Fear of drought, flood and fires leads farmers to plea for urgent action on climate change
Fear of drought, flood and fires leads farmers to plea for urgent action on climate change ABC, NSW Country Hour, By Tim Fookes 13 Sep 19
The farmer from Larras Lee, in central west New South Wales, has lived through drought before, but not like this.
“The cattle I had were about to start calving, and I just haven’t got enough to feed them,” he said.
“I was proud of those cows that have gone this week; I bred them, and I regret I have to sell them.”
Having already destocked, Mr Lee knows of other farmers destocking because there is a better opportunity for them in southern NSW and Victoria where they have had rain.
“The agents tell me how embarrassed they are with the amount of rain they’ve had in Victoria,” Mr Lee said.
“But it’s great to hear that some people have had [rain] and have got some grass to take on stock that we can’t handle. “With the way the climate is, with warmer-than-average temperatures and lower rainfall, I have to be much more nimble with how much stock I have.”\
Farmers for climate activism
Mr Lee is not alone in his concerns over the climate and has become a member of the lobby group, Farmers for Climate Action.
It involves people from rural Australia pushing for more action on the effects that climate change is having on agriculture. A conference this week in Orange attracted nearly 200 people to discuss ways of lobbying for more action on the effects a warming, dryer climate is having on those who make a living on the land.
Two thirds of those at the conference were farmers who had travelled from around NSW to attend……… https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-09-13/fear-of-drought-flood-and-fires-leads-farmers-to-plea-for-action/11508834
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