A new report by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has focused on how farmers are responding to the outlook predicted by climate change science.

 

The study found that health and social factors were key attributes of farmers who were seeking to move towards more sustainable farming practices.

 

It also found that many farmers are driven by a sense of moral responsibility when it comes to their attitudes to sustainability.

 

The report assist in the formulation of government policies and programs  to meet farmers’ needs.


The report, Decisions Made by Farmers that Relate to Climate Change, was based on a study of 4,000 Australian farmers undertaken by in 2008 by the former Bureau of Rural Sciences (now ABARES).

 

Researchers classified farmers into three categories; ‘Cash poor long term adaptors’ (55 percent of sample), ‘comfortable non-adaptors’ (26 percent of sample) and ‘transitioners’ (19 percent of sample) and then looked at how these respective groups adapt to climate change.

 

Some of the report’s findings include:

  • ‘Cash poor long term adaptors’ actively seek to adapt their farming practices to manage climate change risk and to be sustainable in the long term;
  • ‘Comfortable non-adaptors’ feel little pressure to seriously consider climate change or the adaptive practices that adverse climate change will demand;
  • ‘Transitioners’ had poor overall adaptive capacity, and were less certain about climate change and what they should do about it.

The report is available on the RIRDC website www.rirdc.gov.au