In this episode, Coorow farmer Rod Birch and Yuna farmer Jess Grove share their experiences managing extreme seasonal variability in Western Australia’s northern wheatbelt. With 2023 marking the lowest rainfall on record, and 2021, 2022, and 2024 presenting vastly different conditions, Jess and Rod discuss their strategies for adapting to these challenges, capturing gains in productive years, and building resilience for drier ones.

Jess explains how her 2023 experience led to important adjustments, such as avoiding high-risk crops like canola and lupins in the absence of summer rain and switching to shorter-season varieties when rains finally arrived. Meanwhile, Rod shares how past good seasons allowed him to strengthen his business through strategic investments, and how thorough planning helps him make well-ranked decisions, even under adverse conditions. His approach, grounded in “optimistic realism,” emphasizes balancing risk, reducing costs, and prioritising long-term resilience.

Jess and Rod also delve into practical measures like improved water-use efficiency, addressing soil constraints, and enhancing technology to keep input costs low during lean years. Both Jess and Rod highlight the value of community connection, with initiatives like the “barefoot bowls day” that Jess organised to relieve stress and foster support.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

• Reducing costs and forward planning during a dry year (Video) - Rod Birch
• De-Risking the Seeding Program – AG Excellence Alliance
• RiskWi$e - GRDC
• RiskWi$e - The National Risk Management Initiative - Grower Group Alliance
• De-risking seeding program – Adoption of key management practices for the success of dry and early sown crops – Baseline Survey Report (PDF)
• Hub news - Drought Hub

In this episode, we explore how changing rainfall patterns are reshaping seeding strategies and risk management across Australia.

Our guests are:

• Rachel May, Farming Systems Adoption Officer for the South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, who leads the “De-risking the Seeding Program.” This initiative supports 14 farming groups in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia (including Facey Group and Corrigin Farm Improvement Group) to improve dry seeding practices.
• Peter Newman, a farm business consultant with Planfarm, is based in Geraldton, WA. As WeedSmart’s Western Extension Agronomist, he shares valuable insights on weed management during dry seeding.

We discuss whether it’s time to rethink approaches to the opening rainfall, and if less risky crops like wheat should be sown before canola. Peter also reflects on lessons from the dry seasons of 2006 and 2007 in the Northern Agricultural region.

The “De-risking the Seeding Program”, funded through the Future Drought Fund, is in its early stages, with a recent survey highlighting the main drivers and knowledge gaps around early sowing.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

• De-Risking the Seeding Program – AG Excellence Alliance
• Benchmarking resources - Planfarm
• WeedSmart Australia - Industry Voice On Weed Control
• RiskWi$e - GRDC
• RiskWi$e - The National Risk Management Initiative - Grower Group Alliance
• De-risking seeding program – Adoption of key management practices for the success of dry and early sown crops – Baseline Survey Report (PDF)
• Hub news - Drought Hub

In this episode, Mullewa farmer John Flannagan and Tom Holcombe, Field Operations Lead at SwarmFarm Robotics, discuss the benefits of using SwarmFarm robots in WA's northern wheatbelt.

John shares how the addition of two SwarmFarm robots, alongside a WEED-IT precision sprayer, has significantly reduced labour, chemical, and fuel costs on his family’s farm. The conversation highlights how these technologies have not only boosted operational efficiency but also helped conserve valuable soil moisture.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

• Clocking up a week's work in just one day - Groundcover (GRDC)
• Fallow tool for the low-rainfall zone - Groundcover (GRDC)
• Adaptation to climate change through strategic integration of long fallow into cropping system in a dryland Mediterranean-type environment - ScienceDirect
• Integrating long fallow into wheat-based cropping systems in Western Australia: Spatial pattern of yield and economic responses - ScienceDirect
• Bots on the ground: farming's new army - Groundcover (GRDC)
• Hub news - Drought Hub

In this episode, we explore strategies to navigate the evolving challenges of livestock management while boosting productivity and system resilience.

Chapman Valley farmer Jason Stokes shares his approach to managing seasonal variability, including break conservation, confinement feeding, and diverse pasture use.

Daniel Real from DPIRD delves into the Feed365 and Pasture365 projects, highlighting innovative solutions to provide year-round feed and minimise reliance on supplementary feeding during critical feed gaps.

The Pasture365 project received funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

• Drought resilient landscapes with profitable native shrub and legume systems across southern Australia — Fitzgerald Biosphere Group
• Feedbase planning and budgeting tool - Meat & Livestock Australia
• Confinement feeding - Meat & Livestock Australia
• Pastures365 - Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
• FEED365 - DPIRD
• FEED365 - Grower Group Alliance
• Hub news - Drought Hub

Join Ben White from Kondinin Group and Kelly Cussons from Cussons Media as they dive into four compelling case studies showcasing innovative drought resilience strategies employed by farmers across Australia.

These case studies are part of a comprehensive, farmer-focused extension and adoption program designed to uncover and share the most effective drought resilience techniques, strategies, and technologies in use today.

Funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, this project produced 24 insightful reports, all available at Droughtinfo.com.au.

This episode is particularly valuable for farmers in Western Australia, offering fresh perspectives and practical solutions to enhance resilience during dry seasons.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

Join us as we dive into how MyClimateView is empowering growers to make informed decisions in the face of a changing climate. In this episode, Stephanie Dickson from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and Jen Riseley from Pomewest share insights on leveraging historical and predicted climate data tailored to specific regions and crop types.

Stephanie walks us through the key features of MyClimateView, highlighting how users can customise thresholds and growing seasons, and utilise historical data to draw meaningful comparisons between the current season and similar past seasons. She emphasises the importance of personalising the platform to maximise its utility in your farming operations.

Jen brings her expertise from the orchard industry, explaining how MyClimateView serves as a vital tool in her work. She discusses how the platform aids in strategic decision-making for long-term planning, such as orchard upgrades and varietal selections. Although it might be a resource you consult annually, Jen explains how MyClimateView can play a crucial role in shaping your farming future.

MyClimateView was developed as part of a Future Drought Fund project called ‘Climate Services for Agriculture’.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

In this episode, we talk about virtual fencing and its applications in farming.

Virtual fencing enables farmers to remotely manage and contain livestock without the need for physical fences. Livestock wear GPS-enabled collars that communicate with reception towers, creating a virtual boundary set by the farmer.

Our guests today are Esperance farmer Scott Wandel and Andrew Zipsin from Gallagher. Scott is currently trialling the Gallagher eShepherd neck bands on his farm and has observed numerous benefits, including improved pasture management and reduced labour. He also envisions the technology’s long-term potential in enhancing calf growth and supporting cropping activities, especially during dry periods when grazing on barley stubbles.

Andrew provides insights into the development of this innovative technology, explaining how it works and its future applications for farmers.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.

In this episode of the South-West WA Drought Hub's Dry Season Resources podcast, host Shannon Beattie interviews Farmanco consultant Ben Curtis, and West River farmer Joel Ebert.

They discuss key agronomic decision-making times of the year such as deciding on top up nitrogen, when to sell grain, and if fungicides are needed. They also discuss some of the emotional choices that farmers are making on that journey, such as buying land and succession planning.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Shannon Beattie.