TWO nights a week Peter Flanagan and his wife Yvonne go dancing to take their minds off the financial sword of Damocles hanging over the rice industry.

Flanagan, 65, grows rice on "Cubatree" in Griffith, a farm he managed and sharefarmed for 15 years before starting to pay it off in the mid-1980s.

He says he has seen too many people remain isolated on their properties and "mentally lose the plot", so twice a week the Flanagans join other farm couples for a rock'n'roll dance in nearby Whitton and an old-time dance group in Hanwood.

"The dancing has had the biggest impact on us," says Flanagan. "It provides exercise and is a social outing that enables us to mix, have some fun and chat to others in a similar predicament."

Dancing and singing groups have sprung up throughout the region and further afield, he says, as farmers and their partners seek an outlet from dire financial circumstances.

With almost no income for the past three years, the Flanagans have qualified for federally funded farm household support. It provides $500 a fortnight for basic household expenses.

Their son, Robert, rents a house on the neighbouring farm with his wife and two children. They are also recipients of the scheme, which was established in the late 1990s by the Howard government.

Flanagan is not sure how many other ricegrowers also receive household support but estimates that 50 per cent of farmers - especially those without irrigation - are in a similar or worse financial position.

"It's really daunting - in fact, devastating - to lose income and see your debt building up," he says.

"If we go another 12 months without water, we'll have to consider selling. We won't let things drain to the point where there's nothing left in the farm."