Why do young Australian farmers stay on the land despite battling ongoing drought and a poor seasonal outlook?

ABC Rural asked six primary producers for their perspective on running a farm business in drought, what makes the experience more bearable and whether they've considered leaving the land.

Our contributors include:

Will Treloar - cattle producer, 'Boothulla' at Cooladdi in Queensland

Will Treloar - cattle producer, 'Boothulla' at Cooladdi in Queensland Jody Tully - Canaway Downs Station in Queensland

Jody Tully - Canaway Downs Station in Queensland Lloyd Polkinghorne - rice grower and crop producer, Moulamein in southern NSW

Lloyd Polkinghorne - rice grower and crop producer, Moulamein in southern NSW Paul Doneley - sheep producer, 'Dunraven' at Barcaldine in Queensland

Paul Doneley - sheep producer, 'Dunraven' at Barcaldine in Queensland Claire Kapernick - grazier and lucerne producer, South Burnett in Queensland.

Claire Kapernick - grazier and lucerne producer, South Burnett in Queensland. Ben and Oona Banks - sheep and cattle producers, 'Rivington' at Blackall in Queensland

What keeps you on your farm during drought? Have you considered leaving?

Will Treloar: This is what I'm passionate about. To leave would be the easy option. If we can make a business work in the hardest of times it is going to make the good times easy.



Tim Tully and his dog BB working cattle on his families Queensland property. ( Jody Tully )

Jody Tully: A wise man once told us that, "it is not about the investment or the money but the way of life and the life of your children", and this is so true.

We haven't considered leaving and can't imagine ever wanting to but can understand those that do. Summer is the worst.

Every day is different. You make plans but never really know what the morning will bring.

Our days can be so diverse from stock work, pipe lines, heavy machinery, fencing. You see many different things. Our boys get to ride motorbikes and horses on a daily basis, they get to go out and work along side dad.

The skills bush kids develop are well beyond their years, yet I believe they really get to be kids out here. The freedom is great.

Ben and Oona Banks: This is our job, our career and our profession. You don't just quit when the chips are down.

There is just as much to do around the station through a drought as in a normal season. There are plenty of maintenance jobs that you put off when you are stocked up.

It is easy to drop your bundle and be very unproductive, but if you stay motivated you can achieve a lot and be better prepared to capitalise when the rains come.

We have certainly not considered leaving permanently, but continually look for opportunities outside our immediate business to supplement our income and progress.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: To remain on the farm for me wasn't up for negotiation. Being on a farm isn't like having the ability to turn a switch on and off. There are jobs to be done and animals to feed even tho you're not making money.

Don't get me wrong, it's hard. Unlike big businesses who pass on the heartache, we must endure it.

My comparison on such a model is one where towns and cities were asked to meet water targets. This poses a problem for water suppliers as they are in the business of selling water. Their solution is to increase fees and charges to diversify their income stream, effectively setting a fixed price.

This is currently happening with solar power and energy providers. A farmer and most small businesses have to trim the sails and cut spending, where as they pass the burden on.

Paul Doneley: I left Brisbane to come back to the property to take over from my parents who are long in the tooth.

In Brisbane I had a good job building where I had worked for 10 years. Since returning four years ago we have been in drought and the end is not in sight.

The choice of moving back to the bush was an easy one for me as I love the people and the way of life. My family and the joy that I take out of doing my daily jobs keeps me going, and knowing it will rain someday, but who knows when?

I have not considered leaving the property but have been working [building] in local towns and on other properties while running the property back home at the same time.

It has been a large burden to handle both, but with our low stocking numbers I have been able to juggle it and having to find another income to pay my bills. The property has no income to pay my wage.

Claire Kapernick: We stay on our farm because it is home. We have a very deep metaphorical tap root. We haven't considered going anywhere else.

What business decisions have you made to help manage drought? What has worked?

Will Treloar: This drought has been a difficult one. Everything that normally works didn't.

Normally destocking was made easy as prices received were welcoming. However, with the beef crash caused by the live export ban, the stock sold were barely making a profit. Now we have destocked, the country we are trying to spell is still being heavily grazed by an ongoing plague of kangaroos.

