Water restrictions may hit Sunshine Coast residents

Water restrictions may have been imposed on the Sunshine Coast but it is not just towns that are feeling the pinch.

Farmers yesterday said they would be in serious trouble if good rains did not fall soon.

Bathurst Agricultural Society president Danny Wepenaar yesterday said the lack  of any decent rain in recent months was very worrying.

"We could be in very deep trouble if good rains don't fall soon."

He said this year was the driest the area had experienced  over the past four years.

Award winning Alexandria dairy farmer Tshilidze "Chilli" Matshidzula said things had become so desperate that he had resorted to feeding his 550 cows "from the bag."

"Things are very tough, here is no grazing left and many farmers are buying lucerne at high prices just to feed stock.

"The worst thing is that there is no rain forecast anytime soon."

He said the current drought was the worst he had experienced in 10 years of farming in Alexandria.