Managing Drought in Australia's Rangelands: Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Abstract

We report some of the findings of a project called 'DroughtPlan', which has involved close collaboration with pastoralists throughout the Australian rangelands. There were three general areas related to property management where producers felt better information and training could help them cope with climatic variability. These were strategic management of long-term stocking levels, tactical management of stock numbers between years, and business management skills. A comprehensive series of representative studies linking herd biology with economic outcomes was undertaken on these topics with pastoralists in different regions of the rangelands. Some of the studies considered most important by pastoralists are reported here. These demonstrate that: (i) a reduction in current stocking levels can often improve cash flow; (ii) small adjustments in livestock selling tactics during drought can have large financial ramifications; (iii) it is financially advantageous to build stock numbers up quickly after a drought, even though this may conflict with longer-term environmental values; (iv) while diversification can provide financial rewards, these could be matched by small improvements in the biological rates of the livestock; and, (v) fine-tuning of the existing pastoral enterprise can provide a less risky means of increasing cash flow and reducing its variability than does diversification. Four of the examples indicate that better use of information can help both profitability and sustainability; the fifth suggests that the interests of short-term profitability are in conflict with long-term land conservation goals, as assessed by many pastoralists. These studies highlight the value of linking producer knowledge with a systematic analysis framework, as well as the vital importance of incorporating the effects of climatic variability, when assessing the value of different management options.