As Will Nash looks out on a dry and barren paddock on his central-west New South Wales property, he has a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Key points: The Forbes region of NSW received 80mm of rain during January and February

The Forbes region of NSW received 80mm of rain during January and February The much-needed rain is allowing farmers to grow crops after three years of drought

The much-needed rain is allowing farmers to grow crops after three years of drought The Department of Primary Industries said "consistent above-average rainfall" is still needed across the state's cropping belt

Eighty millimetres of rain fell since the new year in the Forbes region and, after more than three years of drought conditions, it put moisture in the soil and gave farmers options on what to sow.

"After the rain, we're now planning to plant barley and try and build up groundcover because the paddocks are so bare," Mr Nash said.

"Our Plan A is wheat, canola and barley, while more recently we've also moved into faba beans.

"For that to happen, we'll need 200mm of rain before May.

"If we don't get that we'll drop canola out and focus more on barley because barley is a champion which seems to grow in the dry."

Surviving with 'atrocious' drought

Like all farmers, the last few years have been among the most challenging.

"2018 and 2019 have been atrocious around here — just a complete wipeout," Mr Nash said.

"During the drought, we've focussed on retaining moisture and improving our soils, we've been doing everything we can do.

"But no matter what we did, we didn't have a lot of success because of the lack of water."

Will Nash is confident some good falls of rain to start the year will allow him to produce a barley crop. ( ABC Central West: Donal Sheil )

After a few good falls of rain, Mr Nash was surprised when he tested how far the rain had gone into the ground.

"We got very excited with all the rain," he said.

"My brother and I drove around the property and thought we'd have some good soil moisture deep into the ground.

"We put the moisture probe in, and in most areas we couldn't get it more than 30 centimetres into the ground.

"While there is moisture in the ground, we started from zero, so there's still a long way to go."

'Last chance' for farming businesses

For some farmers in NSW, entering a fourth year of severe drought could determine whether they stay on the land.

"We've seen a trend right through the state that pressure has been on growers, and they've had no real income for three seasons," said NSW Department of Primary Industries grain services technical specialist, Peter Matthews.

"Growers are now running on empty.

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"While the community's been very supportive in terms of getting farming businesses ticking over, a lot of those now are at their last chance.

"They're very keen to invest what resources they've got left the best they can to get themselves going moving forward."

Mr Matthews said the rainfall across the state had been patchy so far in 2020 and rain in coming months will determine what kind of season farmers will face.

"There are some really good news stories but some bad ones where just too much rain fell in a very tight spot," he said.

"But we need a good consistent above-average rainfall right across the whole cropping belt.

"We need to fill the soil bucket up. We've had two to three seasons of no rainfall in north-western NSW so we have a very big bucket to fill.

"Growers are telling me that the 60mm of rain they've received has basically been sucked up by the soil at depth but they still don't have any sowing moisture."

Growers in the New England region of NSW took advantage of early rain to plant a sorghum crop. ( ABC New England: Jennifer Ingall )

Growing in damp soil

Farmers have suffered through three years of below-average soil moisture levels, but the rain has put some water back into the ground.

The dry conditions prompted a move from producers to shake-up their cropping program to combat the lack of water.

It saw some farmers in Central NSW move away from their traditional canola crop, and move into crops which have a better chance of growing during drought, including barley.

"The biggest shift recently has been towards the dual-purpose crops — the dual-purpose canola and the dual-purpose cereals — and also looking at opportunities to graze livestock," said chair of the Grains Research Development Corporations's northern regional panel, John Minogue.

"Everyone's run down their reserves of drought fodder so they're endeavouring to work out how they recover and build up those reserves again."

The drought has led to more research into growing crops that do not need a lot of water to survive.

"We're searching the world for heat tolerance in plants to look at the ability to have them resilient to longer periods without moisture," Mr Minogue said.

"We can't farm without it [moisture], but you can maximise the return we get per kilogram per millimetre."

Cautious optimism

Shiralee and John Unger of Parkes remember their last significant rain in 2016.

"The last three years have been horrendous — probably the worst in living memory for a lot of us," Mr Unger said.

"Even talking to some previous generations they [the last three years] are unprecedented.

"It's a matter of buckling down and tightening the belt straps and hoping we can get a decent one under the belt this year and move on."

Like many farmers, the Ungers almost entirely destocked due to the lack of feed and receiving less than half the rainfall they normally do.

"With our dual-purpose crops, we've put what stock we do have on it and found that really beneficial," Mrs Unger said.

"We've had a little bit of rain so [we are] a lot more hopeful this year than last, but we'll see."

Parkes farmer John Unger with his canola plants that have barely come out of the ground in the past three years due to drought. ( ABC Central West: Tim Fookes )

Mr Unger said the 50mm of rain they've received this year has turned the region from dusty brown into patches of green.

"It's a good start and at least there's a lot of moisture in the tropics now which is nice," he said.

"Hopefully that's a sign that things are returning to some sort of normality.

"The rain hasn't changed anyone's bank accounts but I think that attitudes have certainly changed.