![Cameron Ritter "Dunumbral" Collarenebri. Cameron Ritter "Dunumbral" Collarenebri.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2057037.jpg/r0_0_1024_683_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
FARMERS are furious with the policy void on drought which has left them in limbo as they run out of feed and water.
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With no drought policy in place until July and no Exceptional Circumstances (EC) measures, farmers sent federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce back to Canberra with a clear message.
In a word: “help”.
The situation is dire and better assistance is needed.
Mr Joyce has promised he will take this to cabinet, following his northern NSW and southern Queensland tour of drought-affected communities last week.
He also warned it would be tough to convince his colleagues to approve funding for drought support.
Landholder Cameron Ritter, “Dunumbral”, Collarenebri, said local farmers coping with three bad seasons in a row could not have prepared for current conditions.
“The people left here after the last drought were prepared (for this),” said Mr Ritter (pictured).
“We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.
“I had a few hundred tonnes of grain, 500t to 600t of hay and we are buying (more feed) now.”
James Morris, Bonanza Merinos, Lightning Ridge, is disappointed with the State government’s lack of action.
He began handfeeding in 2012.
He also has a dam which was sunk in 1892 and has never been dry – that is until the past three months.
“If we don’t get some money up here, people are going to come unstuck,” Mr Morris said.
NSW Farmers Western Division spokesman Wayne Newton said this was a natural disaster.
“But it is disaster by stealth. The pressure on people builds over time and there is no end in sight.”
A range of relief measures were suggested to Mr Joyce during last week’s drought tour.
These included interest rate, transport and fodder subsidies.
Concerns were also raised that under previous EC measures, means testing for household assistance funding was too restrictive, with the asset cap set at $1.5 million.
Subsidies for farm worker salaries and assistance for struggling small businesses, were also on the agenda.
Read a full report in this week's The Land