Drought management
During times of drought it is important to make risk management decisions early. Below we have provided useful links, tools and resources to assist with making necessary management and financial decisions on farm and to look after your mental health in tough times.
Drought livestock and farm finance fact sheets
A series of fact sheets for farmers to manage livestock and farm finances in dry seasons are now available for download. These fact sheets have been produced by Primary Industries and Regions SA and Department for Environment and Water with the support of MacKillop Farm Management Group and SheepConnect SA.
- Drought management checklist for the livestock business
- Livestock management options
- Feed budgeting in a drought
- Comparing the costs of feeds
- Calculating dry matter intakes for various classes of stock
- Dry matter versus as fed
- Calculating supplementary feed amounts – cattle
- Calculating supplementary feed amounts – sheep
- Basic ration diet formulations
- Ration formulation using the ‘Pearson Square’
Publications
A range of publications are available to assist with decision making and management during dry times. These include:
Cattle
- Drought feeding and management of beef cattle - a guide for farmers and land managers (2015)
- Dry season management of a beef business – a guide to planning, managing and supplementary feeding
- Full hand feeding of beef cattle – quantities
- Stock containment areas - more than a drought measure
- Supplementary feeding of cattle
Crops
Sheep
- Managing livestock in dry times
- Drought feeding and management of sheep - a guide for farmers and land managers (2015)
- Feeding and managing sheep in dry times
- Managing fodder prices for droughts - a sheep producer’s guide
- Managing sheep in droughtlots - a best practice guide
- Stock containment areas - more than a drought measure
- Stock water management - a limited resource
- Which sheep do I keep? - a guide for sheep producers in drought
Soil management
- Emergency measures to curb wind erosion
- Applying Technologies to everyday farming decisions: a dryland case study
- Post fire soil conservation demonstration case study
Weather forecasting
Tools and calculators
A range of tools and calculators are available for determining and predicting feed demand and budgeting, stocking rates, livestock condition scoring, climate impacts, pasture growth rates, weather and climate forecasts. These can be found at:
- Feed budgeting calculator to compare cost of feeding, agisting or selling livestock (spreadsheet)
- Meat and Livestock Australia
- Lifetime Wool
- Coorong District Council (Water Security)
- Bureau of Meteorology (Agricultural Services)
- Bureau of Meteorology (Past weather and seasonal outlooks)
- Salvaging crops for fodder, grain or grazing costs and income calculator (spreadsheet)courtesy of NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Videos
Below is a list of videos developed by the Birchip Cropping Group which provide guidance on the establishment and management of confinement feeding. Additionally there are two case study videos produced by Agriculture Victoria on farms which have established confinement feeding lots.
- Why should I build a containment area?
- How do I choose a location for a containment area?
- How to manage sheep in a containment area?
- How to make the transition out of a containment area?
- Farmer view - Why I established a containment area
- Confinement feeding case study - Trevor Robert’s story
- Confinement feeding case study - Lachlan Ralton’s story
A range of important and useful information can be found at the following industry and organisation websites.
Livestock and Crop Management
- Primary Industries and Regions SA
- Livestock SA
- SheepConnect South Australia
- Meat and Livestock Australia
- Grains Research Development Corporation
- Grain Producers SA
Support Services
More information
Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board
Unit 5-6, Level 1 Sturt Centre, 2 Sturt Reserve Road, Murray Bridge SA 5253
08 8532 9100