The latest drought figures reveal a slight drop in the area affected by drought, from 55.3pc to 53.3pc, after rainfalls across much of the State last month.

But the Hume region, which is located just south-east of Canberra, has shifted from marginal to drought conditions.

The only other region to move into drought conditions in the State is Central West NSW.

Greater Hume Shire Mayor Denise Osborne said the drought was having an impact on the entire community.

"Just when you hope it might be turning around ... it may be years before these people get on their feet again. All the rain in the world is not going to put money in the bank immediately," Ms Osborne said.

Locusts are also an issue for farmers in parts of the Central West and southern NSW regions.

Warmer temperatures have resulted in increased locust activity and reports of second-generation hatchings have increased significantly after the Christmas period.

Ms Osborne said the community had "extraordinary resilience".

"There's always concern that people will start to give up and walk away," she said.

"I'm not aware of that happening, but there's been so many impacts right across our shire, from a lot of downturns, and closure of industry over the years.

"But the community always seems to be able to sustain itself."

Steven Koschitzke began farming at Brocklesby in Hume some 25 years ago.

The crop and sheep farmer and his wife have had to pick up part-time work since the drought set in.

His crop yields are 40pc of what he would normally hope for.

"We've had worse single years, but we've never had three in a row like we've had for the last three," Mr Koschitzke said.

More than a third of NSW is experiencing satisfactory conditions, but conditions are mixed.

The south-west part of the Riverina region is experiencing severe drought conditions and water supplies remain critical.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said it was important people realised the drought was not over yet.

"While the state received average to above average rain this past month, several years of above average falls are required to reverse the drought's impact," he said.

"On a positive note, harvest is now complete, with about 9.03 million tonnes coming off the estimated 4.48 million hectares harvested, a significant increase on last year."