The 20-truck Farmers Across Borders Meekatharra Hay Run went from Esperance on Saturday January 25 arriving in Meekatharra on Australian Day. This is one of the stories from the journey:
Driver: Greg Fisher
Location: Esperance
Occupation: Farm, transport and baling business owner
MOTIVATED by the passion of his friend Ross Stone, who was one of the key organisers of the 2020 WA hay run, Greg Fisher was keen to be involved.
"A lot of people don't understand how bad the drought actually is in Western Australia," Greg said.
"It's good to come up and do something for these guys.
"Delivering the hay and meeting the pastoralists is the part I really enjoy.
"It doesn't solve their problems but buys them some time and hopefully gives them a bit of hope that it will hopefully rain soon."
Greg is a farmer and business owner based in Esperance, where he lives with his wife Leanne and three of his four children, Cameron, 26, Montana, 15 and Chloe 13.
Greg and Leanne's eldest daughter Rochelle, 28, now lives in Kalgoorlie with her family.
Throughout his years in business, Greg has learnt the benefit of diversifying and so now he and Leanne have their fingers in a few different pies, including a couple of transport businesses, a baling business and a tree plantation at Neridup.
The Fishers have a fleet of 10 trucks, with eight on the road at any given time.
"With the farm we have just been focusing on the tree plantation at the moment and once the trees are harvested and the stumps are all out, we will probably run cattle or sheep," Greg said.
"We have been doing the harvesting and carting the logs ourselves.
"It's a big job but a lot of fun.
"Our long-term goal is to have it in production in the next two to five years."
Greg and Leanne took Cameron, Montana and Chloe, as well as their friend Lucy Hart, 16, along for the ride this year, making it their second hay run as a family.
"It's good fun for us and the kids get to see different parts of Australia," he said.
"We're just happy to have the cost of fuel covered.
"Last year the run to the Eastern States became our annual family holiday and it will probably be the same again this year.
"It's a different style of farming to what we do down in Esperance, so it's good to see how they do things in the pastoral region."
As well as driving one of the 20 trucks on the run, which involved donating his time and labour, Greg also offered up his property at Esperance as the departure point for Farmers Across Borders hay runs throughout the past 12 months.
On this run Greg was driving an almost brand new Kenworth T-900 which was a remake of an old series and was number 227 of 256.
"It's a really special truck and a bit of a classic," he said.
"I like that you can custom build all Kenworth trucks and they're well built and they do last."
Greg said he has seen the pride he has for his trucks mirrored in his drivers and there's an element of unspoken respect.
"I believe that if I take pride in my trucks, then hopefully the drivers want to be there for work and look after my truck," he said.
Having been farming for most of his life, coupled with having a liking for trucks since he was a child and driving on and off for 30 years, Greg now divides his time relatively evenly between the farm and "playing with trucks".
Nowadays Greg spends most of his time around the yard managing the businesses, which include about seven full-time drivers and Ross and Cameron as his second-in-commands (2ICs), and Leanne handles the office.
The Fisher's baling business involves a lot of hay grown from the Esperance region being baled, which is led by Greg and Ross.
"I think Ross and I work well together," Greg said.
"When Ross moved to Esperance he drove a truck for me for nine months and then worked on a farm for five years.
"Then I asked him to come back.
"I trust him and he's a mate."
Farming and trucking is like a good friendship - they go hand in hand but are also independent from each other.
"Trucking is a tough industry," he said.
"It's very competitive and a lot can go wrong, like mechanical failures and accidents.
"And like farming, the margins are quite small."
Just as farming has its challenges, which can be similar to that of the transport industry, both require a passion for the work and a strong work ethic, which are two qualities that stand out in Greg.