This would have to be top of the list of uninformed comment that has spewed forth from journalists and experts that have absolutely no idea of the real rural scene. Then the greatest gaffe is to show starving sheep and cattle. The worse the conditions, the more coverage.

It should also be noted that most rural papers never cover aspects surrounding suicides, it is an unwritten rule.

However, the drive for news 24/7 has left bare a very touchy subject that can be so prone to copycat.

Those calling for the building of more dams should be asked, why?

Hardly practical for irrigation and distance would rack up prohibitive costs for piped stock and domestic supply.

There are two ways to handle drought. Feed in the shed and silo or money in the bank.

The greatest day-to-day tool in a farmer’s armoury is to sell, sell, sell.

For instance, the unloading of lambs from Riverina properties at sales such as Bendigo over the past week is a strategy to be applauded.

The Prime Minister speaking from personal experience touched on this strategy, adding that if it did not rain it was prudent action or if it did rain it could be regretted.

Also, try building dams against the combined wishes of the Greens and environmentalists.

A Snowy Mountains scheme these days would be a pipe dream. Even Snowy 2 is experiencing push back on environmental grounds.

After all, we have land purchased for increasing several northeast water storages but there is no ticker across the political divide for further development.

The large yardings of stock from drought and tough seasonal areas is testament to the unique livestock agency network we have in Australia, highly efficient livestock transport operators and saleyards strategically placed to enable stock to be handled quickly and efficiently.

Whilst online selling livestock continues to advance, it is in times of drought, flood and fire where the open cry auction system comes to the fore.

The efficacy of the overall operation can be assessed with only two lambs not making it en-route to the enormous Bendigo offering last week and most of those lambs travelled great distances.