Hunter farmers emerging from one of the driest winters on record are now staring into the jaws of another vicious drought cycle as they head into summer.
The Department of Primary Industries has formally declared parts of the Clarence, Mid-Coast, Dungog and Port Stephens local government areas to be in drought.
The conditions mark a stark contrast from last year when much of the region and the state was impacted by devastating floods.
"In the 30 years that I've been here it's probably the driest winter that I have experienced following our wettest winter ever," Clarence Town cattle farmer Bryce Whale said.
Unlike the lead-up to previous droughts, Mr Whale said there was now greater awareness among farmers and the wider community about the need to prepare.
"There's so many weather apps and discussions about El Nino these days, people are very conscious about what they need to do to avoid issues moving forward," he said.
The memories of the last drought, which ended less than four years ago, are providing extra motivation to prepare.
Mr Whale said most farmers survived by destocking cattle excess to needs.
"We quickly got through any old cows that we didn't need, any young cattle that we didn't really want to hang on to," he said.
"We had 100 cattle that we needed to finish so we made a decision to feed those cattle with a pellet so we knew they would be gone in 90 days.
"The important thing with any drought is that you have got to make decisions quickly. If it rains, it rains, but if you don't make decisions you can get yourself into a real mess."
With the region's dam levels falling by an average five per cent over the past three months, combined with the expected declaration of an El Nino system in coming weeks, farmers have little choice but to prepare for the worst.
Extremely low cattle prices have added another layer of complexity to the equation.
"It hurts to have to offload now at a substantial loss but you really don't have any choice," Mr Whale said.
"If you don't offload you're going to be in a hell of a lot of pain."
The challenge has been made more difficult by a 2020 mouse plague in the state's central west that destroyed feed stores set aside for the next drought.
It means farmers will most likely be forced to procure feed from interstate in order to survive.
"There are no feed reserves and the price of grain is at an all time high.They are very nervous up in the north of the state about how much grain they are going to get," Mr Whale said.
"China has dropped its subsidy for barley, so it is as dear as hell. Hay is hard to find and expensive because you have to bring it so far. At the moment there are no freight subsidies so you have to pay the full price to bring it in."
NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty last week met with researchers at the NSW Department of Primary Industries Tamworth Agricultural Institute to discuss how their research was driving drought preparedness.
"Farmers across NSW are a resilient bunch, and the NSW Government is committed to supporting them to prepare for drought through agricultural research that helps farmers build on-ground resilience," she said.
She said most farmers were already implementing supplementary feeding and considering options to prepare for the forecasted drought.
"This month's NSW DPI State Seasonal Update is telling us that drought conditions are continuing to emerge in the north, north-east and south-east regions of the state," Ms Moriarty said.
"Now is the time for many farmers to consider things like stocking levels, whether they're prepared to feed livestock, to what extent and for how long."
