Tips for livestock producers preparing for a dry season

Key messages

• Consider your options for reducing numbers, buying in feed or setting up containment areas
• What did you learn from past dry seasons; what worked well, what didn't
• Trigger points; what are the conditions or circumstances that will prompt you to make a decision

Planning and decision making in dry times

Drought or extended dry periods are an inevitable part of Australian farming. While we can't control the weather, we can control how we prepare and respond. Successful drought management hinges on forward planning, informed decision-making, and timely action. 
Here, we explore key considerations, tools, and lessons learned to support livestock producers in navigating challenging seasons. 

Riverine Plains invites livestock producers to a Dry season workshop on Wednesday 4 June, 2025 in Howlong, NSW. Kindly funded by the Southern NSW Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub this workshop will cover key topics including planning and decision-making, options and tips, animal health, feed budgeting, and stock containment areas. More information on these discussion points is outlined below.

Register here: Dry Season Workshop, livestock producers – 4 June 2025.

Developing a drought management plan tailored to your farm’s conditions, enterprise mix, and goals helps reduce stress, preserve resources, and protect animal welfare.
Key steps in proactive planning include:

• Assessing your current resources (water, feed, infrastructure). Do you have enough of each, and if not, what are the implications for your operation?
• Identifying critical thresholds or trigger points (when something reaches a critical point, what will you do next).
• Listing your decision options and ranking them based on feasibility and impact.
• Setting timelines and responsibilities for decision-making.

Consider your options

When faced with a deteriorating feed base or water supply, there are usually three main options:

1. Sell livestock early. This will ease pressure on feed and water supplies and will also help lower labour demands and improve cash flow in the short term.
2. Agistment. Consider moving stock to another property with better conditions, to help preserve your home pasture and water.
3. Feed livestock using on-farm or purchased feed.

Tips from past dry seasons

Producers who navigated previous droughts successfully often highlight the following:

• Early action is better than a late reaction.
• Keep good records to understand your break-even points and what worked previously.
• Communicate with your bank, advisor, and family – isolation when making decisions can make stress worse.
• Prioritise core breeders and protect your long-term genetic investment.
• Avoid overgrazing paddocks as recovery will be much harder.

Trigger points

Trigger points are pre-defined signals that prompt a decision. Identifying trigger points ahead of time helps remove the emotion and guesswork during stressful periods.
Examples include:

• Less than 30% dam capacity by a set date.
• Pasture cover falling below 800 kg DM/ha.

Write these into your plan and review them regularly. Trigger points will be different for each individual and enterprise, and the outcome will not always be selling stock. For example, it could just be a reminder to review the feed ration that you are providing to your stock due to a change in requirements (i.e feeding ewes after the first month of lactation). 

Animal health considerations

Animal health pressures can increase in dry conditions. A key focus area is one of the most critical areas to manage is nutrition. Ensure rations meet livestock needs for energy, protein, and essentials minerals needs, particularly if feeding grain-based diets.

Common diseases in intensively fed sheep

• Pregnancy toxemia (‘twin lamb disease’) occurs when heavily pregnant ewes are not receiving sufficient energy to feed themselves and their lambs. Affected animals typically go off their feed, separate from the mob and are lethargic. They will “go down” and die after a few days. Diagnosis is made from samples collected by a vet.  
  • Prevention: Ensure late-stage pregnant ewes are receiving sufficient energy in their diet – feed budgeting and feed tests will help with this. Splitting mobs into multiples and singles will help with managing nutritional requirements. Read: Knowing how many lambs - gold! (Agriculture Victoria)
• Hypocalcemia (‘milk fever’) occurs because cereal grains have a poor ratio of Calcium:Phosphorus compared to sheep requirements. Early signs include staggering or muscle tremors.
  • Prevention: Add limestone to the grain ration at 2%. Loose-lick limestone can be unpalatable, so add salt to encourage consumption. Limiting stress and the time off feed will also help.
• Hypovitaminosis A and/or E is caused by lack of vitamin A and/or E, typically due to limited green feed, and results in ill-thrift and potential blindness in sheep.
  • Treatment/prevention: Vitamins can be administered as a drench, or by injection of Vitamin ADE to affected animals, and provides protection for a further 2–3 months. Seek veterinary advice on treatment options. 

• Water quality: Check for salinity, blue-green algae, and contaminants.
• Parasite control: Increased stocking pressure can raise parasite risk. Sheep that are stressed can have reduced immunity to worms so it is important to monitor stock regularly for signs of infection. Prevention: conduct worm egg counts and drench if required. Do a drench-check of worm egg counts 10 days after treatment to confirm effectiveness.. 
• Vaccination: Clostridial diseases, for example pulpy kidney, are more common with changes in diet or stress.

Feed budgeting

Feed budgeting is the backbone of drought feeding. It allows you to estimate how long your current feed will last and what supplements are needed.

1.    Calculate livestock energy requirements (Mj ME/day).
2.    Measure or estimate available pasture and stored feed.
3.    Calculate feed gaps and determine cost-effective solutions.

Key feed quality measurements are:

1. Metabolisable Energy (Mj/kg)
2. Crude Protein (% DM)
3. Fiber (% NDF)

Note: Young stock that suffer a growth ‘check’ from a diet with insufficient energy/protein will not recover and will always be lighter than those who had access to sufficient feed. The earlier a growth check occurs, the lower the likelihood of recovery.

Tools & resources

There are several user-friendly tools available to help compare feed costs, estimate livestock energy needs, and support better decision-making during dry times:

• NSW DPI feed cost calculator 
• NSW DPI drought feed calculator   
• Agriculture Victoria feeding livestock (sheep)
• Agriculture Victoria feeding livestock (beef cattle)
• Ewe nutrition (NSW LLS) 

Stock containment areas (SCAs)

SCAs are purpose-built, fenced areas used to manage livestock during droughts or critical periods. There are recommended plans out there, however if you cannot outlay any capital to set one up, they can be easily set up  using a smaller paddock with a  a higher stocking density. 

Why use SCAs?
SCAs are used as a key management tool to preserve ground cover and reduce erosion in paddocks during dry periods. They are valuable assets to a drought management strategy, and are also an option to allow improved pasture growth and recovery following a break. 

Benefits:

•  Improve feed efficiency and reduce wastage.
• Protection of future productivity by resting pastures, allowing for quicker recovery following rainfall.
• Reduced soil erosion risk.
• Allows close monitoring of animal health and body condition.
• Limits spread of weeds from bought-in fodder. 

Drawbacks:

•  Upfront infrastructure costs (fencing, troughs, shade).
• Increased disease risk if not managed hygienically.
• Higher labour input for feed-out and cleaning.
• Need for close monitoring and access to clean water.

Plan SCAs carefully for location, drainage, space allowance, and feeding systems. You will find detailed information in: A guide to confinement feeding in sheep and cattle in NSW

1. Drought resilience practices in mixed farming systems
2. Saving soil during drought

Summary

Drought preparedness is not just about surviving the next dry period, it's about building long-term resilience. By planning early, using decision tools, setting clear trigger points, and prioritising animal health and land condition, livestock producers can reduce risk and emerge in a better position when the season finally breaks.

Need help? There are resources, tools, and support networks available to help you make the best decisions for your operation. Reach out if you have any questions and contact the relevant support networks listed below:

• Rural financial counselling service NSW
• NSW LLS - Drought Adoption Officers
• AgBiz Assist
• Animal health diagnostic services Agriculture Victoria