Among the bigger issues affecting Australian farmers recently have been drought, water shortages and increases in pest animals. Some of these stem from climate factors that we have little control over and others we can tackle more easily.

Australia has always been referred to as the land of drought and flooding rains. There is no doubt that it is a continent defined by extremes. Droughts, heatwaves, fires and floods have occurred for millennia and they will continue. We are also being told the world climate is changing and that the average global temperate has been warming rapidly in recent years.

Across Australia’s recent history, the most severe dry blights have been the Federation drought (1895-1903), the World War Two drought (1939-1945), and the Millennium drought (1996-2009). The impacts of the Federation drought were felt in river systems across the country. The Darling River ran dry at Bourke, New South Wales. The Murray River ran dry through Mildura in Victoria and Balranald and Deniliquin in New South Wales, which caused river transport to cease. Sheep and cattle numbers decreased from 91 to 54 million, and 11.8 to 7 million respectively. Adding to this, plagues of rabbits, the economic depression and labour strikes increased the overall bearing. This was certainly a hard time in Australia’s past.

The World War Two drought covered areas across Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. The south-west grain growing regions of Western Australia experienced their lowest wheat yields since 1914. A very dry period in Victoria created conditions that led to the disastrous Black Friday bushfires of 1939. Rain in some areas followed by dry cycles provided little relief from drought. Dry dams caused water restrictions in Brisbane in 1940. By 1945 large rivers such as the Hunter were dry and the Murray River ceased flowing at Echuca. Financial losses of this drought were high, with 10 million sheep in New South Wales dying in 1945 alone. In Queensland, it was estimated that financial loss was £25 million. In South Australia approximately four million sheep died during 1944-45.

The Millennium drought was described as the worst to hit south-eastern Australia. The region suffered its driest phase since 1900 on several measures. The drought had consequences to ecosystems, the economy and society. The period between 2001-2009 had the longest uninterrupted series of years with below median rainfall in south-eastern Australia. In this time most major cities had to enforce water restrictions to protect supply and there was an increase in major bushfire events. Farmers in drought-affected communities experienced a rise in financial stress. In the Mildura region, debt increased from $15 million in 2000-01 to $257 million by 2007-08. The number of farmers receiving exceptional circumstances assistance rose from approximately 9000 in 2002-03 to 25,000 in 2007-08. Farmers’ average incomes reduced by $29,000 between 2005-07. The number of farmers with negative incomes soared from 24 per cent to 42 per cent between 2005-07. Lack of employment in agriculture led to a widespread community loss in services.

To the present, conditions experienced leading up to and including the year 2020 have been labelled the worst drought in living memory. Large areas of eastern Australia have been in drought for up to eight years, with record dry conditions prompting many to call for further federal and state emergency funding. The lack of soil moisture from the shortage of rain was amplified by the intense heat over the summers which increased evaporation of already shrinking dams. Apart from the strain on farmers, this drought has a terrible bearing on businesses in country towns. Farmers make up a fair percentage of customers to small business and if they are struggling, businesses will follow.

Many country towns experience main streets with empty shopfronts. Although there was hope that the tourist trade will provide a buffer to save businesses, many fear the continued dry conditions will keep tourists away. Those worries are justified when you consider that people would not want to travel to see dusty, dry and depressing conditions.

The Australian Government’s Bureau of Meteorology July 2019 drought statement indicated little reprieve from dry conditions and rainfall deficiencies across a wide area. June rainfall was below average across large tracts. This included inland southern Queensland, most of New South Wales, western South Australia and the eastern and south coast of Western Australia. There were some pockets of above average rainfall in western Victoria, parts of the west of Western Australia and inland northern Queensland.

The three main reasons why the recent drought has been so bad is an underlying temperate increase across Australia, plus warm conditions in the far Indian and Pacific Oceans have resulted in reduced rainfall, and an underlying cut in southern wet season rainfall. Two climate drivers that affect the rain patterns in Australia are known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) (positive, neutral or negative) and El Nino/La Nina events over the Pacific Ocean. Depending on which cycle is in what state, these happenings can both increase or decrease rain events across Australia. For example, the current dry conditions appear to coincide with 1) a positive IOD that has the potential to draw rain bearing conditions away from Australia’s west coast; and 2) the Southern Oscillation Index leaning towards El Nino-type weather patterns that bring drier than normal conditions.

All drivers of climate are well beyond the control of our farmers so they need to focus on drought proofing their properties and businesses now and into the future to protect their sustainability. There are a number of ways to go about this. One that is slowly gathering momentum is through Regenerative agriculture. This method of management helps drought-proof the land but also reduces the use and costs of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers by working with nature instead of trying to control it.

Regenerative agriculture involves building healthy pastures where stock graze on a rotational basis to allow the grasses to recover. Paddocks are usually made smaller so large mobs of livestock can move in and then through on a daily revolving schedule. The stocking rate is different to a standard set one. It is adjusted to a planned grazing tempo which is fixed accordingly to what the landscape can support. This allows calculations to be made such as the amount of time that grass is available until it’s exhausted and can’t provide feed. If needed, destocking can occur before conditions become that dire, leaving no feed for animals.

Regenerative agriculture practices also encourage an increase in native vegetation and tree coverage on properties. This is because trees and native grasses provide environmental functions such as capturing carbon from the atmosphere and their deep root systems recycling important nutrients within the soil. Drawing down atmospheric carbon into the soil improves both the fertility and health of the soil and this can replace the need for fertiliser over time. Healthy soils with good grass cover prevent erosion and retain more moisture during dry times.

