Yesterday, ANZ announced an assistance package, with managing director commercial and agri Graham Turley saying it recognised the challenges and anxiety the weather was creating.
The challenges had been exacerbated by forecast low dairy payouts.
The bank was offering targeted assistance, recognising some might require more complex solutions, Mr Turley said.
Last week, Westpac said it was gearing up to assist its hardest-hit customers in the regions, with farmers in South Canterbury and North Otago expected to feel the ''financial crunch'' of drought-like conditions shortly.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy, who met farmers near Ashburton yesterday, said farmers were starting to ''feel the pinch'' in South and Mid Canterbury, North Otago and the Wairarapa.
District or regional groups needed to make a formal request for such a declaration.
That had not yet been deemed necessary.
That threshold would be reached when the lack of rainfall had an economic, environmental and social impact on farming businesses and the wider community, Mr Guy said.
Support was already available from Government agencies in all regions and farmers should contact IRD if they needed help or flexibility with making tax payments, and standard hardship assistance was available from Work and Income.
He also urged farmers to make use of the advice and support available from their local rural support trusts.
Waitaki Irrigators Collective policy manager Elizabeth Soal said the driest conditions in many years in North Otago and South Canterbury showed the importance of reliable irrigation water.
Rainfall figures were extremely low for the second half of 2014, with some months having only a third of the average amount.
The collective represented an irrigated area of about 80,000ha across North Otago and South Canterbury, which was receiving reliable supply via the hydro lakes' storage, providing the region with a level of economic resilience which might be absent in other areas, Ms Soal said.
Ikawai dairy farmer Gert van't Klooster, a shareholder in the Morven, Glenavy, Ikawai Irrigation Company, said without reliable irrigation he would be destocking now and drying cows off, as well as feeding supplements made for the following autumn to spring.
Waitaki Irrigators Collective chairman Fraser McKenzie said without reliable water, there would be ''significant lost opportunities'', such as farmers selling capital stock they would otherwise hold on to for longer.
