Drought Hub
Eastern Wheatbelt Node for the South-West Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
MADFIG hosts the Eastern Wheatbelt Node of WA’s only Drought Hub, part of a national network funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. The South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (SW WA Hub), led by the Grower Group Alliance, focuses on collaboration to drive innovation and improve drought resilience in agriculture.
By connecting research to real-world solutions, the Hub helps farmers adopt new practices, enhance resilience and explore commercial opportunities.
Want to learn more? Email us here.
The Vision: Thriving producers and communities adapting to our variable environment
The Mission: Be a connected and trusted partner building pathways to accelerate innovation and adoption
Latest News
My Climate View
As part of MADFIG’s role as a Drought Hub Node, we’ve been supporting the ongoing development and updates on the My Climate View .
The information is available for the past 60 years, along with projected changes into the future.
The latest new feature looks at Drought data modelling projections including intensity, how much time is spent in drought, and how higher temperatures can exacerbate drought impacts.
Please click here to view information for your location – and commodity or here for more information on how drought is defined in the My Climate View tool and the science behind it.
Building Resilient Farming Systems – Lunchtime Webinar series
Everyone is invited to join GGA’s upcoming Drought Hub lunchtime webinar series, Building Resilient Farming Systems, sharing the latest insights from six of the projects designed to strengthen drought and climate resilience across Western Australia.
Project leads will discuss the challenges they addressed, the solutions they tested, and the opportunities emerging from their findings. Topics range from smart spray technologies and renewable energy to natural capital and Aboriginal agricultural methods.
You are welcome to register for any individual session or attend the full series. All webinars will delivered via MS Teams from 12.00 to 12.45 pm:
Thursday 29 January – SMART SPRAYS: maximising the benefits from rainfall
Thursday 12 February – Diversifying farm income: integrating renewable energy into agriculture
Thursday 12 March – Barriers and opportunities for agricultural natural capital as an asset class
Thursday 26 March – Transformative Aboriginal agricultural methods: Maaman Marra Boodjar
WaterSmart Dams – The results are in!
Do you have dams? Thinking about putting a new one in?
Our 3.5 year WaterSmart Dams project has now ended with a case study booklet sharing real insights from WA grower groups and local demonstration site hosts. From dam renovations, new builds, contractor converstations, evaporation suppression and runoff technologies to improve water security – it’s all there.
See what worked, what didn’t and the lessons learned along the way.
WaterSmart Dams – Making Dams Work Again Case Studies Booklet
MADFIG was one of four Grower Groups participating in this program developing knowledge and a water planning tool for farmers and communities who need their dams to work – in all years, and be able to make water investment decisions with confidence.
The project involved farmer developed demonstration sites, a building a WEP tool for planning, workshops, field days and industry training. Solutions included renovating existing dams, building new correctly sized dams and implementing evaporation suppression and runoff technologies. For MADFIG this included demonstrating a newer style Roaded Catchment, Water Quality research and resource booklet and a strong alignment with the WaterSmart Farms program of works.
Watch this space because a follow-up project is about to get under way! Find out more.
Water quality – a key focus of our Drought Hub WaterSmart Dams project!
Ensuring reliable, clean water on-farm is essential for productivity and sustainability, which is why we’re excited to incorporate water quality testing into our WaterSmart Dams project.
We were generously gifted water testing equipment, allowing us to take a closer look at dam water quality. In February, we had the opportunity to learn how to use it at a hands-on workshop delivered by the GGA WA Drought Hub team and hosted by DPIRD WA. The session covered the use of pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity meters – essential tools for measuring water quality on farms.
By making testing equipment more accessible and building farmer confidence in its use, MADFIG, through the SW WA Drought Hub is helping landholders make better-informed decisions about their water resources.
Keep an ear out – the equipment will soon be available for local farmers and landholders to use!
New Future Drought Fund Investment Strategy Released
We are excited to announce that The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) unveiled the new Future Drought Fund (FDF) Investment Strategy during January!
The Australian government co-signed the National Drought Agreement (2024-2029) last year with State and Territory governments and released the Future Drought Fund Drought Resilience Funding Plan (2024 – 2028).
The strategy provides a roadmap to building drought-resilient farms, landscapes and communities and was developed with input from stakeholders, the independent FDF Consultative Committee and insights from the recent Productivity Commission Inquiry Report.
As one of the South-West of WA Drought Hub’s Regional Nodes, MADFIG contributed to this process.
Helpful Drought Hub Resources
Grower Group Alliance SW WA Hub Website
A home for all things Drought Hub across Western Australia – including news, events and projects.
