Fact Sheet

Water resources in a changing climate: southern South Australia

Water availability is a key issue in Australia. A changing climate will place greater demand on water resources. We need to factor the risks associated with climate change into the ways we use water. Key facts Around 89% of Australia’s total rainfall evaporates or is transpired by plants into the atmosphere. Only around 9% runs off into streams, rivers and storages. The remaining 2% drains below the root zone into groundwater aquifers and, from there, (more)...

The implications of climate change for insurable climate risks

Australia’s agricultural sector is likely to become more exposed to the risks of climate change. Insurance can help producers face the challenge of adapting to those risks. Key facts Some weather extremes pose risks to agricultural production. One management option is to take out insurance cover against certain weather events such as fire, frost and flood. Overall losses from weather catastrophes have increased since 1980. Insurance has covered only 24 (more)...

Farm viability in a changing climate

One difficult and complex question that concerns many farmers is: will my farm be viable as the climate changes? Climate change will cause confusion and stress for farmers and advisors. By understanding that the future involves many changes to the farm business, and that every farm is different, the outlook may become clearer. For example, if grain prices are high because of food shortages, farms can be viable despite lower grain yields and higher costs. Here we look at a case (more)...

Making farm decisions in a changing climate

Climate change presents all farmers with a new challenge that will fundamentally affect all farm decisions. CSIRO describes the implications for natural resource management as follows: “Compared to most threatening processes that we deal with, climate change is more complex, uncertain, dynamic and poorly (more)...

Grain marketing considerations under climate change scenarios

Climate change may have major impacts on grain marketing in Australia, especially for producers.

Producers need to consider the viability of production, the flexibility of their planting window, and the costs of holding harvested crops on farm.

Domestic and international grain buyers will need responsive and flexible supply chains.

Farm-level adaptation options: North East Agricultural Region, Western Australia

As Australia’s producers continue to be challenged by increased climate variability and climate change, seeking out region-specific adaptation options is important to ensure regional productivity. Understanding which adaptation options to pursue in response to climate change remains a challenge, due to uncertainty about the full extent of future climate change, the response of different crops, and future commodity prices and input costs. Combining expert farmer knowledge with both crop (more)...

Farm-level adaptation options: Wimmera-Mallee

As Australia’s producers continue to be challenged by increased climate variability and climate change, seeking out region-specific adaptation options is important to ensure regional productivity. Understanding which adaptation options to pursue in response to climate change remains a challenge, due to uncertainty about the full extent of future climate change, the response of different crops, and future commodity prices and input costs. Combining expert farmer knowledge with both crop (more)...

Managing risk in a changing climate: making tactical decisions in the Wimmera-Mallee

Farming under increased climate variability and climate change continues to challenge Australia’s farmers. While tactical decisions are often presented in a framework of best management practice, this framework often only looks at the current situation. The tactical decisions that farmers face are influenced by both the immediacy of the current situation, the lessons learnt from previous decisions, and factors such as family, debt, health and issues outside the best management (more)...

Farm-level adaptation options: south-eastern South Australia

As Australia’s producers continue to be challenged by increased climate variability and climate change, seeking out region-specific adaptation options is important to ensure regional productivity. Understanding which adaptation options to pursue in response to climate change remains a challenge, due to uncertainty regarding the full extent of future climate change, the response of different crops, and future commodity prices and input costs. Combining expert farmer knowledge with both (more)...

Climate change impacts on pest animals and weeds

Predicted changes in climate will affect the spread and competitiveness of pest animals and weeds in Australia. For example, in southern Australia, we can expect to see: more very hot days (in excess of 35°C) less incidence of frost less winter rainfall across all southern regions; spring rainfall is expected to be lower in south-eastern Australia, and autumn rainfall is more likely to be lower in the south-west of (more)...