Another drought-proofing approach is called Ecosystem Management Understanding (EMU). The aim is to increase rain infiltration to retain soil moisture, reduce run-off, curb erosion and prevent topsoil losses. The primary methods used to stop soil erosion include building earth banks across gully heads and gullies to slow waterflow. This increases ponding that allows more absorption of water into the soil. Excess water is diverted into channels. These are then designed to spread the water across the land and as the channels fill, the overflow runs slowly across the surrounding land to reduce erosion potential. Slower water flow, increased water absorption and soil moisture, all equate to more grasses that in turn leads to better environmental and productivity outcomes.

Natural Sequence Farming (NSF) is another approach that regenerates the landscape and builds drought resilience into farmland. This also requires the implementation of earthworks to return degraded watercourses back to a more natural cycle that holds and slows the water movement. This helps restore the riparian zone by enabling native vegetation to revive. The barriers constructed across waterways allow the water to be slowly distributed across the flood plain. This assists with water absorption in the soil and allows soils and nutrients from upstream to be deposited across the land, encouraging grasses and fast-growing plants to take hold. Weeds do have an important role in stabilising the land and protecting the soil from drying and baking. As such those that adopt this tactic also use weeds to feed grazing animals. Once the weeds die, they are cut for feed or left as green manure as a soil conditioner to help the native species to gain a grip.

The impact that pest animals have on farmers is regularly highlighted in news reports in the Australian media. From overabundant native animals to new emerging threats from species released into the Australian environment in recent times or back in the years of our acclimatisation societies. One thing for certain is when wildlife overabundance affects farm assets or the environment, we hear about it in some shape or form. Modern society has an obligation to manage these types of issues in both a humane and efficient way.

Wild deer have been proclaimed as an emerging menace to agriculture and the environment with some groups likening their spread to cane toads. Seeing that cane toads can lay up to 70,000 eggs per year and wild deer normally have one fawn in a season, those comparisons seem quite exaggerated. Nevertheless, wild deer, if overabundant can cause a number of negative influences on farms and to environmentally sensitive areas.

Increased numbers of wild deer can add to grazing pressure through competition with livestock and other native species for food. The most common control measure for wild deer is shooting. This is carried out by both volunteer and paid shooters. With the lack of capability to commercially harvest meat from wild deer shot, the bulk of carcasses’ utilised for food rests with volunteer shooters. The involvement of volunteers in wild deer management programs should be always considered to prevent the total wastage of useable high-quality meat.

They are many other species that are seen as pests across the landscape that compete for habitat, food and shelter. Some types are also predators to livestock (and small native species). Typically, pest animals have high reproductive rates which means if they are left unmanaged, they can become overabundant quickly and start causing significant issues to both farmers and the environment. This is a key point because most pest animals are now too well established in Australia and that means it may not be possible to eliminate the pest from the landscape. The focus of pest management then turns to managing their on-ground intrusions.

Pest animals such as rabbits graze and degrade pasture and vegetation. Pasture loss affects the productivity of the land but vegetation degradation can lead to the demise of environmental assets such as soil through wind and water erosion. Common controls for rabbits include poisoning, biocontrol and shooting. Feral goats are also a grazing pest animal that can affect productivity and damage vegetation leading to vegetation loss and soil erosion. Feral goats are mainly controlled by fencing, mustering and shooting. Feral pigs are another grazing pest but their foraging habits of digging and ripping up soil in search of food can cause considerable productivity and environmental damage. They also prey on newborn lambs.

Foxes can have a major say on farmers’ lambing rates by predation. Lambs are highly vulnerable to being taken by foxes due to their vocalisations attracting redcoats to their locality shortly after birth. Baiting programs prior to lambing season can prevent an abundant population of foxes building up in the area. Organising a shooting program in the lead up of lambing and continuing for a number of weeks will certainly ensure that farmers’ lambing rates are maintained as high as possible. Farmers can do this themselves or enlist the services of environmental volunteers who are proficient with shooting activities.

One way that farmers find environmental volunteers to help with their pest management activities is through the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia Farmer Assist program. This connects farmers with licensed, accredited and insured volunteers happy to help with pest control at no cost to the farmer. It has been a success for Hugh Mackey from country Queensland. He reported: “We are delighted and very happy with SSAA volunteers and some have even exceeded our expectations.” That is a fine review from someone who has used the program on numerous occasions. It speaks volumes about the quality of the volunteers involved and the program’s flexible approach to pest management.

FAQs

What are the main challenges facing Australian farmers today?
Australian farmers face several challenges, including persistent drought, climate change impacts, water shortages, and increasing pest animals like rabbits, deer, and foxes, which affect both productivity and the environment.

How does drought impact Australian farmers?
Drought affects farmers by reducing water availability, depleting soil moisture, and creating harsher growing conditions, leading to crop failures, livestock losses, and financial strain on farming communities.

How do pest animals affect Australian farms?
Pest animals like wild deer, rabbits, and feral pigs compete with livestock for food, degrade vegetation, and can spread diseases. Predators like foxes and wild dogs can harm livestock, impacting productivity and the environment.

What methods do farmers use to manage pest populations?
Farmers use various pest control methods, including fencing, shooting, poisoning, and volunteer programs like the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia Farmer Assist to manage pest populations and protect their land.

What role do environmental volunteers play in pest control?
Environmental volunteers, like those in the SSAA Farmer Assist program, help farmers control pests by assisting with pest monitoring and shooting programs, helping manage pests at no cost to the farmer, and reducing damage to farmlands.

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