About 50 percent of western Queensland producers already use some form of seasonal forecasting information as a basis for making decisions according to workshop presenter David Cobon, Principal Scientist with the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

Mr Cobon said the way in which tele-workshop participant, producer Duncan Banks from “Dunwold” at Dirranbandi, is using climate tools to guide his stocking rates is an excellent example of how these tools can be employed to make informed management decisions.

Mr Banks outlined how he divides his sheep into a core flock of ewes and a trading flock that enables him to consume more or less pasture depending on availability.

If summer rainfall is dramatically below average, Mr Banks waits until the May/June SOI (Southern Oscillation Index) and El Nino figures are released and if they are predicted to remain negative he then opts not to join the ewes and dramatically destock.

"The SOI and other climate indicators (eg central Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures) in May/June are reasonable predictors of rainfall for the forthcoming 6-9 months and adopting a responsive “trading strategy” enables producers to make the best possible decisions," Mr Cobon said.

He said that in south-east Queensland there has been an overall downward trend in winter and summer rainfall during the past 30-50 years, although it is still uncertain if this is due to natural variability or climate change. However temperature trends are upwards and there has been a huge increase in CO2 levels in the past 100 years which has a definite climatic influence.

Producers involved in the free Leading Sheep tele-workshops were able to dial up to participate in the lunchtime sessions which were supported by emailed, CD or hardcopy powerpoint maps and diagrams developed by the presenter and supplied by the project.

Leading Sheep southern inland regional coordinator Emily Martin said the workshops aimed to provide producers with affordable, specialist comment and an opportunity to build knowledge and skills.

Leading Sheep is an Australian Wool Innovation Limited initiative 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 sheep and wool industry.

David Cobon is also involved with the Land Water & Wool climate project, an initiative of Australian Wool Innovation and Land & Water Australia.

Leading Sheep southern inland contacts are Emily Martin on (07) 4625 5444 or emilymartin@bigpond.com or Tony Hamilton on (07) 4654 4233 or Anthony.Hamilton@dpi.qld.gov.au.