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Six Chilean farmers, advisors and agency staff visited BCG in December supported by the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture Agricultural Emergencies and Climate Risk Management Program. The week long tour enabled the group to visit an array of agricultural businesses from a strawberry farm in the Yarra Valley to the Charlton Feedlot. The purpose of the trip was to learn from Australian producers what practices they are implementing to mitigate and adapt to climate change and manage climate risk. |
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Industries visited included horticulture, dairy, beef, dry-land and irrigated cropping. A number of farmer groups were visited including the Yarra Valley Women in Horticulture Group, Mallee Sustainable Farming, and Victorian Irrigated Cropping Council. The group also met with DPI staff at Swan Hill and Horsham and private consultants in Bendigo. A highlight for the Chileans was the overnight stays in local farmers’ homes learning in more detail about specific livestock and broadacre cropping enterprises.
The relationship between BCG and the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture has developed since December 2008 when the first group of Chileans visited. Building on this association, BCG CEO Alexandra Gartmann and Extension Manager Fiona Best together with board members John Ferrier and Rodney Mitchell travelled to the South American country in October 2009. The purpose was to workshop with farmers, consultants and government, the issues and opportunities for greater farmer driven research, development and extension with an emphasis on climate risk management.
Ms Gartmann commented: “Chile is facing the same relative changes in projected rainfall and temperature as Australia, but still have a whole of government objective to be in the top ten food producers and exporters in the world (they are currently 17th). It was a great opportunity to see what farmers and industry in another country are doing to prepare for and manage climate risk. I was reminded that Australia is well advanced in thinking about and dealing with climate variability and climate change. The challenge now is to build relationships, knowledge and unity to achieve a positive outcome for farmers and rural communities.”
