Learn from the experience of farmers who have successfully prepared for drought and built stronger, more resilient farming businesses.

Planning for drought is a complex and difficult business. Too often, good ideas are forgotten once rain falls and business as usual resumes. This publication aims to capture strategies for future use.

Drawing on the experiences of producers across New South Wales and south-east Queensland, this publication captures practical strategies that have helped farmers prepare for, manage and recover from drought. Rather than relying on theory alone, it shares real stories, lessons learned and approaches that have been successfully applied on working farms.

Part A is an overview of strategies that have been successfully used by various enterprises. It is a summary of the trends observed during the compilation of the case studies.

Part B is a series of case studies. The case studies are stories written after on-farm discussions with producers throughout NSW and south-east Queensland. It is a summary of individual experiences and advice offered to others in similar circumstances.

These stories about what farmers found useful is designed to encourage you to collect other data and consult your own technical and financial specialists to formulate the plan for your enterprise.

Who this guide is for

• Graziers and livestock producers
  
• Mixed farming enterprises
  
• Cropping farmers
  
• Agricultural advisors and consultants
  
• Students studying agriculture, farm management or natural resource management
  

What you'll learn

• How to develop a practical drought preparedness plan
  
• Natural resource management strategies for dry periods
  
• Personal and business preparation techniques
  
• Financial planning approaches for drought resilience
  
• Livestock management during challenging seasons
  
• Cropping strategies to reduce risk
  
• Improving on-farm water security
  
• Lessons learned from producers across multiple regions
  
• Ways to strengthen long-term farm resilience
  
• Practical insights to support better decision making

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction

Part A

• Chapter 1 Natural Resource Management
• Chapter 2 Personal preparation
• Chapter 3 Financial preparation
• Chapter 4 Livestock
• Chapter 5 Cropping
• Chapter 6 Water security

Part B Case studies

• Central Tablelands
• Central West
• Greater Sydney
• Hunter Valley
• Murray Region
• North West Region
• Northern Tablelands
• Riverina
• South East Region
• Western Region
• Queensland

Appendix 1: What is drought?

Appendix 2: Maintaining Resilience in Grazing Systems: Effective Management of Drought

Appendix 3: Analysis of Booligal Rainfall Records