“荒年的”可以翻译为“of a famine year” 或者 “during a lean/famine year” ，“lean year”同样有“荒年；歉收年”的意思。例如：
The difficulties they faced were of a famine year.（他们面临的困难是荒年时期的困难 。）
The measures taken during a lean year helped them survive.（荒年期间采取的措施帮助他们生存了下来 。）