New South Wales Farmers says dry conditions in the western region have reached a “critical point”.

The Association says farmers have reported de-stocking, with many herds reduced to a core group of breeding animals only.

Landholders have also decided not to sow crops or to sow less than normal.

The Association’s President Fiona Simpson says farmers are running out of options to sustain themselves.

“Most of these farmers made very good early decisions about selling stock, taking them to agistment and have had quite proactive schemes in place about maintaining feed,” she said.

“Most of those farmers have now pretty much used up all of their livestock rations there is still no rain, they’ve got no income, they are running out of options.”

It comes as the Regional Assistance Advisory Committee tours the Dubbo, Coonamble, Walgett and Bourke areas to assess conditions.

The visit was commissioned by the New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson.

Ms Simpson says she hopes the tour paves the way for assistance measures.

“In the absence of any program by the State or Federal government for in drought measures what I would suggest to the government is that we go back to what we had before.

“We need subsidies for freight, we need assistance for providing domestic water and we need to look at a suite of measures that is actually going to suppoprt these farmers while they’re in drought which is what is happening at the moment.”