The three-year limit on a welfare payment for farmers doing it tough is hitting people like a brick wall, a Queensland Nationals senator has warned.
The Senate's agriculture committee chair Barry O'Sullivan said the cut-off on the Farm Household Allowance was unlike any other government assistance.
Senator O'Sullivan wants the government to consider changing the rules around the payment, which is accessed by drought-stricken farmers in his home state.
"The families who are on it, who are coming to the end of it, they're really besides themselves about where to go," the senator told an estimates hearing on Thursday.
He said there was deep concern among farmers receiving the money, with many dealing with the impacts of six years without significant rain.
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"It's like a brick wall. It comes to an abrupt end."
The allowance provides financial support and future planning for farmers experiencing hardship.
Agriculture department figures show 2300 farmers had exhausted the payment.
Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston said 85 per cent of people coming off farm support payments were satisfied with their circumstances, but the remaining number was significant.
"Fifteen per cent of people is still a substantial number and it's not to be diminished," Senator Ruston said.
She said the government and the department were collecting information to see if changes needed to be made.
