Farmer Stephen Rolfe prepares to feed his sheep on his property near the Southern Tablelands town ......
Farmer Stephen Rolfe prepares to feed his sheep on his property near the Southern Tablelands town of Cooma. Farmer Stephen Rolfe prepares to feed his sheep flock on his property near the Southern Tablelands town of Cooma July 24, 2004. Rolfe's property of over 4000 acres remains in the grip of yet another dry year after being decimated in 2002 by Australia's worst drought in a century, with 87.3 percent of the state of New South Wales still drought-declared. Recent studies by Australian scientists have identified weather patterns that lead to restricted rainfall over a long period, with evidence in previous centuries that this long wet-dry-wet hydrological cycle has applied to large parts of Australia. Picture taken July 24, 2004. REUTERS/David Gray