In a “normal” year, Bernie Free would start seeing green shoots in the paddocks of his dairy farm in early May. This year the germination did not arrive until July – which means “naturally less sunshine, less warmth and so on – the grass grows slower”, he says.
In the two years to September, southern Australia has had much lower than average rainfall – the lowest on record in some parts of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It is a drought so bad that some farmers are searching for comparisons in the 1960s and even as far back as 1914.
