GROWERS keen to reduce the chilly issues that plagued 2014 would do well to start planning now, according to Agrilink principal Mick Faulkner, Penwortham.
Last year, extensive areas of SA were hit by frosts - some in August and more in September and October.
"The key lesson learnt from last year with frosts is not to forget them, so they become part of risk management planning," Mr Faulkner said.
He said there was a correlation in years with drought, or dry springs, and El Nino and frost incidents.
"We saw it in 2002 and 2004, when we also went through severe repeated frosts in August," he said.
Mr Faulker said it could be difficult to predict frosts.
"We can see a relationship with dry springs but that's about as predictable as it can be," he said.
"The incidence is generally quite random and predicting those events in September, October and November is near impossible."
At the start of April, the Bureau of Meterology released its predictions for this season, with indications it could follow the pattern of 2014 in many respects.
This includes an above-median rainfall and temperature until June, with the prospect of El Nino-like conditions returning from August onwards.
Mr Faulkner said there were some options to mitigate risks, one of which was to avoid sowing when frost was most likely, but added that this would be difficult to achieve.
"Trying to avoid frost is particularly difficult, especially trying to plan at this time of year," he said.
He also warned that sowing late could leave crops vulnerable to heat and dry stress, which invariably had an impact on yields.
With avoidance tricky to achieve, another option was to try to minimise impact.
"It's changing the mindset to accept a little bit of frost damage regularly rather than rolling the odds of trying to avoid damage, which in fact may result in extensive losses," Mr Faulkner said.
He advised farmers to create a frost plan for areas likely to be affected.
"One of the outputs of last year was that farmers should have an idea where frosts occured and where the damage was the worst," he said.
"This information forms the basis for producing frost incidence and risk maps.
"They may already know it but might not have it recorded.
"They might still be putting as much inputs into those areas even though they know it is likely to be affected."
Mr Faulkner said vulnerable areas were often low-lying, because cold air descended, and when that area was identified, it was possible to consider options.
"Maybe they can plan to cut hay if it is needed or even avoid putting a crop in there at all," he said.
"If farmers have livestock that can be an easier decision to make, but it is harder if continuous cropping is the chosen system."
But the key was to be aware of potential risks and consequences.
"Some farms are high frost risk and some are low," Mr Faulkner said.
"The position in the land influences that, as does the financial situation.
"A farmer with 100 per cent equity can take a lot more risk with frost than someone with, say, 70pc equity."
Mr Faulkner said multi-peril insurance could be an option for those left in a vulnerable position when frost hit.
He said another way to spread risk was to look at different species and varieties with different tolerance or maturity to take advantage of early sowing.
Understanding the drivers of maturity enabled the choice of variety.
Mr Faulkner said varieties became reproductive based either on temperature, day length or vernalisation or a combination of all three, and this knowledge was key when planning sowing time.