Managing drought

Living with drought requires resilience and strategic decisions. See our resources to help with managing your farm, livestock, and land during times of drought.

Farm management

• Farm business planning guide for drought recovery – Australian Government GRDC
• Drought management and recovery for SA pastoralists (PDF 923.4 KB)
• Rebuilding the flock calculator (XLSX 62.9 KB)

Livestock wellbeing

Livestock owners, transporters, and receivers must comply with the Animal Welfare Regulations 2012.  Find out about:

• Animal welfare and feeding controls
• Caring for livestock in heatwaves
• Destruction and disposal of livestock (PDF 977.5 KB).
• Livestock and fodder management – SA Drought Hub

Feeding in dry conditions

• Beef cattle feeding guide – Agriculture Victoria
• Sheep feeding guide – Agriculture Victoria
• Drought and supplementary feed calculator – NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
• Drought resources – Australian Wool Innovation Limited
• Drought feeding – Meat and Livestock Australia
• Drought feeding livestock – NSW Government Local Land Services
• Dry season fact sheets – Sheep Connect SA
• Ewe containment areas – Barossa Improved Grazing Group

Sourcing fodder

Primary producers seeking information on national hay supplies or to purchase fodder for livestock can find useful information on the Australian Fodder Industry Association's hay supply listing.

Importing hay and feed

Primary producers need to manage pests associated with imported feed and fodder, or alternative feed sources.

Learn about issues of stock feeding for drought periods (PDF 440.0 KB), including maximum residue limits.

There are no established cereal grain pests regulated for interstate transport into SA. However, several known pests could act as hitchhikers, particularly on fodder like hay. Weed seeds are also potential contaminants of feed, and many of these are not permitted entry into the state.

Before importing or receiving hay or grain from interstate, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Contact Plant Health to make sure the materials aren’t likely to be affected by pests.
2. Get assurance that all interstate grain meets the industry’s Grain Grade Australia standards, which covers acceptable level of weed and pathogen burden.
3. Establish an on-farm strategy for reducing risk, including:
   • isolating the areas where feed is stored and put out for livestock
   • monitoring feed for the occurrence of pests and weeds.
4. Check the pictorial list of declared weeds for recommended control options and landowner obligations in South Australia.

Land management

During drought and after fire events, soil can become bare of cover, or loosened to the extent of suffering wind erosion. Find out about:

• Emergency measures to curb wind erosion (PDF 1.3 MB).
• Managing soils during and after drought in grazing systems
• Managing soils during and after drought in cropping systems

Drought can also cause unexpected long-term weed risks in dry conditions (PDF 272.4 KB).

Eligible landholders who are affected by both drought and wild dogs can claim financial support in controlling wild dogs. Learn more about the wild dog bounty scheme.