00:02As the paddocks dry up, so too farmers' livelihoods.
00:06As you can see, the pastures are very depleted. It's been a long time now without rain.
00:11Greg Finlay is a major hay producer in southern Queensland, but all five of his sheds are empty.
00:18We're all out of hay and have been for a long time.
00:21But this is the first time we've had this empty in my career.
00:24Even in the 2019-20 drought, we had some hay somewhere.
00:27Four southern Queensland councils were either fully or partly drought declared in July,
00:33forcing some farmers to sell off their cattle because they can't afford to keep them fed and watered.
00:38The last drought, the last big drought, there was only 30% of the livestock left in the region at
00:44the end of that big drought.
00:45It's not just farmers who are struggling.
00:47This wildlife rehab centre has had double the number of kangaroos coming into care.
00:52We don't see these numbers. When there's no drought, we don't see this kind of numbers.
00:56With no hay about, they're sending backpackers to pick dry grass by hand.
01:01Each week it's getting more and more difficult and we're spending more and more money on buying food and also
01:07fuel to go out and do the rescues.
01:09The dry conditions across much of southern Queensland have residents bracing for the upcoming bushfire season.
01:14To prepare, volunteer firefighters have already begun conducting hazard reduction burns.
01:20No rest for these recent retirees.
01:23We've been doing it for too long now to stop.
01:25Just out in the community, I suppose.
01:26The smooth bark trees are much safer.
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