By Jeremy Cook
Government and university-based agricultural experts have united to deliver a series of crucial drought management workshops for farmers across rural Queensland, including Warwick.
Drought is an enduring feature of the Australian landscape and can cause significant economic, social, and environmental impacts.
The Southern Downs spent almost four years in full drought up until April-2022. In May this year, the entire state of Queensland was officially declared free of drought after more than a decade of sustained drought which at times impacted more than half of the state’s landmass.
But every day marks another day closer to the next drought which is what ag-experts from the state’s Department of Agriculture and the University of Southern Queensland hope to prepare farmers for when they visit Warwick this Friday.
The workshop has been billed to assist broadacre farmers in making informed and personalised decisions about how to actively manage variable rainfall and prepare for drought.
UniSQ agriculture and environmental science professor Keith Pembleton said choosing suitable cropping strategies was crucial in reducing a farm’s vulnerability to drought.
“Avoiding drought sensitivity while taking full advantage of high rainfall seasons requires farmers to design well-balanced cropping strategies,” Dr Pembleton said.
“This complex task can be assisted by a support system of agronomists and our extension-focused decision-support tools.”
The farmer-centric workshops will target farmers, agronomists, consultants and other stakeholders involved in grain production.
Department of Agriculture senior economist Dr Andrew Zull said there was no one-size-fits-all approach to sustainable farming.
“Our workshops provide an adult-learning approach that allows farmers to come up with personalised cropping decisions that best correspond to their own circumstances,” Dr Zull said.
“While winter-dominant cereal cropping systems may be the most widely diffused in many locations across southern Queensland, we have seen a strong increase in diversity over the recent decade.
“Choosing the right system for your own circumstances is not driven in isolation by the prevailing rainfall pattern, but also influenced by labour availability, pest and disease issues, and the need to diversify risk across crops and commodities.”
The Warwick session, which is free but requires online registration, will run for six hours from 9am at the Coachman’s Inn on 23 August.
