Western Australian farmers could be set for an influx of international seasonal workers as the drought over east forces a scale back of the casual farm workforce.

As the Western Australian industry are left struggling to meet the demand for seasonal workers, farmers now want to hire workers impacted by the drought before backpackers.

Ley Webster owns an agricultural and recruitment agency based in the WA wheatbelt and said that she is experiencing an "influx" this season.

"I've had an influx of skilled farmers from overseas that would normally go to the east coast to do harvest," she said.

"I've actually had … a contractor from over there refer them to me because he won't have enough work for them.

"So that I suppose [was] the first sign, that … there was going to be a shortage of job opportunities due to the drought."

Victoria-based harvest contractor Bruce Estens helps local farmers find seasonal workers and said he is currently pointing any international workers he recruits in a westerly direction.

"I've got people coming to me all the time — this year I've had about 25 or 26 coming already and I go overseas and interview them, I personally go across every year," he said.

"This year I'm sending them all to Western Australia because apart from … the handful that we really need to have over here, the rest you couldn't give them a job anywhere — there's no machines running.

"No one will be putting on any extra labour, they will be just hanging on to what they got."

A Loomberah farm in western New South Wales is one of many feeling the effects of the big dry. ( ABC News: Jennifer Ingall )

WA farmers want to help Aussies first

Ms Webster said that she has had a number of local contacts express their desire to help fellow Australian farmers find work first, ahead of recruiting international workers.

"A few just in recent days, a few more [requests] have come through," she said.

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"I've been a little bit proactive putting some inquiries out there, [for workers from eastern states] but I haven't had a lot of response to them.

"It is great having the internationals come in and sharing our Ag industry and our knowledge with them, but I think everyone would prefer to have … locals first, if we've got them available."

Ms Webster said she has put notices on Facebook pages that are targeted at drought-affected farmers and workers in WA, expressing an interest in assisting eastern-states farmers with the logistics of finding employment in the west, but has not seen much uptake.

Ms Webster said that helping in times of need is "just part of the Australian culture … that's what we do."

"If we can help each other, it's sending that message out to everyone outside of the Ag industry that we do help each other, we are proactive and we're looking after our industry and our people," she said.

Hugh Strayhorn is a recruitment manager based in Toowomba, Queensland, and said they have received expressions of interest from WA clients.

"Well we are in the process of talking about it at the moment … to ask farmers or workers that want to go west to get jobs, if they were interested in going across," he said.

"It would be economically [viable] to do it for a two–three month period over harvest.

"We have jobs to fill [in the east] but we've been told in a lot of cases to just put them on hold for the moment, until it rains … so yes it is being slowed up a lot because of the drought."

Nice gesture, but will there be uptake?

East coast farmers are concerned there will be a labour shortage next year. ( Supplied: 2 Workin Oz )

Ms Webster said that she also has concerns that farmers in the west could end up short-handed again, despite the influx of international interest, if they hold off on hiring.

"I suppose for the ones coming in [from] overseas they need to plan," she said.

"I'm mindful of how many I book to come in but … I suppose if I am going to work with people from the east, I would … like to get some CVs on the books fairly quickly.

"The next few weeks … farmers will want to know what staff they've got.

"Come the first of October, if our eastern states farmers aren't coming then … it's getting a bit late for people to start booking you know overseas, that window is closing."

Mr Estens said that while taking in workers from the east is a kind gesture, he questioned how strong the uptake would be.

"I'm understanding what is being proposed from the west where they ask for any labourers or farm workers from here [whose] jobs are at peril … to head to the west," he said.

"I think it's a great idea but I don't think the uptake would be very big because you would only get the odd farmers son and maybe the odd worker go across there.

"Any farmer would know that if he loses his labour to the west, even if it's on a temporary basis, there is a chance that they won't come back."