Ep 24: Climate Forecasting with The Bureau

EPISODE 24:

In this episode we’re speaking about tools that help farmers assess and plan for changes in climate.

A lot of the agtech we speak about is used by farmers to help with everyday decision making. But the tools we’re hearing about in this episode are mostly focused on long-term management, how to prepare for a future that might be decades or even generations away.

We speak to Dr Tim Cowan a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Climate Sciences at the University of Southern Queensland about agtech’s role in preparing farmers to respond to more extreme climate scenarios.

We’re also joined by the Bureau of Meteorology’s Stephanie Dickson. She tells us about My Climate View, a digital tool which provides location and commodity specific climate predictions for the next 50 years.

And we chat to Western Australian beef producer Dale Park, who says information from My Climate View has influenced his on-farm decision-making, including what pastures they plan to grow.

FEATURING:

DR TIM COWAN – UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

Dr Tim Cowan is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Applied Climate Sciences, and also part of the Seasonal Climate Processes team at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne. His expertise covers climate drivers within the Indo-Pacific region, the Australian monsoon, and climate extremes that impact northern Australia. Leading the Development arm of the Northern Australian Climate Program, Tim is developing innovative prototype forecast products tailored for the northern red meat sector to help graziers better manage climate risks.

STEPHANIE DICKSON – BUREAU OF METEROROLOGY

Stephanie Dickson joined the Bureau of Meteorology in 2021 in the Climate Services for Agriculture customer engagement team. With a background in dairy genetics, a Masters of Agricultural Science and Bachelor of Journalism, she has a special interest in communicating climate and weather data for the agricultural sector. Since joining the Bureau, Stephanie has been travelling around Australia with the My Climate View tool, speaking with farmers and other agricultural professionals about their use of long-term climate information for business planning.

DALE PARK – WA CATTLE PRODUCER

Dale Park has been farming Murray Grey cattle with his wife Marian, at Badgingarra in Western Australia for the last 35 years. He has also been involved in farming research projects for most of that time and was president of the WA Farmers Federation from 2012 to 2016. Dale has used My Climate View to gain insights into how climate could change at his property and has used the information to help inform long-term management decisions.