Before and after: How the drought is biting in regional Australia

Drought is spreading across southern and eastern Australia, affecting more of Queensland than ever previously recorded. Use these before and after images to see the impact.

Our last big rainfall was three years ago. The drought is a big part of life here. My great aunty always talked about the massive droughts that she experienced when she lived here in the 1920s. The benefit is things do turn around, which is the law of the outback. Kym Westcott is a grazier from Catumnal Station near Hughenden, Queensland

"We have gone from a carrying capacity of 2,000 breeder cattle to feeding 500 and all of them have to be supplementary fed molasses."

It has been a terrible drought, we have cut our cattle numbers down to buggery. Troy Mayes from Chilgerrie Hill near Wandoan, Queensland

"The frustrating thing is cattle prices are really good at the moment, but we can't get anywhere near the weight in the cattle that we usually do. Calves are born smaller and don't have much weight by the time we sell them. In terms of restocking when the drought does break, we don't have enough money to buy more cattle."

When we do finally get our wet season all the country will look green again within a month. It won't stay dry like this forever. As my father always said, 'if you stick to this country when it's dry it's going to stick to you when it's wet'. I love to remind people that this is great country. John Paynter is a grazier from Wando Station, east of Winton in Queensland

"You speak to the old fellas and they say 'every drought is different'."

I'm not feeling great. We always say, 'this is the summer it is going to break'. You look for hopeful signs it will rain, like an insect you haven't seen for awhile. If we don't get rain this summer people will start to leave the area. Jenny Gordon is a sheep farmer from El Kantara Station near Longreach, Queensland

"Everything started to collapse in April 2013 when we started trucking in hay. Sometimes we get lucky and receive donated hay, which is a godsend. We don't rotate our animals between paddocks any more, instead we leave every gate open for them to forage."

I don't think any of us want pity. It is our choice to live out here. But one of the things that is causing a lot of grief is debt, and you do feel sorry for people who bought country in the last few years when prices were high, only to go into this drought with a large debt. That is very difficult. John Paynter is a grazier from Wando Station, east of Winton in Queensland

"The country here has evolved from droughts, floods and fire. I'm not going to say that the land needs droughts to happen but that is how it has evolved."

I'm 24-years-old and this is the first time I've experienced a drought like this. My dad keeps saying 'if it doesn't rain soon...' but then trails off. He can't finish the sentence because he genuinely doesn't know what to do. Vickie Miller is a rural photographer and grazier's daughter from Grass Hut Station near Charters Towers, Queensland

"Being a rural photographer, I visit a lot of families on their farms, so I see how widespread the drought is. People ask me 'can I have photos taken in the long grass?', and I tell them that we only have dirt."

We went through a bad drought in 1996. I'm not too proud to say, but we came out of that drought owing more than we were worth. But we were in a fortunate position where we had a run of good seasons after that, so we could offload our debt and come into this drought more prepared. John Paynter is a grazier from Wando Station, east of Winton in Queensland

"History says droughts always happen and you need awakenings like this to help you prepare. When it's a period of good seasons it is easy to forget how dry it can get."

We really appreciate the work of volunteers and donations from organisations like Aussie Helpers and Buy A Bale. They come around, talk to you and bring packs and hampers and give out hay bales. They even give us pallets of dog food and horse feed. John Paynter is a grazier from Wando Station, east of Winton in Queensland

"The message those groups distribute to the wider community about the drought has been beneficial to us. People don't understand how dry it can be, and they help with that."

Topics: drought, australia, qld