Climate management can improve farm profits

摘要

How farmers manage climate risk is important for their profitability and can even determine whether they remain in business. Farmers commonly say there is nothing they can do to manage problems such as drought, waterlogging or frost, but good managers are more diversified, have more robust farming systems and adjust their management according to the season, rather than doing the same thing each year. Seasonal forecasts provide new ways to manage climate risks, but there are many things which can bedone on farms, without using forecasts, to reduce crop loss from drought, wet seasons, frost and disease. Each climate risk should be considered in terms of the practices which can be put in place to manage it. The final package may be affected by responses to other risks and what tradeoffs or synergies will give the best overall system. Good farm programs will usually involve compromise and diversification. For example, growing more sorghum and less wheat is one way to manage climate risk in the western wheat areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales.