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Widespread rain is finally falling across south-eastern Australia and it's reaching many parts of the country that need it most. It's being welcomed by farmers who have been battling prolonged dry conditions. But they say, in many cases, it's come too late to turn things around and they're now in the midst of what's known as a 'green drought.’

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00:00On South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, green grass and mud signal winter's arrival.
00:09Good girl, how'd you go?
00:11But it's also deceptive.
00:13On the surface, it looks like it's nice and green and things look good,
00:17but if you really go out there, the paddocks, some paddocks are quite bare.
00:23Myponga is one of the wettest parts of South Australia,
00:25and still, farmer Chris Roundtree is having to purchase large amounts of feed.
00:31Between that May period and now,
00:35it's about nine semi-trailer loads of feed that we've had to purchase that we normally wouldn't.
00:40It's what's known as a green drought.
00:42While the rain has come, it's now too cold for the grass to grow.
00:46The prolonged dry before it has also left plants stressed or dead,
00:50and the soil thirsty.
00:52Droughts are really difficult things to look at,
00:55and sometimes they can even trick us into believing that they're over when they're not.
01:00Farm consultant Bec Burgess acknowledges for other parts of the state,
01:03it's been even more challenging.
01:05So even though it's green here and drought is still here,
01:09only a couple of hours north of us,
01:10and it's still the dry, dusty plains as such that people know drought to be.
01:15The withered eucalyptus trees across the region
01:18reveal a more true depiction of the impact the last two years have had,
01:22with ecologists worried many are too far gone.
01:24But the rains have brought life back for at least some.
01:27That's alive.
01:29That's nowhere near dead.
01:31So I'm very thankful that my 200-year-old, 300-year-old tree is going to survive.
01:37Climate scientists say a reduction in rainfall during the critical growing months
01:42is one of the hallmarks of climate change for southern Australia.
01:45What's really needed this year is for the rain to continue all the way into spring,
01:53as the outlook suggests.
01:55In the meantime, drought-weary farmers say buying Australian produce
01:59and further government support will help.
02:02Time Logan, ABC News.
02:04There you go.
02:05The rain to continue all the way to pass the water.
02:07Let's see.
02:09Okay.
02:10So let's continue to measure the water.
02:13The rain to be on the high ground.
02:15Coastal and nightly,
02:16the rain to the rain.
02:17We'll have to go on the front,
02:19and turn it to you in.
02:21Let's see.
02:23Let's see.

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