Spitting Into the Wind

We had a weekend with temperatures in the 30s, and for Spring, that's hot. A couple of weeks ago it was feared that if farmers didn't get rain soon, their crops would fail. That became a reality after record temperatures and hot winds caused most of the wheat crops in Northern Victoria to fail.

I often drive to Wagga thinking how I love Spring. The fields are green and the Canola crops are thriving. Around here, not many farmers plant wheat. It's easy to forget how dry the ground is when it's lovely and green. The dams are only partially filled and every hot day draws more water from the ground. My heart goes out to these farmers who've had one bad year after another.

Water allocations getting cut last year has made the problem worse for many farmers, destroying not just crops but farmers' hopes .

Temperatures as high as 34 celsius at Swan Hill, in the state's north, and strong winds destroyed cropping areas across the Mallee, Wimmera and north-east, ending hopes that farmers could recover from the drought this year. A combination of high temperatures and close to no rainfall has meant that hundreds of farmers have now reached the point of no return.