He has called for a pilot scheme to trial a new approach to drought management. "Overhauling drought policy has never been seriously attempted because it's hard," he said.

"It's hard politically, it's hard for farmers currently in drought and it's hard to get the policy settings right. Yet, most agree, politicians and farmers, alike, that Australia needs to find a better way than the current drought relief model."

He said there was real anxiety among the farming community whenever drought reform is mentioned.

"It is vital that any change must not create additional hardships nor should they burden farmers in drought with uncertainty about support mechanisms for them. At the same time, governments are focused on the financial pressures of the current record drought and the anticipation of possible extreme weather conditions into the future."

"Our plan is to better drought-proof Australian farms by investing upfront in on-farm climate adaptation and mitigation practices," Mr Crombie said.

"Things we know work."