Farmers facing more dramas than drought
Farmers facing more than just lack of rain
❝well
It is just as for the nation that the love of the bush life runs very deep — Tricia Agar
IT SURE doesn’t rain money, but it does rain hope.
Unfortunately few would disagree that money is the more useful of the two when it comes to running a large property.
But for Tricia Agar, hope was a really good start.
Rural Weekly recently caught up with Mrs Agar to talk about the effects of ongoing drought on her property, Barbara Plains, and things weren’t looking good after very little grass-growing rain since 2012.
The property received 48mm in recent downpours that left much of Queensland with wet boots.
But while people in the city could sigh with relief that their grass was finally greening up again, it often meant little when a property had been drought-stricken for so long and farmers had suffered from multiple seasons with depressed income.
Out at Barbara Plains, any surviving buffel grass was starting to throw new shoots, but unfortunately the prolonged dry and kangaroo invasions left very little on the ground and most would have to grow from seed.
The mitchell grass was another matter entirely, with its 15-foot root systems taking a lot longer to bounce back.
Mrs Agar said the country really needed prolonged rain over weeks to make a lasting difference, but every new shower brought a fresh wave of hope that things were looking up.
Unfortunately, drought was only one of many problems farmers faced.
“Most people in the south west have been living on a wing and a prayer for far too many years, having to adapt with every wind of change and trying to stay viable in a political environment that is
anti-farmer and anti-agriculture,” she said.
“In many ways this is just as draining and devastating as prolonged drought.”
She said vegetation management laws and the new J-BAS system that came into effect on October 1 were just as heartbreaking as the
drought and left many wondering if agriculture was worth the heartbreak.
“Being a farmer in Australia is not for the faint-hearted,” Mrs Agar said.
“Battling the elements is one thing, but that coupled with a toxic political environment and the burden
of debt, means that the people who go about their business producing the food that the people of Australia consume every day, often question their sanity for wanting to stay in a occupation that is constantly under attack.
“It is just as well for the
nation that the love of the bush life runs very deep in the veins of the people in agriculture, and that we are a tenacious bunch, not prone to giving in easily.”
Recent rains brought this year’s total to 153mm, well below the region’s annual average of 381mm.