Paul I took a Sunday drive, like doing that radio on ABC for football and went not all that far away from coast, about 80 klm, in to prime farming land, frosts, the worst in my 38 years here, left the grass dead,even some trees, but dams and rivers in high rainfall country are truly horrible, your point is true, but we could change even that, maybe not for its current use, but bring some of it back, we can never drought proof our country, never turn poor soil in to much than just a bit better but if we start now, small steps, who knows what the next 100 years will bring in better ways to pump water inland, remember, right now, water is being trucked in to some areas for people to drink.

Stop the clucking. There is absolutely nothing we can do about drought, or any other aspect of weather/climate. Stop trying to attribute supernatural powers to mere human beings who are becoming less capable of solving even simple problems with each generation. Drought has always been a feature of climate in Australia. People have been aware of it, and have dealt with it, for 230 years, and they will continue to do so, despite the scaremongering media and the silly questions and fussing of people with nothing better to think about. And, forget the crap about 'plenty of water if only governments did something about moving it about'. It's not going to happen; nor should it. Stopping mass immigration and respecting our country for what it is instead of talking twaddle about the impossible is what is needed.

A farm of a different sort, the Ifigen wind farm, has posted a profit of $200 million this year. Of that $200 million, $120 million CAME FROM SUBSIDIES. That $120 million of taxpayer money would be better spend on fodder for the drought areas, surely?

ttbn you have zero chance of me finding anything you say worthwhile, we have put men on the moon and it is said we can not pump water inland? from little things big things do grow, if only coastal sewage was cleaned, pumped in land and reused we would at least have done something, if we created those dams, even only 50, say 40 klm apart, and filled them, we would bring about something, right now, about three farmers are killing themselves each week NSW gave to subsidise fead and transport, imagine what we could do with that much every year, from every state, toward bringing a greener out back.

Dear Belly,

There is something we can all do to help those
suffering from the drought.

I found out about this only recently
after a death in our family of my brother's
wife's father who owned property in Quirindi
NSW. He had asked that instead of flowers, people
donate to the "Need For Feed," organisation (sponsored
by the Lions Club), and made up of volunteers to help
farmers in need during the drought. Every cent goes
directly to those that need help and are in strife.
We sent our donation to them. Anyone who wants to
help can also do so.

Here's a link that gives the addresses and explains
further:

http://www.needforfeed.org/donate.html

Donating would really help - no matter how much you give
it all matters.

The wettest period in NSW, the area currently suffering, was 1955-56, the time of the really big floods. A farmer out west put down a huge amount of silage (green, undried grass stored anaerobically in pits, where it ferments and last for decades). Sixty years later, his grandson was able to use it during the Millennium Drought, 2001-2009. I suspect that there's none left for this drought.

It's interesting that the media seem to have forgotten all about the Millennium Drought, with their current headlines 'Worse Drought Ever!' I can still remember the rainfall figures for my town for one year, I think 2007, 165mm for the entire year of which about 65mm fell between 6pm and midnight on New Years Eve.

The idea of pipelining coastal water inland has been around for a long time. Apart from the issue of cost, there's the question of practicability. Just how would you propose to sprinkle enough of the piped water over those vast hectares of dust that you have seen on the TV, to make the grass grow?