Otago Rural Support Trust chairman David Shepherd was last night mobilising the effort, saying that while last week's storm was not felt in Otago as widely as in Southland, Owaka, Kaiwera and the Clinton Gorge were hard hit by seven days of snow, rain, wind and freezing temperatures.
He said the Clutha district was included in the Government's declaration of a medium-scale adverse event zone.
Mr Shepherd yesterday attended a meeting of community leaders in Invercargill.
He would approach rural companies that have lent their support to the Southland effort about extending it to Otago.
He said the Otago trust was not slow to react, but rather the scale of the Southland disaster meant momentum there started earlier and was helped by sizeable financial donations for farmer relief.
It was hoped funding would also be available for food parcels.
More than 50 staff employed by rural servicing companies in Southland visited farmers in the Tokanui, Wyndham and Hedgehope districts yesterday, offering food parcels and asking what help they needed.
Southland Rural Support Trust chairman Lindsay Wright said it would take a few days to collate the answers, but response had been high.
Many refused the food parcels saying others had a greater need, but Mr Wright said they appeared to welcome the visit and the opportunity to talk to someone about what they were going through.
Others had been talking to neighbours and friends, which was just as important.
A bank has heeded calls by Finance Minister Bill English in Saturday's Otago Daily Times to extend to farmers hit by the storm the same sympathy they have shown those hit by the Canterbury earthquake.
ASB has announced a $100,000 donation to Federated Farmers Adverse Events Trust specifically targeted at Southland sheep farmers, and a financial assistance package to clients.
Dead lambs from last week's southern storms have overwhelmed the rendering process which turns them in to meat and bone meal.
Slinkskins Ltd skin collection manager Ray Watson said the scale of lamb deaths had forced the company to look for other ways to dispose of them and those not suited to have the pelt removed.
"There was such a big volume and it happened so quickly, no rendering system in the world could deal with it."
But he said the company's problems were insiginficant compared with those facing farmers, some of whom had lost up to 75% of lambs born in the week of storm.
Environment Southland had agreed to help by allowing the company to bury lamb carcasses with retrospective resource consent.