Sunshine Coast farmers are becoming desperate as the drought bites in a region better known for its surf and long sandy beaches.

Key points: Sunshine Coast hinterland farmers, unaccustomed to running out of water, are worried for their future

Sunshine Coast hinterland farmers, unaccustomed to running out of water, are worried for their future Many farmers are having to cull their herds because it is too expensive to keep them fed

Many farmers are having to cull their herds because it is too expensive to keep them fed Many say it is the driest they have seen the countryside

A record 3.5 million tourists visited last year, but there has been arguably too much sun of late.

Take a short drive west and there is stark evidence drought has taken hold in a fertile rural region known for reliable rainfall.

Farmers, unaccustomed to running out of water, are worried for their future and are praying for rain.

This week, temperatures set new December records of 41.6 degrees Celsius at Beerburrum and 40.8C in Nambour.

Cattle have been relocated to the home farm at Upper Kandanga. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

A 'green' drought

At Upper Kandanga in the Mary Valley, John Mercer is in the grips of what he describes as a "green drought".

A stray storm last week dropped a welcome 17 millimetres of rain and brought colour back to parched paddocks.

But feed is scarce, fires have been raging in the region and the Mercer family's livelihood is at stake.

Mr Mercer's wife, Roz, took the step of appealing for help through the Kandanga Valley Charolais and Charbray stud Facebook page.

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They are urgently trying to find agistment for 300 stud cattle and calves, that need to be relocated from their second property at Moonie, on the Western Downs.

The Mercers have moved as many animals as possible to their home farm, but last week the Gympie and Sunshine Coast regions were formally drought declared.

The feed in the paddocks is almost non-existent and the creek the cattle stud and two neighbouring orchards rely on has stopped flowing.

This waterhole at Upper Kandanga is three metres lower than usual. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

Its waterholes are drying up.

"It's the worst we've seen the water and it's fast becoming the driest I've ever seen the countryside," Mr Mercer said.

Stud bulls irreplaceable

The 120 stud bulls at Upper Kandanga represent the family's future income, and its proud history of breeding stud Charolais and Charbray since 1988.

"They're not just a commercial herd, you just can't up and sell them and expect to replace them after the drought," Mr Mercer said.

"You've got to hang on as long as you can, as long as you possibly can, because you just can't replace those genetics."

The mighty Mary River stopped running six weeks ago. ( ABC News: Jennifer Nichols )

For the past eight weeks, caretakers have been holding the fort at Moonie, hand feeding cows and calves to keep them alive.

The Mercers have accessed a drought-freight subsidy of 50 per cent and are contemplating carting water to the Western Downs if they can find someone with time to help them.

When asked how he and his wife were keeping their spirits up, Mr Mercer took a long emotional minute to reply.

"It's a tough one, we're just getting by," he said.

"It's a great little community here, we're very fortunate to have very good neighbours.

"We're all struggling. There's a lot of silent stoicism, I suppose you would say, in the bush.

"There's a lot worse off than us. I've got friends down to the last 100 cows and, like I say [it would cost them] $500,000 to put a bore down just to keep those cows alive."

Ian Wild says he has never seen conditions this bad in 45 years of trucking cattle. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

'Worst that I've ever seen it'

Ian Wild, the president of the Queensland Livestock Transporters Association, was grim as he loaded 20 dairy cows onto his abattoir-bound truck at Moy Pocket.

Nearby, the mighty Mary River stopped flowing six weeks ago and fertile flats better known for flooding have turned brown and dry.

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"When I first started as a kid, there was 400 dairy farmers between Kenilworth and my place on the other side of Maleny, now we've only got, I think it's nine between here and Woodford," Mr Wild said.

"It's very disheartening to see the dairy industry suffering so bad."

The Roughs have sacrificed older animals to keep their young cattle alive at Moy Pocket. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

He has been trucking three loads of dairy cows from local farms to slaughter, every week.

"This is the worst that I've ever seen it in," the veteran driver of 45 years said.

"We've seen dry times but not all of the state has been in the same predicament at the same time, or not all of the country's been in the same predicament at the same time.

"We've always been able to move cattle from a dry area to an area that's got feed, but nobody's got any feed at the moment to be able to move cattle to agist, so consequently the farmers are having to destock to keep the herd going.

"Pigs, cattle, sheep are all dependent on feed so they're all finding it hard going to keep alive."

Blue trees for mental health

Peter Rough has already booked in another truckload of cows to go to slaughter from Moy Pocket. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

Dairy farmer Peter Rough has already booked the next truckload to go to the abattoir in the new year after culling 50 of his herd in the past six weeks.

"We're both doing it very, very hard," said his wife Libby.

"I think he probably struggles more than me because I've got the kids, and we don't have staff obviously because we can't afford staff."

Worried for the mental health of her husband and wanting to take positive action for her community, Ms Rough joined The Blue Tree Project.

Libby Rough is raising awareness of mental health through The Blue Trees project. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

The initiative was founded by Jayden Whyte's family in memory of the popular 29-year-old who took his own life after seeking help and being discharged from hospital twice in one day.

Years earlier, he had painted a dead tree blue on his parents' property as a practical joke.

Ms Rough has painted one tree blue on their home farm and joined a team of locals adding colour to two trees on a dairy farm another family leases near Eumundi.

Painting the trees near Eumundi was a community effort. ( Supplied: Libby Rough )

Dozens of campers pass by daily on the road from Eumundi to Kenilworth.

"We all got together, and all the kids, and everyone got up and painted a bit of the tree," Ms Rough said.

"It's got a little 'R U OK?' on the side, and the idea is that when you see a blue tree, you say to whoever's with you: 'Are you ok?'

"It's really about mental health awareness."