Did you know that Australia is suffering a drought, now in its sixth year, and the worst in over a century?<\/p>\n
Australian farmers have been hardest hit, forced to make a living sometimes in very harsh conditions, raising emaciated cattle. The severe drought has led to an alarming increase in the number of suicides among farmers, now at twice the national average. <\/p>\n
According to the Australian national mental health body Beyond Blue, one farmer takes his life every four days. The group has called for psychologists to tour agricultural areas to combat anxiety, stress and depression. Australian Prime Minister John Howard tried to address the growing problem of rural poverty by announcing a $263m aid package for farmers.<\/p>\n
Did you know that Australia is suffering a drought, now in its sixth year, and the worst in over a century? Australian farmers have been hardest hit, forced to make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sidebar"],"yoast_head":"\n