Quick links
- Current seasonal and management information for farmers and pastoralists
- Climate and weather resources
- Land and water resources
- Cropping resources
- Livestock resources
- Livestock health and animal welfare
Climate and weather resources
The department has several climate and weather tools to assist short- and long-term decision making:
- Extreme weather events tool: uses weather station data to map areas where possible frost or heat stress has occurred within critical growing periods
- FarmHub: connects Australian farmers with services and support during tough times, such as drought
- National Drought Map: provides access to spatial data from Australian government agencies
- Plant available soil water app: graphs rainfall from the start of summer through the grain growing season, and can be used as a tool in the seasonal decision making process
- Potential yield tool: calculates potential wheat yield to location
- Rainfall to date tool: graphs and data for grainbelt weather stations
- Seasonal weather outlook newsletter: produced each month
- Weather stations: real-time data from more than 170 weather stations around the state, including weather summaries, charts and Doppler radar rainfall and wind images
Land and water resources
- Calculating dam water volume and drawdown by livestock and evaporation
- Changing land use on unproductive soils in the north-eastern agricultural regions.
- Diagnosing wind erosion risk
- Emergency livestock water supplies
- Excavated tanks (farm dams): for reliable water storage
- Field pea stubble: wind erosion control and grazing management
- Managing wind erosion
- Roaded catchments: to improve water harvesting in drier conditions
- Surface water management: to prevent water erosion
- Water quality for livestock
Cropping resources
General
- Breakeven yields of wheat and canola
- Harvesting a frosted crop: often experienced in low rainfall years
- Harvesting short, patchy crops
- Making tough decisions about failed crops
- Soil water graphs: for up to date graphs of plant available soil water, and for more infomation on the models behind the maps in either a cropped or fallow paddock. Plant available soil water graphs show the amount of soil water accumulated from the start of summer (1 November) through the grain growing season can be used to support seasonal decisions.
- Water quality for spraying crops and pastures
- Windrow burning – tips from the experts
Planning
- Break even yields of wheat and canola
- Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA) crop reports: choose the crop reports tab and year.
- Hay statistics and data for the South West Western Australia region (Dairy Australia)
- Sourcing seed for next year's crop
Establishment and early season
- Canola sowing time to maximise yield in Western Australia: yield charts for different sowing times at different sites
- Canola yield penalty with delayed sowing: research and modelling to assess the likely yield penalty from delayed plant emergence
- Grazing crops
- Herbicide degradation in dry soil: a Weedsmart podcast recorded on 30 May 2018 (listen to the section up to time 14.30)
- Residual herbicide carry over and behaviour in dry conditions: includes herbicide decay in dry sowing, and residual herbicide over a dry summer
- Wheat losses from delayed emergence: research and modelling to assess the likely yield penalty from delayed plant emergence
- When to reseed canola: is reseeding canola worth the cost?
- Factors affecting grain crop seed germination
Harvesting and stubble management
- Harvesting a frosted crop: often experienced in low rainfall years
- How to successfully harvest short, patchy crops
- Making tough decisions about failed crops
- Managing wind erosion in crop stubbles
- Windrow burning – tips from the experts
Livestock resources
Planning
- Agisting livestock
- Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) drought resources: AWI has a range of drought planning, management and recovery resources available for woolgrowers going into, enduring and recovering from drought.
- Confined paddock feeding and feedlotting
- Feed tests are vital for feed budgeting
- Lifetimewool – tools for management: information about regional guidelines, ewe management, economics and science
- Optimising sheep flock structure
- Sheep management and reproduction
- Sheep pregnancy scanning benchmarks
- Reproduction potential and marking rates of the WA sheep flock
- Pregnancy Scanning Benchmarks – Use this tool to view the latest pregnancy scanning rates (reproductive rate) of WA sheep flocks.Add in your own pregnancy results to see where you fit within the curve.
- Strategies and tactics for sheep producers in a dry season: this information was collated in response to the poor conditions in 2017, and includes information on whether to keep, agist or sell livestock, and presentations for agribusiness and sheep producers
Nutrition - sheep
- Annual feed budget for sheep enterprises: estimate the supplementary feed requirements of a sheep enterprise for a single year
- Annual pasture quantity and quality in South West Western Australia
- Breeding ewes are worth feeding
- Condition scoring of sheep
- Confined paddock feeding and feedlotting
- Deferred grazing of pastures: grazing sheep at the break of season
- Drought feeding and management of sheep 2018: a PDF download (Agriculture Victoria)
- Early weaning lambs
- Feeding and managing sheep in dry times: a PDF download
- Feed budgeting for ewe flocks in the dry season (Lifetimewool)
- Feed cost calculator: calculate the lowest cost from a number of different sheep feeds
- Feed tests are vital for feed budgeting
- Grazing annual pastures – using feed on offer (FOO) as a guide
- Grazing crops
- Growing weaners
- Lambing and lactation
- Managing sheep in drought-lots: a best practice guide (AWI)
- Sheep feeding and nutrition
- Sheep feed value guide
- Strategies and tactics for sheep producers in a poor season: this information was collated in response to the poor conditions in 2017, and includes information on whether to keep, agist or sell livestock
- Supplementary feeding and feed budgeting of sheep: a full explanation of the options and how to choose feed sources based on energy and cost
- Supplementary feeding calculator for pregnant and lactating ewes
- The good food guide for sheep: feeding sheep for meat production in the areas of Western Australia
- Tips for handfeeding sheep the right amount the right way
- Tools and calculators for sheep and grazing management: use the sheep condition score app for the mob's nutritional status; use the supplementary feed calculator for ewes on low green feed; and use the feed cost calculator for costing the nutritional needs of kept sheep
Cattle
- Drought feeding and management of beef cattle – a guide for farmers and land managers 2018: a PDF download (Agriculture Victoria)
- Managing the beef breeder herd in southern Western Australia
- To hold or sell breeding cattle
Pastures and feed sources
- Annual pasture quality and quantity
- Assessing annual pasture food on offer
- Boosting winter pasture growth with nitrogen fertiliser
- CBH outturns and stockfeed: the site provides information on the process for acquiring stockfeed grain
- Grazing crops
- Grazing sheep at the break of season
- Lifetime wool (break of season) tool
- Pasture manipulation – for grass control
- Plant available soil water app graphs rainfall for a given weather station, from the start of summer through the grain growing season, and can be used to support management decisions
Livestock health and animal welfare
- A national guide to describing and managing beef cattle in low body condition
- Condition scoring of sheep
- Emergency livestock water supplies
- Flyboss
- Flystrike management tools
- Is your livestock fit to load?: Meat and Livestock Australia
- Livestock health alerts
- Managing blue-green algae on farm sin Western Australia
- Managing flystrike in sheep
- Managing grass seeds in sheep
- Managing pregnancy in ewes
- Pregnancy toxaemia and hypocalcaemia of ewes
- Sheep worm control
- WA Livestock Disease Outlook: a monthly newsletter for producers
- Water quality for livestock
- Welfare decisions for sheep and cattle
- Wormboss
Financial and wellbeing resources
Services are available to assist people through difficult periods:
- Farm business training: call 1800 198 231 about targeted training to improve business management provided via the department
- Farm Debt Mediation
- Farm Household Allowance: call 13 23 16 about a household support payment from the Australian Government
- Regional Men’s Health Initiative: call +61 (0)8 9690 2277
- Rural Financial Counselling Service WA: freecall 1800 612 044 for free financial counselling services to assist primary producers
- WA rural health, financial and information support directory