Forecasting weather and climate is a tricky business. The four main climate drivers — the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) — interact in complex ways. Their influence drives local climate and weather outcomes in different ways across Australia. Because of the […]
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When you’re dealing with an invasive pest, finding a rain-free window of opportunity for control can be difficult enough, but what if you needed a two-week window with enough lead time to organise a spray program for over 13,000 different properties in the western suburbs of Perth?  This was the challenge facing the Department of […]
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After months of uncertainty, La Niña conditions have fully developed and settled across the Pacific Ocean. So, what exactly is La Niña, and what does it mean for farmers across Australia? Technically, La Niña is the positive phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It is associated with cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the […]
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Victorian grain grower Tim Rethus describes his family as ‘moisture farmers’. “Moisture is critical for us,” he says, “Rain dictates yield, so managing seasonal variability depends on being able to conserve every bit of moisture we get.” While many of the tools and practices they’ve adopted are commonplace, it is their one hundred percent commitment […]
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Matching the nutritional needs of your livestock to the annual pasture cycle is important, particularly in northern Australia where periods of feed deficiency can persist for extended periods. Many cattle producers use the ‘green date’ to identify the start of the growing season and help time their cattle’s production cycles to match peak feed availability. […]
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