Farmers and climate

THE Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO have unveiled a new name for their digital information product ‘My Climate View’, along with updates to help more farmers make informed decisions now to build climate resilience for decades to come.

Previously known as the Climate Services for Agriculture online platform, My Climate View provides farmers with critical data to assess how climate trends, including changes to temperature and rainfall, may affect their business for specific commodities and date ranges in their location, to a five-square kilometre resolution.

Along with the new name, My Climate View has been updated with: climate information on new commodities – avocados, cherries and chickpeas; and big improvements to how users access and view their local and commodity-specific climate information details and on how climate information is calculated.

The Australian Government’s Climate Services for Agriculture program is a collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.

The BoM program director, climate services for agriculture, Elizabeth Johnston, said My Climate View was a product that had been designed by farmers for farmers.

“It is critical Australian farmers and communities have the locally relevant and commodity-specific information they need to prepare for the future,” she said.

“The product presents past and future climate information, all in one place.”

The program team, which includes agricultural scientists, climate scientists, social scientists, digital product developers, and communication and engagement specialists, continues to integrate feedback from farmers and their advisers across Australia into the My Climate View product.

CSIRO’s drought resilience mission lead, Dr Graham Bonnett, said more than 2000 people who work in agriculture had been engaged across Australia.

“My Climate View has been developed to help farmers understand the aspects of future climate that are most relevant to them and what they farm,” Dr Bonnett said.

The Climate Services for Agriculture program is part of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund’s investment into the development of better climate information for Australia’s agriculture sector.

My Climate View is available now and free to all users. Farmers and the agriculture sector are encouraged to explore their local climate information and share their feedback: CSAEnquiries@csiro.au.

Gippsland Farmer

The Gippsland Farmer is a monthly agricultural newspaper reporting on rural news and distributed FREE and direct to an area covering from Cann River through to South Gippsland. For more than 40 years Gippsland Farmer has reported on a range of issues and industries including dairy, beef, vegetables, sheep, goats, poultry, organic farming, and viticulture.