'It's dire': farmers battle their worst drought in 100 years – photo essay

In central-western New South Wales some families on the land are facing ruin as the rain stays away

“It’s a pretty tough old time,” says Coonabarabran farmer Ambrose Doolan. “But if you’re working with your family and everyone is looking out for each other, you count your blessings.” In the central-west region of New South Wales, farmers continue to battle a crippling drought that many locals are calling the worst since 1902. In Warrumbungle shire, where sharp peaks fall away to once fertile farmland, the small town of Coonabarabran is running out of water. The town dam has fallen to 23% of its capacity and residents are living with level-six water restrictions. There are real fears the town will run dry.

An aerial view of the cattle feeding operation on the property Toorawandi owned by Coonabrabran farmer Ambrose Doolan and his wife Lisa.
An aerial view of the cattle feeding operation on the property Toorawandi owned by Coonabrabran farmer Ambrose Doolan and his wife Lisa. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: An aerial view of the cattle feeding operation on the property Toorawandi, and Ambrose Doolan.
Abrose Doolan is pictured on his farm outside Coonabarabran.
Abrose Doolan is pictured on his farm outside Coonabarabran. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Doolan and his wife, Lisa, run 9,000 acres with Angus cattle outside of the town on their property, Toorawandi. Their son Mick has followed them into the farming business and has his own property, and their daughter Emily, a town planner, returned home this year to work on the family farm. “What a year to do it,” Doolan says. “My dad didn’t want me to be a farmer and I think this is why. We were a bit the same with our son, we didn’t want him to be a farmer. But you are what you are.”

Ambrose Doolan
Ambrose Doolan works with his wife Lisa on their propery outside Coonabrabran. The New South Wales State government recently approved an emergency drought relief package of A$600m, of which at least A$250m is allocated for low interest loans to assist eligible farm businesses to recover. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Ambrose Doolan
Ambrose Doolan works with his wife Lisa on their propery outside Coonabrabran. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: Ambrose Doolan works on their property outside Coonabrabran, and an aerial view of the cattle-feeding operation.
An aerial view of the cattle feeding operation on the property Toorawandi
An aerial view of the cattle feeding operation on the property Toorawandi owned by Coonabrabran farmer Ambrose Doolan and his wife Lisa. The name of the property translates to ‘rows of standing stones’, which is presently an apt description of the bare dirt and stones that stretch as far as the can see. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Last year the Doolans recorded their fourth-lowest average rainfall and it has been followed by even drier conditions. They have sold whatever stock they can and spend their entire days at the moment feeding the cattle that remains because the pastures have dried up.

Harry Taylor, 6, plays on the dust bowl his family farm has become during the drought.
Harry Taylor, 6, plays on the dust bowl his family farm has become during the drought. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: Harry Taylor plays on the dust bowl, and sheep on the Taylor family farm.
Sheep are given a feed of cotton seed on the Taylor family farm.
Sheep are given a feed of cotton seed on the Taylor family farm. All the family’s food stocks have been depleted in the drought. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Farmers in this part of NSW are importing almost all food for their livestock from as far away as South Australia as prices rise with demand. The continued cost of buying feed is causing many to question their future on the land. The NSW government recently approved an emergency drought relief package of $600m, at least $250m of which will cover low-interest loans to assist eligible farm businesses to recover. The package has been welcomed but, in the words of a local farmer, “it barely touches the sides”. With the prospect of a dry El Niño weather pattern hitting the state in spring, the longer-term outlook is dire.

Mother Jessica Taylor, with Bony, 18 months, and Charlie,4, on their farm outside Coonabarabran.
Jessica Taylor, with Bony, 18 months, and Charlie, 4, on their farm outside Coonabarabran. The family is has battled through almost two years without substantial rain. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: Jessica Taylor, with Bony, 18 months, and Charlie, 4.

Jess Taylor and her husband, Robert, are fourth-generation farmers, running a mixed sheep and cattle farm 25km north-west of Coonabarabran. They are raising four children, two not yet in school, while dealing with the stress of nearly two years without substantial rain. Bills from trucking in food for their sheep and cattle are running as high as $20,000 a month.

