Post written by Rebecca Pickering, one of the fantastic members of our blogger team.
“Rain. What’s that?”
Close your eyes for just one moment and imagine growing up with the stark reality of not having seen, heard or smelt that liquid gold hitting the dusty plains of rural Australia. Unfortunately, this unfathomable nightmare isn’t far from the truth for hundreds of children growing up in parts of regional Australia, struggling through the grips of drought for yet another year, and still with no sight of rain clouds brewing on the horizon.
Nationwide, our remote, regional and rural mates across a huge portion of Australia are struggling through some of the hardest times on record. Yet why is it that as soon as the big media channels stop highlighting this national disaster, we simply sweep away those burning images of cattle resembling a skeleton more than a living being, and deem the situation to be over?
Farmers and primary producers are in the midst of one of the worst droughts recorded for over 100 years, extenuated by hotter than average temperatures increasing the severity of drought conditions. But it’s not primary producers alone affected by the conditions of drought, with flow-on results impacting local communities in a multitude of ways, from closing local pubs to turning once lively towns into what some would deem to be ghost towns and severely changing living conditions for whole communities. Towns like Stanthorpe and Dubbo are blatantly counting the remaining number of days that the whole town will be supplied with water.
And the end of drought is still nowhere to be seen. Instead, farmers with no pasture are forced to hand feed remaining stock for as long as they can physically, emotionally and mentally. With ever-increasing transport costs and a scarcity of grain from drought-related growing conditions, costs of pasture-alternative feed sources are pushing farmers and primary producers to the edge.
And currently, rain isn’t the only problem on hundreds of farmers’ minds, with horrendous fire conditions leaving behind trails of destruction in remote towns whom were already struggling amidst the reality of drought now having to face the unfathomable decision of using their remaining water to fight fires or have the threat of their lifelong work going up in ashes.
Scarily, the ever-important group of Australians that feed our nation are among the highest social group to face depression, and are reported as the highest risk group for suicide in Australia. And with the conditions of drought likely to worsen before the rains finally come, more and more farmers are pushed to the brink of what they can handle.
The flow on-effects leave long term crevices in Australia’s future agricultural industry. Now, more than ever, more and more young Australians who would have ordinarily taken over the reins of generational farms are deciding to walk off the land after seeing the toll years of drought have taken on their parents, leaving a huge employment shortage in Australia’s agricultural industry.
So what can we as a nation do to help mitigate the impacts for our drought-stricken fellow Aussies?
Right now, farmers and rural towns need your support. Going out for a weekend away and supporting a regional town by staying in local accommodation and supporting local businesses is a great way to show your support. Paying premiums for Australian grown products at the supermarket is an additional way to show your support for Australian farmers. Alternatively, organising community fundraisers or simply donating to a drought-assisted fundraiser is a fantastic way to help our mates doing it tough. From family fun days to rodeos and everything in-between, fundraisers are a great way to get the whole community involved in an issue so close to everyone’s heart. And quite simply, just starting a conversation with a friend about drought is a great way to keep the issue topical and show farmers and regional communities we haven’t forgotten about them.
And for now, we can all keep praying, and maybe even begging for rain until this national disaster finally breaks.