There is new and stronger evidence that the earth's climate has changed and that this change has accelerated in recent decades due to human activities. Climate change is predicted to alter both global and regional climates. In Victoria, this means a warmer drier future, with the increasing likelihood of more extreme events such as heatwaves, bushfires and storm surges.
The agricultural sector contributes 16% of Australia's total greenhouse gases (covering emissions of methane and nitrous oxide) and will be greatly impacted on by the projected climate changes. This poses real challenges to Victorian farming businesses and communities. Victorian farmers will therefore need to adapt the way in which they farm to ensure that their businesses are profitable, productive and emit minimal greenhouse gases.
DPI and the agriculture sector are proactively responding to the risks of climate change in a number of ways.
Examples include:
- Investigating ways to reduce the amount of methane cattle emit (from both ends). One area of research is looking at how adding different types of oils and tannins into their diet can inhibit the amount of gases produced.
- Improving soil health. Pasture type, pasture cover, nutrient management and grazing regimes all affect the amount of carbon that can be stored in the soil.
- Promoting the integration of trees into farming landscapes in windbreaks, wildlife corridors and farm forestry to lock up carbon.
- Modelling the impact of predicted climatic changes across different land uses to support farm decision making.
- Increasing farm water use efficiency to enable more productive farming with less water.
- Investigating the use of biofuels and bioenergy as alternative sources of energy.
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Investigating Climate Change
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