Heidi, 7, and Harry Taylor play in one of the many empty dams on their family farm.
Heidi, 7, and Harry Taylor play in one of the many empty dams on their family farm. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Jess Taylor at work on the family farm.
Jess Taylor at work on the family farm. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Robert Taylor scrapes the last of the families grain stores out to feed livestock.
Robert Taylor scrapes the last of the families grain stores out to feed livestock. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Heidi, 7, and Harry Taylor play near the bones of dead livestock on their family farm.
Heidi, 7, and Harry Taylor play near the bones of dead livestock on their family farm. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: Heidi and Harry Taylor play in one of the many empty dams on their family farm, Jess Taylor at work on the family farm, Heidi and Harry play near the bones of dead livestock, and Robert Taylor scrapes the last of the families grain stores out to feed livestock.

Robert left the property recently to take up shearing work to bring in much-needed cash, leaving Jess to manage the farm and care for their children on her own. “There’s just no income. Whatever the farm is making is going back into feed for whatever we have left,” she says. “It’s hard, it’s hard to know what to do.”

Harry Taylor, 6, picks up a lamb to try and feed it cotton seed.
Harry Taylor, 6, picks up a lamb to try and feed it cotton seed. The farm is almost devoid of grass, with dust and weeds the only constant across the property. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Harry Taylor, 6, picks up a lamb to try and feed it cotton seed.

The family sold their healthier stock last year before the market “took a huge dive”, Jess says. The ewes on the property are abandoning their lambs because the dry pastures and lack of food have reduced their ability to produce enough milk. “We’ve got close to 30 orphan lambs that we’re hand-feeding,” Jess says. “We lost quite a few of them in the cold snap that just came through despite doing the best we could for them.”

The Taylor family take a sheep orphaned from the flock on their family farm.
The Taylor family take a sheep orphaned from the flock on their family farm. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • The family takes a sheep orphaned from the flock to the house.
Sheep are fed on a mixture of Cotton Seed and expired baby food on the the Jerry family farm, Maryborough, 40km outside Coonabarabran.
Sheep are fed on a mixture of Cotton Seed and expired baby food on the the Jerry family farm, Maryborough, 40km outside Coonabarabran. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • The sheep on the dry land of the Maryborough property.

Charities such as Buy a Bale, where people can purchase hay bales for local farmers, have been some assistance. The Taylors’ oldest son, Harry, asked for rain for his sixth birthday. While much of NSW experienced a wet start to winter, the dark skies over Coonabarabran have yet to deliver relief. The Taylors say they will not be taking up the government’s loan, as they are already struggling with considerable debt.

Coral Jerry, 80, is pictured on the family farm Maryborough, 40km outside Coonabarabran.
Coral Jerry, 80, on the family farm Maryborough, 40km outside Coonabarabran. Coral lives on the farm alone after her husband of 55 years passed away in 2015. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Coral Jerry, 80, on the family farm

The Jerry family, also fourth-generation farmers, run sheep and cattle on their property Maryborough, 40km north-east of Coonabarabran. At the head of the family is Coral Jerry, 80, who lives on the farm alone after her husband of 55 years died in 2015. She is hand-feeding 40 orphaned lambs four to five times a day while her son Greg, his wife, Tanya, and their son Brett manage the farm.

The Jerry family farm Maryborough, outside Coonabarabran.
The Jerry family farm Maryborough, outside Coonabarabran. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Coral Jerry feeding a lamb.
Coral Jerry feeding a lamb. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Clockwise from top: The Jerry family farm Maryborough, and Coral Jerry, 80, feeding a lamb.

Things have become so desperate the Jerrys are mixing expired baby formula with their imported cotton seed to add nutrition for their struggling animals. “It’s a never-ending story at the moment,” Greg says. “Every week there’s a chance of some sort of rain but when it happens it’s usually one or two mils, which does nothing ... We actually got 19 mils the other day, which was beautiful.”