Kondinin Group Drought Research Reports
The Drought Research Reports serve as a valuable long-term resource for farmers, covering a wide range of topics.
RIC Loans to Manage Drought
The Regional Investment Corporation is offering Farming Enterprises lower cost loans to manage drought. Funds can be sourced for preparing, managing through and recovering from drought.
DPIRD Grains Convo Newsletter
Subscribe to the new Grains Convo newsletter and stay up to date on research findings and cutting-edge developments from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) Grains Team.
GRDC publication: Maximising crop potential in a drying environment
The growers featured in the booklet have outlined what has and has not worked for them and have provided information on a range of tactics they have employed. This will help to provide confidence to other growers in making decisions to deal with a drying environment.
Australian Government Drought Plan 2025
Future Drought Fund Investment Strategy 2025
Soil Quality Knowledge Base - Sodic & Alkaline Soil
Soil Quality eBook - Sodic and Alkaline Soil
GRDC Dispersive Soil Manual
Drought Response WA
Future Drought Fund 2024–25 Annual Report
- 42 additional regional drought resilience plans finalised (57 total)
- Over 59,000 people engaged in leadership or locally led initiatives
- Establishment of a First Nations Advisory Group
- First targeted First Nations grant: Strengthening Drought Resilience on Country
- More than 67,000 farmers involved in training and skills development
- 36,600+ users accessing the My Climate View tool
- Release of a new Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework
Sheep Dry Season Management
Podcast: Salinity in the Wheatbelt - insights from four decades of research
More than one million hectares of broadacre farmland are estimated to be affected by dryland salinity in Western Australia, causing significant production losses.
In the latest episode of the WA Drought Hub Dry Season Resources podcast, Dr Richard George from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development reflects on four decades of work tackling dryland salinity across Western Australia. He unpacks the complexity of salinity in the Wheatbelt, tracing its historical roots and examining the pressures of land clearing, climate, and agricultural practices on salinity levels, and outlines practical management strategies that have emerged from years of research.
Podcast: How strategic planning helps famers stay ahead of uncertain season
The episode features Rod Birch from Coorow, and explores how he approaches planning and decision making through dry seasons and broader uncertainty.
The discussion covers the importance of focusing on core farm fundamentals, identifying key risks such as input supply and markets, and avoiding unnecessary noise when making decisions. It also explores how short, medium and long term planning helps structure decisions across variable conditions, and the role of trusted relationships and advice in supporting decision making.
Podcast: Use of virtual fencing to build farm resilience
MADFIG + Drought Hub Projects
Integrated Climate Data Driven Decisions for the Eastern Wheatbelt
As part of the extended Drought Hub program, MADFIG is running an additional project aimed at building farmer confidence in sharing data. We need our farmers (as data originators) to feel confident to share data. This project will demonstrate how to safely share rainfall and weather data so we can investigate micro-climates and forecasting in the future, helping reduce risk in decision-making. We’re trialling a MADFIG Dashboard that could be available on your laptop or phone 24/7.
WaterSmart Dams
The project involves demonstration sites, building farm-based water planning tools, workshops, field days and industry training.
FRRR Agribusiness Network and Mentoring
The purpose of this project is to build capacity of local people and communities to develop the skills and knowledge to face the unique challenges caused by drought in remote, rural and regional Australia through establishing an Agribusiness and Mentoring Program which will foster a collective knowledge base, strengthen local networks and provide opportunities to learn and share through events.
Farming in the Eastern Wheatbelt Podcast
The “Farming in the Eastern Wheatbelt” series let’s you listen and learn about projects in our region that benefit producers and communities.
Our first episode is with Meg Gethin (MADFIG’s Node Lead) and Tanya Kilminster (Knowledge Broker), discussing the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, their own experiences farming in the Eastern Wheatbelt, and examining why the Future Drought Fund Program is vitally important for our state and region’s future.
In our second episode, Dr Richard George from the WaterSmart Farming team speaks about the project and how reviewing past research can provide insights into a better future with new knowledge and technologies.
Dry Season Resources Podcast
MADFIG hosts the Drought Hub Node Lead for the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub dunded by the National Future Drought Fund. The Drought Hub is dedicated to sharing information that supports growers in preparing for, and responding to, dry seasons.
In this limited podcast series, hear from growers and industry experts on managing dry season responses, ranging from early planning to tactical decision-making as the season changes throughout the year and setting up for the following season.
South West Hub Newsletters
To receive project updates and details of upcoming Hub events, sign up to the Hub newsletter on the
Growers Group Alliance Drought Hub page here.