Developing agribusinesses more resilient to climate change
BCG is working with CSIRO and others to research practical management solutions to respond and adapt to climate change.
Australia’s primary industries currently operate in a highly variable climate. This poses significant challenges to production that require sound and responsive management practices.
Climate change has, and will, introduce even greater challenges with shifting patterns and intensity of droughts, increased temperatures and extreme weather events.
Working with farmers and scientists to find solutions
A new three-year project, under CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, is working with farmers and scientists to develop strategies for a range of mixed cropping and grazing systems Australia-wide to adapt to projected climate change and other business pressures. The project is undertaken by a multidisciplinary team from CSIRO, State Governments and private research agencies. The Victorian component is led by BCG.
By combining information from real mixed cropping systems with expected climate change impacts, farmers identify on-farm management options that they believe may offset negative impacts.
These options are then tested using a series of cropping and grazing models to determine the production and natural resource management implications of introducing these adaptations.
As the work incorporates farmer knowledge it provides the best chance for impact from adaptation science and uptake on the ground.
Implementing the adaptation options identified through this collaborative approach could result in significant reduction in production losses from projected climate change.
Research activities
This project has established a coordinated network of research activities with farmer and science groups across Australia.
Using a participatory research approach the goal is to adapt cropping and mixed cropping/grazing system businesses for a future with a more variable climate.
Establishing case studies in New South Wales (NSW), Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria, the project aims to:
- identify vulnerability to climate change across Australia as measured by exposure to production risk and available adaptive capacity
- improve formal evaluation of climate change impacts and effective adaptation options across a number of locations
- design and test appropriate regional adaptation practices and business designs that will provide resilience to projected climate change
- evaluate the likely costs and benefits of adaptation options as well as investigate existing barriers to adoption.
In Victoria
BCG is examining the potential impacts of climate change and potential adaptation options on a range of typical farm businesses in terms of profitability, economic risk and environmental outcomes. This will be undertaken in three regions in Victoria covered by BCG, Mallee Sustainable Farming and Southern Farming Systems. A greenhouse gas emission audit will be carried out across representative enterprises, and benchmarked against an earlier 2004 audit. Agribusiness will also be involved in identifying value chain responses to the emerging issues.
As part of the Victorian component a study has investigated the long term trends in rainfall and temperature in the Mallee and Wimmera regions, and discusses the impact of these variables on the viability of three different farming businesses.
This report (Farming during a period of extreme climate variability - consequences and lessons) examines the impact the drier, warmer seasons have had generally on farms across the region and more specifically studies their affect in depth on three case study farms. On the case study farms, changes in production as well as the financial impact of the drier, warmer conditions are investigated to give an insight into how typical farms in the region are coping.
Partners
The resilient farmers project is a partnership between:
- CSIRO - Lead organisation
- Birchip Cropping Group, Victoria
- Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries
- South Australian Research and Development Institute.
The project is partially funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) under the four-year Climate Change Research Program.
The Climate Change Research Program aims to deliver research activities initially focusing on reducing greenhouse pollution, better soil management and climate change adaptation.
Past work
This new project builds on work done over the last three years to bring together both farmer’s expert knowledge and CSIRO agriculture and modelling expertise:
- in three major grains regions: southeast Queensland (Jandowae), northern Victoria (Birchip) and northern grain region of Western Australia (Mingenew)
- with New South Wales mixed cropping farmers in Namoi, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, and Murray catchments.
It builds on the principles of understanding and measuring the adaptive capacity of rural communities. This principle will be taken forward to provide a more informed assessment of vulnerability. Find out more about CSIRO's Climate Adaptation Flagship.
References
Crimp S, Gartmann A, DeVoil P, Gaydon D, Howden M, Odgers J. 2008. Adapting Australian farming systems to climate change: a participatory approach. Final Report for The Department of Climate Change.