It's that time of year again in Namibia, when everyone starts obsessing about the weather. Will this rainy season finally break the multi-year drought? Will most of the rains fall early or late? If you're in the city, the question is fairly simple - will the dams fill up and ease water restrictions? But if you're a farmer, you have a lot more questions - answering them correctly can make a huge difference to your livelihood and the land you farm. The key issue is that Namibia's climate is not just dry, but its rains are highly variable and unpredictable. The rains may fail almost entirely one year, only to cause severe flooding the next. Any given farm can get much more (or much less) rainfall during the year than its direct neighbours. Long-term seasonal forecasts for Namibia, particularly at the scale of individual farms, are therefore poor guides for land managers who want to know when and where rain will fall. Farming in Namibia can feel like playing roulette: you guess the odds of success, place your bets and hope that the spin of the wheel is favourable this year. Farmers have their own experience to draw from and an intimate knowledge of their land, yet decisions on how many animals (including game species) to keep on the land each year are far from straightforward. Different species of livestock and game animals use the veld differently (e.g. eating grass, leaves, or both) and different parts of the farm may have received more or less rainfall. Once the rainy season draws to a close in April or May, farmers need to place their bets by selling and/or culling, or investing in more animals.