Drought Resilience
There will always be times of drought and so preparing for the inevitable is far better than a crisis response. Drought is all about managing variability and particularly managing with reduced rainfall and/or irrigation allocations. So, understanding irrigation supply and climate variability and its impact on the price of entitlements and allocations is critical to drought responses.
There are several agricultural industries within the Goulburn Valley, and each of these industries will respond in different ways to drought.
Irrigated agriculture provides approximately 60% of the Goulburn Valley agricultural output and so responding to drought with less irrigation water is critical to the long-term sustainability and health of the region.
Living through droughts is challenging and the emotions associated with it can mean that we can be slow to react. Being prepared doesn’t avoid disappointments experienced during droughts but it may allow us to make sensible and more timely decisions.
Farmers who are armed with good information will be better able to respond effectively and adapt to drought conditions.
The Drought Resources Package available for download below has been divided into five sections:
- Water and climate
- Variability of rainfall
- Changes in irrigation water supply
- Water price drivers: allocation/entitlement market
- Agricultural industries and emerging trends
- Number of farms, production trends
- Drought preparedness
- A resilient business
- Industry specific management strategies
- Drought actions and mitigation strategies by industry
- Sources of information
- Signposting to key information/assistance sites