Drought continues to plague some states

While some farmers are rounding off a bumper grain harvest, others are still gripped by drought and relying on aid drops as Christmas approaches.

Almost 70 per cent of Queensland's land area is drought-declared. The situation is similar in South Australia, where about 70 per cent of the state is listed as drought affected.

NSW has fared much better, with 83.5 per cent of the State now listed as non-drought, and another 6.8 per cent listed as recovering, and grain producers expecting record harvests.

National Farmers Federation CEO Tony Mahar said while there had been a return to good seasonal conditions in most places, financially farmers had depleted their reserves, and bank balances will take a long time to repair.

Given Australian agriculture's diversity in industry and geography, regions will always differ in terms of fortunes and rainfall, he said.

"This time last year, the grip of drought was unrelenting on large tracts of the eastern seaboard. Many grain growers had not harvested a crop in consecutive years and livestock producers had drastically, if not completely, destocked.

"They were supplementary feeding the stock they had left and often trucking in water. Large rural centres like Stanthorpe and Tamworth were days away from running out completely of water," Mr Mahar said.

"In February, good rainfall started to fall across much of the areas hardest hit by drought and now grain growers, particularly those in NSW, have almost completed a bumper harvest."

Mr Mahar said the NFF is now focused on working with farmers, governments and business to ensure everyone is prepared for the next inevitable drought.

On December 15, Rural Aid will deliver five road trains of hay to Biloela showground which will be collected by 20 farmers in need.

Rural Aid's chief executive officer, John Warlters, said that while many drought-stricken parts of Australia had received rain this year, the Banana Shire area of Queensland had experienced prolonged drought.

"Farms in this pocket of Queensland have had a spot of sporadic rain here and there, but make no mistake, they're doing it tough," Mr Warlters said.

"It's a region that has experienced prolonged drought conditions and the longer they drag on, the more devastating the impact financially, socially, psychologically."

The hay drop will be Rural Aid's final hay delivery of the year. During 2020, more than 22,000 bales of hay were delivered to 3300 farmers.

It comes as record rains are tipped to fall across areas of southeast Queensland.

According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences, this year's winter crop is tipped to top 51.5 million tonnes nationally. This is 7.4 per cent up on the September predictions.

NSW, which had endured devastating drought but is now recovering, is tipped to have a record crop.