Just before the drought started we began controlled joining. Identifying non-productive females has made destocking easier. However putting this pressure on our females for their fertility in a drought is proving difficult and with poor prices two years ago we have been lenient.

Just before the drought started we began controlled joining. Identifying non-productive females has made destocking easier. However putting this pressure on our females for their fertility in a drought is proving difficult and with poor prices two years ago we have been lenient. Early weaning of calves. By doing this the cows have been able to lift their condition without any extra supplement from us. The calves look good with the help of a feed mix. This has been a cheaper option to feed one small animal than two animals together.

Early weaning of calves. By doing this the cows have been able to lift their condition without any extra supplement from us. The calves look good with the help of a feed mix. This has been a cheaper option to feed one small animal than two animals together. The water infrastructure rebate has been a real winner. Being able to take water to new areas of paddocks to utilize additional feed has been amazing.

The water infrastructure rebate has been a real winner. Being able to take water to new areas of paddocks to utilize additional feed has been amazing. We have kept a very open line with our bank manager keeping them up to date with what is happening out here.

Jody Tully: Each bad season you look back at what has worked, what hasn't, what has made life easier, what hasn't, which dams are the boggiest or don't fill, which paddocks can't the feed be utilised due to inadequate waters.

You can't hit a good season not do anything to combat those problems, as there is always another drought around the corner.

Good, accessible clean water is vital. As soon as the dams get low and boggy and the water quality decreases the cattle struggle more. You don't want them having to walk massive distance from feed to water either.

With the assistance of the drought subsidies we have extended our pipelines and have water piped to almost every paddock on the place and troughs spaced out so feed can be utilised. We still have a little more left to do.

By doing this we have also been able to discontinue using most of the worst dams, at a cost that is a lot less (both $ and time) than de-silting. Now if the stock are poor they can access good, clean water. One less worry!

We are in the process of building a vermin proof "cluster" fence which should allow us to manage our pastures better.

Western Queensland grazier Ben Banks with his daughter Zara find a bit of shade on their family property Rivinigton west of Blackall. ( ABC Rural: Lydia Burton )

Ben and Oona Banks: Every decision in a drought seems to be a bad one and the decisions that are bad seem to be amplified.

I think it is important to set dates and milestones and stick to them. In our business we decided if it hadn't rained by the second week in January, that we would sell our entire herd of cattle.

This is what I would call a high risk decision, as traditionally our two wettest months of the years were still to come.

We received fantastic money and didn't get our summer rain, so it turned out to be the right decision. It meant we could carry the rest of the sheep through till shearing in May. We are presently destocking the last of them.

These were not necessarily the right decisions but we felt it was what we had to do.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: As the quote goes 'if you've finished changing you're finished'.

In our enterprise we are reliant on irrigation water. Our annual rainfall is about 11 inches so when the water stops, we stop.

We are blessed with a fantastic system our forefathers developed, with no energy input, from source to farm through the wonders of gravity.

I feel that access to affordable water for production is reducing, so I'm changing big time, a change forced sooner than I thought due to a traumatic brain injury.

I'm downsizing, trimming my sails, turning my back on debt and going off the grid. I've had two years of hell sitting here yearning to work and unable to and I've realised the tail is wagging the dog.

The quote, 'I farm for the lifestyle' is lost on me. One hundred hours a week work for what?

My children need a father, my community needs my help and input, not me hidden away on a tractor. Big businesses don't need my money.

Helping others works for me. It brings me greater wealth than money.

Paul Doneley: We made the decision to destock most of our place keeping only a nucleus of sheep and cattle breeders and feeding those remaining stock through the drought till it rains.

It hasn't rained, so time will tell if the decision to keep the nucleus of breeders will pay off. The cost of keeping them alive comes at a financial cost. Most of what we have kept has survived so far but if the drought does not break soon we will have made the wrong decision. You have to be an optimist living on the land!

We have put a good feeding practice in place where we supplement feeding our stock with new age feeders, feed trailers and access to feed consultants, where in the past that would have been unheard of.

