While Australia has been experiencing a significant drought for several months leading to enormous fires, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences has published the results of a study aiming to assess the consequences of climate change on farm profitability. The model results show that climate change in Australia since the 2000s has led to an average 22% decline in net business income. This average conceals significant disparities depending on production, with field crop farmers more affected than livestock farmers: -35% for cereal farmers vs. -18% for sheep farmers and -5% for beef farmers. Another interesting takeaway is that the strategies put in place by farmers in response to new weather conditions, such as non-labour, have mitigated the unfavourable consequences of climate change.
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