Advice on farm water and management decisions

30 October 2025

Rachael Campbell, Agriculture Victoria

With the long dry period, many farm dams are yet to fill. Support is available to assist with stock water planning and other farm management decisions.

All farmers in Victoria can register for a free one-to-one consultation with a farm management specialist.

This advisory service offers a session of up to 3 hours (face-to-face or online) and a follow-up call, to talk through and help develop a plan for managing drought conditions.

The advice is tailored to your situation, with a consultant that you nominate from Agriculture Victoria’s panel. Advice can include stock feed planning, water planning and a range of other on-farm decisions.

There are also online tools to assist in farm water management.

Knowing your farm water requirements allows you to plan and make informed changes as required.

Agriculture Victoria has information and tools available to help assess stock water supply and calculate how long water will last.

Reducing water losses across the farm can achieve significant water savings. For example, in the short term, repair any reticulation leaks and in the longer term, reduce evaporation from farm dams by planting windbreaks and minimising seepage.

Dairy farmers can also explore how to reduce water use in the dairy whilst maintaining milk quality by measuring water use in everyday activities such as vat and machine washing, pit activities and yard cleaning.

Improvements can then be identified that could achieve significant water savings by adopting different technologies or work practices.

Read about measuring water use in the dairy.

For more information about drought support see www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/drought or call 136 186.

Media contact: Sarah Hetherington

Phone: 0409 405 639