Surviving The Drought

On SBS’ new season of ‘Struggle Street’, Rosey Warburton reveals the shocking hardships facing Aussie farmers like her

- Emma Babbington

One of the toughest moments for Riverina dairy farmers Rosey Warburton and husband Barry, who are struggling to survive the worst drought in generations, came last February. Their lifeline, a new $55,000 water bore, collapsed. “Your bore is your water; no water, no grass, no feed,” explains Rosey, 49. “I can’t explain it [but] it was like a death.”

The devastating moment is captured in Season 3 of Struggle Street, which this year focuses on the difficulties faced by rural and regional Australians by putting the spotlight on Riverina communities. Rosey and Barry, who are also raising two young children, Lincoln, 5, and Annabella, 2, are shown at breaking point.

“Barry knew the drought was coming, so he had bought a lot of bore water to get us through, but then that collapsed. It was very tough,” says Rosey. “We dried up real quick because there was no rain.”

In the first years of drought, even with bought-in water, the Warburtons struggled to keep their livestock alive and fed. Where they live in the Murray-Darling Basin, the lack of rainfall has been the worst in recorded history. Now, six months on from filming the show, Rosey reports that despite the bore being fixed, little has changed.