Near-decade of drought over in NSW

Many farmers had to give up. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - The drought that has crippled New South Wales for nearly a decade is over, figures showed yesterday.

Thanks to above average rainfall this year, farmers' fortunes have improved spectacularly since December, when 95 per cent of the state was in drought or classed as marginal - in danger of slipping back into drought.

Now some farmers face the opposite problem: too much rain, and floods that could jeopardise their winter crops.

The NSW Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, declared the state free of drought for the first time since June 2001.

"Today marks a great milestone for our farming communities. Our farmers, and regional and rural New South Wales, can breathe a sigh of relief."

Nearly 11 per cent of the state remains marginal, however, and farmers - looking forward to a A$2.85 billion ($3.73 billion) crop - are still nervously watching the weather.

"Further rain could jeopardise any bumper harvest," Whan said.

"Farmers need a window of dry weather to start getting the crop off in the next month or so." The worst drought for more than a century caused extreme hardship in NSW and other southeastern states. Many farmers left the landand others are struggling to pay off debts.

The rate of rural suicides soared. In April 2003, 99.5 per cent of NSW was in drought.

"It's been tough," Charles Armstrong, president of the NSW Farmers Association, said yesterday. "A lot of people have suffered different stresses because of the drought - mental stresses, financial stresses and physical stresses."

Duncan Gay, opposition primary industries spokesman, warned that the financial pressures would not disappear overnight.

"Sadly, with the cessation of the official drought figures, it doesn't mean that it's immediately raining money," he said. "These communities, many of them won't have real income into their communities for another 18 months or more."