Farming Information for Victoria's Drought Affected Farmers
Drought Feeding and Management of Livestock
DPI produces two booklets that are a practical guide to feeding and management of sheep or beef cattle during a drought. The booklets help producers break the daunting planning phase down into manageable steps and then to see the plan realised as a successful way of combating the drought. They are available for no charge by contacting DPI on 136-186 or from your local DPI office. They are also available as PDF documents on the DPI website. The guide for horses was produced by DPI for RIRDC and is only available as a PDF.
- DPI - Drought Feeding and Management of Sheep
- DPI - Drought Feeding and Management of Beef Cattle
- RIRDC - Drought Feeding and Management of Horses
Managing Farm Water Supplies
Managing Farm Water Supplies is designed to provide helpful information covering a range of water requirement and quality issues along with helpful tips on water management. The Dairy Shed Water booklet is a comprehensive guide to calculating how much water is used in the dairy shed, and includes water saving options. Further resources on farm water are available in the Information Notes series (see above).
Drought Weed Prevention and Management
A brochure on the management of significantly increased risks of weed spread associated with purchasing and transporting fodder from other regions within Victoria and around Australia during dry or drought conditions, is available from www.dpi.vic.gov.au/weeds, where you can also find more information on the prevention and management of weeds.
Stock Containment Areas
Stock Containment Area establishment subsidies are available in some areas. For more information contact your local CMA or DPI on 136 186.
New Rural Landholders
For those who are looking for somewhere to start information is available for new rural landholders.
AgriGater
AgriGater is a DPI initiative to assist grain and sheep farmers with their farm planning and budgeting. It can be used to calculate cost of production, gross margins and analyse budgeted financial performance for grain and sheep enterprises. More information is available in the AgriGater section.
Water Information
- Emergency Water Supply Points for water cartage
- 'Our Water Our Future'
- Complete list of Water Authorities and links to more information
- Complete list of Catchment Management Authorities section and links to more information
Other Drought Information Websites
- NSW - Department of Primary Industries Drought page
- Queensland - Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Drought page
- South Australia - Department of Primary Industries Drought page
- Western Australia - Department of Agriculture and Food
- Dairy Australia has technical information on drought, water, feeding options and drought assistance.
- The Meat and Livestock Australia Drought page has technical information on managing livestock in times of drought and market information.
- The Victorian Farmers Federation's (VFF) is a resource for drought information.
