

This story is about how the drought has impacted on George and his family, the community and the land. George’s parents bought the farm in 1986, although it has been in operation for 150 years. The farm is located in Braidwood in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.
Since the year 2000 it has been experiencing drought on and off. At the moment 20 of the 24 dams are dry and only 2 are fit for livestock. A local climatologist’s report indicates that there has been an increase in the hot, dry northerly and westerly winds, and a decrease in the moist, cool southerly winds.
Many families in the area have been affected by the drought, production has decreased and it has become increasingly hard to run the farms, with many families feeling a sense of failure. If the drought continues into the next 40 to 50 years, agriculture will no longer be sustainable in the area.
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