There's a renewed call for Australian farmers to support their counterparts in Ukraine by donating grain that will be sold to raise money for aid groups operating in the war zone.
The call comes almost 12 months after Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year.
The Grain4Ukraine fundraising drive was launched in April, and called on farmers to donate grain, display the Ukrainian flag on farm machinery and post photographs to social media.
It's an initiative of national lobby group Grain Producers Australia (GPA), which has established a subcommittee to oversee it.
GPA chief executive Colin Bettles said the appeal was born out of a desire from farmers in Australia to show solidarity with Ukrainians.
"GPA was contacted by some farmers, in particular a couple in Western Australia – Brad Jones and David Fullwood – who have connections with Ukraine, having been there with their Nuffield scholarships," he said.
"They had a lot of empathy toward what the people of Ukraine were going through.
"So we've focused on setting up a facility where farmers could donate grain if they wanted to show that support for people in Ukraine."
Hopes near-record crop will fuel donations
Mr Bettles said while some farmers had donated grain, he hoped a larger slice of the near-record predicted 62 million tonne national crop would be offered up.
"The war's not front page news now so it's probably slipped from front of mind for a lot of growers, and it was a particularly challenging harvest for [Australian] growers as well," he said.
"But if anyone does have grain they want to donate, the war is continuing and the facility is there, so we'll continue encouraging people to donate."
Four charities to receive proceeds
The money raised from the donated grain will be split between four charities operating in Ukraine — UN Crisis Relief's Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, the World Vision Ukraine Appeal, World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine and Oxfam International.
Mr Bettles said farming was challenging at the best of times, and it was unimaginable to think how much harder it would be in a war zone.
"We went through severe rain and flooding this harvest and were waiting for the ground to dry up, but waiting for the bombs and bullets to stop is something we can't imagine," he said.
"Australian farmers and the Australian public are very well known for being generous … so with a big harvest there is an opportunity to give a little, should people choose to."
To donate farmers can transfer grain to the GPA's National Grower Register number, which is 1500 4442.
