There's "not just one quick fix" for businesses struggling in the drought.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This is the belief of Gunnedah Ag Ware co-owner Peter Jones, who has seen both the highs and lows in the town's economy over the past 21 years.
"To be honest, short-term, nothing's going to help apart from rain," he said.
"We've all got loans; we don't want any more loans."
Read also:
The local said things needed to change on a national scale, and "big-picture" planning was key to the survival of country towns. But in the meantime, helping business owners keep staff on the books would benefit everyone.
Mr Jones said staff were the first to go when revenue was down, so he'd like to see the government subsidise wages to enable businesses to hang onto their employees, especially young locals.
"If you've got somebody that you really want to hang onto, how do you hang onto them if you can't afford to pay them? And that's where you're losing all your skills," he said.
"If you've got to put workers off, those workers are going to go away and you're not going to get them back again, because they've got to look for work.
"There's no incentive to come back."
He said this way businesses could train and retain staff, and keep them in town so they were ready to deal with the demand when the rain finally fell.
Mr Jones said he had more staff three or four years ago, but they moved on for one reason or another and he didn't replace them because his instincts told him tough times were to come.
"Seven out of the last eight years, you could see the decline. Farmers missed out on getting critical crops," he said.
"In the 21 years we've been here, we have not had back-to-back average or good seasons.
"It's really having that flow-on effect, and it affects everybody."
This past decision, coupled with a diverse range of stock, has meant the business is not struggling as much as some.
But if the farmers aren't earning, they're not bringing their business to town and "there's nothing major to bring money in".
"I've got to sell a lot of nuts and bolts to pay the rent," he said.
The thing that's going to get us is if we're not bringing enough money in to pay the rent and pay the wages.
- Peter Jones, Gunnedah Ag Ware
He now sees regulars once in a blue moon as they hold off on doing any major jobs that aren't essential, and money is slow to come in when it is spent.
"I class us as first-cab-off-the-rank from the farmers, so when the farmers are doing it tough, we feel it first, then it goes down to food shops, dress shops etc," Mr Jones said.
"We're doing it tough like everybody else, but we're trying to manage it so that we can get through it.
"We're pretty lucky because we're so diverse ... The thing that's going to get us is if we're not bringing enough money in to pay the rent and pay the wages. Bottom line: if we can't do that, we've got to make a pretty serious decision."
Mr Jones said "everyone's got to ride it out" but believes locals businesses could face closure if the rain doesn't come in the next six months.
"We need everybody to be still sane and still in business at the end of it, because the big problem is once the drought does break, we're not going to be able to keep up with the demand after that because we don't have the stock, the staff, the facilities in place.
"Then that puts more demand on the farmers because they can't get their machinery going."
