Heartbreaking photo shows young girl clutching dead lamb in drought
<p>A heartbreaking photo of a young girl cradling a dead lamb like a teddy-bear has revealed the devastating impact the current drought is having on Aussie farmers.</p>
<p>The emotional image was shared to the Facebook group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2069664873305289/permalink/2170618473209928/?__tn__=H-R"><strong><u>One Day Closer to Rain (Drought)</u></strong></a> which was created to let drought-stricken Aussies share how they have been affected by the current climate.</p>
<p>The girl is holding the animal on her family farm near Tenterfield, at the border of New South Wales and Queensland.</p>
<p>In the past month, Tenterfield has only received just 18.8mm of rain compared to a monthly average of 55.3mm since 2010.</p>
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<p>An impactful poem was shared alongside the photo by a group member on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The poem describes how the farmers in drought-stricken NSW and southern Queensland are struggling in the extreme conditions that are killing most of their livestock.</p>
<p>Written by Gina Naylor, the poem reads:</p>
<p><em>Another farmer sighed today, she couldn't do this anymore, She was tired of the fight, her </em>heart broken<em> and body sore.</em></p>
<p><em>She'd searched for hay everywhere, it was so hard to bloody find, "Australia, you've done it now, you’re in a bloody bind".</em></p>
<p><em>"You're sending your feed away, to places overseas, with the drought in this country now, we're on our bloody knees".</em></p>
<p><em>The people say "Stop it! enough is e - bloody -</em>nough<em>" "Look after Australia first" she cried "Hell, it’s getting tough!"</em></p>
<p><em>Her stock </em>are<em> weak now, there's more dying by the day, She has no water anywhere, her cows are calling for their hay.</em></p>
<p><em>Out in the bush here, near Tenterfield Town, The land is like a desert, it's empty, it's cracked and it’s brown.</em></p>
<p><em>The waterholes are empty, the dams </em>broken<em> down and dry, A little girl carries a lamb and she has a little cry.</em></p>
<p><em>"Lamb's Mum died" she weeps, "I’ll go and tell my Mum" If I cry loud enough out here, perhaps she'll hear me and come.</em></p>
<p><em>Another mouth to feed, she thinks, another to try to keep alive, Another that might not make it, only the tough out here survive.</em></p>
<p><em>From a herd of 300 ewes, now 100 breeders dead, All raised on her farm by her hand, from the love that she'd bled.</em></p>
<p><em>Life out here near Tenterfield, its hard and bloody rough.</em></p>
<p><em>The traprock country, this rugged land is only meant for the tough.</em></p>
<p>The photo has since been shared 4,800 times, with commenters expressing their support for suffering farmers and the young girl in the photo.</p>
<p>One user commented: “Words seem so inadequate when people are facing thing like this. We are all trying to do as much as we can. We just pray it's enough to help you all.”</p>
<p>This photo is the latest reminder of the extreme conditions farmers are facing, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning that drier-than-average conditions in NSW and Queensland will continue into spring. </p>
