RESEARCH into climate change and farming practice lags behind what farmers already know, and must be stepped up, a parliamentary committee has found.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Primary Industries and Resources released its report, Farming the Future, late yesterday.
Among its recommendations were investment in research into soil carbon sequestration, and the development of a strategy to collect and disseminate methods farmers are using to make their properties more resilient.
Labor MP Dick Adams, who chaired the committee, said farmers had been trialling methods to adapt to the changing climate for years, and were sometimes ahead of the scientists.
"We weren't having esoteric discussions about what causes what (change) in the climate," he told reporters in Canberra.
"We were seeing people at a very cutting edge stage, dealing with these variabilities in climate.
"They are well ahead in many cases, of the researchers."
Independent MP Tony Windsor said researchers should be more willing to take risks and venture into new areas.
"We need to push the research button much more," he said.
"I think they've been hesitant to do that in the past, they've sort of stuck with the main game or variations to the main theme."
Both MPs backed the inquiry's call for better rural counselling and support groups.
The report said the government's investment in climate change adaptation was "the minimum required to achieve results" and must be sustained in the long-term.
It recommended coordinating the research effort to avoid waste and duplication.
