Faced with losing most of his groundwater irrigation allocation, John Hamparsum is relying even more on weather and climate information as he increasingly turns to dryland cropping on his property near Tamworth NSW.

Heat spikes in the month before grape harvest can destroy the flavour of the fruit. Margaret River winemaker Erl Happ set out to find the perfect location for his grapes and went on to win acclaim for his Three Hills Shiraz.

In the late 1990s, Chris and Sarah Roche found they could put a lot of confidence in the Southern Oscillation Index as an indicator of rainfall. These days on their mixed property in Gulargambone, New South Wales, their philosophy is to be ready to take every opportunity to capitalise on available moisture.