Climate

Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry are set to have the third-highest yearly gross value on record in 2023-24, with production value predicted to reach $86 billion. Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville said release of the ABARES Agricultural Commodities and Crop Reports shows the sector is remaining strong despite challenging conditions.

The latest Federal Intergenerational Report suggests crop yields could be up to 4 per cent lower by 2063. Reduced yields are expected due to increased frequency and severity of extreme weather, including droughts, as well as most crops producing less in higher temperatures.

HotHouse Theatre in Wodonga has debuted their most exciting touring production to-date — a scorching new play called Unprecedented — serving as an urgent alarm for the bushfire season to come.

Australia’s peak farm body has called on delegates at the ALP National Conference this week to vote down a radical anti-farming motion backed by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN). Farmers say the “Climate, Clearing and Cows” motion, which calls for methane emissions to be halved in the next 6.5 years, is misinformed and in conflict with mainstream scientific opinion.

Patrick Goldsmith. Yorke Peninsula Council’s first coastal protection structures and adaptation projects community information session was attended by about 30 people at Warooka ... Further sessions will be held in Coobowie, Pine Point, James Well and Port Clinton as council looks to deal with the looming threat of flooding to coastal towns.

Narrandera Shire Council Deputy Mayor Cameron Lander has reported on some of the many issues discussed at the 2023 Australian Local Government Association National Assembly that he felt were of particular interest to Narrandera Shire Council ... The 2023 NGA theme was "Our Communities, Our Future" and looked at ideas on new federal programs and policies that would support councils to build stronger communities in the future.

The state government has been accused of using a landmark Victorian climate report, which was written without any input from forestry researchers or the forest industry, to prematurely close the native forestry industry. These forestry groups resent the lack of consultation and have attacked the intellectual content of the report ... The report was written without any contribution from leading forestry experts – Forestry Australia, which represents forest scientists, forest managers and timber growers; Forest & Wood Products Australia, the sector’s chief research and marketing arm; the Victorian Forest Products Association; and leading forestry academics.

Charles Sturt University is leading an important advancement in the Australian agriculture sector with an initiative that will enable a global on-farm emission calculator (Cool Farm Tool) to be customised for a region-specific focus ... The Cool Farm Tool is already used in 150 countries to estimate GHG emissions, soil carbon sequestration, water stewardship and biodiversity by tens of thousands of users, including farmers, crop advisors and agribusiness leaders.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the National Statement on Climate Change and Agriculture, signed off by agriculture ministers at their meeting in Perth on 13 July 2023. Farmers have expressed concerns however over the proposed implementation of new poultry standards, and a lack of tangible progress on other issues placing pressure on the sector. 

Climate change is having an impact on Australian agriculture, with farmers having to contend with higher temperatures and lower winter rainfall ... The latest ABARES figures show climate adjusted productivity in Australia’s broadacre industries grew by 0.6 per cent per year on average between 1988–89 and 2021–22.

Here’s a great chance to tap into inspiring tips from Sunshine Coast design experts and learn how to make your home comfortable all year round. Sunshine Coast Council has developed a free educational design booklet, online course and smart phone compass to help you better understand our local sub-tropical climate and how the sun in winter and summer influences the liveability of our homes.

VFPA welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to reverse the highly contested rainfall regulation, known as ‘water rule’, under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) ... The announcement means the Australian Government will permanently remove this perverse rule from the Carbon Farming Initiative Regulation from 1 June 2024.  

Information that is relevant, accessible and trusted is critical to those farmers seeking to adapt their agricultural businesses to changes in climate according to a study which examined the results of surveys taken by the North East Catchment Management Authority (CMA) while working with approximately 1800 land managers in the region during the past four years ... A significant majority of the land managers surveyed (88%) believed the local climate and weather patterns in north east Victoria had changed.

A new publication launched by the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA) is tackling climate change head-on ... The strategy includes a plan to introduce cultural burning practices with a specific focus on restoring unhealthy sections of the landscape.

Assoc. Professor Matthew Harrison presents the results of a comprehensive study on the costs of transitioning farming systems across Australia to net zero emissions using a range of practical models. The study found that there are multiple pathways to net zero.

Blanket bans of native forest harvesting will not improve our carbon balance or recover biodiversity according to the professional association for forest scientists, growers and managers, Forestry Australia. President Dr Michelle Freeman said the consensus position of independent scientific experts, forest managers and researchers is that active management of forests is required to maintain forest health, mitigate fire risk, conserve biodiversity and maximise carbon outcomes.

Australian Winter crop production is forecast to fall from record highs due to below average rainfall for winter and spring. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the Australian Crop Report forecasts total Australian winter crop production to fall by 34% to 44.9 million tonnes in 2023–24 following three consecutive record production years.

The overall value of the agriculture sector is set to contract by 14% in 2023-24 due to drier than normal conditions after three La Nina years ... “Looking further ahead, it’s likely we will see either El Nino or a positive Indian Ocean Dipole in the coming months, which will reduce crop yields": Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville.

A fresh study on the environmental impacts of lab-grown meat has led an internationally recognised expert on the future of cell-based protein, Professor Paul Wood, AO, to confirm the economics of producing lab-grown meat at scale “just won’t work” and will be less sustainable than traditional red meat production systems. The new study from the University of California, Davis, argues the global warming potential of cell-based meat production could be up to 25 times greater than the average for retail beef.

On 14th of February 2023, 20 students aged 8 to 11 years old from Lord Howe Island became marine scientists for the day. In doing so, they joined UNESCO’s global environmental DNA research initiative that is being rolled out across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the impacts of climate change.