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A Tasmanian-led initiative will help more livestock producers make informed decisions about feed, stock and land management as seasonal conditions become less predictable.
Knowing when to hold stock, plan for feed or prepare for a dry season starts with understanding the country beneath your feet. From Tasmania’s island farms to grazing communities in Victoria and New South Wales, a $1.87 million Australian Government investment will help more livestock producers turn local information into practical decisions for the seasons ahead.
Led by NRM South, the new Drought Tech Solutions project will expand the successful Farming Forecaster initiative, taking a proven approach to drought preparedness to more producers across south-east Australia. Funding has been awarded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund Scaling Success Program, which is investing $27 million to expand established drought resilience projects across Australia.
The project recognises that preparing for drought starts well before conditions become difficult. By bringing together local knowledge, soil moisture monitoring, seasonal pasture forecasting and practical decision-making tools, it will help producers assess their options for managing feed, livestock and the natural resources their farms depend on.
The approach has its roots in NSW – where Farming Forecaster was developed – and more recently in Tasmania, where NRM South’s initial Farming Forecaster project established 46 Farming Forecaster sites across Tasmania, including on Flinders, King and Bruny islands. The network gives graziers access to soil moisture probes and local seasonal forecasting data, helping connect decisions on individual farms with a shared source of knowledge.
More than 150 producers participated in the initial project in Tasmania, using the publicly available data to inform feed budgeting, fertiliser use, stock management and longer-term planning.
Drought Tech Solutions will build on this foundation, expanding the Farming Forecaster network into Victoria and to new sites in NSW. Training will help producers put the information to work on their farms, while the myStockPlanner tool will be introduced in Tasmania and Victoria, enabling producers to compare options for managing stock and feed under different seasonal conditions. The Farming Forecaster website will also be upgraded and an app developed to improve Farming Forecaster’s overall useability and functionality.
Together, these tools and training will give producers more information to draw on as they plan ahead, consider different seasonal scenarios and make decisions about the capacity of their land to support livestock and produce feed. The project will also create opportunities for producers across the three states to share knowledge and learn from one another.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Julie Collins said the Australian Government was investing in practical solutions that help farming communities prepare for future droughts.
“Drought is a case of when, not if, which is why we’re working with farmers and regional communities to help them prepare for and boost their resilience to drought,” Minister Collins said.
“The Scaling Success Program is about not reinventing the wheel, but leveraging the work of existing projects and technology that’s already helping our farmers and producers to remain productive.
NRM South CEO Nepelle Crane said the project demonstrated the value of building on local knowledge and practical experience to strengthen drought preparedness across regional communities.
“Producers know their farms. Farming Forecaster brings that local knowledge together with practical tools and data to help producers make informed decisions as seasonal conditions change,” Nepelle said.
“Resilience is about understanding the land we depend on and having options when conditions change. By providing producers with more tools and strategies to help them plan ahead they are better able to protect resources that sustain production, strengthening both farms and the landscapes they rely on.”
The Farming Forecaster platform is freely available to producers and the wider community, providing information about local seasonal growing conditions. Producers can explore the platform to see how the information might support planning and decision-making on their own farms.
This project is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Scaling Success Program under the Future Drought Fund.
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