Stock Management Area (SMA) courses will be the first workshops of the Adjusting to drought series, starting from October 30.
Riverina Local Land Services launches their Adjusting to drought series with workshops through October and November.
“Farmers are constantly adapting to drought. Whether it be cutting canola for hay or silage, planting half the cotton hectares they had planned, or destocking their livestock numbers, there’s a lot of big decisions being made at the moment. They’re not easy, but they’re necessary,” said General Manager Rob Kelly.
The focus in the Riverina had shifted from preparing and managing for drought to adjusting, Mr Kelly said.
“We’re watching other regions across NSW who are further in to this than us. The challenge we have is that our region is so diverse – there is not a blanket across the Riverina, everyone isn’t facing the same conditions,” he said.
“We’ve been inundated with calls from farmers who are really flexing how they would normally do things. This series is about us concentrating on rolling out workshops and courses tailored specifically to Riverina farmers so they can make informed decisions.”
“We will be providing timely, practical workshops that will include on farm, outcome focused advice.”
Stock Management Area (SMA) courses will be the first workshops of the Adjusting to drought series, starting from October 30.
Farmers who attend the one day courses will walk away with a draft design for an SMA unique to their property, as well as information on required infrastructure and common animal health issues when containment feeding. This course will be followed up by an on-farm visit by an Ag Advisory Officer to tick off the design.
“Over the years we’ve assisted many farmers to build SMAs and they’re now paying dividends as they’re using them as drought lots. They’re a practical tool to adjust to what is an extremely tough year,” Mr Kelly said.
The SMA courses will be held at the below locations:
Weethalle – October 30
Temora – October 31
Eurongilly – November 1
Yerong Creek – November 2
Griffith – November 6
Young – November 7
Registrations open Wednesday October 10 at 9am, and numbers are limited to 25 each course.
“We expect to see overwhelming demand but we will continue to respond to our customers by putting on a second course in specific locations if needed.”
Landholders must be Riverina Local Land Services ratepayers to undertake this course.
Farmers can register at https://riverina.lls.nsw.gov.au/resource-hub/events or contact Tom White on 0427 288 001.