumors in her tummy, cancer in her lungs,” Billy said.
“She’s had a good outcome too.
“So that’s two good stories which came out of it, the support down there was unreal and so I said then I wanted to give something back.”
On Monday, the Ogdens got that opportunity, when they donated 10 lambs to their agent at the Bendigo Livestock Exchange.
Elders Bendigo livestock manager Nigel Starick sold the lambs for $350 a head – around $200 more than any other sale that day.
“The buyers give us a fair bit of support when we do work like this,” Mr Starick said.
“Four of them put their hands up today: Thomas Foods from Murray Bridge, Australian Lamb Company from Colac, M.C. Herd from Geelong and Midfield Meats from Warrnambool.”
The Ogdens hope to make their donation an annual tradition, and remain optimistic about their future.
“The farm's not looking too bad, we had 80 millimetres of rain six weeks ago and they're talking about a wet April and May...” Billy said.
