Challenges for Farmers in Australia

The  Australian landscape provides farmers with high levels challenges. These range from available land, water resources and even attracting young people into a career of agriculture. But the importance of Australian Agriculture is evident.

There are approximately 134,000 farm businesses in Australia.
99 percent of which are family owned and operated.
Each Australian farmer produces enough food to feed 600 people, 150 at home and 450 overseas.

Australian farmers produce almost 93 percent of Australia’s daily domestic food supply.
As of 2010-11, there are 307,000 people employed in Australian agriculture.
The complete agricultural supply chain, including the affiliated food and fibre industries, provide over 1.6 million jobs to the Australian economy.
Australian farmers  owning, managing and caring for 61 percent of Australia’s land mass.


Many Australians are directly or indirectly involved in farming. For those Australians not involved with farming, the country's recent rural and agricultural history still has strong links to the heritage and culture of Australia.

Different types of farming are mainly concentrated in the areas that suit them best, depending on water availability and climatic conditions.
The main challenges farmers in Australia need to deal with year in and year out are Droughts, Climatic conditions, Land avaiability and the use of Technology.
All these aspects rely on one thing......

WATER

 

Too much or too little.......all has impact on the land and the farmers.

 



Australia is the driest inhabited continent even though some areas have annual rainfall of over 1200 millimetres. Our climate is highly variable - across the continent generally, as well as from year-to-year.

The Impact of Drought

During climate extremes, whether droughts or flooding rains, those on the land feel it most. Agriculture suffers first and most severely - yet eventually everyone feels the impact.
HOW you ask?
- Lack of crops or ruined crops
- Price increases because of limited stocks
- Less to export which can affect our economy
- A need to import more
- Drought disrupts cropping programs, reduces breeding stock, and threatens permanent erosion of the land. 
- Vegetation loss and soil erosion, has long term problems for the sustainability of our agricultural industries.
- Water quality suffers, and toxic algae outbreaks may occur; plants and animals are also threatened.
- Bushfires and duststorms often increase during dry times.

What have Australian Farmers invented to help? As the landscape of Australia is quite different to other countries, Australian farmers have needed overcome these with new ideas.
Large scale machines replacing animal and human labour, has enabled Australian farmers to remain price-competitive and to supply markets around the world.
The development of equipment
- wheeled and tracked tractors
- the milking machine
- the sugar cane harvester
- travelling irrigators
- even the humble 'ute' has given farmers the tools to produce bigger crops more efficiently.
Technological and scientific developments
- biological control agents such as the myxoma virus
- calici virus, to control rabbit numbers
- the use of satellite positioning systems to assist in land management by, for example, applying chemicals only to the areas of paddocks needing them.
- Current and future technologies include the further computerisation of farms activities and genetic engineering. 

How Can Farmers meet new Challenges
Precision Agriculture are assisting Farmers for more accurate farming.
They are using technology to advice, training and products.
PrecisionAgriculture.com.au have developed some simple but effective tools to begin to understand paddock variability. They now have target soil sampling and improved fertiliser recommendations based on historical data such as stacked yield maps and satellite imagery.

The main purpose is to reduce problems, increase production and introduce necessary change. This assists the farmer - making their working lives better