Chelsea's parents, as well as her grandparents on both sides, are farmers.

Last year, the family farm planted half of their usual crop. Only half of that was harvested. This year, Chelsea said about 70 per cent of the usual crop was planted and 15 per cent of that will be harvested.

"We're at a point now with our stock - we're on a mixed farming operation so there's dry land cropping and we have a lamb feed lot and sheep - where we're trying to hold onto the breeding stock because once they're gone that's 25 years of genetics and work you can't really get back," she said.

The 17-year-old was one of the people chosen to attend the recent UNICEF Drought Summit. It followed an intense research project she undertook for school on the economic, social and environmental impact of the drought.

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Chelsea spoke to farmers, business owners and people working in the mental health sector.

"I spoke to a lady who owned a local clothing boutique and even though that's not an agricultural-related business the extent that it had impacted on her business was something that really shocked me," she said.

The stock and station agent she spoke to said while he hadn't been heavily affected now, when the drought breaks there will be no stock for him to buy or sell.

"There's been a lot of media coverage of it at the moment so I think people understand that the drought is happening. Obviously people can't grow crops and they can't feed their sheep and they're running out of water but I don't think they understand the extent of the impact," Chelsea said.

"Unless you're there living it you're never going to understand the emotional toll the drought can take and how it really affects people. The people who live in the city are not going to understand how difficult it is to see your breeding stock go.

"A lot of people think that once the drought breaks that's it but it's going to be a very, very long recovery for a lot of rural communities."

The drought summit not only looked at solutions to dealing with the drought like water infrastructure, but it also looked at mental health.

"Farmers often think they're quite strong and it's seen as a weakness to step up and ask for help if they are struggling. One of the psychologists said if you ask a farmer how they're feeling they're never going to tell you because that's the attitude they have but if you ask them what they're thinking then they'll tell you how they're feeling," Chelsea said.

The teenager wants to see more action to help both farmers and rural communities with the drought. Chelsea said for a lot of farmers and businesses their future was at risk.

"I really hope eventually the government will listen and realise if they don't do something there's not going to be much of a rural Australia. They're really just trying to survive at the moment," she said.

"A lot of farmers, particularly within the Narromine area, are just trying to hold on to a point where they can recover when the drought breaks."

Chelsea said preparing for future droughts was a "conversation that should never end".