Working into his sixties, Mr McPaul of South Wolumla was set to retire and travel with his wife in October, but the drought has dried up his plans.

“I wanted to retire but because of all this happening, I might be here for another five years,” he said.

His caravan and fishing box sit collecting dust and Mr McPaul believes the industry is not worth pursuing.

“It’s been 28 years that I’ve been waiting for my fortune, but I may as well beat myself with a brick because it is never going to happen,” he said.

“How dairy farming works is you go into it with a lot of money, then you retire with very little.”

The agriculture industry is proving to be tough for farmers across the state, each have their own story to tell and demonstrate different approaches towards preparing for drought.

One thing farmers currently have in common is a blanket of anxiety slowly smothering them with worry about being able to feed their stock into the future.

“We need rain very soon because we are rapidly running out of hay and grain,” Mr McPaul said.

“It is the anxiety of running out of feed for cattle, that is where people come undone.”

Trucks have begun importing hay from Western and South Australia to aid drought-affected areas of NSW.

However, for small farms in the Bega Valley the interstate cost of freight can be unfathomable and out of reach of local farmers.

One family-run farm copped to the cost of a B-double truck of stock feed, which traveled from south Melbourne to their farm in Lochiel at a total of $7700, with a freight charge of $4600. 

“Looking into next year it is concerning as to where the feed is going to come from,” they said.

“I’m not worried about myself, I am worried about the amount of outlay we are looking at to keep the farm going.

“To have aid with feed is what we need, we are having to ration it out very harshly.”

Lochiel farmers have also had to make some tough decisions in order to deal with the drought.

“We have had to lay off one of our casuals and we are looking to cut back on stock – selling up our cows.”

But stock sold off is income lost for dairy farmers. 

“It’s like selling your tools, you won’t make money if you have nothing to work with,” he said.

The community continues to support drought stricken farmers, through donations to nation-wide charities such as Rotary’s Buy a Bale campaign. 

Groups and individuals have also banded together in attempts to provide care packages to help Bega Valley farmers and their families.

Although, Mr McPaul said he would struggle to accept charity.

“I would take offence if someone tried to offer me things other than feed for my cows.”

“Although I know some farmers are so stressed about buying feed for their cows that they forget about their working dogs, they are so important to keep things going,” he said.

“So a bag of dog food at the mailbox seems like a good idea to help some.”