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RESOURCES

Resources

The resources on this page are of relevance to SA farmers and regional communities. They are to assist in decision making and potential practice change to build drought preparedness and resilience.
Managing dry times and drought: planning for resilience and recovery

Dry times and drought pose a key risk to farm businesses. Farmers, pastoralists and land managers should develop a management plan to mitigate this risk. This fact sheet summarises why such plans are needed and what they should include.

Download the Managing dry times and drought fact sheet.

For more information on business and risk management for farmers, visit the Department of Primary Industries and Regions website.

SA Drought Hub 2022-23 Annual Report

The Annual Report documents the hub’s outputs and achievements over the 2022-23 financial year. It includes summaries of a selected projects:

  • Improving on-farm water security using innovative remote sensing systems
  • Utilising satellite imagery in the growing season to inform adaptive management
  • Drought management for the health and longevity of perennial horticulture plants
  • Managing rangelands for drought resilience
  • Drought resilience practices in mixed farming systems
  • Cropping without glyphosate
  • Virtual fencing for improved drought resilience on South Australian farms

Download the report

SA Drought Hub Year 2 Achievements

The hub’s second 12 months saw it build upon the foundation of its establishment year, expanding its on-the-ground presence and delivering practical tools and knowledge for drought resilience.

Across 44 drought resilience projects and 10 innovation projects, the hub established more than 50 demonstration sites, developed 34 drought resilience tools and products, and held 78 learning activities that were attended by more than 2000 people.

For more on our year 2 achievements, download the easy-to-read infographic fact sheet:

SA Drought Hub Year 2 Achievements 2022-23

SA Drought Hub flyer

A summary of the hub’s activities and aims, with contact details of staff.

Download the hub flyer

SA Drought Hub – Node Co-Design Workshops Report

The South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub conducted a series of regional co-design workshops in August, September, and October 2021, in order to identify each region’s priorities for strengthening their drought preparedness and resilience.

The hybrid in-person and online Node workshops at Wudinna, Port Augusta, Loxton, Orroroo, Roseworthy, Naracoorte, and Coober Pedy attracted 279 participants and generated a total of 991 ideas.

This PDF report provides a comprehensive summary of the activities, objectives, and contributions.

Node Co-Design Workshops Report

Reporting templates for SA Drought Hub projects, sponsorships and in-kind contributions

Hub Members and Partner organisations delivering projects funded through the SA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (SA Drought Hub) are required to complete 6 monthly reports. The information being collected is consistent across each of the eight Drought Hubs nationally and will allow collation of national-level data to inform the outcomes and ongoing delivery of Future Drought Fund programs. This information will also be used at local and state scales to inform and guide the ongoing co-design and delivery of SA Drought Hub projects and programs, and other Future Drought Fund initiatives being delivered in South Australia.

If you have any questions regarding these project reporting templates, the monitoring data being sought, or the monitoring and evaluation framework more broadly, please contact your local SA Drought Hub Node Coordinator or the SA Drought Hub Knowledge Broker.

Tools for Pasture Forecasting Fact Sheet

Knowledge of current pasture production and the ability to accurately predict future production helps livestock farmers with decision-making around pasture supply and feed budgeting. Several pasture forecasting tools are freely or commercially available. This fact sheet summarises the tools that are relevant to South Australian producers.

Download the fact sheet on pasture forecasting tools available for use in South Australia

To provide examples of other applications on the market, a supplementary fact sheet describes tools not currently available for producers in South Australia.

Download the supplementary fact sheet on pasture forecasting tools not available for use in South Australia

Using Satellite Imagery to Inform Adaptive Management Fact Sheet

Satellite technology in agriculture has become a widely adopted method of viewing and analysing broadacre crops, giving new insights into variability across and between fields. Despite recent, rapid improvements, many growers and agronomists are not making full use of the practical capabilities of maps and insights generated by satellite imagery.

