Condobolin, July 18: Under cloudless blue skies, Doug Ridley drives a tanker 10 kms to haul water for his sheep - and so his family can bathe. The reservoir that usually keeps livestock watered on his outback ranch has shrunk to a muddy puddle.
Down the road, Ridley's friend graham McDonald is watching his 6,000 acres of wheat and oats wither and die in fields turned to red dust by a drought that is creeping across eastern Australia and wreaking havoc on the nation's agricultural industry. "We're sitting on the edge of a calamity," McDonald's said. "This is a personal nightmare for families and communities."
Some two-thirds of Australia's most populous state, new south Wales, is in the grip of a drought that is destroying crops and threatening farmers' livelihoods.

The looming disaster prompted state authorities to announce today a raft of aid for farmers. Drought-hit properties will be able to apply for subsidies worth about 25,000 Australian dollars (US dollars 14,000) to pay for water or move livestock.
Some farms have not had a drop of rain for a year, said mal peters, president of the new south Wales farmers association. About 16 percent of Queensland state is also suffering from drought.
Peters said the long dry spell has meant tens of thousands of acres of crops have not been planted or will die unless they get substantial rain in the next two to three weeks.

Bureau Report