Farmers who are among those worst hit by on-going, major flooding are bracing for higher-than-average rainfall forecast over the summer.
For months, producers like Scott Darcey — who runs a mixed farming operation near Forbes in central-west New South Wales — have been hit by floods triggered by even the smallest falls.
"If we get another 50mm [of rain], we are screwed," Mr Darcey said.
Many farmers like Mr Darcey have already been confronted with huge bills for damage to infrastructure such as fencing, as well as stock and crop losses.
"It's going to be a long, hard road and we're not out of it by any means," Mr Darcey said.
The president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, Emma Germano, said producers across the state faced a similar situation as they braced for a third consecutive La Niña.
"There's farmers out there that are going to be struggling the next few months at least. And that's if there's not further flooding," Ms Germano said.
She said those who farmed on flood plains had taken all precautions to minimise the impacts on crops and stock, but in some cases there was "unprecedented levels of water going over these properties".
"We're looking down the barrel of some pretty difficult times across Victoria and agriculture on the back of these floods," she said.
How can farmers better endure wild weather?
Ms Germano is urging governments to act beyond response and recovery, and instead move to support the agricultural sector more broadly, to help farmers better weather natural disasters, and help bring down cost of living pressures for consumers.
"It costs more in the long run as a nation where we're not thinking about that resilience and we're not equipping ourselves for the next time there's a disaster," she said.
"[It's] absolutely the conversation that we need to be having, not just for farmers, but obviously for every consumer in Australia."
She said those conversations had begun, with "a lot going on in the water space", including discussions on how rivers are managed to reduce flooding, as well as questions around increasing dam capacity.
More rain is coming, what can be done now?
In the short term, Ms Germano suggested strengthening farms against disasters by installing more flood-proof fencing like swing fences.
"We'd like to be seeing that kind of resilience through grants and assistance and programs that make sure that farmers are doing things that not only clean up now, but equip them better for next time," she said.
Scott Darcey hopes lessons can be learnt to help producers manage and bounce back from future natural disasters.
"It's like all floods – like Echuca, Swan Hill and everything out north — there's a learning curve," he said.
