Making the Most of Weather and Climate Information

Accurate weather forecasting and ability to interpret climate data to help farmer decision making with management and planning

Making the Most of Weather and Climate Information

Accurate weather forecasting and ability to interpret climate data to help farmer decision making with management and planning

Capacity to Deliver -

LP021-034

The issue

Accurate weather forecasting and the ability to interpret climate data is imperative for farmer decision making associated with short term risk management and planning (e.g. irrigation water ordering, sowing and fertiliser application), and long term planning (e.g. annual, perennial crop and pasture selection). This was also backed up NSW DPI Workshops conducted in the Riverina Murray (see Western Enabling Regional Adaptation report) that concluded that better use of data in decision-making was required to build resilience in mixed farming systems. BOM provided an overview of intelligence and insights that work across a range of time scales and tools that can be accessed which is summarised below: Climate Context: An overview of Climate Guides that provide a snapshot of a regions’ climate from 1959 – 2018 and compares two 30 year periods for NRM regions. See Australian Regional Weather and Climate Guides (bom.gov.au), Seven day weather forecasts: Forecasts every 6km across Australia, for next 7 days with a range of weather variables (rainfall, temperature, wind, frost etc.).See MetEye (bom.gov.au), Seasonal / climate outlooks: Next week, next month to next three-month climate outlooks including monthly climate and water outlook video (www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks), and quarterly webinars. See BOM Webinars. Climate services for agriculture (Overview—Summary - Climate Outlooks (bom.gov.au)that provides an overview of historical, current and future climate variables. It is anticipated that the community will use the resources available from the BOM to make informed decisions for business planning purposes. Internet connectivity is a major issue in the local region and impacts on the ability of businesses to access timely weather data information. Connectivity also has implications for future applications of smart farming technology. MRC have captured the need for improved connectivity in the latest draft 10-year Community Strategic Plan.

The solution

The information session was held online as COVID-19 restrictions unfortunately prevented us from holding an in-person event. 12 people attended the three-hour session. Luke Shelley from the Bureau of Meteorology presentation was titled ‘Making the most of weather and climate information’ which was followed by a survey. The BOM presentation was followed up by a presentation from NSW DPIE which is summarised in the Case Study, NSW DPIE Predicting Weather Patterns Online Information Session.

The impact

13 people attended the online workshop which is well below average for WMLIG events which was disappointing. This is likely a consequence of both poor connectivity as well as a lack of experience and enthusiasm by our target audience using online platforms. This was the first webinar trialled by WMLIG and reinforced that local people prefer the face to face social interaction aspects of capacity building events, not just the subject matter.

This project was supported by Murray River Council’s Building Our Communities in Advance Project, via funding from Local Government NSW.

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