"There are some people who can rightfully claim that the drought has broken for them," Truss said after a week of steady rains in parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria states.

But he added some regions still had not seen significant rainfall and even in areas where the drought has broken, farmers will continue to need assistance to recover from the long dry.

"For the majority of farmers, they still need more follow-up rains, while others actually need the first good falls," he said.

The drought, in its third year in some inland areas, has affected thousands of farmers and undermined Australia's otherwise robust economy.

Truss said government aid to drought-stricken farmers has already hit 900 million dollars (558 million US) and the figure will go higher as some families will need assistance for up to another two years to recover.

In areas that have finally received significant rains, notably in northern New South Wales, authorities report record grain planting.

The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics said the area being planted is up about 12 percent from the 2002-2003 winter season in New South Wales.

If seasonal weather conditions are average, the crop could hit 37 million tonnes, up 21 million tonnes from last year's drought-hit output, the agency said.

SPACE.WIRE