A sixth-generation Ingliston farmer fears Australia’s agricultural industry is under threat from greenhouse gases and global warming.
John Lakey’s concerns follow a Climate Council report, which says climate change has serious consequences for Australia’s farming practices, and subsequently consumers.
Mr Lakey says his cattle farm is “absolutely feeling” the impacts of hotter weather and lower rainfalls, with dams empty for three years.
“With the hot weather, we get much higher evaporation, and tied with that is lower rainfall,” he says. “It’s a double whammy – it means there’s no water in the dams and no growth in pasture.
“A farmer doesn’t function without both of these,” he said, adding that it’s fourth, fifth, or sixth generation farmers who carry the “bigger burden”, as farming is increasingly unviable.
“Do you want to be the person who lets the farm go after so many years?” he says.
The Climate Council has called on the federal and state governments to “rapidly” scale up renewable energy, otherwise risk Australia’s farming future.
A federal agriculture and water resources spokesman said there are measures, including tax arrangements, to support farmers managing a “variable climate”.
