Saturday, March 30, 2024

Drought planning provides certainty

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A drought management workshop held in Taumarunui recently focused not only on what to do during drought, it also looked at the benefits of planning what needs to be done before and after the event.
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Organised by Beef + Lamb NZ as part of a Farming in an Uncertain Future seminar that attracted about 75 farmers, the workshop involved a panel discussion facilitated by Perrin Ag director Lee Matheson, which included questions from the floor.

Discussion included the potential benefits of planning farm systems around managing properties and stock through increasing climatic variations.

It examined practical planning decisions that can be made on the ground during drought, and why it is important for farmers to plan ahead so they know what the next decision they have to make is.

Matheson says if farmers don’t understand where and when to make those calls, they run the risk of losing control.

Recommended practices to follow include having a proper feed budget, understanding what the feed demand is likely to be, how much will be necessary and where it will be needed.

He says having that knowledge will provide farmers with a greater degree of control and certainty.

The importance of checking in with neighbours and friends during drought cannot be underestimated, not only because of the community support it provides but also because it means farmers have a better idea that the tough times in these situations are shared, not restricted to individuals.

Questions raised from the floor included how to better predict a drought on-farm.

One of the answers included looking at soil moisture levels and comparing them to trends from previous years.

Keeping detailed records of rain and soil moisture allows farmers to examine data from the past and so make better predictions of how their properties are likely to be affected in the present. Underlying soil moisture was recognised as a better predictor as to upcoming drought compared to rainfall.

Matheson says what to do coming out of drought should not be forgotten, including getting nitrogen on before it starts to rain, so it’s there when the rain arrives and because it’s easier to have it applied to paddocks when you’re not competing with every other farmer in the neighbourhood who is trying to do the same.

Farmers were also interested in what they could do differently to reduce the risk exposure of their business to drought.

Sometimes that involves making decisions earlier than might have been done in the past.

He says discussion included looking at the benefits of adapting farming systems to better reflect climatic changes.

“If possible, people pulling back from the systems they have in place that were fit for purpose for weather patterns they used to have, which might not be fit for purpose now.”

Practices that farmers’ fathers and grandfathers used to follow might not be the most appropriate ones to follow now.

For some, that might mean taking a more conservative approach around farm management than had been the case in the past.

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