'THE DROUGHT'

[ppyenews]

Welcome to ‘Talkback Topic’ – I’m Phillip Pye.

The present ‘Drought’ conditions we have in Australia at the moment are appearing to be the worst on record. They in no way look like easing either with temperatures around most of the country lately being a record high for this time of the year. The other factor is we’ve had very little rain over the winter leaving many water storage facilities at very low levels. The country’s Farming Community have already ‘given up the ghost’ and have resorted to buying feed to carry them through the forthcoming summer. The fact is we are all in for a fairly tough ride with water supply. A report from last year though says as a country we can do better.

The first stage of a national assessment of Australia's water resources has found there is considerable room for improvement. The Australian Water Resources 2005 report is a baseline assessment of Australia's national water resources conducted by national independent agencies including the CSIRO. It is designed to show how the National Water Initiative, a blueprint for the country's water reform, is influencing Australia's water resources.

It reveals there is considerable room for improvement and says the state and federal governments need to take firm action to put in place effective water planning to protect river systems and to agree on a national standard for sustainable yields of surface and ground water systems. The results will go before the next Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council in November.

Prime Minister John Howard says Australians need to keep a sense of perspective amid growing concerns about the drought. Unless John Howard has a direct link to the ‘Weather Gods’ one can only assume that means ‘keep your chin up and pray’. The fact is however as a country we are just plain stupid about water as a whole. We waste it in pure ignorance that technology has found alternatives to using water. We also look at the use of recycled water as being unacceptable, such arrogance is a luxury that one may no longer be able to afford. If we don’t learn now how to conserve water, we may never get another opportunity.

I’m Phillip Pye.

[lennie]

Howard leaves door open for more drought aid

from ABC Online...
The Prime Minister, John Howard, toured drought stricken areas in New South Wales today, promising the Government's relief package for farmers is still a work in progress.

In one of the worst affected regions in the country, he was met with more pleas for help from rural businesses and contractors who have so far missed out on Government assistance.

Mr Howard and Nationals leader Mark Vaile met with around 40 farmers who gathered in the empty grain shed of farmer Trevor Smith, who has farmed 10,000 acres of land just outside of Forbes since 1948.

Mr Howard arrived at the grain shed saying he was eager to hear what the farmers had to say.

"We've come to do a minium of talking and a maximum of listening," he said.

"I do want to assure you that the Government and the whole country cares about you, wants to help you through this terrible drought.

"The nation is wealthy enough to afford to help its farmers through this terrible drought."

Fears

The farmers, farm suppliers and contractors took turns expressing their fears.

"We're very concerned for all our farmers and our small businesses that this drought is really biting hard," said Oliver Stone, who travelled from Cunowndra to be part of the forum.

He says the dire situation is pointing to taking on more debt to survive.

"I would have said carry-on finance and also for any of us younger generation, carry-on for succession planning and also moving on to take on the family farm, and I think that's one of our biggest concerns because we're all going further and further into debt."

The future prospects for the next generation of farmers were also highlighted at the forum.

"Another great concern of ours are our young farmers - they have had a really tough time over the last four, five, six years, and we need to keep them in the business," one man said.

"Because they're the ones that are going to take over the land and farm in the future."

Workers' hardship

Another man said it was not just farmers and households who were suffering hardship.

"My great concern that hasn't been mentioned is the workers on the land," he said.

"Everybody who's collecting EC [exceptional circumstances assistance] is getting the household help, but their station hands are not getting anything.

"It's the people who are receiving household support - they haven't got the money to pay the station hand. If they leave the land, they'll never come back."

Another said although he was not a farmer, he was struggling to survive as a spray contractor.

"We do nothing but spray crops. We've felt that for the last four years we've survived - there is no assistance to us, there's no EC, nothing that we can have," he said.

Livestock producer Michael Rutherford says he feels the Prime Minister's visit has made a difference to people of the area.

"I think it was really useful and I was really pleased to hear that he was here to listen - he listened intently and I'm sure something will come out of it," he said.

Door open

After the forum, Mr Howard went on to a sheep farm at Gunning and will spend tonight with local farmers in Goulburn, before going on to Corowa and Deniliquin tomorrow.

Mr Howard has left the door open for further assistance and has told farmers the strength of the farming community is of vital importance.

"We cannot afford to lose our farm sector - we cannot see it fall below a critical mass," he said.

"I'm very committed to the maintenance of a viable farm sector.

"I do not believe that the country would survive the loss of that and the nation would change its character permanently."

Interesting question is - will Indonesia come to the aid of our Farmers like we have in the past with Tsunami's etc? Mr Howard, the One Billion Dollars you gave away in aid to Indonesia would be pretty handy now.

[lennie]

El Nino pushes October rains to 92-year low

Victoria has recorded its driest October for 92 years. Melbourne recorded nine millimetres of rain this month, well below the average of 67 millimetres. The weather bureau's Peter Blake says the low rainfall is a result of an El Nino weather pattern and there is more dry weather to come.

"The outlook for the three months basically is for average to below average rainfall so certainly not looking good for people trying to make up for the very dry month of October," he said.

[lennie]

Weather bureau says El Nino weakening
By Karen Barlow for AM

After a fierce and seemingly endless Australian drought there are finally indications that the weather is turning a crucial corner.

The weather bureau's National Climate Centre (NCC) says the current El Nino event has begun to weaken, which bodes well for wetter conditions by the end of summer or early autumn.

Farmers have been heartened by the prediction but say they will welcome drought-breaking rain when they see it.

Until last month the indications were that the prevailing El Nino event had been strengthening.

But the NCC's senior climatologist, Grant Beard, now says the signs are showing that it is starting to weaken.

"The main ones are the sea surface temperatures during the last month and a bit, and also the trade winds which have been stronger than average," he said.

"We had a few hints of it in December but it was still too early to say at that stage, but the trends have now gone on for over a month, so we can be somewhat more confident in what we're seeing."

This scenario significantly increases the chance of rain in late summer and early autumn and when it comes, Mr Beard says it is more likely to be concentrated in the north and east.

"We have already seen quite significant rainfall through Western Australia, in fact parts of Western Australia would appreciate it if there was a drier period coming up rather than increased rainfall.

"But the main drought-affected areas have been through the south and through the east, and what we typically see during the end of an El Nino is increased rainfall in those parts of the country but not necessarily simultaneously."

He says this is reasonably good news for farmers.

"Generally speaking it bodes well for Australian rainfall."

Farmers such as western New South Wales merino sheep breeder and irrigator, John Sutherland, say it is a promising prognosis.

"It means that it will be very important that we maintain our core breeding stock and maintain that they get pregnant for this year's lambing," he said.

"We just have to reassess our budgets on what we're going to do with our cropping program this year but if it's going to break down and we can start seeing a positive return to more average rainfall, or better than average, I think it's very encouraging.

"Let's just hope it keeps going, I mean it's like all these things, it's just one sign and until it really delivers in the autumn we'll never really know.

"But it certainly is very encouraging. I don't want to sound too cautious but there's nothing like getting it in the gauge when you need it in the autumn."

Hunter Valley mixed farmer Paul Frampton says winter crops will soon need to be planted.

"To get a good rainfall event to put a bit of subsoil moisture would be very important for the crop growing areas as well as the grazing areas," he said.

"Australian farmers are eternal optimists - we have to be to stay in the game."