THE report of the social panel on drought confirms what most of us know - the "long dry" has extracted a terrible human and social price.

It also floats several ideas that give a clue to the likely flavour of the Rudd Government's reform of drought policy.

One is the notion that we need to talk about "living with dryness" rather than "dealing with drought".

This is another way of saying it's climate change and the prospect of generally higher temperatures, rather than the occasional drought, that policy needs to come to grips with.

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has certainly talked up climate change as the main game in rural policy, and the social panel obviously agrees.

The first leg of Mr Burke's three-pronged review process - a future climate study by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology - has already blown the one-in-20-25-year "exceptional circumstances" criterion out of the water.

The thing is, policies to cope with increasing "dryness" are not necessarily the same as those you would use if you believe the cyclical nature of droughts will continue.

In some cases, the two will be complementary.

For example, a shift to drought-tolerant, water-efficient crops and pastures will help farmers adapt to a gradually warming climate, and presumably assist when a serious drought hits.

But dealing with climate change involves a whole range of actions, including steps to reduce emissions and generate carbon credits.

And severe dry spells will usually require assistance of a more immediate nature, including income and other financial support.

Which brings us to two other key ideas put forward by the social panel - the need for a focus on preparedness and what it calls "mutual responsibility".

There's little doubt that drought policy of the future will be much more about encouraging farmers to prepare for the next drought.

But there will still surely be emergency support for farmers who are overwhelmed by drought.

This is where "mutual responsibility" - a concept broadly supported by the National Farmers' Federation - is likely to come in.

If farmers haven't taken acceptable steps to prepare themselves for drought - having a drought management plan in place, for example - they may find themselves ineligible for this support.

All this is still to be decided on, of course.

But with the Productivity Commission also running its eye over drought support, it's a fair bet the days of unconditional hand-outs will soon be gone.