|
MATTHEW CAWOOD
10 Apr, 2010 04:00 AM
HUMAN-induced climate change or not, climate variability is a reality of Australian agriculture and one of the biggest risk factors for agricultural businesses.
The “Climate Champions” program, which kicked off last week, is designed to improve communication between farmers and the research community about the knowledge needed to deal with increased climatic variability.
Thirty farmers from around Australia have been selected as the program’s “champions”, and will act as the interface between the research and farming communities.
Chair of the Managing Climate Variability program, Ian McClelland, says the strategy reflects the fact that most farmers gain new knowledge and adopt new practices through interaction with their peers.
“The knowledge and lessons learnt from experimenting with various climate adaptation practices is trusted much more when it comes from another farmer,” Mr McClelland said.
“We expect that Climate Champions will help raise awareness and discussion within farming communities about new innovations for managing variable climatic conditions such as frost, extreme heat and low rainfall.”
The program is supported by the Managing Climate Variability program, the Grains Research & Development Corporation, and Meat and Livestock Australia.
Yass Valley superfine woolgrower John Ive, who has developed his own soil moisture predictive tools for his farm, is one of the program’s champions.
Mr Ive and wife Robyn have won a shelf-full of awards for land management.
Managing climate risk means protecting the health of the natural resource base on which future profitability depends, Mr Ive said, while at the same time ensuring ongoing economic survival.
Return to June 2010 Newsletter
|
