In Focus
Australian farmers battle worst drought in a century
As livestock starve and the soil becomes dust, New South Wales farmers battle a crippling drought called the worst since 1902.
Harry Taylor, 6, picks up a lamb to try and feed it with cotton seed on June 17, 2018, in Coonabarabran, Australia. The family's farm is almost devoid of grass, with dust and weeds the only constant across the property.
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 is down to just 23 percent capacity, forcing residents to live with level six water restrictions.
Coral Jerry, 80, feeds lambs on the Marlborough family farm outside Coonabarabran on June 20.
Coral lives on the farm alone after her husband of 55 years passed away in 2015.
She is currently raising 40 orphaned lambs on her own, feeding them four to five times a day while her son Greg, wife Tanya and son Brett run the farm.
Harry plays on the dust bowl his family farm has become during the drought, on June 17.
The New South Wales State government recently approved an emergency drought relief package of $445 million, of which at least $185 million is allocated for low interest loans to help eligible farms recover.
The package has been welcomed, though in the words of a local farmer "it barely touches the sides." Now with the real prospect of a dry El Nino weather pattern hitting the state in spring, the longer term outlook for rain here is dire.
