During February Agriculture Victoria ran a series of workshops under the Plan2Farm banner. Participants were provided with key information for making tactical decisions around dry seasonal conditions and the upcoming autumn, winter and spring growing period.
The cross-industry workshops provided the latest information on seasonal and commodity outlooks, and discussed different irrigation, cropping and forage options.
The presentations covered cropping gross margins; valuing water for autumn irrigations and water trading; and the outlook for climate, water, fodder and grain over the approaching six to nine months.
Whether you are cropping or managing a dairy, beef or sheep enterprise; the high prices for water, grain and fodder make upcoming decisions about irrigation and cropping options very important.
Farmers also received information to help them with more specific decisions about buying or selling irrigation water, how many irrigations to apply to annual pasture and crops in autumn, and whether to sow as a dryland crop.
The speakers were:
Colin Peace from Jumbuck Consulting;
Irrigated Cropping Council agronomist Damian Jones;
David Barthold from Ruralco;
Andrew Shields from Goulburn Murray Water Manager River Operations Planning;
Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomists Dale Grey and Dale Boyd;
and Agriculture Victoria Senior Irrigation Extension Officer Rob O’Connor.
All the presentations and resources can be accessed via the links below.
GMW Water Resources Update Feb 2019 – Andrew Shields
Grain and Hay markets – Colin Peace
Climate Outlook Feb 2019 – Dale Grey
Soil Moisture Feb 2019 – Dale Boyd
Water Market outlook – David Barthold
Whats water worth? – Rob O’Connor
Cropping options and gross margins – Damian Jones
Cropping gross margin tool – Damian Jones
