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🇦🇺 Australia /Environment & Climate

50 years of weather data helps Queensland farmers plan for climate change

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Fifty years of weather records in western Queensland are helping farmers adapt to a changing climate.
  • Analysis reveals hotter summers, warmer nights, and longer warm seasons, prompting adjustments to livestock breeding schedules.
  • Producers are using the data to make informed decisions, like shifting lambing periods to improve survival rates.

Farmers in western Queensland are using 50 years of detailed weather data to adapt to a changing climate. Scientists analyzed temperature, rainfall timing, and extreme heat events, revealing hotter summers, warmer nights, and longer warm seasons.

For most of the towns we have more heat extremes and fewer cool nights and definitely shifting in the seasons and specifically in the rainfall timing.

— Dr Mahdiyeh RazeghiUniversity of Southern Queensland earth scientist explaining the findings of the weather data analysis.

This information is prompting producers to reconsider their farming calendars. Peter and Kimble Thomas, who run a 12,000-head merino enterprise, changed their lambing schedule. They now aim for August lambing instead of May, carrying most of the pregnancy over cooler months. This adjustment resulted in a 20% increase in lamb survival rates last year.

Yep, summers are hot. Spring and autumn are less hot, and winter's quite nice.

— Peter ThomasWool producer describing the typical weather in Ilfracombe, western Queensland.

"We weren't getting great lamb survival coming out of the summer, lambing into May," Peter Thomas explained. "We had some ewes which we put on a different calendar, which we join later, and lamb them in August, so that most of their pregnancy was carried over the cooler months."

We weren't getting great lamb survival coming out of the summer, lambing into May. We had some ewes which we put on a different calendar, which we join later, and lamb them in August, so that most of their pregnancy was carried over the cooler months.

— Peter ThomasWool producer explaining the reasoning behind changing their lambing schedule.

Bruce McConnel, director of the UniSQ-led Innovation Hub, noted the clear trend: "Yes, we absolutely know it gets hot out there, but it's now hotter for longer and we're slightly hotter overnight." He added that producers are realizing that shifting lambing to autumn with a warmer winter is a better decision, demonstrating how climate data directly informs practical farming strategies.

Yes, we absolutely know it gets hot out there, but it's now hotter for longer and we're slightly hotter overnight. Therefore producers are seeing that actually moving their lambing into, say, an autumn period with a warmer winter is a better decision.

— Bruce McConnelDirector of the UniSQ-led southern Queensland and northern New South Wales Innovation Hub discussing the impact of climate trends on farming decisions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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