The Drought Survival Stories e-book is a Leading Sheep Central West regional committee project which aims to gather more drought stories to record the learnings of producers in terms of their approach to drought, their drought experience, feeds and feeding methods, and other solutions.

Leading Sheep Central West coordinator Jenny Keogh said five stories were included in round one of the e-book, which is being circulated within the group’s network to seek more contributions.

“These stories are from producers still in drought and others who are coming out of it – which is valuable because we tend to quickly forget the intensity of what happened afterwards, especially the mental pressure. These personal testimonies show that one option does not fit all and that each drought is different and we need to evolve our planning and approaches,” Ms Keogh said.

“Other stories we plan to gather will include producers’ ideas about the local indicators of drought, turning points for making certain decisions, use of climate tools, planning to avoid land degradation, what happens after the drought, and so on.”

“Reading other people’s stories and strategies can provide support and encouragement to producers in times of drought. The inclusion of photos, personality and humour is a bonus.”

Leading Sheep is an Australian Wool Innovation project in partnership with the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and supported by AgForce, which targets the adoption of new technologies and practices to increase the productivity and profitability of the Queensland industry.

Ms Keogh is encouraging producers to contribute to the Drought Survival Stories e-book.

“We are asking contributors to think about what they might do differently, things that helped or hindered in their emotional survival, what might have helped provide better support in getting through these types of conditions, and suggestions that may help future generations,” she said.

Although some parts of Queensland have received relief rain, much of Queensland’s sheep country remains in drought and has been in drought for the past five years or more.

Technology makes it easy to reproduce the stories in electronic form, with the e-book being updated and expanded as more stories come forward. Stories can be emailed to Jenny Keogh on amaroo6@bigpond.com.

Contacts: Leading Sheep Central West regional coordinator Jenny Keogh, 07 4657 5983, or DPI&F extension officer Nicole Sallur 4654 4220.