Experts will engage with East Coast primary producers to design a community-led learning program to build drought preparedness and community connection before a drought crisis hits.
By combining long-term climate modelling with improved local weather monitoring and monitoring of subsoil moisture, this project aims to reduce drought risk by giving growers an early warning for reduced pasture growth. Monitoring hardware combined with purpose-designed interfaces and training will allow farmers to proactively manage their risk.
The project will boost drought preparedness and resilience capabilities of horticultural farmers and rural communities engaged in wine grape, almond and citrus production value chains across South Australia, Southern NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania. The Tas hub will establish demonstration sites for wine grapes and lead qualitative data collection and synthesis.
Sensors placed in diverse estuary locations will provide real-time data via Oysters Tasmania's ShellPOINT data portal, allowing growers and ShellMAP staff to easily access temperature, salinity and tide information. Project outputs will increase agility for on-farm decisions and build capability for strategic management and planning.
This project provides growers with accurate weather and soil moisture data for better decision-making. Better data access, combined with long-term climate modelling, will improve growers’ lead times and decision making, enhancing productivity and responses to impending drought conditions.