Getting through a run of poor seasons requires patience, resilience, and a significant amount of planning.
Having a sound plan in place with well-defined trigger points will help, but it is important all members of the business are aware of the plan so they can work towards achieving the business’ targets and make assessments so it is clear when a trigger point is reached.
Some of the strategies to be considered during poor seasons are:
- whether to feed or sell
- the cost of feeding (including feed and labour costs)
- feeding options (e.g. containment, self feeders, dumps in the paddock)
- which sheep to sell
- when to sell
- water volume and security.
By setting key dates and trigger points, where current conditions, seasonal outlook and other factors (including commodity marketing options and price forecasts, risk, resources available to the business, etc.) can be assessed, pastoral managers can strategically work through the issues in a way that allows them to be in control.
Revisiting and adjusting trigger points is an important part of the process — keep reviewing plans and updating them, but don’t put off the inevitable. Early decisions are often the ones made with the least amount of emotion as they are not forced decisions.