Droughts

Farmers running out of feed and water are being forced to sell livestock in huge numbers as drought conditions roll on in southern Australia. 

South Australian farmers struggling with drought need livestock feed, but Australian shipping laws make it unaffordable for Australian sea freight to reach them.

Australian wool production is forecast to reach its lowest level since the early 1900s, forcing skilled shearers to seek work interstate, overseas or leave the industry entirely.

Forget farmer wants a wife, it's ram wants a ewe as genetics play an increasing role in Australia's sheep-breeding programs.

A wildlife rescuer is urging people to take caution as drought conditions force emus to migrate from their usual outback habitat into Broken Hill in search of refuge and water. 

Small businesses in parts of regional South Australia are feeling the pinch as farmers and their families tighten their belts amid record low rainfall.

With many rainwater tanks across the Adelaide Hills running low or on empty due to an ongoing dry spell, two residents say thieves have used water trucks to steal nearly 200,000 litres overnight.

Anzac Day marks the traditional start for planting winter crops, but this year farmers are hoping for rain as they begin planting their crops in the dry.

Despite applying for government drought funding months ago, one South Australian farmer says he is still waiting for assistance.

New data shows dozens of suburbs around the country are at risk of becoming uninsurable, triggering warnings of a "climate-induced credit crunch". 

The deluge which battered south-west Queensland is now draining downhill to a catchment area five times the size of the UK.

Severe and prolonged drought conditions in one of Australia's largest forestry regions are killing pine trees, and raising concerns about the future of the country's building material supplies.

Additional drought relief funding amounting to $55 million will flow to South Australian communities in desperate need of relief, with the state's premier conceding it has taken too long for "the bureaucracy to respond" to applications.

Much of south-eastern Australia has recorded record low rainfall, but there haven't been any drought declarations from state governments or the Commonwealth.

Tourists can look forward to fine weather as the school holidays begin, with the weather bureau predicting warm and sunny conditions across Queensland. 

The total reservoir levels across metropolitan Adelaide are at 38 per cent compared to 50 per cent at the same day last year, SA Water data shows.

The weather bureau says there is potential to see further flood level rises depending where the rain falls over the next several days. 

As its owner orders a review of operations, workers and small businesses worry the city won't survive without the smelter, its major employer and economic driver. 

Soil moisture has declined more than 2,600 gigatonnes since 2000, making a greater contribution to sea level rise than Greenland's melting ice sheets.

One farmer in Victoria's west has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of broccoli, during a dry spell described by another as the worst since the millennium drought.