国家地理:澳洲农业每况愈下

In Australia, it’s not just livestock hit hard by draught, but the next generation of farmers. At 24, Robert Watt, a farmer from Alectown, a region of Australia, has had seven seasons on the farm, but not one year of profit. He says the draught, plus a sharp spike in farming costs, has left a generational hole on farms.
“A lot of my mates have gone off farm, off farms and get the quick buck at the mine. And it's not usually by, by choices. It's...they're forced to, cos, uh, when they make a living, yeah.”
He says most young people have considered selling out, and explains that the prospect of not earning any money could eventually push him to leave as well.
“The only reason I would leave the land is the finance, the pressure of not being able to get a wage at the end of the week and do what you like with it.”
Robert has joined other young farmers at a meeting in Sydney recently, to work out ways to get more people back on the land. And some say farm finance is the key. Sam Gunn, the chairman of the Young Farmers’ Committee, says that encouraging young people to get the “first farm buyers” grant is important to help them get back into farming.
“And we’re just saying that, you know, people getting back and that encouraging young people back into farming if they get that first farm buyers grant, I really think it would be a step in the right direction to getting people back on the land.”
The farmers who stay on the land face new challenges. They have to manage with less rain, and decide which crops suit the changing conditions. Robert also says there is potential in agriculture to make some money, but external conditions such as the weather are elements that can’t be anticipated and controlled.
“Yeah, there’s definitely potential in agriculture. The, the, the price of the commodity at the moment is quite, quite good. It just depends if, if the weather comes our direction and we can crack a crop and some, some decent seasons for the livestock as well, we could, we can make a bit of money. It’s obviously out of our control.”
A spike in: a sudden large increase in the number or rate of something
Leave a hole (on) in: to use a large part of an amount of money, food etc
Get the quick buck: to make some money quickly
By choice: If you do something by choice, you do it because you want to do it and not because you are forced to do it
Work out: to find a solution for
Decent: proper, satisfactory
在澳大利亚，牲畜受到干旱的重大打击，下一代农民也会受到严重威胁。24岁的Robert Watt来自澳大利亚的Alectown地区，他已经种植了七季，但是没有任何一年是盈利的。他说，由于干旱，加上农业生产成本增加，他在土地上损失巨大。
“我的很多同伴都离开了农田，回到了来钱比较快的矿山。这是没有选择的……他们是被生活所迫，是的。”
他说，很多年轻人考虑过将土地出售，他解释说，如果连续亏损，他也会考虑离开。
“我离开农田的唯一原因就是经济原因，周末拿不到工资，不能去做自己喜欢做的事情的压力。”
Robert和其他年轻人一起参加了最近在悉尼召开的会议，主题是怎样让更多的年轻人回到土地上。有人说，农田是否赚钱是关键。Sam Gunn是年轻农民委员会的主席，他说，鼓励年轻人找到第一批农田买主对于他们回到农田非常重要。
“我们说，你知道，如果他们能找到第一批买主，他们就会回到农田，我认为，这是让年轻人回到农田的正确的一步。”
坚守土地的农民面临着新的挑战。雨量减少，他们必须找出更能适应环境变化的作物。Robert说，农业要赚钱还是有潜力的，但是像天气这样的外部环境是不能预测，也无法控制的。
“是的，农业肯定有潜力。现在，农产品的价格很好。关键取决于，天气是否帮忙，如果天气好，我们可以多收一点庄稼，牲畜也长的好，这样我们可能赚点钱。但是，很明显，这是我们控制不了的。”