Australia's most populous state was declared entirely in drought on Wednesday and struggling farmers were given new authority to shoot kangaroos that compete with livestock for sparse pasture during the most intense dry spell in more than 50 years.

Much of Australia's southeast is struggling with drought. But the drought conditions in the state of New South Wales this year have been the driest and most widespread since 1965.

The state government said Wednesday that 100 percent of New South Wales' land area of more than 800,000 square kilometers (309,000 square miles) was now in drought.

Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said farmers were enduring one of the driest Southern Hemisphere winters on record.

"This is tough. There isn't a person in the state that isn't hoping to see some rain for our farmers and regional communities," Blair said in a statement.