The prolonged and severe drought has taken an enormous financial, environmental and emotional toll on farming families right throughout Queensland.
Despite some good rain last year, more than 80 per cent of Queensland is still drought declared, with many primary producers still doing it tough.
While it is absolutely vital current assistance programs continue for farmers experiencing hardship in the current drought, it is also important industry and governments consider how we make our national drought policy more effective and enduring going forward so these hardships can be minimised.
For too long, drought policy in Australia has delivered frequent reviews, uncertain assistance programs and a focus on managing crises, rather than encouraging efforts to prepare and be self-reliant.
AgForce’s Drought and Climate Risk Committee has developed a new approach to drought policy, which aims to put producers in the driver’s seat in managing climate risks and secure our vision of a sustainable and profitable agriculture at its best.
I’m joining with our Drought Committee Chair Helen Lewis this week to speak with Federal politicians, the National Farmers Federation and senior officials in Canberra to discuss and further develop this new approach.
Our Ag ‘Business Cycle’ approach looks at the whole agricultural business cycle, not just at the dry times. It recognizes there are four phases – ‘Normal’, ‘Drying’, ‘Dry’ and ‘Recovery’.
As a producer, you would take ownership and decide what phase of the cycle you are in and select from various public and private programs that ensure the social, financial and environmental needs of your business and family are met within each phase.
We see the approach as placing a mutual obligation on both producers and government. Producers accept an obligation to plan and undertake work to self-manage dry periods, while governments take responsibility to provide a consistent policy and adequate funding to support preparedness and provide relevant assistance programs throughout all phases, so as to minimize the impact of really tough times.
A change can’t happen overnight though, especially as producers have made investments based on current drought policies. There will need to be a transition period before moving to a new approach.
We want primary producers to be able to take back ownership of climate risk management and drought preparedness, while still having access to assistance to deal with the severe dry periods that are part and parcel of life on the land. – Grant Maudsley, AgForce General President
