Farming Forecaster - Supporting farmers for drought resilience
This project was delivered by NRM South in collaboration with NRM North, the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, Agriprove and producer groups affected by drought. It aimed to support drought-affected farmers with new strategies to improve drought resilience.
Focus
Focus
The Farming Forecaster project aimed to increase farmer capacity and responsiveness for managing more resilient feed-bases in drought-prone areas in Tasmania, and built on the success of the Farming Forecaster pilot delivered in the Fingal Valley in 2021-2022.
The project helped farmers in drought-prone regions of Tasmania using three main approaches.
- Undertaking the state-wide rollout of Farming Forecaster to establish sites in all the major drought-prone areas of Tasmania, allowing advisor and landholder access to information about a wide range of growing conditions.
- Improving the forecast accuracy in Farming Forecaster, by updating the model to include new innovations, and more Tasmania data on growing conditions and pasture species into the platform.
- Development of case studies to assist landholders to make informed decisions about feeding, selling and agisting stock to improve drought resilience.
NRM North supported the project in the northern Tasmanian NRM region.
Farming Forecaster is a publicly available decision support tool for graziers. The risk management tool was developed by multiple farming systems in NSW, in conjunction with CSIRO, and provides a road map for pasture growth and livestock performance.
Farming Forecaster is a publicly available decision support tool for graziers. The risk management tool was developed by multiple farming systems in NSW, in conjunction with CSIRO, and provides a road map for pasture growth and livestock performance.
Alternative pasture renovation techniques were trialled at four demonstration sites during the project pilot.
Data on soil at each of the sites helps to provide reference points for users of the Farming Forecaster.
Value
Value
Farming Forecaster has been developed by CSIRO in conjunction with producers in NSW. It is already widely used in NSW and Victoria and through our state-wide rollout, is now providing Tasmanian farmers with data from 33 new Farming Forecaster sites (in addition to the 13 sites established under the pilot project). Tasmanian farmers can now feel more confident in making decisions in tough years, and react earlier to opportunities.
Real-time soil moisture, soil temperature and rainfall data are being collected from the sites and show how rainfall events and changes in weather patterns affect soil moisture and future pasture production. Each site is described for its environmental characteristics, such as soil type, pasture mix and management history to provide a seasonal reference point for farmers in the region.
In conjunction with the probe data, Farming Forecaster uses leading-edge technology to provide a road map of pasture availability and predicts livestock performance. This powerful decision support tool helps graziers to get a better handle on current conditions and the likely range in pasture availability during the next 3-4 months, allowing for forward planning and helping farmers realise the risks and potential feed on offer.
Farming Forecaster achievements
Farming Forecaster achievements
Key achievements of the Farming Forecaster Project include:
- 46 Farming Forecaster sites established across Tasmania
- 26 face-to-face training workshops
- 6 webinars
- involvement of 150 producers across 11 Tasmanian regions
- support for farming discussion groups
- development of a podcast series, 7 videos and 2 case studies.
A total of 46 Farming Forecaster sites are now established in Tasmania.
Get involved
Get involved
Take advantage of the free, easy to use and paddock-based sensor data to inform decisions on your property.
Resources
Resources
Acknowledgement
This project was supported by NRM South, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. This project was a collaboration between NRM South, NRM North, the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, AgriProve, the East Coast Primary Producers Association, the Upper Esk Landcare and Productivity Group, farmers in the midlands and north Bruny, and the Tasmanian Government.
