Thread: Are you noticing a drought?

When we were in Tassie last month the locals were saying they hadn't had decent rain for six months, and blamed Queensland for pinching it.
It hasn't rained for a while in Godzown and I've had to restart watering the vegie garden. I've even resumed washing George on the front lawn to help the grass (had to get an LR reference into this post).
Now I read the story below. So, is climate change a reality and we better get used to drier weather?

Drought tightens its grip across Australia

ABC Rural
By Edwina Farley and rural reporters
Updated 1 hour 30 minutes ago
Photo: This map illustrates the severe rainfall deficiencies across an eight-month period as compiled by the National Climate Centre (National Climate Centre)
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Map: Melbourne 3000

In case you hadn't noticed, it's dry out there.
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia - even the centre of the continent is suffering a lack of rainfall. In recent months that's been termed severe and though for some areas rain has fallen, for many others a new drought is threatening.
In the Climate Commission report Critical Decade: Extreme Weather released last month, a forecast for more extreme heat and the resultant extreme weather events had little in it to cheer the fortunes of farmers.
In the vast swathes of land from the Gulf Country in Queensland to the traditional cropping districts of Western Australia, farmers are sizing up the latest Federal Government assistance package and looking to the skies.
By 2030 Australia will face:

• a further 1 degree Celsius of warming in temperatures
• up to 20 per cent more months of drought
• up to 25 per cent increase in days of very high or extreme fire danger
• increases in storm surges and severe weather events.
  
  (Source: Federal Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education)

But not for them the temporary relief of blaming an El Nino or La Nina weather cycle. Those culprits - responsible for the decade-long drought of the 2000s and the severe flooding across Queensland and New South Wales in recent years - are staying smugly in neutral conditions.
As Australian farmers tighten their belts to weather yet another dry spell, and look to government aid packages to put food on the table, in the United States their counterparts are enjoying the benefits of crop insurance which is making their drought ravaged year as bearable as any other.
Statistics from the US department of agriculture show a record $17.2 billion was paid in crop insurance for the 2012 crop, 60 per cent of which is stumped up by the US government.
That sits alongside a US program worth $1.4 billion, helping farmers adapt to climate change.

"$17.2 billion was paid in crop insurance, 60 per cent of which is stumped up the US government. That sits alongside a US program worth $1.4 billion, helping farmers adapt to climate change."

figures from USDA

Just how much of Australia's current weather crisis is climate change or cyclical attracts a divergence of opinion.
But what does have agreement is that the lack of rain could severely affect the national grain crop, livestock markets and production across a range of other agricultural industries.
In Australia the new policy on drought is to manage or future-proof farmers and give them the tools to be better business managers and climate mitigators, rather than relying on crisis management which is how the previous exceptional circumstances program is perceived.















Gallery: Drought taking hold in Australia in 2013

In the Northern Territory producers are suffering on multiple counts - both from the decline in income from the cessation of live exports, combined with a lack of rainfall and little to no wet season.
There's barely a trace of two good seasons left as some regions look at a quarter of the pasture growth of previous years.
Some farmers across the north are looking at a massive shift in how their businesses work - from the boom years where live exports to Indonesia were like rivers of gold, to the current struggle where properties are staying on the market for years at a time and many are struggling to make ends meet.
But they're also fighting back, as heard at an influential women's forum this week.
Organiser of the forum, Catherine Marriott, says the live cattle industry's reputation was severely damaged after images of animal cruelty emerged from Indonesian abattoirs in 2011.
She says it's now up to producers to regain the "social licence" to operate.
"Farmers are doing the right thing, they do care for their land, they contribute to their local communities, they're doing amazing things with the environment, but they're not very good at communicating that," she said.

"Farmers are doing the right thing, they do care for their land, they contribute to their local communities, they're doing amazing things with the environment, but they're not very good at communicating that,"

Catherine Marriott, Influential Women's Forum

"The good thing is that to build trust with consumers, producers don't actually need to change what they're doing, because they're doing the right things, they just need to become aware of the language they use and the way they engage with consumers to share the positive stories about how they care for their animals, the environment, their community and so on."
In Victoria, where Anzac Day marks the traditional start to the planting season, the ground is dry and hard.
There's been little to no good rain since last year's AFL Grand Final - and that dry start to a sowing season is throwing up plenty of challenges.
Not only is it a concern for those risking planting crops, but it's also affecting the condition of livestock for meat and for wool.
Similarly in Western Australia, grain growers and graziers are coming to terms with what the Bureau of Meteorology is calling a direct result of climate change.
That's the years of below-average rainfall and drier conditions - with fewer wet years in between.
At a recent crisis meeting in Merredin, Queensland University of Technology senior lecturer in economics and finance Dr Mark McGovern spoke to farmers.
Dr McGovern says the current plight in WA farming is a serious situation that needs urgent Federal Government attention.

"The banks have plenty of money to lend; it's whether or not the customer has the capacity to borrow."

Stephen Carroll, Australian Bankers Association

"When growers can't get planting finance, that's something which hasn't happened, I understand, since the Great Depression. So we've got a fairly critical issue which needs to be resolved quite quickly."
A recent report by brokerage and investment firm CLSA warned that falling asset values are leaving Australian banks overexposed to farmer debt.
Stephen Carroll from the Australian Banking Association says this partly explains lenders' reluctance to finance this season's crop.
But Mr Carroll says changes to the Federal Government's drought policy are also a factor.
"The banks have plenty of money to lend; it's whether or not the customer has the capacity to borrow.
"There has been a significant change in government policy in recent times. In the past, there have been policies to support farmers planting crops, replanting grants and low-interest subsidies.
"There has been a change (and) when those policies are not in place, it does make it more difficult for banks managing customers in financial difficulty."

So far this year 30mm in total for us, where as same time last year we had 180mm. The ground (highly reactive soil) is becoming very parched with large cracks opening up and I also notice a few cracks reappearing in the brickwork of the house. They appeared during the last long drought and closed up after the 230 mm deluge we got in February 2011.

Not looking good!


Cheers, Mick.