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.

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.

Farmers Tony White, from Miling, and Peter Daw, from Ravensthorpe, participated in the Western Australia Drought Pilot program over a decade ago.

This initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), aimed to help farmers better prepare for and manage dry seasons.

In this episode, Tony and Peter share the strategies they have incorporated into their farm businesses since completing the program. They discuss how the program’s support, which included a $40,000 grant for capital improvements and an additional $20,000 for other expenditures, has made a lasting impact on their operations and preparedness against drought.

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 catch up with Dan Parnell, Regional Extension Officer at Western Dairy, and Borden farmer Paul O’Meehan to delve into the world of silage.

Silage isn't widely used in the wheatbelt, but Paul has been growing and utilising it near Borden for many years, and opened one pit after 5 years.

Dan, a consultant, delivers TopFodder workshops, which focus on producing high-quality silage and hay. Recently, he has been doing this work through a project funded by the Future Drought Fund titled "Better Making and Use of Hay and Silage - Mitigating drought and season variability effects for WA's livestock industry".

Through this project, the TopFodder program is used to upskill dairy, beef and sheep producers in WA on successfully making, storing and feeding silage. The project enables these producers to improve the quality of traditionally produced hay, which will further improve the quality feed for their stock in times of drought.

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

• TopFodder Workshops – contact Western Beef - Western Beef website: westernbeef.org.au Jeisane Accioly: 0403 327 216 or jeisane.alis@gmail.com Dan Parnell: dan.parnell@westerndairy.com.au
• Successful Silage (TopFodder) Manual - Dairy Australia
• Hub news - Drought Hub