Weatherzone, By: Suzannah Baker, 05/07/2013

It's not just those on the land who are feeling the effects of the drought, fisherman in northern parts of the country are too. Gary Ward is the chairman of Gulf of Carpentaria commercial fishers association and has noticed a drastic drop in barramundi numbers.

He says the missing wet season is to blame for an 80 per cent reduction compared to last year. "Fishermen are battling to fill orders that they've been able to fill for many years." "There's a drought on the land, there's a drought in the sea." Mr Ward says they're hoping to get a cold snap in winter which could improve the situation.

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Weatherzone, By: Sarina Locke, 05/06/2013

The drought has broken in New Zealand, marking an end to the driest period in 30 years. There have been significant falls of rain on the harder-hit North Island over the past two weeks.

The dairy industry is estimated to have lost $1.4 billion ($NZ1.7 billion) because of the cost of feeding and reduced milk supply. Conor English, chief executive of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, says dairy production will continue to be at a reduced level.

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Weatherzone, By: Anna Vidot, 05/06/2013

The national farm lobby says Australia's drought reform agreement is a good step forward, but leaves the biggest policy questions unresolved. State, territory and federal agriculture ministers met on Friday and signed off on the National Drought Program reform, that solidified their support for five principles first outlined last October.

Those include a commitment to drought preparedness over crisis management, tax reform through the Farm Management Deposit scheme, household support payments and better social service and training provisions. But the National Farmers Federation's Brent Finlay says the crucial details about all of that, as well as what support will be available to farmers in a drought, still isn't there.

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