More water has rained down on David Buckley's farm in three weeks than in the past year.
Since January, 220mm has fallen on his 89-hectare property, 220km northwest of Brisbane, giving him and his neighbours hope.
It has come as a relief to many in Queensland's farming community, with more than two-thirds of the state in the grip of a drought.
But they know more is needed to break the dry spell.Mr Buckley has watched friends and neighbours pack up and sell off their farms over the past two years, as their dried-out land crippled their income.
"You would wake up and it would be the same blue sky and 35 degrees every day," he said."You say to yourself 'It will rain one day', but one day turns into a month, which turns into six months, which turns into 10 months."It has been a stressful time for many in the southern and western corners of the state, with consecutive seasons yielding increasingly poor results.
Like Mr Buckley, many farmers in the Western Downs had missed out on most of their summer crops.If it was not for a 160mm downpour in January, Mr Buckley said his season would have brought nothing.
The rain reprieve gave him a chance to plant 270 acres of millet, which is mostly used in bird seed."It doesn't rain money.
We still have to plant a crop and wait six months for that," he said."I need to make around $300,000 before I start making a profit."But Mr Buckley said his community has come together to help each other through.