Through this drought the state and federal government's water rebate was fantastic and we were able to put in poly pipe from bores into paddocks were there was no water, allowing us to utilize the feed and to make ourselves more drought proof in times like this and for future droughts.

Claire Kapernick: We are diversifying to help in the dry times.

Our business is comprised of hay production and sales (good in the dry) and cattle production (good in wetter times).

We have also begun more accurate fodder budgeting and reducing numbers early to reduce feeding costs by avoiding supplementary feeding, and using holistic management grazing techniques.

What does drought feel like to you?

Will Treloar: The drought has been draining and frustrating. We have so many plans and ideas to make the business better but are unable to act because of the restrictions of the drought.

A farmer feeds a flock of sheep. ( ABC TV: ABC TV )

Jody Tully: Not sure, it's just another season. Yes it is tough but it's life. There is a difference between drought in winter and drought in summer though.

At least in winter you get a chance to draw your breath a little. In summer it is a constant draining slog.

Ben and Oona Banks: It seems to go on and on with no end in sight. Everyone always says the rain is one day closer but it is a little hard to believe when the sun is shinny against a bright blue sky.

Like the wild dog issue, it consumes us. We talk about it at the dinner table, we talk about it at the pub. It basically takes over most conversations.

It is not always possible but it is fantastic to get off property for a weekend and think about and see something different.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: Drought to me feels like a weight hanging over you, having a sense of no control.

I sowed in hope and prayer and a few years in a row got not even seed back.

Chemical bills, diesel bills and fertilizer still had to be paid. We fed more barley to the sheep than I'd like to admit to, but how long was it supposed to last?

So you can add failure to the list of emotions.

Paul Doneley: Drought is mentally draining and this affects you, family, employees, and your social life.

Drought is tedious. You do as much as your body can handle but know this doesn't change the outcome, and there can be no end in sight.

Since returning to the bush I haven't had a wet season and this plays on my mind.

The hardest thing about drought is death. Stock that you have been feeding, pulling out of dams, or wild dogs kill them. It plays on your mind.

Could I have done something differently and if so what? This leads to many sleepless nights and much stress over something that is just out of your control.

Claire Kapernick: Drought creeps up on you and slowly saps your optimism. It's a progressive loss of hope.

What makes the experience of drought more bearable?

Will Treloar: Knowing it will rain and good seasons are around the corner and knowing how good it'll be when it does! Supportive family and off-farm income.

Young Oscar with a couple of orphaned poddy calves on Canaway Downs in south west Queensland. ( Jody Tully )

Jody Tully: Positivity. Making sure you look on the bright side, have positive people around you and make sure you give yourself a chance to laugh.

Have fun with the kids, make sure you get together with neighbours, go into town for the events, ask for a hand when you need it. Keep looking at the future.

Ben and Oona Banks: Knowing you are not the only ones going through it. There is always someone in a worse situation than you.

And it is very humbling when charities and individuals acknowledge and appreciate our efforts.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: I'm not sure, but talking to someone can help. Although nothing compares to watching helplessly the things you love and worked so hard for, fall apart.

Paul Doneley: Knowing that it can't get any worse and that it has to get better. Being able to talk to others in your local area who are in the same predicament you are in.

Asking how they are coping and exchanging ideas of how to combat the drought.

Being able to get away from the property for a holiday or just a weekend can give you new perspective on the situation.

Having outside activities has been an important part of coping with the drought like playing football or coaching, going to the races, taking part in local events, and most importantly having something to look forward to in the future, such as to going to the Rugby World Cup this year in England. It has given me something to look forward to and an outlet from the drought.

Claire Kapernick: Our belief that God has a bigger picture in mind. A strong faith. Any ability to keep a patch of lawn green near our house. A good network of friends and helping others.

Having a little bit of control in things like irrigation and stored feed.

How do you talk to your friends about living with drought?

Will Treloar: A lot of your friends are from properties, so being open about what we are doing and asking what is working for others, to see if there is a better way to do things, to be more cost effective.

