Major organisations, sports teams, families and generous individuals have reached into their pockets to help our struggling farmers.

Macquarie Media, Fairfax Media and Buy A Bale joined forces to launch The Big Dry Drought Appeal, to get those in the bush the support they need.

Ben Fordham says listeners have been wondering how much money the Buy A Bale campaign has raised, and where the donations are going.

Now, he’s got some answers.

CEO of Rural Aid Charles Alder tells Ben Fordham almost $10 million has been raised over the past “four or five months”, and around $5 million has been spent already.

“It’s been a very humbling experience to have so many people donate to our farmers,” he says.

Mr Alder tells Ben around $2.7 million has been spent on hay since January, with $2 million also being allocated to five mental health counsellors over the next three years.

Around $500,000 has also been allocated to gift cards for farming families.

Rural Aid’s CEO says the company is looking at “every avenue” to reduce their costs and is in talks with the NSW government to negotiate the cost of transporting hay.

Transport fees can be between $15,000-20,000 per trailer.

Click PLAY below to hear a full rundown of the costs 

He says between 8-10 per cent of funds are allocated to administration costs but some corporates are stepping in to help.

“There are some admin fees, we can’t get away from that. Every charity has them,” Mr Alder says.

Donate to The Big Dry Drought Appeal HERE