Prime minister flags more drought help

Tony Abbott has likened crippling drought to natural disasters as he foreshadowed extra federal assistance for affected farmers.

The prime minister will use a trip to western Queensland on the weekend to announce more help, noting the situation was "biting hard" there.

"It's very important that we acknowledge that drought can be just as much of an emergency for local areas and local economies as storms, fires and floods," he told reporters in Rockhampton on Friday.