Full Name: FDF Drought and climate resilient sheep farming systems
Funding Body: Future Drought Fund (FDF)
Duration: 2025 – 2030
Project Lead: Adelaide University
Background: UNFS is partnering with the University of Adelaide on a project investigating practical approaches to building drought and climate resilience in sheep farming systems across South Australia’s low-rainfall regions.
The project will explore how multi-species and multi-storey forage systems, along with existing shelterbelts and native vegetation, can provide more reliable and nutritious feed, create microclimates that reduce the impacts of heat and drought, improve sheep welfare and productivity, and enhance landscape health and biodiversity.
UNFS will host two validation sites as part of the project: one near Caltowie and a second further north near Wilmington. These sites will provide an opportunity to test and demonstrate forage-based systems in commercial farming environments and assess how they can be integrated into existing cropping and grazing enterprises.
Data will be collected on plant biomass, soil health, sheep behaviour, thermoregulation and productivity, supported by sensor and tracking technologies. The project will also involve farmer workshops and co-design activities to identify practical, locally relevant strategies that can improve the resilience and profitability of sheep and mixed farming systems in the Upper North and beyond.
Contact: Rachel Trengove, UNFS Program Manager