GRIP OF THE DROUGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19675, 29 June 1927, Page 13

GRIP OF THE DROUGHT.

LOSSES IN QUEENSLAND. WORST FOR TWENTY YEARS. VAST SHEEP AREA AFFECTED. In the grip of a drought stated to be the worft for 20 or 25 years—even the most severe in the history of the Stats — Central and Western Queensland are in a serious position, says the Sydney Morning Herald. Though there has be?n intermittent rain in • certain parts, the drought in some places has entered upon its third year. There is little hope of amelioration until November or December, when monsoonal rains may fall. The areas involved comprise the greater part of the State's sheep-raising country. Actually the whole of Northern and Central Queensland was drought-stricken from 1925 until the beginning of this t year. The area still affected covers about 200,000 square miles, and extends from some distance beyond Winton in the north to Wvandra in the south, and from Boulia in the west to Pinehill in the east.

The rains that fell at the beginning of this year —attended in the Cairns district with disastrous floods—brought relief to the parched soil, and solved many of the worried pastoralists' problems. Rains that later fell in parts of Central Queensland did a certain amount of good in some areas, when they came early enough. Other falls merely aggravated the position by destroying the nourishment in what grass remained. Left in that condition, frost ruined it entirely. Graziers' Heavy Losses. At present millions of sheep are being fed by hand with maize, lucerne and linseed cake brought at great cost from places hundreds of miles away, or are being maintained on agistment areas in other parts of Queensland or northern New South Wales. Millions of sheep and cattle have died in the afflicted areas. The loss in the sheep country is estimated at up to 50 per cent., and it is believed that before rain fell over along the coast and in the northern part of the State, 30 per cent, of the rattle perished. Now there are probably only 12,000,000 sheep in Queensland, where the numbers had reached approximately 20,000,000 before the drought. Cattle have dwindled from about 7,000,000 to 4,000,000. What these losses mean to the great pastoral industries of Queensland it would be difficult to gauge. The loss of stock is only part of the burden thrown on the grazier. Many of the animals had been hand-fed for long periods before the owners' dwindling resources compelled discontinuance. Thousands died in transit from their home stations to agistment areas. Even the wool that could be saved was of little value, coming from animals in poor condition. - Cost of Feeding Sheep. Pastoralists and farmers in the coastal areas and northern districts profited to some extent by the misfortunes of those in Central Queensland, by providing agistment country and fodder, but they, too, are facing the serious difficulty of recovering from the losses they themselves had suffered before the rains come to their aid. Another 1 serious thing is that in the majority of sheep districts there was practically no lambing this year. Of course, had lambing been anything like normal it would only have rendered the position more difficult. How much it costs to feed sheep by hand is largely determined by the distance a holding is from a railway and from where food fodder is grown or manufactured. The cost would probably run out at from 15s to 24s or more per animal per year. Naturally, items of that character cannot be continued indefinitely, and many of the smaller pastoralists are faced with ruin unless relief is soon ■forthcoming. Companies owning stations have been heavy losers by the drought, but in most cases they control a number of properties, and are able to reduce losses by moving sheep from one station to another.

The Economic Effects. In some instances the companies own stations in both Queensland and northern New South Wales, and have moved their stock from one State to another. In transit, however, losses hare heavy. In one instance 70.000 sheep were taken from a station at Llanrheidol and moved to another near Birdsville, 300 miles away. Arrived there, conditions rapidly became worse, and many of the animals perished, until eventually only 19,000 were left. As rain has since fallen an effort is' now being made to transport' the sheep back to the original holding by motov-lorry, over rough or totally tinform'ed roads. Even if relief comes before the position is entirely hopeless the smaller landholders will be faced •with the problem of restocking without means of doing 'so. If they are to recover early restocking will be imperative. The Government will probably be called upon to assist them to do this. The position is complicated by the fact that many of the leases on which a great part of the land is held will expire shortly, snd it will depend on the report of the Royal Commission on Land Settlement in Queensland whether the leases are to be extended. In the meantime the position of the leaseholders is indefinite. While it remains so. they are not likely to restock even if they could command the means to do so.