The Issues: Climate Risk Management

The critical strategies in planning drought strategies are to protect the key breeding stock and our soil fertility. We have invested heavily in our pastures and we protect them by confining stock to small areas once pasture cover reaches a critical level.
Charlie and Marie Crocker, Violet Town Victoria

The periodic droughts experienced by woolgrowers have the potential to destroy farm profitability and the long-term resilience of the land. Strategies to manage droughts need to be developed by woolgrowers during non-drought periods to manage these adverse seasons.

The community demands that stock are adequately cared for year round but especially during droughts and there is increasing expectation that erosion and land degradation should be minimized during these events. Destocking to protect soil also protects the investment woolgrowers have made in their land and ensures a rapid recovery with rain following a drought.

Identified Solutions

* Develop and maintain productive perennial based pasture systems in the permanently grazed areas.
* Establish an appropriate stocking rate for the property with a clearly defined policy of reducing stock numbers if a drought eventuates.
* Prepare water supplies that can withstand a number of dry seasons.
* Develop a fodder strategy by conserving feed or making financial provision for fodder purchase.
* Learn how to feed budget so that forward planning for feeding can be undertaken.

Reduce stock numbers, if appropriate, as critical feed and water levels are reached. Where stock are to be retained, confine them to a small feeding area once a full drought ration is being fed or when the pasture cover reaches a critical level - in many cases no greater than 30% bare ground.

Long range weather forecasts (such as the Southern Oscillation Index) provide useful background information that should be considered when planning drought management tactics. However, because these forecasts give the probability of certain events occurring they should not be used as the primary decision tool. With an established plan in place, its implementation should be based on events as they arise.

Want to know more?

Visit Land, Water & Wool's Managing Climate Variability sub-program