Livestock
- Consider autumn stock water requirements now. Plan to ensure there is enough quality water available into the break of season and formulate contingency plans. Visit Livestock water requirements and water budgeting for the south west to learn more.
- Review feed budgets and use supplementary feeding over the autumn period. Factor in multiple plans, including worst-case scenarios such as starting supplementary feeding earlier than normal and continuing if there is a later break.
- Confinement feeding is an option to reduce overall energy demand when paddock feed amount and quality has declined. Read our factsheet to find out more about considerations when setting up confinement feeding areas.
- Be aware of the symptoms of Annual Ryegrass Toxicity (ARGT). It’s important that purchased feed is tested for ARGT.
Sheep
- Green pick may start appearing in areas where there has been enough rainfall. Be mindful that this will not provide the nutritional requirements for pregnant ewes, and supplementation is still necessary until FOO reaches 800kg DM/ha.
- Lambs being finished on cereal stubbles or dry pasture will require supplementation to meet growth rate targets over autumn. View Growing weaner sheep to find out more.
- Warm temperatures, rainfall and low wind has seen flystrike occurring in some areas. Monitor the flock and treat if necessary.
- Monitor sheep condition score in the lead up to lambing. Ewes should be in condition score 3 at lambing to ensure good lamb survival and reduce ewe mortality. Ewes in poor condition at lambing (especially twin bearers) have a higher risk of pregnancy toxaemia.
- Pregnancy scanning is a great way to help identify poor performers when stock rates need to be reduced. It also enables producers to allocate more feed to the more productive animals.
Cattle
- Southern beef dry season management information for cattle producers and small landholders in the South West.
- Supplementary feeding is important to maintain adequate condition score of beef cattle (both rangelands and southern cattle) held on farm.
- Monitor Feed On Offer (FOO). If inadequate FOO, confined feeding an option.
- Pastoralists can refer to resources to support them in a very dry year, including decisions to hold or sell breeding cattle.
More livestock resources
Nutrition
- Supplementary feeding calculator for pregnant and lactating ewes
- Supplementary feeding and feed budgeting for sheep
- Sheep feeding and nutrition
- Annual feed budget for sheep enterprises
- Feed cost calculator
- Alternative energy and protein feed sources for sheep and cattle
- Grain overload, acidosis, or grain poisoning in stock
- Growing weaner sheep
- Annual Ryegrass Toxicity (ARGT)
- Feeding Livestock (Agriculture Victoria)
- Drought feeding and management of beef cattle - A guide for farmers and land managers (Agriculture Victoria)
- Podcast: Alternative feed sources for livestock in a dry year (WA Drought Hub)
- Full hand feeding of beef cattle – management (DPI NSW)
- Checklist for good beef cattle health and management in drought (DPI NSW)
Pastures
- Deferred grazing and sheep at the break of season in South West Western Australia
- Grazing annual pastures – using feed on offer (FOO) as a guide
- Pastures from Space
- Annual pasture quantity and quality
Management
- Managing flystrike in sheep
- Management tools and calculators for sheep and grazing management
- Managing sheep in a poor season
- Agisting livestock
- Resources, tools and calculators for cattle and grazing management
- Southern beef - dry season management
- To hold or sell breeding cattle in the rangelands
- Breeder and heifer management for rangeland cattle
- Webinars on feeding sheep and cattle, early weaning, selling decisions, surplus feed (Local Land Services NSW)
- Dry season fact sheets (AWI Extension SA)
Confinement feeding
- Confined paddock feeding and feedlotting of sheet
- Releasing sheep from containment feeding (AWI)
- Podcast: When do I let sheep out of containment? (SA Drought Hub)
Condition scoring
- Condition scoring sheep
- Condition scoring rangelands cattle (FutureBeef)
- Condition scoring southern cattle (Angus Australia)
Animal health and welfare
- Animal welfare - resources and publications
- Livestock carcase disposal after fire, flood or drought
- Water quality for livestock
- Livestock water requirements and water budgeting for south-west Western Australia
- Calculating livestock water requirements for small landholders
- Emergency Animal Disease Hub