Climate change challenging AU farmers
Shifting climatic patterns are highly likely to affect Australian households as food prices and food availability become more volatile, along with the economies and social fabric of rural communities, which depend on agricultural prosperity.
Some analyses suggest that Australia’s ability to contribute to global food production will be reduced.
Small rises in average temperature can have subtle but costly effects, such as the sugar content of horticultural crops. Also, the natural ranges of pests and diseases are changing and will continue to change.
Australian agriculture can adapt as it has been doing so far. Over the past 15 years, in response to reduced rainfall and water logging, Victorian farmers have greatly expanded their cropping operations. However this will not be enough.
"Transformational adaptation" might be necessary, like the wine industry’s progressive migration to Tasmania as warming reduces grape quality in traditional wine-growing regions like South Australia. But those changes are expensive and risky, and the financial hardship being experienced by many farmers limits their capacity to invest in adaptation.
The only assuredly safe option, in the view of the Climate Council, is for a global switch to a "low carbon" world economy within the next decade, thus curtailing the emissions that are driving climate change. "Achieving carbon neutrality in the land-based sector, including agriculture, will play a vital role in the transition we must embrace."