According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Farm performance and climate report, parts of south Western Australia and south eastern Australia have been heavily affected by declines in average winter rainfall.

Acting ABARES executive director, Peter Gooday, said the report used ABARES farm survey data and climate data between 1977-78 and 2014-15 to isolate the effect of climate on productivity. 

“Farmers are effectively adapting to changes in climate,” Gooday said.

The ABARES executive said to date the effects have been larger in the more marginal inland parts of the cropping zone.

“These areas tend to be more sensitive to rainfall decline,” he said.

“Our report shows that after controlling for climate, there has been strong productivity growth on cropping farms over the last decade. Further, this productivity growth appears to reflect farm adaptation to the changing climate conditions.”

“It is important to keep looking for ways to improve productivity to enable farmers to prepare for and more effectively offset the impacts of a changing climate.”

According to Neal Hughes from the ABARES Water and Climate Section, Australia’s cropping farm productivity ground to a halt in the mid-1990s.

“Productivity has rebounded strongly over the last 10 years, climate change is affecting cropping farm productivity, but farmers are adapting,” Hughes said.