As Southland's drought continues to bite, farmers are being offered a chance to stop for a coffee to compare notes.

Southland Rural Support Trust coordinator Lindsay Wright said "The idea is to just give [farmers] the chance to get off the farm and have a chat with each other"

"The dry seasons been putting a bit of pressure on everybody. Overlay that with COVID and we call it the perfect storm," he said.

"COVID is stopping people from carrying out what they need to do, reduce stock numbers, because processing is being held up."

"[Farmers] can't do what they need to do to deal with the dry, which puts the pressure on and the dry just keeps on coming," Wright said.

SRST's coffee and a chat road tour started on Monday (28 March) and organisers plan to visit most of Southland's hardest hit dry areas by 8 March.

However with the drought continuing to hit new areas, the tour may be extended, Wright said.