The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) welcomes the opportunity to submit in response to the industry Adaption Action Plans (AAPs).
The farming community is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and it is essential farmers are involved in the development of adaption policy.
Farmers are experienced at dealing with the challenges of climate variability. Extreme weather events such as drought, flood, fire, storm and hail are all part of farming in Australia.
However, climate change is expected to exacerbate these events and alter seasonal conditions. The VFF surveyed its members in early 2021 on the topic of climate change, including adaption and mitigation.
Many of our members told us that they have observed changes in climate during their time farming with seasonal change, reduced rainfall, changes in growing season behaviour and increased average temperatures the most common observed changes.
Victorian farmers are facing challenging environmental conditions that require proactive actions on the part of government and industry to ensure Victorian farmers are equipped with the tools to adapt to change and that they do not face legislative, regulatory or policy road blocks to adaption.