The first in a series of strategically located liquid stock feed depots will soon be available to the many graziers doing it tough in Charters Towers.
Glencore’s pastoral company, Colinta Holdings, extended a $100,000 donation to Australian farming charity Aussie Helpers to support Queensland families affected by the drought.
Aussie Helpers founder Brian Egan has dedicated the funds to the installation of the depots which will provide support for drought-stricken graziers across the region.
“The Colinta donation has enabled us to set up 25,000 litre holding tanks and pumping equipment at the Dalrymple Saleyard in Charters Towers, which will allow graziers to fill their own 1000 litre pods when they come to town, free of charge,” Mr Egan said.
The depots will provide a by-product of molasses known as SuplaBase, a good protein source for stock in liquid form which has in turn been donated by Wilmar Sugar.
“The contribution by Wilmar has also been very generous, and we’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the tanks are being refilled when necessary.
“These depots are our way of helping to drought-proof the region; the SuplaBase product is excellent, I’ve seen it do wonderful things for cattle that have been knocked about by drought, we call it ‘black magic’.”
He said the funding assistance is very important to developing a network of depots that can help drought-proof the western part of the state.
“We’re going to install more of these tank facilities at Boulia, Jundah, Charleville and Hughenden hopefully at a monthly pace that will assist farming families when times are tough.”
Glencore Coal’s Chief Operating Officer, Ian Cribb, said coexistence with other land users was a guiding principle of all of the company’s coal mining operations.
“We understand that regional economies need all businesses to be successful and we always seek to encourage and support other land users where we can,” Mr Cribb said.
“Having Colinta as part of our business helps maintain this focus, because we better appreciate the pressures and challenges faced by farmers and graziers,” he said.
“That’s why we were only too happy to provide this support for stock and station owners through the Aussie Helpers partnership.”