If it doesn’t rain in the next fortnight many NSW farmers could lose crops, leading to higher food prices over Christmas, Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says. Mr Macdonald on Sunday released the state’s latest drought figures showing 63.9 per cent of NSW is still in drought, a slight improvement on 64.6 per cent this time last year. Nearly a quarter of the state – 24.4 per cent – is deemed satisfactory, while 11.7 per cent is seen as marginal, up from 9.7 per cent in the same period last year. While there has been a slight improvement in the overall figure, Mr Macdonald says the situation is still critical, particularly in the state’s south. Mr Macdonald said many valuable crops were under pressure, including wheat, canola and barley. “If we don’t get some reasonable rainfall over the next fortnight or so, many of these crops will be turned out to livestock for fodder purposes,” Mr Macdonald told reporters in Sydney. “And it will mean, of course, a reduction in the total production when it’s harvested later this year.” …
Rainfall needed in the next fortnight to salvage crops: government
