Australia Weather News

The farming town of Orroroo, in South Australia's mid north, is a microcosm of the drought plaguing swathes of Australia. What is its future in a changing climate?

The auburn dirt of Orroroo is like that found in many towns in regional Australia, rich in colour, but devastating when swept into the air.

Last month the town, and many others across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales were blanketed in thick dust as storms swept across the country.

For those in Orroroo, the hope had been for a much-needed reprieve from ongoing drought.

But instead they were met with amber skies, forcing locals and school children to remain indoors as the front passed.

Orroroo Area School principal Peter Usher said it was the first time he had seen a change in the brave face of the community he has called home since the start of the year.

"It was almost like the land slapping everyone in the face of reality," he says.

Along with their principal, the school's students were watching the topsoil from their family farms blow away.

"It was all red, the sky, and it was yuck," year two student Ella recalls.

"It ruined it a bit more because we were starting to get green grass ... but then it unfortunately blew it away."

In a bid to share the news from their small town, student Clay took to Facebook with a weather report. 

"News update from Orroroo, can we please have rain?"

Orroroo sits on the southern edge of the Flinders Ranges, near Goyder's Line, a geographical mark drawn by the state's surveyor general in 1865 which determined where crops could be planted.

Farming is at the town's heart.

Each day, children and some staff members from surrounding farms make their way to school.

But the weight of the ongoing drought continues to bear down, bringing with it both emotional and practical responsibilities. 

For year two student Clay, the workload for his family has only increased.

"Feeding sheep at the moment lots," he said.

"We haven't even got our seeder out yet, but we mostly grow grain down at where we call the valley.

"Last year it was terrible down there too."

Grant Chapman also understands the weight of responsibility of running a family farm.

The third-generation farmer has dedicated his life to the land and is also the local mayor.

Like everyone else, he watched what little feed that was left on the ground blow away in the storm last month.

"The dust started reasonably early in the morning. It continued all day just before dark," he recalls. 

"It was huge winds and dust storms like we've never seen in this area before. Not in my lifetime anyway.

"It just swept the country bare. Any remaining dry food that was about, even though there wasn't much, is gone … it was just a really devastating day."

Grant's family has farmed just outside of Orroroo for three generations, and on his property they are entering their third season of drought.

"I think it's the worst drought in my lifetime," he says. 

"I've talked to my dad, he's 92-years-old and he says he can't remember a drought being this widespread."

Even before this drought hit, Grant made the decision to get out of cropping altogether.

The land, once filled with crops and greenery ...

... now resembles a dry, dusty moonscape.

He now just farms sheep, but when he spoke to the ABC he only had three weeks of feed left.

It has left him with the difficult choice to sell part of his flock.

Without rain he may have to destock completely, seeing years of hard work breeding the best stock disappear.

It is a familiar tale for many working the land.

At the South Australian Livestock Exchange in Dublin, north of Adelaide, Elders livestock manager Matt Ward is auctioning sheep that, in a normal year, would still be grazing in paddocks.

"Today in particular there's probably three lines of ewe lambs in the sale yards … that are being sold as ewe lambs because they can't carry them through … to be sold in the spring," he says.

"With lack of feed in the whole of South Australia, the graziers can't afford to buy them so they're going to slaughter unfortunately."?

Some sheep in good condition are setting record prices.

Others, are showing the signs of a continued drought crisis.

Reprieve not guaranteed 

The anecdotes from farmers that they have never seen a drought this bad are backed by the data.

According to the Bureau of Meterology (BOM) the start of the year saw the lowest rainfall on record for large parts of south-eastern Australia, from Western Australia, through South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

For some of those regions, they have been in the bottom five per cent of rainfall records for 26 months.

It is a trend, the BOM says is being influenced, at least in part, by climate change.

"We are seeing a declining trend in rainfall across much of southern Australia," Climatologist Caitlin Minney said.

"That's been observed definitely in the last 30 years so in south-east Australia, there's been a decrease of about nine per cent in that April to October which is that key, cool-season growing time, since 1994."

Rob Pearce farms sheep in western New South Wales near Broken Hill.

He says the last few seasons haven't been too bad, but they're heading into drought too.

He's preparing for the worst while he waits for rain, but remains in good spirits.

"God's got the say and I haven't got his email address," he said.

"I could see the writing on the wall [in] October so I've been sort of planning for this, getting sheep down like breeding them quick and getting them out quick because I didn't think it was going to rain."

Back in South Australia, Alison Henderson is also trying to focus on resilience.

She runs a Merino stud less than an hour south of Orroroo.

Her family has farmed here for five generations, but said this drought was "unprecedented" for the district. 

"Definitely my dad, my grandpa, their generations can't remember a season like it, and they've got a few years in their memory that stick out as bad drought years," she says.

She is among the next generation of Australia's farmers, and despite having to sell off part of her flock and spend additional money on feed, she is hopeful for the future. 

She is breeding Poll Merino sheep that are more resistant to drought.

"I love these genetics because what we've seen is growth rates, despite of the drought conditions, have been the best we've ever seen," she says.

"In the good times they're able to consume that feed and store that energy in their body as body condition and during tough times like this, they've still got that body condition that they can utilise and it means also that we don't have to feed them as much because they are able to utilise what they're eating better."

Back at Orroroo Area school, many students are also a part of the next generation of the town's farmers.

While they play in the sand with miniature animals and trucks, their parents and families are working hard to survive. 

For those about to graduate, the transition is much closer to the horizon. 

"I guess growing up that's always been the thing 'oh yeah I'll just go back and work on the farm'," year 12 student Cooper Shackleford says.

"But it's getting to the point now where it's almost like 'well am I able to make a living off the farm and is it going to be able to support the family that's already there plus more people coming on?'"

Ashby Thomas wants to go into agronomy when he finishes school, but when he did work experience at a business last year he saw another impact of the drought.

"There was no work on at all because there had been no rain to get the crops up so hopefully there'll be rain soon but there's not a lot of work around for that type of business," he says.

But the most obvious answer to what is needed is simply rain, and lots of it.

There was good news in Orroroo and across much of drought-affected Australia last weekend when vast areas experienced downpours.

While it wasn't enough to break the drought, locals say every drop helps restore their faith in the region's future.

Principal Peter Usher says when it rains, he'll give his students the chance to celebrate.

Earlier this year, a moment of rain caused huge joy, despite its brief appearance.

"I know that when we get rain, because we will, it will be truly a celebration," he says.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how beautiful the area is when we do have rain and the crops are growing because everyone's described that to me.

"At the moment they're all, not apologising, but they're saying this is not normally Orroroo, we normally have some rain."

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Additional images:, Peter Usher and Grant Chapman