Sunday 3 May 2026
Old Tailem Town - Tailem Bend S.A.
Life on a Farm ... 45 Degrees and no rain!
Saturday 31 January 2026 : Adelaide Central Rotarians Bill Marles and Michelle Tink visited a farm in Taldra – 20 minutes from Loxton in South Australia’s Riverland dry cropping region. They met Edwina and her mum Samantha.
It was 45°C when they arrived. The 5th day in a row above 40° for this family. Even their stone house had heated during such prolonged and catastrophic temperatures. They can’t really afford to run their airconditioner for long. All of the costs (including water) just keep adding up to unaffordable levels.
The soil on their farm was so hot you could not walk bare foot without burning yourself. Their animals hunt for any bit of shade they can find, for the same reason. Even their seasoned dogs now live inside, also unable to cope with the conditions.
85mm … that’s how much rain they received for the WHOLE of 2025. Less than four inches. To put that into perspective … Adelaide’s average annual rainfall is around 500mm (20 inches)
Driving into their farm is all by dirt road. Some roads were getting close to impassable because of top soil drifts. The wind has blown farmers’ topsoil into mounds engulfing farm boundary fences, spilling over to encroach on the roads. These drifts are reminiscent of sand dunes.
Precious little hay exists on the farms around Edwina and Sam’s property. A couple of their neighbours with some spare hay do help them out by selling bales at a very reasonable price. But that’s likely to stop soon, as the neighbours find they need to ensure their own livestock remain fed and healthy.
Sam has destocked as far as she possibly can. They only have five cows left, and nobody will purchase them of late. This leaves no choice but to find feed, somehow, to keep the cows alive. It’s a similar story with their small flock of sheep, goats and two donkeys.
Edwina has a sister who has found work off the farm. Without her income to help keep the family afloat during these prolonged drought conditions, they'd likely have to walk from their land!
Despite all of this hardship, Bill and Michelle were welcomed with a smile and enthusiasm. Rotary offers a ray of hope. We’re currently working out a way of delivering some rescue fodder to them ASAP and thank all of our donors for providing the funds needed to make this happen ( https://donations.rawcs.com.au/42-2024-25 )
Similarly, our Pioneer Adventure Day to be held on Sunday 3rd May 2026 at Old Tailem Town Pioneer Village, will be invaluable to give families like this a day of respite! If you can help sponsor a rural family to attend our event, please click on https://reg.planetreg.au/Rotary-Pioneer-Adventure-Day-Sponsorship
Even a simple bowl of grain has the sheep running! Edwina (left) and mum Samantha care for their flock like they're family.
Edwina's flock now has access to a shed to get out of the searing sun!
The trees are dead now - but they still cast a shadow to offer the goats some shade from the searing heat.
Although goats will happily eat hay when it's available, so scare is the food that they'll also chew on the dead tree sticks in their paddocks.
Blistering heat ensures the cows are frequent visitors to the water trough, especially the newborn calves.
Top soil drifts are covering fences, in some places 1 to 2 metres above the boundary fence. In some spots, the drifts have start to encroach on roads.
Red onions offer animals some extra moisture and an energy-rich food source during droughts. They also contain key nutrients like calcium, potassium and nitrogen.