In the SW WA Hub’s Dry Season Shorts video series, industry professionals reflect on practices they put in place to deal with dry conditions.
In these discussions, farmers share valuable insights into the proactive measures they implement to increase their farming system’s resilience to a drying climate. Consultants and researchers offer expert advice to assist farmers in preparing for the challenges posed by future dry seasons.
2024 videos
The fine line between maximising benefits in a good season and minimising losses in a poor year | Leon Clarke, grain grower
Additional resources:
RiskWi$e: The National Risk Management Initiative – Grower Group Alliance
Peer-to-peer frost learning focuses on risk zones – Ground Cover (GRDC)
Lakes Information & Farming Technology (LIFT) – Grower Group Alliance
Practical tips for making, storing and allocating hay and silage | Dario Nandapi and Siobhan Smith
Additional resources:
Getting smarter with hay and silage production – South-West NRM
Successful silage TopFodder silage manual – NSW DPI
Feed testing: Calculating the benefits – Agriculture Victoria
Advisors Wrapped with Silage Workshop – South-West NRM
A more resilient landscape through improved soil health | Rob Hetherington, grain farmer
Additional resources:
WNRM Soil Health Champion 2022 Rob Hetherington – Wheatbelt NRM
The Hetheringtons at Walma (case study) – Soils for Life
Introduction to the SW WA Hub’s extension and adoption activities: GRDC presentation | SW WA Hub Adoption manager, Julianne Hill
Greater grass species identification and increased engagement with pastoralists | Sarah Jeffery, Project Manager and Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator for Rangelands NRM (SW WA Hub Node Lead)
Additional resource:
Increasing the feed base for dry seasons using saltbush and novel understories | Kaitlyn Anderson, Agricultural Research & Extension Coordinator for Facey (SW WA Hub Node Lead)
Additional resource:
Saltbush and Novel Forage Understorey Systems – Facey Group
Women’s field day hits 25 years | Chris O’Callaghan, Liebe Group Executive Officer
Additional resource:
“Resilient communities in dry times” research report (p. 18-19) – Kondinin Group
Perennials prove their worth in a dry year | Melanie Dixon, Mixed Farming Systems Officer at West Midlands Group
Additional resources:
SheepLinks – FEED365 – GGA website
SheepLinks – FEED365 – DPIRD website
The FEED365 Project – WMG
Perennials to help manage dry seasons in a cattle production system | Craig Forsyth, cattle producer
Additional resources:
Case study: Avoca farm, Craig Forsyth – NACC
Sustaining Great Perennials – NACC
Cattle feedlot makes sense in dry years | Craig Forsyth, cattle producer
On-farm diversification to help supplement income in dry years | Fiona Mann, Eradu farmer
Additional resource:
“Diversification to add resilience” research report – Kondinin Group
Virtual fencing provides productivity gains from strip grazing in broadacre farming | Simon Fowler, mixed farmer
Additional resources:
BeefLinks virtual fencing technology trial – Meat and Livestock Australia
Enhancing financial literacy for young farmers | Renae Piggott, farm management consultant
Additional resource:
Financial literacy for young farmers – Dry Season Resources podcast
Benefits and practical reasons for not applying nitrogen fertiliser on heavy country | Mick Caughey, grain grower
Additional resource:
Trigger points and feeding strategies for sheep during a dry season | Ash Reichstein, mixed farmer
Additional resource:
Benefits of confinement feeding and deferred grazing – Dry Season Resources podcast
How polymers contribute to sodic soil crop yields | David Hall, DPIRD Principal Research Scientist
Additional resource:
Scientific paper: Micro-Water Harvesting and Soil Amendment Increase Grain Yields of Barley on a Heavy-Textured Alkaline Sodic Soil in a Rainfed Mediterranean Environment
Drought resilient landscapes with profitable native shrub and legume systems | Craig and Naomi Hall, mixed farmers
Additional resource:
Alternative feed sources for livestock in a dry year – Dry Season Resources podcast
Confinement feeding of sheep | Sandra Fowler, pastoralist
Additional resource:
Benefits of confinement feeding and deferred grazing – Dry Season Resources podcast
Early crop establishment and sowing | Clint Della Bosca, grain grower
Additional resource:
Improving early crop establishment – Dry Season Resources podcast
Delivering improved crop performance in new varieties | Greg Rebetzke, Chief Research Geneticist at CSIRO
Additional resource:
Long coleoptile wheats – GRDC
Drip irrigation in passionfruit growing | Jennifer Riseley, passionfruit grower
Additional resource:
The importance of dams and water infrastructure | Mark Bending, beef and avocado farmer
Additional resource:
WaterSmart Dams project – Grower Group Alliance
2023 videos
Ground cover and erosion management after a dry season | Justin Laycock, Research scientist, DPIRD
Additional resources:
Managing wind erosion in southern Western Australia – DPIRD
Pasture and ground cover during drought – Drought Info
Herbicide carryover risk after a dry year | Bevan Addison, WA Market Development Manager, Adama
Additional resource:
Residual herbicides – carryover and behaviour in dry conditions – DPIRD
Reducing costs and forward planning during a dry year | Rod Birch, grain grower
Additional resource:
Things to consider after a dry season preparing for 2024 | Grant Thompson, Agronomy Consultant, Crop Circle Agronomy
Tactics in a dry year, including the use of fallow | John Flannagan, grain grower
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