CLIMATE CHANGE
















CLIMATE CHANGE


Climate change impact on the grain and farming industry has been a pretty big problem as the crops can be damage, stopping the production of most farming products, including grain. Temperature change can also contribute to the destruction of the food that we eat being produced.

Global warming has been one of the world’s biggest problems and it continues to expand. Warmer temperatures can help crops grow, but it can also reduce yields. Crops tend to grow faster in warmer conditions. However, for some crops like grain, faster growth reduces the amount of time that seeds have to grow and mature.
Solar panels reduce both global warming and urban heat island. The production of solar energy in cities is clearly a way to diminish our dependency to fossil fuels, and is a good way to mitigate global warming by lowering the emission of greenhouse gases.
















































Cropping
Wheat is the predominant crop grown in NSW, with ~3.9 Mha of wheat for grain being planted in 2004, which was 55% of the total area prepared for crop production.

Climate change will bring mixed results for wheat: increased yields for most regions, but a decrease in quality. There have been only a few studies to date of the specific impacts of climate change on Australian wheat cropping systems.
The studies include an assessment of the conditional probability of not meeting the critical wheat yield threshold in South Australia, the effects of a changing climate on wheat cropping systems in northern NSW, the impact on grain protein levels of doubled CO2 in Qld, changes in wheat yields, grain quality, and gross economic margins at 10 sites across the Australian wheat belt, as well as the increased likelihood of heat shock and the projected boundary changes of Australia’s viable wheat cropping areas
In analysing the impact of climate change on yields, it is also important to include a particular rate of improvement in variety adaptation. Breeding is a dynamic activity, and selections are going to be made as the climate changes are occurring. It is likely that some considerable compensation will occur, so that the selected varieties will be better adapted anywy

Sowing
Apart from using tactical sowing opportunities to take advantage of prevailing soil moisture options, summer crops can be sown early or late to avoid the stress of flowering and grain fill during peak summer temperatures. The wide range in the maturation rate of maize varieties allows growers to take advantage of early or late sowing opportunities under dryland conditions. Quicker maturing varieties can:
  1. ·           take advantage of a full profile of soil water, minimising the risk of running out of water before the crop matures in low rainfall season
  2.         beat the summer heat before tasselling, for spring plantings
  3. ·       avoid frost damage to late plantings.

Irrigated Crops

Though only ~1.5% of agricultural land is irrigated in NSW annually, it accounts for an average of ~30% of the total agricultural production value. Nationally, irrigated farm profit contributes over 50% of total agricultural profit.

In NSW, the majority of irrigation is carried out in irrigation schemes. These operate as companies, under licences issued by the NSW Office of Water. The major crops are cotton and rice. Generally, irrigated cotton and rice together contribute over $1 billion to the NSW economy
 
The main genetic limitation to rice-growing is the cold sensitivity of the temperate varieties used in Australia. Deep watering is used as a strategy to ameliorate cool temperatures at the sensitive times around panicle initiation. Increased temperature under climate change will mitigate cold sensitivity, so the need for deep watering should be dramatically reduced. Hence, climate change may have some benefits for the irrigated rice industry. It may also permit alternative rice species to be considered.













Matraville Archibull 2016