Community
7 March, 2025
Farmers urged to prepare for climate change
SOUTH west Victorian farmers are being urged to act now to prepare for climate change or face an uncertain future.
A field day and workshop at the Wangoom Hall on March 25 (as part of the Building Climate Resilient Farms project) will give farmers tips about land management changes that they could make to improve their viability in a changing climate.
The event is being hosted by the Warrnambool Coastal Landcare Network.
Senior landcare facilitator Geoff Rollinson believes the current dry spell engulfing the region should serve as a warning about what the future might bring.
“There is a critical need now to be preparing through changing farm practices to cope with the effects of increasing temperatures and declining rainfall levels in the south west,” Mr Rollinson said.
“Revegetating farmland including waterways is a vital step in dealing with rapid climate change and helps protect valuable farming land.”
Mr Rollinson said farmers couldn’t ignore the warning signs.
“The meter is getting closer to the emergency level and if farmers don’t do something to prepare, they might be forced to act by government legislation, as has happened in other countries.”
Victoria’s temperature has risen about 1.2 degrees since standardised records started in 1910 and Mr Rollinson said rainfall had declined by five per cent over the past 50 years.
The Building Climate Resilient Farms field day and workshop will include information about shelter belts and multispecies pastures.
“Planting multispecies pastures not only increases soil moisture at depth, they provide year-round groundcover and can treble pasture volumes,” Mr Rollinson said.
“Putting in shelterbelts is smart farming. They provide critical shade and shelter for stock and free pest control with beneficial birds and insects.”
At the field day, Healthy Farming Systems’ Jade Killoran will appear virtually and cover strategies to establish multispecies pastures, using annual and perennial species in pasture mixes and the many benefits of multispecies including reducing feed gaps.
Chris Solum from Glenelg Hopkins CMA will discuss some of the challenges of managing waterway health in the region, including climate change, water quality and in-stream works.
There will be a revegetation discussion followed by lunch and a farm walk to view shelterbelts on Jane O’Beirne and Michael Rea’s property near Hopkins Falls.
To attend visit https://events.humanitix.com/building-farm-resilience-field-day by Thursday, March 20.
For further information email Geoff Rollinson facilitator@wcln.org.au or Danielle Nipe facilitator2@wcln.org.au.
