Government funding of agriculture during a drought typically falls into three categories: subsidies for farm businesses income supplements for low-income farm families support for better decision-making.
Seasonal conditions vary from drought to normal and above-average rainfall.
Farmers employ production and financial strategies to adapt to changing seasonal and market conditions.
Read more: To help drought-affected farmers, we need to support them in good times as well as bad So why a new round of government handouts for another drought?
Farm subsidies One general form of government drought assistance involves subsidies.
Drought subsidies have the effect of raising the average return from farming.
Subsidies for farm outputs or inputs are a very blunt policy instrument to support farm families facing poverty.
Providing a minimum income support to the self-employed, including farmers but also many small-business people in other parts of the economy, has been a challenge.
Why other small-business families experiencing a downturn in business income – including some who depend on the farm sector – are not eligible for an equivalent to the Farm Household Allowance remains an issue.
Read more: Farmers experiencing drought-related stress need targeted support Better farm business decision-making A number of programs to support better farm plans to manage droughts are funded.

The former president of the National Farmers’ Federation, Brent Finlay, has accused politicians of “jumping in front of the cameras” while shirking effective policy work on drought and climate change.
As Scott Morrison and his special drought envoy, Barnaby Joyce, toured south-west Queensland on Tuesday, Finlay described the former deputy prime minister and agriculture minister as the last in a long line of ministers who had “no real appetite” for national drought policy in a changing climate.
If we want strong climate action, we need to get the moderate Liberals on board | Erwin Jackson Read more “Climate change and connectivity are the two biggest issues facing the bush.
Climate change is real and we have to have a national drought policy framed on what we know about climate change – the two are interlinked,” Finlay told Guardian Australia.
“Instead of jumping in front of the cameras when a drought is on, we need them to do the grunt work on effective financial measures that allow our farmers to build up cash reserves in the good times to draw upon when the dry comes again.” He also called on governments to start rewarding good farmers who prepare for drought rather than the “less efficient” farmers.
“I went to Labor and the Coalition in 2013 when nowhere in Australia was in drought,” Finlay said.
The white paper did not include climate change in its terms of reference and the NFF was not consulted on those terms.
By recognising climate change, it is empowering resources to support agriculture.” He would like to see a permanent drought commissioner placed in the prime minister’s office to be proactive on policy development and climate monitoring.
This would be a significant move, as it would place the commissioner out of the hands of the agriculture minister, who is a National party minister in any Coalition government.
If it’s in PMO and hopefully its bipartisan, it elevates the management of the position.” Finlay was president of the National Farmers Federation for three years from 2013, coinciding with the last months of the Gillard-Rudd Labor government and Barnaby Joyce’s first three years as agriculture minister.

STEP UP: Former agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce calls on the state governments to do more to help drought-stricken farmers.
Former agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce has called on the state governments to do more to help drought-stricken farmers as conditions across NSW continue to decline.
The New England MP, who represents the Upper Hunter, says the states need to do “a little more heavy lifting” and pull their weight – especially when it comes to implementing freight subsidies to help farmers pay to move stock and transport fodder and water.
He recently met with the NSW Farmers Association to discuss drought assistance measures.
DROUGHT: The drought is spreading across NSW.
Both said Mr Joyce was a failed agriculture minister who should have done more to create better drought-support measures for farmers when he held the portfolio.
The loans cannot be used to buy fodder or water.
Mr Joyce said the federal government already had a range of assistance measures in place – including the farm household allowance.
The states may have been doing more if Barnaby Joyce didn’t abolish COAG’s Standing Council on Primary Industry, which was in place in part to ensure the Commonwealth and the states were working together on drought, Mr Fitzgibbon said.
Ms Swanson said Mr Joyce should work with federal agriculture minister David Littleproud as he was “well placed to guide him as to what we should be doing as a Commonwealth instead of trying to abrogate his responsibility and palm it off to the states.”

The mooted 70GL reduction has resulted from an ongoing consultation process over the past four years and MDBA modelling of social, economic and environmental impacts which has also involved farming representatives.
The review process will trigger legislative amendments to adjust the Basin Plan, to be moved by Mr Joyce in federal parliament in July or August, while backing from the NSW and Queensland governments for the 70GL proposal is critical to the final outcome.
“I note the Authority’s own economic modelling shows a 390GL Plan would cost 205 jobs in the St George and Dirranbandi areas, while the 320GL plan costs 132 jobs,” he said.
He said the MDBA had acted in good faith recommending a lower amount of water be recovered from the Northern Basin with minimal environmental impact but “the actions of the Deputy Prime Minister change the context completely”.
“The Deputy Prime Minister needs to clarify if he supports the whole Plan or just the parts that suit him – there are no half-way measures here.” But a spokesperson for Minister Joyce said Mr Burke trying to make a political ‘upstream versus downstream’ issue out of the Northern Basin review was “pathetic and disappointing”.
“Further, MDBA modelling shows that under their recommended changes, SA is likely to receive increased flows in drier periods.” “Now who is playing politics with water?” The spokesperson said under the proposed 70GL scenario, around 200 jobs would be saved across struggling Northern Basin communities, while still achieving the same level of environmental outcomes.
“It’s important to note that even under the recommended changes there is further recovery to go through for some of these communities,” the statement said.
Mr Whan said according to the MDBA calculations it was “clear” that changing the target from 390GL to 320GL had no measurable impact on water available for SA and the Southern Basin.
“On that basis it is hard to see any practical reason why there would be opposition to the recommendation from the Southern Basin, including SA.” Political support for 70GL and 320GL target Mr Hunter has previously said the SA government wanted evidence that a reduction in the water recovery target from the Northern Basin review would have little impact on the southern connecting basin and anything less than 320GL would not be accepted.
The spokesperson said the decision to reduce water recovery in the Northern Basin from 390GL to 320GL was a step in the right direction – but it was disappointing that more productive water would be taken out of some northern communities, effectively leading to NSW being ‘over recovered’.