Drought in the sheep grazing lands of central western New South Wales, Australia. Drought in the sheep grazing lands of central western New South Wales (near Mudgee) - Australia. Though standing pasture is reduced to chaff, the seedbank awaits rain. It is then that pasture degradation can occur as storm runoff erodes the denuded topsoil, and the more palatable pasture species are eaten before they have a chance to set seed to survive the next drought as dormant seed in the topsoil.