Latest updates and advice
- Plan ahead to ensure there is enough quality water available for livestock over summer and into the break of next season and formulate contingency plans. See Livestock management and Water sections for information to assist decision-making, particularly for dry seasonal conditions.
- Fire season is beginning and planning allows you to be prepared for an emergency. Visit the Department of Fire and Emergency Services’- Prepare Warnings & Incidents, Recovery for resources on preparing for a fire or Farm recovery after fire if your property has been affected by fire.
- The rainfall outlook for January to March 2025 indicates above normal seasonal rainfall is slightly more likely over southern WA. The pattern of above normal temperatures continues through summer, with chances of unusually high daytime temperatures being elevated in most parts. See the Bureau’s seasonal outlook video for details and check monthly updates to the Seasonal Climate Outlook.
- Funding and support services information and contacts are available to assist people in rural WA areas.
Seasonal management information |
Funding and support services
Support services available to assist rural people in stressful situations can be found on WA's rural support services webpage and directory. These include:
- Regional Men’s Health Initiative
- Rural Aid
- Lifeline
- Beyond Blue
- Rural West financial counselling service.
Contacts
| Region/area | Contact |
| South West & Great Southern | |
| Esperance | |
| Gascoyne & Mid West |
Livestock
- Consider summer/autumn stock water requirements now. Plan ahead to ensure there is enough quality water available into the break of next season and formulate contingency plans. Visit Livestock water requirements and water budgeting for the south west to learn more.
- Review feed budgets now to ensure you retain enough grain from harvest, or source grains, pellets and hay/straw early to use for supplementary feeding over the summer/autumn period. Factor in multiple plans, including worst-case scenarios such as supplementary feeding earlier than normal and a later break.
- Confinement feeding is an option 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
- Lambs being finished on cereal stubbles or dry pasture will require supplementation to meet growth rate targets over the summer period. View Growing weaner sheep to find out more.
- Warmer winter 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 joining. Ewes should be in condition score 3 by joining to ensure optimum conception rates. Rams should also be prepared for joining by conducting the 4 T’s check and feeding a high protein diet in the leadup to joining. Find out more at Joining – setting the potential of your ewe flock.
- Pasture quality declines rapidly after it dries off, and there are various considerations when planning grazing crop stubbles. Find out more at Grazing stubbles and dry pasture.
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
- Sheep weaning best practice
- Early weaning of lambs in a poor season
- Growing weaner sheep
- Grain overload, acidosis, or grain poisoning in stock
- Supplementary feeding calculator for pregnant and lactating ewes
- Sheep feeding and nutrition
- Annual Ryegrass Toxicity (ARGT)
- Feed cost calculator
- Alternative energy and protein feed sources for sheep and cattle
- 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
- 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
- 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
Crops
- In planning for next season, refer to the 2025 WA Crop Sowing Guide for information on variety choices for major crops and some management tips.
- Control summer weeds early to conserve valuable soil nitrogen and moisture for next season’s crops.
- Growers should consider potential disease carryover in the 2025 growing season if wet conditions during autumn and summer result in weed and crop regrowth.
- For information to identify and manage your crop pests and diseases throughout the season refer to PestFacts WA cropping resources.
Soil
Managing existing groundcover will be important to prevent wind erosion over summer. As a guide:
- 1.5 tonne of stubble is the equivalent of 50% ground cover. This could include last year’s growing season stubble if retained.
- Stubble remaining after harvest will be approximately 1.5 to 2 times that of grain yield.
- Paddocks with ground cover less than 50% should have no or little traffic from livestock or vehicles.
- Keeping ground cover above 50% keeps your options open for the coming summer and autumn
- Landholders should assess and manage wind erosion risk at each stage of the cropping year.
Water
Farm water supplies may become low over summer. It is important to:
- Assess available water supplies and quality and bulk up water into as few remaining larger and deeper dams as possible.
- Calculate a water budget for livestock – before problems develop.
- Test all dams and bores being used for livestock and spraying as water quality (salinity) may not be suitable as levels drop.
- Groundwater desalination on farms in Western Australia: Please remember that you must submit a notice of intent to drain or pump water – desalination (NOI), together with the neighbour comments, to the Commissioner of Soil and Land Conservation at least 90 days before intended discharge.
- Plan now for maintenance of dams and roaded catchments.
If you think you are likely to become water deficient within the next 4 weeks, discuss your situation with your Local Government Authority (LGA), or contact the DWER rural water planning team on 1800 780 300, ruralwater@dwer.wa.gov.au or visit DWER’s Rural water planning webpage.
Where on-farm and strategic community water resources are not available, stock water can be obtained from regional Shire fixed standpipes. Refer to Water Corporation information and standpipe maps for Great Southern and South West.
Small landholders
Water supplies
- Calculating farm dam (excavated earth tanks) water volume
- Managing blue-green algae on farms in Western Australia
- Blue-green algae poisoning in livestock
- Sampling procedure for toxic algae
- Excavated tanks (farm dams)
Livestock
- Livestock water requirements and water budgeting for south-west Western Australia
- Water quality for livestock
- Agistment for small landholders
- Animal welfare - resources and publications
Irrigation
Pasture
- Establishing pasture for small landholders in Western Australia
- Rotational grazing for small landholders
Horticulture
- The horticulture handbook - a reference guide for establishing horticulture enterprises in Western Australia
Soil
Small landholder resources
Climate situation and outlook
Rainfall outlook for January 2025 from the Bureau of Meteorology, updated 12 December, shows neutral rain chances for agricultural areas. The seasonal rainfall outlook for January to March 2025 indicates above normal seasonal rainfall is slightly more likely over southern WA. See the Bureau’s seasonal outlook video for more details and check monthly updates to the Seasonal Climate Outlook.
Many international climate models have a neutral to wetter rainfall outlook for southern WA for this period, from their December runs. However, this does not necessarily mean a lot of rain, as the period is traditionally quite dry for southern WA.
The pattern of above normal temperatures continues through summer, with chances of unusually high daytime temperatures being elevated in most parts.
Climate resources
- DPIRD Seasonal climate outlook
- DPIRD online weather stations map
- Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) weekly rainfall for the south-west forecast districts and northern & eastern forecast districts
- Bureau of Meteorology: Water and land
- Climate data online (BoM daily rainfall and other local climate records)
- Australian CliMate app
- Animated global weather conditions affecting WA