As we move through winter, it has been encouraging to see a generally positive start to the season across much of South Australia. While conditions remain variable and many producers continue to manage the impacts of recent dry years, autumn and early winter rainfall has provided welcome opportunities to establish crops, improve ground cover and build confidence for the months ahead.
Across the SA Drought Hub, we continue to make strong progress delivering our 2026 work plan, with a diverse range of projects, training programs and extension activities underway across the state. From livestock management and grazing resilience initiatives to water security demonstrations, to farmer-led learning groups, our focus remains on supporting producers, advisors and regional communities to build long-term drought resilience, even when its rained.
This edition highlights several exciting initiatives and opportunities currently underway. We are pleased to share an update on the Improving on-farm water security: Lined catchment demonstration progresses project, where BIGG’s demonstration site is helping producers explore practical solutions to improve water supply reliability in the Barossa Ranges. We also feature the release of a new Goat Management Guide, developed by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board, providing practical information to support better land management decisions and feral goat control.
You’ll also find links to two new DAFF Insight to Impact videos, showcasing how Future Drought Fund investments are helping our Hub to deliver real outcomes through our containment feeding and Early to Mid-Career Farmers programs. For grain growers, we encourage you to catch up on the latest RiskWi$e nitrogen decision-making webinar and resource, designed to support informed in-season nitrogen decisions.
We would also like to draw your attention to the More Beef from Pastures 2.0 program which is recruiting producer learning groups to strengthen productivity, profitability and resilience across the southern beef industry. We are also proud to continue supporting future industry leaders through the Eyre Peninsula Grains Research Internship Program, helping build the next generation of agricultural researchers.
Collaboration remains at the heart of everything we do. This month we also acknowledge the important work of the Kangaroo Partnerships Project Yarning Circles initiative, which is helping capture Aboriginal perspectives and knowledge through listening, learning and working together to care for Country.
Finally, we are proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 2026 Ag Excellence Forum & Awards and look forward to celebrating the achievements of South Australia’s grower groups and agricultural leaders in August.
We would also like to acknowledge Tamara Zerk, Events and Project Officer, who is finishing her role with the SA Drought Hub. Tamara has been an excellent representative of the Hub at events across SA. Tamara has also fostered cross-Hub collaboration through driving the development and implementation of the highly effective DRINKS program Drought Resilience Information and Knowledge Sharing (DRINKS) for multiple industry sectors in SA. Prior to her current role Tamara served across the high rainfall zones Node Coordinator and drove development of co-designed projects with diverse partners across the regions. The Hub team wish Tamara every success in her future endeavours. Deb Francis will soon be commencing as Events and Projects Officer.
We encourage you to explore the stories and opportunities featured throughout this edition and learn more about the valuable work being delivered across our network.
