Crippling drought hammers Australia

> Extreme conditions across the east are the worst in 50 years

SYDNEY: A crippling drought is ravaging vast tracts of Australia’s pastoral heartlands, decimating herds and putting desperate farmers under intense financial and emotional strain, with little relief in sight.

While the country is no stranger to “big drys” and its people have long had a reputation as resilient, the extreme conditions across swathes of Australia’s east are the worst in more than 50 years.

A smattering of rain earlier this week did little to ease one of the driest starts to the year on record, turning pastures to dust and destroying huge areas of grazing and crop lands.

With no feed, farmers have been forced to ship in grain or hay from other parts of the country to keep sheep and cattle alive, spending thousands of extra dollars a week just to stay afloat.

Some exhausted graziers spend hours each day hand-feeding their stock because the ground is too dry for grass to grow.

Others have been forced to shoot starving cattle.

“They are shooting their stock because they don’t want them to suffer. They are shooting them because they just can’t afford to feed them anymore,” Tash Johnston, of charity Drought Angels, said.

Farmers have also had to ration water for their families and their herds because the dams on their properties are dry or nearly empty.

Many face the prospect of abandoning their homes altogether – some after being on the land for generations.

It is a scenario repeated across New South Wales state, where agriculture contributes more than A$15 billion (RM45 billion) to the state’s economy annually, employing more than 77,000 people.

Authorities yesterday officially declared the entire state in drought.

Conditions are similarly dire in Queensland to the north, where the state government says nearly 60% land is suffering drought conditions.

“This would be the first time in two generations, back to the 1930s, that we haven’t got a crop up in the autumn or winter time,” farmer Greg Stones, said.

With farmers facing ruin, the national government stepped in last weekend, pledging a A$190 million package of immediate relief measures.

There was also cash for counselling and mental health services, with droughtrelated stress and even suicide a mounting concern, compounded by the isolation many feel on their remote properties.

The weather bureau has warned there is no end to the drought in sight. – AFP