Droughts have been happening since the beginning of commercial...

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    Droughts have been happening since the beginning of commercial agriculture on this continent? There is a cycle of dry and wet periods. Farms should be adaptable and be ready to scale back. I see farms over stocked, knowing they're over-stocked because they are anticipating average rains. No grain stockpiled or buried. Reluctant to cut back on head in case the rain comes and they are under stocked and reluctant to cut their losses. I understand the difficulties with de-stocking effectively and it is easier said than done.

    Its more like if a coffee shop opened and ran for years turning a great profit. Then we have a recession and people pull the purse strings but the cafe is still ordering and employing enough people to cater for the good times - just in case.

    It was just in 2017 there was the biggest winter harvest ever and farm profits were through the roof. Global Beef and Lamb prices had doubled and its was good times - granted not everywhere, but in a lot of places people couldn't get stock into the pastures quick enough.

    I agree farming is in crisis but our food supply is not at risk where we currently export 70% of produce. I agree farmers need special assistance and it is a unique industry with unique challenges and national security implications but something needs to be done to encourage farmers to manage stock sustainably and farm their land in a way that can adapt to the Australian climate. We cant simply continue this cycle of propping up farms on the public purse during periods of drought without expecting the farmers to take some steps to mitigate similar losses in the future.
 
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