New South Wales and Queensland are suffering through one of the worst droughts in decades.
Farmers are struggling to get by as expenses pile up and without rain, they can’t get income to pay the bills.
The severity of the drought is part of the reason 2GB is supporting the Big Dry Drought Appeal.
“Farmers are the backbone of this nation,” says Ben Fordham.
Melinda Hayter is a dairy farmer, whose farm in Werombi has been in action for over 150 years.
Just half an hour west of Campbelltown, you can see the Harbour Bridge from their paddocks on a clear day.
“We haven’t had really decent rain out our way for 14 months.
“There’s no grass!
“You’ve got to [keep your sense of humour], otherwise you go mad.” Melinda tells Ben part of the struggle is not being able to escape the tragedy.
“You’ve only got to look out your window of a morning and there it is, looking at you.” Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

After months of speculation and hardship for many Queensland farmers, the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries, Mark Furner has taken on board the local drought committee recommendations and included the Southern Downs and Lockyer Valley in the most recent review of Queensland’s drought conditions.
Mr Furner acknowledged that the last twelve months has also been very dry for the Southern Downs and Lockyer Regional Council areas.
“There are significant concerns about stock, irrigation and rural domestic water supplies, and I have therefore accepted the local drought committee’s recommendations to drought declare these council areas,” Mr Furner said.
This latest drought review sees a reduced number of areas drought declared considering good summer rain at the beginning of the year but sees the inclusion of these two regions.
​“A lack of useful spring and summer rainfall over the last four to five years, combined with above average temperatures, continues to have a major impact in most of pastoral Queensland.” This comes as no surprise to the Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation who have been receiving numerous calls for assistance from members in areas that had not been declared in the last two reviews.
As an industry organisation, it has been frustrating for us not to be able to provide any real level of assistance to members in these two key dairy farming regions.
We will be on the phone to our members in the newly declared areas to let them know the news and how to access funding.
I know it will come as a welcome relief to those who have been doing it tough.
While members across Queensland outside of drought declared regions could access funding by applying for an Individual Droughted Property (IDP), it is acknowledged that this is by far a more arduous process with significantly more paperwork for submissions.
Drought declared regions can be found at www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au.

EVEN if Bundaberg residents do test high for PFAS, there is nothing they can do.
"Investigations are taking place to find the source of the contamination here in Bundaberg," Dr Young said.
Dr Young said the level of PFAS the community was exposed to was low and "genuinely believed the risk to Svensson Heights residents was also low".
Dr Young said anyone in Svensson Heights with concerns could take up the option to have their blood tested through their GP.
"We know in any chemical if it gets to a high enough level that it can cause problems," she said.
"We don’t know what that level is for PFAS."
"The long term health consequence we are not sure about, which is why we want people to stop consuming it.
Dr Young said 32 people had phoned 13 Health, so far, with concerns about medical issues relating to PFAS.
Dr Young agreed that people in Bundaberg could have been drinking the contaminated water for more than 50 years.
"If everyone in the world continued to use this for the next 50 years we would gradually see an accumulation," she said.

Indian energy giant Adani has vowed to continue to fight a $12,000 fine for alleged contamination of wetlands near its Abbot Point coal terminal in North Queensland – but risks being hit with a bigger fine if they lose.
While the appeal against the fine for breaching the conditions of a temporary emissions licence during Cyclone Debbie last year is fairly common in the resources sector, Adani has also become embroiled in claims it tampered with samples sent to the Queensland Department of Environment during the investigation last year.
This is standard procedure during cyclone events and happens at mines, ports and mineral processing facilities along the Queensland coast.
But Adani was advised on April 6 it had breached the conditions of the temporary water licence after stormwater was recorded with a dirt content eight times the approved limit, or 806mg per litre.
In a separate court action, Adani is appealing whether the Environment Department had the right to issue an environmental evaluation of water contamination in the Caley Valley wetlands.
In court documents it said the notice required "significant and expensive testing and monitoring to be carried out".
"We will continue working to ensure our environmental laws protect our communities and outstanding natural assets," she said.
There is so far no additional charge for Adani relating to alleged altering of samples sent to the department which showed contamination worse than originally thought.
An Adani spokeswoman would also not comment on the court case, but stood the information, including the samples, provided to departmental officers.
"We operate transparently at all times and in accordance with the highest standards expected by the community," the spokeswoman said.

A pricing misunderstanding at a Target store caused outrage in the wake of a natural disaster in Queensland, Australia.
On March 28, a Category 4 cyclone, nicknamed “Cyclone Debbie,” hit Australia and New Zealand.
Torrential rain, sustained winds of 114 mph, and dangerous storm tides caused flooding and severe damage to coastal towns and islands.
When Natalie Maher, a Queensland resident, stopped in the Bowen, Queensland, store following the disaster, she uploaded a picture to Facebook of a 24-pack of 600 ml bottles of water, priced at $72.
Due to storm damage, officials declared the local tap water unsafe to drink because of elevated bacteria levels.
She said that the bottles of water are normally sold at $3 each for individual bottles.
An employee simply did the math to price the 24-bottle pack and set the water out on the floor in packages.
The spokeswoman said, “We again apologise for any misunderstanding and the team at our Bowen store will continue to support the local community during these difficult times in anyway they can.” The aftermath of the cyclone was considerable: buildings and structures were destroyed, crops were flattened, coal mines shut down, and over 63,000 homes and businesses were left without power.
Six deaths have been reported in Australia, and a search continues in New Zealand for a man said to have been consumed by a swollen river.
To help, please contact the Red Cross of Australia and New Zealand.

Target accused of ‘price gouging’ in cyclone stricken Bowen.
Retail group Target have been accused of taking advantage of cyclone savaged communities after selling a 24-pack of bottled water for the exorbitant price of $72.
An image was posted to Facebook on Sunday displaying the advertised price in the Bowen Target Country store in north Queensland.
The company received a huge backlash online with most Facebook users declaring it an outrage.
The photo was taken at the Bowen store by Natalie Maher who accuses the store of price gouging.
“She informed me that no it is the correct price.
“Talk about price gauging us while we are in need.
Disgusting mongrels.
"I will refuse to shop at Target from now on."
The run on bottled water comes after Bowen residents were told to boil their tap water before drinking it due to possible traces of bacteria following cyclone Debbie.