Make hay while the sun shines, or in this case, silage in the years when the rain falls. Being prepared may be the best tactic a livestock business has for the years when the rainfall is irregular.

In this episode, Dr Jeisane Accioly-McIllree, Executive Officer of the Western Beef Association, and David Humphreys, Ferguson Valley beef producer and Vice Chair of Western Beef, reflect on a season that started strong but delivered little follow-up rain.

The conversation focuses on good management ahead of a long, dry summer. Jeisane and David discuss feed budgeting against stock numbers, testing hay and silage, buying feed on value rather than cost, storing it well and carrying some over into the next season. They also cover grazing management, regular condition scoring and offloading less productive stock early.

Practical resources are highlighted throughout, including Western Beef's borrowable hay and silage coring tools, the Rumen8 feed planning software, grazing management training, the Leading the Herd forums and the Western Beef alumni network.

The episode reinforces that dry periods are a regular feature of the south-west. Preparing in the good years determines how well a business gets through the lean ones.

This episode is brought to you by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and is hosted by Dr Mary-Anne Glanzlowe.

• Better Making and Use of Hay and Silage – Mitigating drought and season variability effects for WA livestock industry - SW WA Hub
• Livestock nutrition in dry seasons with hay, silage and containment feeding - SW WA Hub
• Silage, is it all it’s wrapped up to be? - SW WA Hub
• Rumen8 tutorial videos - Western Beef
• Rumen8 Easy Beef and Dairy Cattle Diets
• How to measure forage dry matter using a microwave - South West NRM
• How to sample forage - South West NRM
• Hay and silage test corer locations and laboratory information - Western Beef
• Hub news - Drought Hub