In response to the prolonged drought and subsequent feed shortages being felt by livestock farmers across the Southwest, the Western Beef Association Inc. delivered a series of Recovery Chats throughout May. Recovery Chat meetings were held in Albany, Waroona and Kirup, with each event bringing farmers together with a range of experts including veterinarians, agronomists, financial advisors, and mental health support groups.

Jeisane Accioly, Executive Officer and Coordinator/Secretary of the Western Beef Association Inc., planned and delivered the Recovery Chats as she saw the need to provide additional support for livestock farmers who were experiencing the effects of climate change firsthand. At the Waroona event, cattle veterinarian Ian Bradshaw presented on cattle fertility and body condition score (BCS), explaining that normal fertility requires a BCS greater than 3. He went on to say that a drop in BCS of as little as 0.5 is associated with reduced fertility and advised that farmers may need to adjust their breeding programs this season. Ian also warned that there may be an increased risk of Grass Tetany (hypomagnesaemia) this year due to reduced feed and/or fibre.  He advised farmers to be prepared by having extra hay and 4 in 1 Flopaks on hand. The presentation by Ian Bradshaw is available here: Western Beef Recovery Chat Veterinarian (youtube.com)

Agronomist Graham Mussell followed on from Ian, providing participants with practical advice for boosting pasture production. He suggested adding rapid-growing species to pasture seed, for example, adding 50kg of oat seed to ryegrass can bump pasture production by 500kg/ha! Graham emphasised the importance of good grazing management, suggesting farmers defer grazing where possible and to leave a minimum 5 cm residual in grazing paddocks. Applying nitrogen fertilizer after rain at a rate of 20 – 25kg/ha with Gibberellic Acid was also suggested as a means of boosting pasture production.

Next to present was Michael Harries from Rural West, an organisation dedicated to providing free, confidential, mobile, independent financial counselling to regional small businesses and all primary production enterprises in WA, who are navigating their way through difficult times. Michael stressed the importance of getting in touch BEFORE it’s too late, his key message being don’t let pride get in the way of reaching out.

Finally, we heard from Terry Melrose of the Regional Men’s Health Initiative who acknowledged that in a seasonal context, farmers across the state had been thrown a curve ball! He asked growers not to panic or over-react, to consider all options and consider this season as a challenge more than a problem. He also encouraged people to reach out for support, as there are several rural mental health and financial counselling organisations with the means to help.

After the presentations, participants were able to mingle and chat while enjoying some delicious wood-fired pizza. Recovery Chats have been a huge success thanks to the hard work and foresight of Jeisane Accioloy – well done Jeisane! And thank you to all the farmers who attended and got involved in the discussions.

Following the presentations, Recovery Chat participants were able to mingle while enjoying some delicious wood-fired pizza

Recovery Chats is supported by Soil Wise which is funded by the National Landcare Program Smart Farms Small Grants – an Australian Government Initiative.

PHCC supported the event through the Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator position, which is funded and supported by the Australian Government as part of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program (CSAP) under the Natural Heritage Trust.

We acknowledge the Noongar people as Traditional Custodians of this land and pay our respects to all Elders past and present