Jody Tully: Friends on the land and out here understand. You don't necessarily talk about the drought, you might talk about what's working for you but in general it's a quick 'wish it would bloody rain', and you know what's going on behind the scenes.

A farmer inspects a dried up dam on his farm. ( Ian Waldie, file photo: Getty Images )

For those not out here or friends in the city, it's hard to explain just what it's like. You can tell them what that day was like, the cows you dragged out, the ones you had to put out of their misery, that another dam is dry. But unless they come out and do the water and lick runs with you for at least a week in the summer, they don't quite get it and you can't begrudge them that.

I don't think there are many farmers who would mind not knowing what a drought is like.

Ben and Oona Banks: It is easy to talk to your friends that are going through the same thing. It is hard to explain to people that haven't been in this situation. Imagine telling someone not from a rural background that they had to turn up to work everyday of the year but they wouldn't get paid for it. They just don't get it.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: With farming friends we wouldn't dwell on it too much, I think we all knew the pain. With non-farm people I found it quite a worthless exercise, the notion that you won't get paid for three years and still have to pay fixed charges, is lost on them.

Paul Doneley: I find it very difficult to talk to my city based friends as they have very little understanding of the drought.

We love having friends and family out to our property to show them the way of the bush and how we operate.

Everyone that has visited our place takes an interest in the weather conditions and take the time to make a phone call to see how everything is and if we have had any rain.

Just knowing that people are thinking of you and talking to you helps you through this difficult time. It is a big help to you mentally.

Claire Kapernick: The ones that are experiencing drought too, we talk to over a meal and a glass of wine or two. Friends that aren't in drought have no comprehension of it. You can't unless you experience it.

How has drought changed your perspective on farming?

Will Treloar: It's a reality check that's for sure. But we are a dry continent and within that dry continent we live in a semi-arid area. Drought happens.

We need to build businesses that can withstand the harsh time Mother Nature throws at us.

Jody Tully: I'm only new to it all, not born and bred, but for Gerard it has been a part of life on the land his whole life, just another season to manage.

Droughts are not abnormal here, not that that makes it easier, but he has learnt what to look for, when to start feeding lick, when to move cattle, when to sell, what needs doing for next time.

A newborn calf stands by its dead mother in a paddock near Brewarrina November, 2013 ( ABC: Sally Bryant )

Ben and Oona Banks: They always say that during a good season you have to prepare for a bad one, they were not lying.

We have certainly learnt a lot from this drought. We have been in the agricultural industry for twelve years now and copped two of the worst droughts on record, it certainly dampens the dream.

Western Queensland is certainly boom and bust country and we need to capitalise on the 'boom' years.

Lloyd Polkinghorne: Yes it has and for me it's flawed. I've lost faith in the system. I've seen my community decimated by knee jerk government decisions. I've spoken to many politicians who really couldn't give two hoots because it's not in their electorate.

I've watched banks force people's hand and I continue to see that money gets things to happen. Not the sort of money rural Australia has but those of certain lobby groups and corporate interests. Too many people are falling through the cracks as the money men fall over themselves to make the next buck!

Paul Doneley: For the survival of this new generation of farmers, the future lies in taking the old farm and the old operating procedures and implementing new technology and innovations to make farms more profitable.

Without profitability, young people won't stay and others will not be enticed to come to the land.

Unless we get the youth back to the bush, I can see the demise of agriculture in remote areas.

Just in the last few years I have seen young local families move away. The average age of graziers is on the increase and there are not the youth to take their place.

Claire Kapernick: Drought has reinforced that we need to be ready for some pretty wild extremes.

It shows the importance of building a resilient landscape and business. Really looking after soil health to take advantage of what rain does fall, and making best use of perennials like fodder trees.

It shows the importance of keeping our business overheads down.

This drought has been exceptionally hard as our hay business was completely wiped out in 2011 and then again in 2013 and then the tap was turned off.

Financially we found ourselves in such a deep hole that we are slowly trying to pull ourselves out of.

Thankfully through careful management we have been able to hold on to our breeders and we are now seeing improvement in cattle prices.

Drought is still an issue, but we are coping using management techniques we have learnt.