Dennis Donohoe, farm manager with Aminya Pastoral, is a seasoned producer with decades of experience, and his story is a testament to how even minor changes in farming practices can lead to significant improvements in productivity and land health.
Australia has long been a land of drought and flooding rains, and as the climate warms, it is more important than ever to prepare for climatic extremes. As Australia’s leading provider of training, education and advice in regenerative agriculture, we understand that knowledge is power. And a particular depth of knowledge comes from decades of experience.
Here at RCS, we’ve field-tested effective drought management strategies with thousands of landholders across Australia’s unique environments for over 30 years. From what we’ve learnt, we formulated a unique drought preparedness course to arm our farmers with the skills and expertise to make it through.
With the financial support of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, we are happy to offer this program for free to Australian farmers and graziers.
“Everyone who does the course has the opportunity to come away with a meaningful and practical plan to prepare for a drought, manage in a drought and recover from a drought,” says David McLean, our Chief of Delivery. “The approach allows landholders to minimise negative impacts and set themselves up for ecological, financial and productive wins.”
The course encourages all on-farm team members to collaborate and develop a property-specific drought management plan that incorporates strategies for their land, livestock, people, and business.
It is flexible and self-paced, featuring case studies that showcase successful localised practices and increasing drought resilience from across the nation. Participants need to invest approximately 6-10 hours into the course, plus the ongoing development of their drought management plan to keep on top of the lessons learned throughout its implementation.
“We hope landholders find great value in the course content and become well placed financially, mentally and ecologically – no matter which of the three stages of drought they find themselves in – today or in the future,” says McLean.
RCS is Australia’s leading provider of holistic, integrated education, training, and advisory services to the agricultural sector. It works with individuals, families, corporates, and government groups, empowering them to grow productive, profitable agriculture businesses within regenerative landscapes.
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Dennis Donohoe, farm manager with Aminya Pastoral, is a seasoned producer with decades of experience, and his story is a testament to how even minor changes in farming practices can lead to significant improvements in productivity and land health.
Once you have ownership as to why planning is important, the next ingredient is to work out where and how you will do your planning. When you write something down you change your relationship with the content. I cannot emphasise enough the power of getting your thoughts and plans out of your head onto paper or the computer.
The season in SA and Tassie is particularly tight right now with little or no useful rain since early January and a generally failed 2023 spring prior to that. Right now, across southern Australia and much of the eastern NSW, you won’t need to drive far out into the countryside to see cattle and sheep grazing (and lying on) hay and silage trails lined across paddocks.
Martha Lindstad and partner Robert James are farm managers on ‘Karalee’, Enngonia NSW. Both have travelled different paths to being where they are. Martha is originally from Norway, growing up on a three hectare farm before travelling to New Zealand and eventually the Pilbara in Western Australia. It was here that she saw the benefits of sustainable farming for the country and livestock.
The Prince’s RCS mentor, Raymond Stacey, sees a strong future ahead for Simon and Laura. “The Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes project is about supporting graziers to manage their country and businesses better,” Raymond said. “I see an operation here where they’re working hard on their planning and putting their plans into action to leave their country, business and people in better shape.”
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