There has been very little rainfall since early winter across the region and many farm managers are looking for options for feeding and marketing their livestock.

“A dry winter has seen winter pastures not providing the feed for this time of year and older pastures from last season have been depleted and are now of no value to provide sufficient  nutrition for livestock,” said Sustainable Agriculture advisory officer Albert Mullen.

“Unseasonably warm weather and windy conditions in recent weeks has impacted water supplies and heavier reliance from stock is impacting both quantity and quality of these resources.”

Hunter LLS staff are urging landholders to prepare their properties now and consider their options for managing livestock, heading towards summer.

“Crunch time is now looming for landholders to make staged decisions on dry season management for stock if not already in train,” said Mr Mullen.

“Hunter Local Land Services is holding a round of regional events to provide advice to landholders.

“These workshops will include advice on feeding, herd strategies, animal health and welfare as well as the long term forecast for beef markets.” Mr Mullen said.

The workshops will feature cattle industry experts, district vets, agronomy and pasture representatives as well as rural financial counsellors. 

The information sessions will be held at:

·         Scone, October 13

·         Dungog, October 18

·         Gloucester, October 19

Landholders are asked to RSVP, for catering purposes, and are urged to contact their nearest Hunter LLS office for more information.  

The events are funded through the Federal Government’s National Landcare Program.