Australia drought improves, but farmers still desperate
By JESSICA MAHAR
April 21, 2010 THE rain dances must have worked, with NSW suffering less drought than at any time in the past nine years – this month, just 7.3 per cent of the state is drought declared. The Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, said he hoped the figures marked a turning point for the drought, after some parts of the northeast and southern areas received up to 200 millimetres of rain last month. “Not since the drought began nine years ago has the situation been this good across the state,” Mr Whan said. “It is a very welcome boost from January when 81 per cent of the state was in drought.” But as good as the statewide picture appears, some farmers still are wondering when their big dry will end. ”It feels like we haven’t been out of drought at all,” a sheep and crop farmer, Graham Hosegood, said. ”What’s tending to happen is we get larger dumps of rain and then nothing and it’s back to where we were. ”Last year was terrible and things are as grim here as they have been in the past 10 years.” … Many farmers have seen improvements yet more than half of the state is still declared marginal, Mr Whan said. ”Without continued good rains these areas could slip back into drought,” he said. …
isnt this the farmers song and dance all around though? the same thing happens in Canada. the news is constantly talking eith the farmers, and its either: "its too wet, or too dry for our crops because ____ reason."