Duncan Barber, a sheep farmer from Metcalfe, remarked that the current drought is the most severe he has experienced in the past four decades in the region.

He noted that they have only received 40 millimeters of rainfall this year.

“The last significant rain we had was back in November of the previous year,” he mentioned.

The family farm’s sheep flock was devouring about 50 tonnes of barley a fortnight, with paddocks ground down to dust.

And ewes were struggling to birth lambs, with many newborns just abandoned by the battling mothers.

“We really need recognition most,” Barber told Today.

“We really need the government to stand up and say, yes, Victoria is in a drought.

“And if they do declare it, then they’re going to have to do something about it. They are going to have to have to help us.”

Barber said the current drought was worse than the brutal disaster that hit Australian agriculture around the turn of the millennium.

“This is the first time that we’ve actually run out of drinking water,” he said.

“You know, it’s a hard thing to say.”

He said he was committed to keep his family farm going.

“I mean, they keep telling us, ‘yes, it’s going to rain’. ‘It’s going to rain next week’,” he said.

“But unfortunately, for the last six months, next week hasn’t happened.”