Abstract:
A workshop entitled "A Users Guide to Drought Feeding Alternatives" was held at the University of New England in July 1995. The main objective of the workshop was to produce a publication which graziers and others would find relevant and easy to use. In order to achieve this objective the papers were prepared for publication with significant input from producers. Following the presentation of papers at the workshop the authors were questioned by the audience in a process led by a panel of producers together with an economist, Christopher Short from ABARE. In addition, all participants were asked to complete a questionnaire which provided further feedback to the authors. The authors were asked to prepare their final papers in the light of the comments and suggestions received during the Workshop. The papers were then refereed by three producer members of the panel before being prepared for publication.
The input of the producer members as Assistant Editors in this process has been particularly valuable. Our sincere thanks go to Guy Fitzhardinge, David Pratchett and Gordon Williams for their contribution. The meticulous work of preparing the papers for publication has been undertaken by Ian Kerr and Ilona Schmidt. Their enthusiasm and
competence has contributed significantly to the successful completion of this publication.
The Workshop was made possible through financial support from the Meat Research Corporation, the International Wool Secretariat, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and the Land and Water Research and Development Corporation. We are most grateful for their generous support.
We hope that the papers included in this publication will be useful for people as they develop plans to minimise the adverse effects of drought. We believe that it is only through planning ahead and taking advantage of strategies such as those described in this publication that we can utilise the resources available to us in an effective way and cope with the inherent variability in our climate.