Greg Jerry on the family farm Maryborough, outside Coonabarabran. The load of wool pictured is the last income the family expect from the farm for another 12 months.
Greg Jerry on the family farm Maryborough, outside Coonabarabran. The load of wool pictured is the last income the family expect from the farm for another 12 months. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
The Jerry family farm
The Jerry family farm Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Sheep follow the family truck.
Sheep follow the family truck. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Tanya Jerry cares for a sheep to weak to eat.
Tanya Jerry cares for a sheep to weak to eat. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Greg Jerry on the farm. The load of wool pictured is the last income the family expects from the farm for another 12 months, sheep eating expired baby formula with imported cotton seed, sheep following the family truck, and Tanya Jerry cares for a sheep to weak to eat.

He says it would take 100mm of rain to deliver long-term improvement to a property that currently “looks a bit like the surface of the moon”. “Financially, we’re on our borderline now,” he says. “We destocked as much as possible early on as it got worse and worse. But what we’re left with now is pretty much unsaleable in the condition they’re in.”

Harry Taylor,6, wears what he calls his ‘monster hat’. The bones of dead livestock have become a common sight on the Taylor family farm ‘Windy Hill’ during the drought. Asked what he wanted for his recent 6th birthday party all Harry replied was ‘rain’.
Harry Taylor,6, wears what he calls his ‘monster hat’. The bones of dead livestock have become a common sight on the Taylor family farm ‘Windy Hill’ during the drought. Asked what he wanted for his recent 6th birthday party all Harry replied was ‘rain’. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
  • Harry Taylor,6, wears what he calls his ‘monster hat’. The bones of dead livestock have become a common sight on the Taylor family farm ‘Windy Hill’ during the drought.

Contributor

Brook Mitchell and Lisa Cox

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Mercy mission: truckers a lifeline for drought-stricken farmers – photo essay
‘I wanted to give something back,’ says Michael Wheeler, a Need For Feed volunteer running hay between four states

Dean Sewell

02, Aug, 2018 @5:07 AM

Article image
Drought and low milk prices push dairy farmers to the brink
Some who rely on irrigation to survive are selling up, while others cut herds and take big financial hits

Calla Wahlquist

23, Feb, 2019 @11:13 PM

Article image
As storms swamp Australia's east coast, some farmers are still enduring relentless drought
People in outback Queensland are still hoping the La Niña weather pattern will bring desperately needed rain

Ben Smee

16, Dec, 2020 @4:30 PM

Article image
The National Farmers' Federation’s drought strategy is like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic | Pete Mailler
Australian agriculture needs something like a NFF, but the one we have is failing farming communities

Pete Mailler

13, Nov, 2019 @2:03 AM

Article image
Murray-Darling authority warns of 'dire' summer of mass fish deaths and blue-green algae
Alert comes as Indigenous group issues plea for states to stick with basin plan or risk marginalising vulnerable communities and endangering river health

Anne Davies

06, Dec, 2019 @4:54 AM

Article image
The price of lamb has soared by 200% since the 90s – now the drought is sending it even higher | Greg Jericho
The lack of rain cannot be hidden from our supermarket shelves

Greg Jericho

06, Nov, 2019 @5:00 PM

Article image
While I live with three minute showers in this drought, I know people in the cities are wasting precious water | Stephanie Gardiner
Growing up being constantly reminded that water is finite and rain is unreliable is in the back of my mind wherever I go

Stephanie Gardiner

08, Oct, 2019 @11:31 PM

Article image
California faces another drought as lake beds turn to dust – a photo essay
Water shortages and dry conditions are already affecting the state as the governor has declared an emergency in 41 of 58 counties

Gabrielle Canon

30, May, 2021 @10:00 AM

Article image
'A beautiful change': Australia in bloom after drought-breaking rain – a photo essay
Above-average rainfall across New South Wales has brought hope to rural communities suffering through the most intense drought in living memory.

Brook Mitchell

13, Jun, 2020 @8:00 PM

Article image
'Relentless' farmers continue to battle the big dry
Photographer Brook Mitchell revisited families in drought affected areas in NSW a year after his first visit to see how they were faring

Brook Mitchell

27, Jul, 2019 @10:00 PM