Mr [Morris Iemma] said “only” 46.1 per cent of NSW was now officially drought declared. The figure is down from 52.6 per cent in December.

“The climate drought may be easing, but across many areas of NSW the cash drought is just as severe,” he said.

“Some farmers in the northwest of NSW are saying they haven’t seen a better season in more than 50 years.”

TORRENTIAL rain across eastern Australia as well as in the west has delivered large parts of the country from the drought.

While the rewards are yet to flow into farmers’ pockets, some are experiencing their best season in decades.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said yesterday that January’s drenching rains would have the two-pronged benefit of easing pressure on farmers and stabilising grocery prices.

Mr Iemma said “only” 46.1 per cent of NSW was now officially drought declared. The figure is down from 52.6 per cent in December.

NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner accused the Government of being Sydney-centric and said that while the latest drought figures might offer farmers hope, Mr Iemma must not use them as an excuse to cut support for country communities.

“The climate drought may be easing, but across many areas of NSW the cash drought is just as severe,” he said.

In Queensland, 62.4 per cent of the state is still officially drought-declared, but the figure has not been updated since last month and does not reflect thesituation.

Almost all of Victoria and the western two-thirds of South Australia are still classified as suffering “exceptional circumstances” by the federal Department of Agriculture.

Don White of the consultancy firm Weatherwatch said there were always two types of drought in Australia, meteorological and political.

“Some of my clients are telling me they are heading to their best season ever, yet they are still drought-declared,” he said.

“Some farmers in the northwest of NSW are saying they haven’t seen a better season in more than 50 years.”

Most of Victoria had experienced good summer rains, parts of Queensland were completely waterlogged, and drought was a diminishing issue for most parts of Australia, he said.

The main problem was that many farmers were yet to benefit in terms of cash-flow from the markedly improved conditions, although the future looked good. “The long-range outlook is for average or above-average rainfall for the next few months,” he said.

Only days after experiencing record rainfall, Perth is again set for a week of soaring temperatures, with the mercury predicted to nudge the high 30s. Last Thursday’s deluge in the city exceeded the January and February combined average rainfalls of 23mm, with a total of 30.4mm.