On 23 October, South-West NRM, a regional Node of the SW WA Hub, hosted a ‘Preparing for Drought’ workshop at Rylington Park in Boyup Brook. The event brought together experts and organisations dedicated to building drought resilience.
The program included a drought and desalination case study by DPIRD’s Richard George, and a presentation on natural capital in agriculture by Tom Picton-Warlow from the Barriers and opportunities for agricultural natural capital as an asset class project team.
“It was great to hear from Tom on the emerging opportunities for farmers through natural capital investment,” said Hub Project Manager KJ Pritchard. “This approach can help build drought resilience, reduce business variability, and offer diversified revenue streams and equity.”
This natural capital project is one of six transformational initiatives launched this year by the SW WA Hub with funding from the Future Drought Fund. The University of Western Australia leads the project in partnership with ECU, Mobile Global, and Yaraguia Enterprises.
Tina Astbury and Franco Renteria from Facey Group facilitated a session on confinement feeding and deferred grazing, while Michael Wright from Rhodes Pastoral shared strategies for enhancing on-farm drought resilience through sound water management. Additionally, Dr Mary Hanson from ECU discussed how big data can support farmers by providing insights on biosecurity risks, nutrition, and other factors critical in a changing climate.
