Livestock Sale - Drought Documentation Australia
{"Image ImageWidth": "3504", "Image ImageLength": "2336", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Drought in Australia\n2007\n\nAs the drought takes its physical and economic toll on the land and its graziers, stations are forced to destock their land to prevent further land degradation and increased economic hardship. In Deniliquin the bi-annual sheep sale saw record numbers of livestock being auctioned as farmers can no longer afford to keep them. Over 25,000 head of sheep were auctioned off on the day by different agents often standing inside the pens wearing both pink and blue shirts to distinguish the agents from the buyers and sellers.\n\nAs the frequency and intensity of severe weather around the globe intensifies, even some of the staunchest opponents to climate change are starting to shift their ideological positions. In Australia drought affected farmers and graziers are beginning to experience some of the worst conditions witnessed in the past 100 years. For those living along and relying on the Murray-Darling River system, arguably Australia\u2019s largest and most important network of rivers, lakes and catchment areas, the times have rarely looked as dire. This once majestic river system occupies and supports four of Australia\u2019s several states and in places has been reduced to a mere trickle.\n\nThrough a complex network of weirs and dams built over the past century both the Murray and Darling River systems have had their flows heavily regulated to accommodate both graziers and semi-arid zone irrigators. But bureaucratic bungling between both State and Federal Governments and water management agencies, coupled with unforeseen climatic conditions have rendered important waterways and lake systems dry. For the first time in recorded history the Murray River faces the real threat of running dry with its primary dam, the Hume, at unprecedented lows of 4% capacity.\n\nFor graziers who can fortunately rely on sub-artesian waters for their stock there remains little consolation as the necessity to hand feed relies on the production of grains by farmers who many of which have had water allocations reduced to zero amidst tightening water restrictions put in place by government agencies. Graziers already facing economic hardships are being forced to re-evaluate stock numbers and in a growing number of cases are having to de-stock their properties prompting large livestock sales throughout the country.\n\nJanuary 2007\nDeniliquin, New South Wales, Australia\n\u00a9 Dean Sewell/ Oculi/ Agence VU \nfor Greenpeace", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS-1D Mark II N", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2007:02:08 15:38:42", "Image ExifOffset": "2764", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2902", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8645", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3504", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2336"}