SUMMER rainfall provided Fraser Range station with a glimmer of hope, after a bout of "bloody dry" years.
Station owner Ben Holman said 60 millimetres was the best start to a season he had recorded since January 2015, when the station recorded 105mm in a day.
"Last year, we hadn't had 60mm by July," Mr Holman said.
"The year before was the same and the year before too.
"Now we are hoping for that follow-up rain."
Last year, the station recorded just 120mm of rain - a far cry from its 300mm average.
Mr Holman said rainfall had previously been spread out in "useless amounts" of 1mm and 2mm, which had evaporated before it did anything.
He said the biggest fall last year was 16mm.
"In the past three years our recorded rainfall has been well under its average," he said.
"It has just compounded each year and has been worse and worse."
Mr Holman and his parents Ian and Kerrie purchased the half-a-million acre station (202,000 hectares), between Norseman and Balladonia, in 2008.
His partner, Andy Verburg, joined them in 2016.
But it did not always operate as a working cattle station.
In 2014, the couple decided to bite the bullet and purchase Santa Gertrudis beef cattle for the meat market, after a "good run of average seasons".
Six years later, they were forced to heavily destock due to the relentless dry conditions.
"When we started out (at Fraser Range station) we had a pretty good run of average seasons, but we didn't have any stock, so it didn't matter," Mr Holman said.
"We didn't get any cattle in until 2014, when we started with two decks (or 80 cattle).
"We started to build some good numbers up until 2019.
"The 2019 drought really knocked us about and by last year we pulled out probably 300 cattle.
"It has just been so bloody dry."
Mr Holman said he spent about $60,000 on hay to hand feed $60,000 worth of cattle last year.
Instead of turning a profit on his stock, he was hand-rearing them to keep them alive.
But it was not just the drought which hit Fraser Range hard in 2019.
Heatwaves and high winds combined with the dry conditions to produce disastrous bushfires, which tore through parts of the Nullarbor.
"We were fighting fires from the end of October 2019 until the end of February, start of March in 2020," Mr Holman said.
"Everything was so dry, there was just no moisture in the soil.
"We lost about 100,000 acres.
"All our trees were so light for foliage and now they are just dead.
"The drought has killed them."
In saying that, it hasn't been all doom and gloom for Mr Holman and Ms Verburg.
Diversity has helped their business stay afloat during the challenging years.
As well as cattle, they operate accommodation and an earthmoving business, which has kept them busy.
In terms of stock, their numbers are down to about 250 cows.
And Mr Holman said they would hang onto remaining cattle for as long as they could.
The recent rainfall has left them hopeful for a breaking drought, as they set their sights on rebuilding cattle numbers.
"The cattle are feeding off what is on the ground, as well as what we hand feed them," he said.
"If the conditions stay like they have been I think we will be OK - we have cut our hand feeding down next to nothing.
"We have half-a-million acres and 250 cows, so there's about 2000 acres per cow, and that's all we need to sustain them at the moment.
"It has just been so dry for so long, the perennial seeds aren't coming up at all.
"We have a lot of rubbish but it has freshened the bush up, so the rubbish is better for them to feed on.
"We just hold onto hope that it will rain."
