In a letter to the CWA of Australia, Minister for Drought David Littleproud said the government was "unable to provide additional funding because it has committed to providing a further $33 million for the Drought Community Support Initiative".

This initiative, announced early in October, has only just begun operating, with St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army helping to distribute grants of $3000 to families deemed to be eligible.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the hard work and commitment of the CWA in delivering financial assistance to farmers and farming families, and I acknowledge the significant effort that was put in to distribute funds in an equitable, responsible and collegiate manner," Mr Littleproud's letter reads.

The CWA has previously warned that without additional help, its efforts to provide drought assistance will now rely solely on private donations and fundraising by members.

Danica Leys, the chief executive officer of the CWA in NSW, told The Daily Advertiser she was "very disappointed".

"We've been waiting a long time to get a response as well, which I think adds to the disappointment," Ms Leys said.

"We - the CWA of Australia - wrote to Mr Littleproud on September 9 and we got a reply late last week. It took nearly two months to get a reply."

Ms Leys said the minister's letter did not give a reason for the government's decision to reject the association's plea, beyond its commitment to the other program.

At a national level, the CWA has distributed about $30 million in drought assistance, $5 million of which came from the federal government.

In NSW, Ms Leys said, about $14.5 million had been allocated. The association has been giving out assistance of up to $3000, which can be used to pay household expenses.

"We're still going with our grants. As long as we can keep getting donations in, we will keep going because we're getting a lot of feedback that they're still very much needed," she said.

"We're still actually working with people who have approached us for the first time, as well, which is very telling. We haven't been able to go back to people who got a grant from us, for instance, more than 12 months ago and ask them to put in another application, because we just haven't had funding.

"There is still a really strong need. In some parts of the state, I think people have hung on because they thought they might be able to get through to a certain point and hadn't actually anticipated that the drought would go on for as long as it has."