Leading Australian Scientist Suggests Some Farmers Abandon Their Land

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"One of Australia's most respected environmental scientists on Tuesday called for farmers to give up fighting the drought and leave the land with dignity.

Professor Peter Cullen, who is a member of a group of scientists devising a national water strategy for the dry continent, said that as much as 10 percent of agricultural land was unsustainable for farming.

The current drought is estimated to have spread to some 90 percent of New South Wales state and is said to be the worst in living memory. But even without the drought, many bush communities would always have to face dry weather and should consider leaving the land now, Cullen said. "They're (droughts) always painful, they're always going to cause difficulty in those communities but we need to find a smarter way of doing it," Cullen told ABC radio.

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Cullen said as many farmers were getting old and looking at how to fund their retirement, the government should help them make that transition. The conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard has prepared a drought relief assistance package which reportedly gives farmers greater flexibility in applying for grants."

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http://www.terradaily.com/2005/050524063217.coykc0aa.html