In low-rainfall environments, there is an enormous opportunity for producers to use satellite imagery to change their land management practices to make difficult decisions with greater confidence, especially in harder drought years.

The SA Drought Hub supported Upper North Farming Systems in producing this fact sheet, which explores four very different case studies throughout the Upper North of SA, highlighting how the growers made profitable management decisions through understanding variability.

Download the fact sheet (5MB)

SA Arid Lands Remote Monitoring Fact Sheet

Remote monitoring technologies allow properties to remotely monitor their production systems via the internet. They make use of data to help decision-making on pastoral land in ways that can increase efficiency and save time and money.

Multiple connectivity options exist for remote monitoring, including LoRaWan (Long Range Wide Area Network), satellite, cellular and WiFi. The SA Drought Hub has supported the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board in producing a fact sheet, including case studies, to help pastoralists choose the best system for their needs.

Download the SAAL Remote Monitoring Fact Sheet

The Future Drought Fund’s Drought Self Assessment Tool (DR.SAT)

The Future Drought Fund’s Drought Self Assessment Tool (DRSAT) is free and enables users to undertake satellite image and NDVI comparison of their properties between different dates, obtain climatic projections and long-term trends for their property, assess the farm business’s current resilience to drought in the areas of economic, social and environmental management and to set goals for building drought resilience.

The tool can be accessed at: www.drsat.com.au

The Future Drought Fund’s My Climate View (formerly Climate Services for Agriculture)

The Future Drought Fund’s My Climate View (formerly Climate Services for Agriculture) tool provides users with location-specific information on seasonal and monthly rainfall outlooks, and medium and longer term climate projections for rainfall and temperature.

The tool can be accessed at: myclimateview.com.au

National Hub Network Map

Australia’s eight Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs were established in 2021 through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund (FDF), which provides secure, continuous funding for drought resilience initiatives.

See our national network

FDF Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes Grants involving the SA Drought Hub (October 2022)

Over $23 million is being invested through the Future Drought Fund in 26 projects focusing on drought resilient land management practices that will help Australia’s farmers prepare for and recover more quickly from drought. This program aims to demonstrate practices at a broad scale that will make our agricultural land more resilient to future droughts. The SA Drought Hub and partners are involved in several of these projects – download the list for details.

FDF Drought Resilience Innovation Grants awarded to SA Drought Hub partners (2022–2024)

Drought Resilience Innovation Grants, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry through the FDF, support projects that help Australian farmers, and agricultural-dependent communities and businesses, adopt innovative approaches and technologies to improve drought resilience. Three grants help cater for projects and ideas at different stages of development:

  • Ideas Grants providing $50,000 for 12 months to help develop good ideas
  • Proof-of-Concept Grants providing up to $120,000 for 12 months to test the feasibility of innovative projects
  • Innovation Grants providing between $300,000 and $1.1M per year for up to 3 years for mature ideas.

SA Drought Hub members are involved in a range of projects funded for 2022–2024 across all three grants – download the project list for more details.

SA Drought Hub Year 1 Achievements

Following its launch on 30 June 2021, the SA Drought Hub rapidly established itself as a focal point in efforts to strengthen the drought resilience and preparedness of farms and regional communities in South Australia. In its first year, the Hub established 6 nodes, commenced 18 projects and 28 demonstration sites, and held 32 training and learning events. In doing so, it engaged almost 50 partner organisations and more than 500 individuals. The Hub’s year 1 achievements are summarised in an easy-to-read infographic fact sheet:

SA Drought Hub Year 1 Achievements 2021-22

SA Drought Hub branding, attribution and approvals guidelines

Communication materials produced as part of SA Drought Hub projects need to adhere to brand guidelines that ensure correct logos and acknowledgements are used, social media posts are tagged correctly, and organisational or Commonwealth approvals are obtained when required. Hub approval is required before pulishing any such materials. The Hub has published guidelines to help Partners ensure that their Hub-related materials meet branding and approvals requirements.

Download the guidelines

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or contact us at sadroughthub@adelaide.edu.au