Drought contains, within those seven letters, a world of pain and heartache and grief for farming communities and the regional towns and cities that depend on them.

Dust storms sweep farms near Balranald in south west NSW as drought impacts the region. Credit:Nick Moir

For the farmers, there is the grief of seeing their animals die, of seeing the rivers and creeks sink into their beds and disappear, the pain of brutal economics that sees money pouring always outwards. The desperate scrabble to keep stock on their feet, up early in the morning to distribute what feed remains; the glances to the sky in search of clouds, then dragging their gaze back to the harshness of dust under their feet. The watching of the radar when rain is forecast, only to see that hope evaporate like the water in their dams. A drought in winter is particularly harsh - the loss of pregnant and feeding ewes and the lambs, and the calves and cows - new life being created only to die in the dust.

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But there is a universal heartache felt across the countryside - because the country itself is dying in this drought.