North West Producer Case Studies: Drought Strategies
Cutting tropical grasses for drought reserve silage
When rain finally fell after a prolonged period of drought, Luke Bowman from Barraba found that he had an abundance of feed from his tropical grasses due to reduced numbers of livestock.
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Constructing silage pits for story fodder reserves
Alistair Donaldson’s forward-thinking and his philosophy of having a long term insurance plan for the future certainly helped his farming enterprise survive the recent drought.
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Utilising a feedlot for confinement feeding of lambs
Motivated by the need to save time and increase efficiency and capacity, sheep producer Ian Gardner from Wean expanded his existing feedlot operation during the recent drought.
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Using a telemetry to ensure livestock water supply
Ensuring a reliable water supply to allow for efficient grazing of paddocks was key to Mark Kesby’s livestock management strategy during the recent drought.
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Confinement feeding and managing energy intake
To meet the challenges faced by his beef cattle enterprise during the recent drought, Mike Lomax developed a drought management strategy that involved the setting up of a confinement feeding area and focussed on meeting the essential energy requirements of his breeding cows.
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Early weaning and confinement feeding of calves
After several years of below-average rainfall, and with forecasts of continuing drought conditions ahead, Matt Avendano made the difficult decision to reduce his cattle numbers and implement a drought management strategy that involved early weaning and confinement feeding of calves.
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Being prepared and planning for drought
Through lessons learnt and their practical experience dealing with previous dry times, Laurie and John Chaffey from Somerton took a proactive approach to drought preparedness that helped them survive the recent drought. Their forward planning and practical management strategies helped their beef, sheep and cropping enterprise stay in production.