Victorian farmers battling severe drought conditions described by some as the worst in decades will be eligible for concessional loans of up to $1 million, under a $30 million package announced by the Commonwealth and the Victorian governments on Wednesday.

In some parts of north-west Victoria, farm dams are bone-dry, crops have failed and livestock producers are spending hours a day carting water to keep livestock alive. The southern Mallee and northern Wimmera have both been badly affected by the big dry.

Farmer Mal Burge at his sheep and crops property near Wedderburn, where he is carting water to his sheep for the first time in years. Credit: Angela Wylie

But farming areas around Wedderburn and Charlton, north-west of Bendigo, have also been severely hit, with some receiving very little rain between July and the rainfall over the weekend. Although it helped lift home rainwater tanks, the weekend's rainfall came far too late to be any benefit for grain crops.