Mr Turnbull is pleading with the Australian government to reconsider its stance on drought assistance to ensure farmers in Walgett, Bourke, Lightning Ridge and Brewarrina are given a chance.

The limited assistance that is being provided is proving to be slow to make it to those in need but for most it is completely useless anyway.

Mr Turnbull said the time will come when the region is viable again but he fears many farmers won't last to that point without some meaningful assistance from government.

"It's costing between $1500 and $2000 in cotton seed every day to keep our ewes going. You feed them and they are just as hungry the next day," he said.

"We've sold 15,000 sheep, I sold half my cattle and sent two other lots away on agistment. The value of the calves I sold recently hasn't even covered the cost of the agistment and I have no idea how much longer they will be there.

"Basically, I have cut my cattle numbers in half and yet haven't made a dollar."

Mr Turnbull said the government's concessional loans were basically useless because they were only for a period of five years with interest rates only slightly lower than those of the banks.

"To be of any real use, the loans would have to be long term and the interest rate would have to be low, around 2 per cent," he said.

"Why would anyone abandon their bank for a couple of years when they aren't going to be able to pay off a loan in that time and then have to go crawling back to their bank?

"When you go back, you are probably going to have a higher interest rate than when you left.

"People are wondering if the banks have moved in but there is no incentive for them to.

"We'll be left watering the lawn and caretaking and once the paddocks are green again, that's when the banks will come in."

Parkes MP Mark Coulton said farmers in the north-west had not been forgotten.

Despite comments from Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce that the government was short on money and would not be able to fund additional assistance, Mr Coulton said he was working to get more funding.

"I believe we need to keep pursuing the needs of farmers in the northern corner of my electorate. I have had conversations with senior ministers and I've even had a conversation with the Prime Minister about this," he said.

"Barnaby sent officials from the Department of Agriculture out to that area and they met with farmers and businessmen."

Mr Coulton said Mr Turnbull's points about the length of government loans were valid and was campaigning for 10-year loans.

He also said the areas in his electorate should be considered for targeted assistance because they had undergone more than two years of uninterrupted drought.

"While other areas have been bad, there has also been some relief but for that part of north-west NSW. They had a flood that lasted a long time and almost sterilised the ground and then went straight into drought," Mr Coulton said.

"It's going to be a while before they can get back on their feet from what is a one-in-100-year drought."