It is important to recognise the distinction between climate change and climate variability, a conference at Tamworth has heard.

Dr Bob Martin, Director of the Tamworth Agricultural Institute, said a consequence of climate change is that we may see more extreme weather events, that is, more variability.

“Australian farmers may have an advantage in that they have the experience already for coping with extremes,” Dr Martin told the conference, organised by NSW Department of Primary Industries to address the impact of climate change on agriculture.

Dr Martin said it is clear the most successful modern Australian farmers are those who have managed to develop “flexible systems that are resilient.

“These are farmers who can smooth over the peaks and troughs of climate variability by doing things like maintaining ground cover, conserving and storing water in the soil and undertaking response cropping.”

Speakers at the meeting pointed out that Australia has the world’s most variable rainfall.

Dr Martin said Australian farmers have had to live with this, but that doing so was not easy, especially as modern farming began in Australia by trying to transplant European agricultural techniques.

He said more effort was needed to get conservation farming practices adopted, and that farming systems that result in less greenhouse gas emissions should also be encouraged.

Contact Bob Martin, Tamworth, (02) 6763 1258, bob.martin@dpi.nsw.gov.au