NO ONE would have guessed it would be rain that would interrupt a drought forum, but that was the case at last week’s drought forum in Pentland.
One of the seven speakers was part of the way through their speech when the heavens opened and delivered a welcomed shower of rain on the drought-stricken town.
While the shower put smiles on the faces of 20 or so producers attending the forum, they were also wary of the fire hazard attached to a combination of heavy lightning and dry grass.
Karl McKellar from the Department of Agriculture addressed the weather forecast at the beginning of the forum.
He said reports indicate a 30-40 per cent chance of rainfall exceeding the median from November to January with the next MJO (formerly known as the 40-day wave) due in mid-December.
Mr McKellar went on to talk about the state government’s Drought Relief Assistance Scheme (DRAS), which is comprised of two components – freight subsidies and an emergency water rebate – with a combined limit of $30,000 per PIC number per financial year.
He said the emergency water rebate covers 50pc of the costs associated with establishing emergency water, including bores, pipes, poly and tanks and recommended producers get in as many water claims as possible.
“Claims have to be lodged within six months from the date of invoice. Forms are available on the DA website,” Mr McKellar said.
Mr McKellar said Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce’s recent announcement of another $7 million for Queensland was likely to top up the Queensland government’s existing emergency water rebate.
He said other drought assistance from the state government includes freezing land rent increases, transport concessions e.g. machinery inspections and road train permits, and an increase of school transport allowance.
According to producers at the forum, Ergon Energy will also defer the fixed charge attached to bores and pumps where there is no water to pump – a total of $45 off the quarterly bill.
Mr McKellar told producers to keep in mind interest may be charge on any deferred payments.
QRAA’s Sam Spina gave producers advice on debt management and the option of reducing interest bills by getting QRAA to take over control of their debt.
He said QRAA’s sustainability loans have competitive interest rates and a maximum lend of $650,000 for up to five years.
Department of Agriculture agri-economist Tim Moravek said there are Ten Commandments producers should follow, including putting steers on good fattening country where possible, avoiding the store trap of selling younger cattle to service cash flow, and using numbers and not labels to describe a herd.
“In considering stocking rates or carrying capacity, the number of breeders can be very misleading,” Mr Moravek said.
“A particular number of breeders can mean wildly different numbers of total adult equivalents, depending on branding rates, age of male turnoff, and supplement use,” he said.
“The preferred method of expressing herd size is to use adult equivalents.”
Mr Moravek said one of the best things producers can do is benchmark themselves against the industry through a SWOT analysis.
He also said Dynamaplus was a great program to track cash flow and herd structure over a desired length of years so producers can forecast the impact of a decision to sell three or four years down the track.
Bob Shepherd, Future Beef, discussed pasture recovery after the drought.
He said he thought the cover on the country between Townsville and Pentland was “quite good” although other parts “look very sad.”
“It tells you it’s not just about rainfall, but pasture management,” Mr Shepherd said.
Mr Shepherd said the fact the drought had forced many producers to lighten off their herd would present some opportunities by giving the grass a spell, even for a short period.
He strongly recommended producers complete a forage budget to adjust stocking rates after first round.
Felicity Hamlyn-Hill, Beef Enterprises Advisory Services, spoke about alternative nutrition options and told producers protein and energy requirements first needed to be established to maximise supplementary feeding results.
Producers shared what they were currently feeding with the majority supplying M8U (molasses and 8 per cent urea) to their “old darlings trying to give it their all”, M3U to their younger cattle and dry lick or grain for the rest.
Mrs Hamlyn-Hill said the key formula to remember was one galloon equals 4.5 litres, which in turn equals 6.3kg of lick per breeder per hectare.
“The high content of urea in dry lick means the cattle eat the lick but are also eating more pasture, whereas with M8U they eat it and the pasture gets a break,” Mrs Hamlyn-Hill said.
Mrs Hamlyn-Hill said lactating cows are hard to supplement in any season and producers should look at other ways like seasonal mating and early weaning.
“The need for protein and energy drops straight away by stopping lactation,” she said.
“Lactating breeders in a dry season cost a lot. It’s really about slowing down the weight loss.
“Some people out west only started weaning six weeks ago.”
An important and well-received segment of the forum was personal health and wellbeing.
Registered psychiatric nurse, Philippa Harris, said the day-to-day grind of a drought-stricken business can not only be exhausting but also wear down people’s ability to cope.
Mrs Harris spoke about the detrimental symptoms of prolonged stress including lack of sleep or sleeping well but waking up tired, isolation from others, and even depression or anxiety issues.
“If we put animals under stress, it has a physiological effect that reduces its value. The same is true for humans,” Mrs Harris said.
She said recovering from these symptoms can only be done in small steps, and that laughter really is the best medicine as it tells the brain to release endorphins.
“You don’t even have to laugh at something funny – your brain can be fooled,” she said.
Rural mental health consumer advocate Alison Fairleigh also spoke on the topic. She said while producers take good care of their cattle, machinery, and infrastructure, they often don’t take good care of the lynchpin of the business – themselves.
“Taking action and continuing to look after your wellbeing is the most responsible decision you can make,” Ms Fairleigh said.
The drought forum was jointly funded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP). Drought forums were also held in Greenvale, Ravenswood and Alpha.
