Rebuilding from natural disasters - practical help for livestock producers

Starting this Tuesday, 24 March 2020, a series of webinars have been scheduled for livestock producers - offering practical tips to help rebuild on the back of the recent bushfires, drought, floods and storms.

Hosted by Meat and Livestock (MLA), Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and AWI Sheep Connect NSW, the sessions form part of a broader response package to support livestock producers during these challenging times. The hour-long webinars will be held weekly every Tuesday at 1:00 pm for the next 12 weeks and offer resources and support to help those impacted by recent events get "Back to Business".

Originally scheduled as face to face workshops throughout bushfire and drought impacted regions, a revised webinar format is now the best alternative for livestock producers to access to the same expert information and speakers given the current situation with COVID-19.

With information from experts to help build resilient livestock businesses, this webinar series of will provide tools and advice on decision making, rebuilding, and setting business priorities. Information on health and wellbeing and accessing financial and government assistance will also be shared throughout the series and will provide participants with a plan for a resilient, productive and profitable future.

Along with MLA and AWI, the Back to Business webinars are being supported by the AWI Sheep Connect NSW and Integrity Systems Company (a subsidiary of MLA).

RaynerAg’s Alastair Rayner will lead the first seminar, sharing information on cashflows, and options to consider regarding feedbase and livestock.

“As an advisor I’m always excited about sharing ideas and opportunities that can become a new focus for producers looking to move on from fires and droughts”, Mr Rayner said. 

“There are some really neat options that can work, but often they can be overlooked when we are so focussed on immediate operational and day to day tasks. It’s good to see the producers I work with taking some time to reassess and realise there are some exciting directions to pursue.”

“These webinars are really designed to give that opportunity to pause and think about what people really want, what excites them about their business, and then offer some tips on how to make the start towards that, he added.

Other topics in the series will inform producers on livestock nutrition, water access and quality, mental health support services, and accessing financial and government assistance as well as farm infrastructure, pasture recovery, and the redevelopment and rebuilding of your herd or flock.

The twelve webinars are open to all livestock producers, are free of charge and will be held each Tuesday at 1:00 pm.

• 24 March - Cashflow is king – things to consider now and options available – feedbase and livestock
• 31 March - Accessing support that's available – financial, personal and business
• 7 April - Planning for a resilient future – what’s possible? Personal and business direction
• 14 April - Farm infrastructure – sheds, water, fences and shelter
• 21 April - Livestock health, welfare and biosecurity during rebuild
• 28 April - Livestock nutrition and feeding options during rebuild
• 5 May - Grow more feed – pasture recovery, redevelopment, forage crops and purchasing fodder
• 12 May - Opportunities to drive livestock operations – enterprise options and genetics
• 19 May - Making use of short-term business resilience opportunities – cashflow, feed/sell/agist, market scenarios and season forecast
• 26 May - Building long-term business resilience – budgets, business structure, farm management and succession planning
• 2 June - Rebuilding your herd or flock – using management and genetics to achieve the best reproduction results
• 9 June - Maintaining the integrity of Australia's red meat and wool industries