Betting the Farm: Farmers confront climate change

Posted

Climate change is here, and Australian agriculture is acutely feeling the effects. Three farmers explain how it's impacting their lives and livelihoods.

Real-world observations of temperature spikes, pasture growth and grape harvests across southern Australia reveal that the landscape is heating up at rates experts did not expect to see until 2030.

In some instances the rates of warming are tracking at 2050 scenarios.

Scientists concerned that climate change is biting harder and faster than models anticipated are campaigning for more research investment to protect Australia's $58 billion agriculture industry from extreme weather.

Background Briefing has learned that their concerns about the capability of Australian research to address climate change will be validated in an independent review by the prestigious Australian Academy of Science.

The review, due for release in the next few weeks, has identified a substantial shortfall in the nation's climate research firepower.

It's understood that the review will recommend that the number of scientists working for CSIRO and its partners on climate science needs to increase by about 90. That is almost double the current number of full time positions.

Meanwhile, the reality is already confronting farmers on the front line, many of them battered by this last year of wild conditions.

Climate change makes farming more of a gamble than it ever was. It should be a complete concern to everyone who eats on this planet, because the whole world is going to be gambling on food production. George Mills, Tasmania

George Mills, crop and livestock farmer — Longford, Tasmania:

"I can understand people working on the land can say we have always had variations, but not the extreme we have now.

"We had this enormous rain event created by a low pressure system that I've never seen before in my time.

"That spread down from Queensland, right down the coast. For that to happen in June, early June, is unknown.

"The storm events are bigger than they were, the dries are getting worse than they were. It's all recorded — it's not myth, it's fact.

"People have come to realise there is something more than just a normal pattern of climatic events — there is something extreme occurring."

We are seeing grapes ripening faster and ripening within a much shorter timeframe than they once did. Brett McClen, Victoria

Brett McClen, viticulturist — Brown Brothers, King Valley, Victoria:

"Things on average get earlier each year.

"So, instead of taking 100 days, the vast majority of vintages are happening within 60 days.

"What that means is that there is only X amount of grapes per hour we can put through a crusher, only X amount of fermenter capacity that we've got, so we just can't ferment everything at the one time.

"We get this wall of fruit coming at us, so that becomes a real logistical challenge.

"There are a number of ways that climate impacts the winemaking process, not just in the vineyard — it has an enormous impact here in the winery.

"One of the most alarming ways climate change has presented itself from the perspective of Brown Brothers has been the frequency of bushfires and smoke in particular.

"Since 2003 we've had three years where we have lost fruit to smoke, because wildfire causes enough smoke that we get taint in the grapes and it can leave an undesirable taint in the wine."



Climate change is here, there is no doubt about it ... The hip pocket is when it makes you decide it is here or not, and it hurt our hip pockets, so we know. Mark McDougall, Tasmania

Mark McDougall, potato farmer — Tasmania:

"We're going to be still digging spuds at the end of September. We've never done that before, ever — it's a bugger. It's normally the end of May, middle of June, so we're miles behind.

"We pre-watered before we even planted the crop. Then as soon as we planted, we were watering straight away, then we went from that through until January.

"We got a rain event at the end of January which wiped out about 1,500 tonnes.

"Then at the end of April we got another rain event, and lost about another 1,500 tonnes.

"It costs about $1,000,000 of turnover.

"It's people we employ who don't get to work. It affects the community, it affects everyone.

"If that's not climate change, I don't know what is. I've been farming this area all of my life. I've only ever seen one dry period like that before, but never seen the rain events like that."

Hear Jo Chandler's full investigation into the impact of climate change on Australian agriculture on ABC RN's Background Briefing at 8:05am on Sunday, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, ABC Radio or your favourite podcasting app.

Topics: rural, agribusiness, climate-change, drought, floods, australia, longford-7301, milawa-3678