Drought assistance

Current drought assistance products and information:

  • Drought Ready and Resilient Fund provides low interest loans to farmers in NSW to prepare for, respond to and recover from drought. Loans are up to $250,000 and can be used for products, activities and services relating to animal welfare, farm preparedness, income diversification, environmental improvements as well as training and business development.
  • Drought Infrastructure Fund (formerly the Farm Innovation Fund) loans  are intended to assist with the cost of carrying out permanent capital farm infrastructure works, environmental and natural resource improvements and, notably, drought preparation. Farm Innovation Fund loans are up to $1 million with a concessional interest rate of 2.5% for the life of the loan which can be repaid over a term of up to 20 years.
  • NSW DroughtHub is a one-stop online destination for information and support available to primary producers to prepare for and manage drought.
  • DPI's Farm Business Resilience Program is ideal for those looking to upskill and learn about risk management, adapt to a changing climate, and improve the economic, environmental and social resilience of the business.
  • DPI's Drought and Supplementary Feed Calculator is an essential tool for sheep and cattle producers to develop drought feed rations as well as rations for dry periods when supplementary feeding is required.
  • DPI's Combined Drought Indicator is an interactive tool that provides a snapshot of current seasonal conditions for NSW, factoring in rainfall, soil moisture and modelled pasture/crop growth indices.
  • DPI's State Seasonal Update provides up-to-date information about current seasonal conditions, including drought, rainfall and temperature, outlooks and detailed breakdowns of conditions by region.