'It looks like we're on the moon': Farmers brace for impact as dry spell continues

Albury has not seen any significant rainfall since April 6, when 17.2 millimetres fell at the airport.

For farmers who planted their crops before this downpour, Mr Ronald anticipates a bountiful yield. However, he notes that those who sowed earlier are in the minority.

"A lot of canola started getting sown from around the eighth or ninth of April," he said.

"Many of those paddocks, they might not have complete stands of canola, but they've got enough canola up and going.

"(But) if we don't have rain to get all these things properly out of the ground by the middle of June, then you do start limiting yields."

With these dry conditions, the availability of livestock feed is also a concern.

"We're now in the middle of May and it is super dry, it is powder dry," Mr Ronald said.

"I feel like I'm walking on the moon a lot of the time when I walk in paddocks at the moment - but it's not that bad.

"We've got a lot of good moisture sitting under us. But for anyone wanting to sow pastures, they are now going, 'gosh'. But again, it's not too late."

Roy Hamilton, a grain and fat lamb farmer near Rand, acknowledged the challenging start to the season but remains optimistic.

"I think we've had a bit of a glory run for four or five years because it's been wet right through the summer and autumn, and we've had abundant feed," he said.

"The cropping is not too late by any means. But I'm thinking the sheep feed situation is probably more of an issue.

"If we don't get rain for three weeks and we're into June and people don't have any feed until that rain, it's going to be potentially a lot colder. The growth will be quite slow for the pastures, so it would be lovely to have a general rain."

Mr Hamilton said there's no need to panic yet, but if the Border remains dry throughout May, there would be cause for concern.

"Look, I think most people are in a pretty good place," he said.

"There's good water around for livestock. Early crops have had reasonable establishment out this way, but the later crops certainly will need a rain, 10 to 20 millimetres to get them going.

"Hopefully that happens in May, as opposed to the end of June."