SCIENTISTS are working directly with farmers in the Wimmera to search for solutions to problems caused by a changing climate.

Producer groups from Sheep Hills and Horsham East are working with Department of Primary Industries scientists and agronomists to identify where the issues may be and what can be done to mitigate them.

    AT A GLANCE
  • What: adapting to climate variation
  • Why: farmers and scientists unite
  • Where: Wimmera
  • Report: KATE DOWLER

Farmers such as John and David Tucker, from Drung, say they are only too happy to be involved if the project will help them deal with the challenges posed by variations in weather patterns.

Project manager Dr James Nuttall said the aim was to discover mitigation techniques at the farm level to deal with climate change now, not in 20-30 years' time.

The project team is running field trials looking at issues such as how stubble management affects soil moisture levels throughout a season, and various fertilisers and application methods for greatest yield.

DPI Future Farming Systems senior agronomist Roger Armstrong said the project was looking at what farmers could do now to survive and grow their profits.

It was not attempting to plan for future projected rainfall or temperature scenarios, he said.

Dr Nuttall said the project used a method called participatory action research, where farmers, advisers and researchers work in partnership to learn as the project goes.

Already the project has worked out some ways to better use water for grain production in a drier climate.

Dr Nuttall said managing stubble for soil water retention and comparing controlled traffic farming to conventional systems were some areas the project would investigate more in future.

"A key assumption behind the project is that the seasonal or rainfall conditions experienced over the past decade will be similar, if not worse, than those predicted under future climate change," he said.

"Whether the past decade represents climate change or variability matters little to many grain growers."

He said working out the best management strategies for difficult seasons would put growers in a better financial position, both now and in the future.

Farmer David Tucker said he was involved in the project because he felt farmers needed to have access to current and local research so they could better deal with drier times.

"We have to be looking at how we can use the water we get more efficiently, and hopefully lift yields," he said.