Drip-feeding our farmers during the drought

Those on the land are looking to the sky for real relief from one of the worst droughts on record.

Grazier Scott Todd feeds sheep on his drought-affected property near Bollon, southwest Queensland. Picture: AAP

When the soaking rains finally came to Bourke on Sunday local farmers grinned, splashed and wrestled in the puddles. One stripped to his underwear and hat to wade through the pools of water forming on long-parched ground.

Rick Bennett strips down to celebrate the weekend rain on his farm near Tottenham, central NSW.

The rain that continued as it moved east on Monday will not break what is considered to be Australia’s biggest drought since the Federation drought at the start of the 20th century.

But it has lifted spirits in rural communities preparing to hear the details of the Morrison government’s new drought emergency measures.

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Federal cabinet is set to hear details of the new drought package as early as Tuesday. The plan is expecte­d to include a continuation or expansion of existing programs, along with some new initiatives.

Existing policies are worth about $7bn and include direct household income relief to struggling farmers, a Future Drought Fund and local council grants.

Faced with pressure from One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party the focus is on government to show its support for farm communities in cash.

Immediate rains will lift the spirits but not dampen expectations of what level of assistance is on the way.

National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Maher says the NFF has not ruled out any propos­al that may appear in the government’s drought package. “We’ve done the opposite — the issues are so wide-ranging that the core of our discussion with governme­nt has been there is no one single program that will help the industry,” Maher said. “There must be a suite of measures that a farmer might take up depending on their individual circumstances.

“That might be a loan from the Regional Investment Corporation for some, or a farm household allowa­nce for others. It could be isolated children’s expenses.

“That is the real difficulty with drought policies — every farm is so different, it’s hard to get a policy that suits everyone. And that’s why we say this needs to have a framework around it so we can measure what things are working and what things aren’t.”

Maher says the NFF’s long-term drought strategy, put to governmen­t in September, “is in large part a way to manage the next drought rather than this one”.

“We also put forward specific measures like rate relief, payroll taxes, feral pig culls, isolated children’s expenses, and ways to help farmers leave their businesses if they choose to do so,” he said.

One area of urgent support lies with rural industries and shire councils in drought-stricken areas. “It’s about communities getting some funding and recognising the role communities play,” he said.

“An aspect of that is rate relief to help farmers with cashflow expenses­, and also local projects that might maintain workers in rural towns, and put some cash through the local economy.” Maher says the areas needing the most urgent help are the top half of NSW and the Hunter region, western and central Queensland, and northern Victoria.

He says some regions in western NSW have had up to 90mm. “For some areas, 25mm would be quite good, but given the ground is so dry and dusty, if there’s any more it would wash the soil away.”

Some areas around Armidale in NSW got only 5mm, “which is nothing”. Aside from immediate assistance, a Future Drought Fund is a key feature of the federal governmen­t’s response.

The fund begins with an initial credit of $3.9bn and earnings will be reinvested until the balance reaches $5bn. From next July, $100m a year will be made available­ to farm communities to prepare­ for, and become resilient to, future drought.

A Future Drought Fund consultative committee is holding pub­lic consultations throughout drought-stricken areas. It is seeking ways to best build drought resilience­ with the fund. The alloc­ation of funds for projects will be guided by the result­ing Drought Resilience Funding Plan.

Drought Minister David Littleproud says the consultations will inform the committee on the best ways for the Future Drought Fund to invest in drought resilience.

“The fund will provide $100m each year from July 1, 2020, for projects that enhance our prepar­ations and responses to drought,” Littleproud says.

“Improved drought resilience could come from new tools, technolo­gies or techniques that help farmers better manage natural­ resources. It could come from better financial and business planning for lower-income periods. Or it could come from better, more localised weather data and improved climate forecasting.”

The Bureau of Meteorology will release its monthly drought statement this week, but the most recent rains are unlikely to change the outlook dramatically.

According to the BoM, drought is not simply low rainfall and there is no universal definition for it.

Meteorologists monitor the ­extent and severity of drought in terms of rainfall deficiencies, agriculturali­sts rate the impact on primary industries, hydrologists compare groundwater levels, and sociologists define it by social expectat­ions and perceptions.

“It is difficult to compare one drought to another, since each drought differs in the seasonality, location, spatial extent and duration­ of the associated rainfall deficiencies,” the BoM says.

The current dry is considered bigger than the millennium drought of 2000 and comparable to the Federation drought a ­century ago. Low rainfall has affect­ed most of the Queensland, NSW and South Australian parts of the Murray-Darling Basin since early 2017.

These longer-term defic­iencies extend to parts of the NSW coast, particularly the Hunter and Illawarra, and to much of the eastern half of South Australia, from Adelaide northwards.

The deficiencies have been most extreme in the northern Murray-Darling Basin, especially in the northern half of NSW and southern Queensland, where areas of record-low rainfall extend from the Great Dividing Range west as far as Dubbo and Walgett.

Farmers are looking for relief, firstly from the sky but also with a close eye on this week’s happenings in Canberra.

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Every drop is precious in a community in crisis

The Andersons are among the most careful water users in a town going dry despite its green credentials. The family of four rely on two rainwater tanks and are not connected to the main water supply in Denmark, 5km away.

Theirs is an increasingly common set-up even for residents in the centre of town. Hundreds of locals have installed rainwater tanks since the Water Corporation began offering subsidies to the community of 6000 three years ago. The corporation knew a crisis was on the horizon: the town’s fast growth, it’s enormous popularity as a holiday destination and dry winters were emptying the main dam.

It is school holidays and the town is heaving with visitors. The caravan parks and holiday chalets are full. The state government will soon start trucking in drinking water. For Bron Anderson, using water wisely is a lifelong habit. She grew up in South Australia in a house that used rainwater.

It pleases Anderson and her husband, Brad, that their children are learning about the environment at school.

Brad and Bron Anderson with children Lainey and Benji. Picture: Colin Murty

“They have come home a few times and told us what happens when the rainfall is low,” she says. “They know not to waste water. We want them to know these good habits but for them it’s normal, they don’t know any other way.”

Denmark residents are known for their conservation values. The town draws tree-changers, artists and some of the state’s wealthiest businesspeople who want a holiday home between the forest, river and sea.

Three dry winters since 2014 have put Denmark on the toughest water restrictions, despite it being one of Western Australia’s lowest water consumers. Each household in Denmark used an average 133 kilolitres of water last year. The WA household average is 306KL, the second-highest in the nation, according to the 2016 census.

Households in the Northern Territory are the nation’s biggest water users, consuming 571KL/year. Queensland households use 203KL, ACT households use 198KL, NSW uses 194KL, Tasmanians consume 179KL, and Victorians and South Australians use 168KL.

Paige Taylor