Out west of the Great Dividing Range they say if your name begins with "Mc" you never fall down.

Jim McLaughlin's forebears were among the Scottish families who settled the Central Division of NSW in the 1880s and stayed through seasons good and bad, flood and drought.

Now, 14 months since the great drought that crippled rural Australia was declared officially over, drought is again tightening its grip. Few knew. There has been so much news about floods in Queensland and northern NSW, cyclones and Lake Eyre filling for the first time in a generation that Australia miraculously seemed the land of the great wet heart.

But McLaughlin's property, 11,000 hectares at Merryanbone North Station outside Warren, has hardly had a drink since March 2012. "We've only had six inches of rain," he said. "We usually average about 18."

McLaughlin, 47, works the land his grandfather settled in 1913. He runs 10,000 merino and 1000 head of cattle and is an industry leader in the cultivation of oldman saltbush to feed stock.

Like the ancient Egyptians, he has buried grain for winter. It won't be enough. In paddocks littered with cardboard-coloured tufts of grass, his just-shorn sheep already resemble parched papyrus.

"I'd been holding off selling because I thought there would be rain, but now I'm stuck. I'm trying not to panic but you lie awake at night … the trouble is if you sell now, you're selling next year's income … the thing is not to give in. You just have to keep going. You can't fall here."

From Queensland through NSW to Victoria a great inland swath has slipped into drought.

PHOTOS: Australia in drought

Seventeen per cent of NSW is in drought and another 65 per cent is teetering that way. There's too little water, too much stock, not enough feed and the price of what is available is skyrocketing. Farmers are rushing saleyards in desperate bids to beat tumbling prices.

The government ban on live exports to Indonesia in 2011 shook the industry. This week's suspension of live exports to Egypt further spooked farmers. Those cattle have come back into the domestic market, causing a downward push.

On Thursday an unseasonably large number of cattle, 5600, went to auction in Dubbo. Prices made some cry. An animal that attracted a bid of $600 a year ago is now worth less than $400. Sheep were even worse. Ewes that fetched $100 a head last year are worth $20.

Eight days ago federal and state governments changed the rules on drought assistance. The national drought program reform is long overdue.

Yarramgrove Station, a mixed farming enterprise near Nevertire, has been worked by the Barnett family since 1975 and was ineligible for drought relief in 2006. But the farmer opposite on the Mitchell Highway received assistance. "The bitumen must have stopped the clouds," Graeme Barnett, 44, mused.

He sent 20 per cent of his cows to market this week because the rain had failed. "We got a bit in February and up came the green shoots but the sun burnt them off and now the first frosts are starting and we'll get no feed growth. So we're in drought and governments have changed the rules - but what are they?"

VIDEO: Graeme Barnett on his property, Yarrangrove near Nevertire talks about the latest drought.

Chairwoman of the NSW Farmers rural affairs committee Sarah Thompson called on the government to spell out the details. She said measures being debated included concessional loans, interest rate subsidies and grants to prepare for drought.

Last week Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said reforms included farm household support payments, tax changes and co-ordination of social support services. "While we are moving to a greater focus on risk management and preparedness, we recognise there are still concerns about what will be in place when a severe drought hits," Senator Ludwig said. "Mate," said Mr Barnett, "it's here."