As I write this perspective, I am looking out a second-story window watching a torrential downpour in Melbourne, Australia. A land ravaged by years of drought, the rain is celebrated by those around me. The irony of their circumstances in relation to those recovering from the recent U.S. Midwest flooding is not lost on me.
On this trip I have had the opportunity to speak with farmers, men and women not unlike their counterparts in the United States, whose daily struggles as of late have been the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer shortages, constantly changing environmental regulations and of course, how to keep going. The conversation here, though, turns slightly darker, as one farmer tells of his best mate committing suicide this past year following his seventh consecutive year of insufficient water supplies.
Like us, farming and ranching is all these families have ever known. The total devastation for some by the same issues we face, coupled with the lack of water, has taken many to the breaking point. According to one rancher, suicide incidents in his local farming community have steadily risen as the drought has carried on; for some, there feels like no way out.
In speaking with another local, they talk about the government’s efforts to step in. In Queensland to the north, proposals have been made for farmers to permanently remove their crops and install government subsidized solar panels. It offers a steady source of income, courtesy of the taxpayer, and adds power back into the grid. After nearly a decade of inconsistent, and even no revenue, it’s a deal many are cashing in on.
The conversations here are a quick reminder that it is not just farming in America that is struggling with change and battling issues. The global agricultural community is coming to grips with challenges and for some, those obstacles feel so insurmountable that taking their own life is their only perceived option.
As farmers in the Westlands Water District come to grips with their own water calamity, I consider our current state of affairs in relation to that of Australia. While our circumstances are not nearly as desperate, it certainly won’t take very long for our farming community to articulate the sentiments found here in Melbourne. The difference is that we still have control of our destiny. While Australians have implemented every water-saving measure possible and reprioritized allocations in favor of the farming community, California is still battling the importance of people versus fish.
California could learn a great deal from our comrades Down Under. We still have the opportunity to prevent a catastrophe of this caliber. Sadly, I fear it will take the extreme measure of taken lives before anyone is willing to break the political stalemate and find a more reasonable balance between centuries-old family businesses and endangered species. ■
