Videos

On 21 August, Farmers for Climate Action hosted Part 3 of the Regional Horizons Summit, Resilience Strategies.

In Parts 1 & 2 of the Regional Horizons Summit we heard about the threat of climate change, some of the financial implications and the possibilities that renewables and ecosystem service payments bring to agriculture. This webinar helps farmers begin planning practical strategies on their farm to help their farm business not just survive but thrive.

Associate Professor Lauren Rickards, RMIT University, provided insight into building genuine resilience, while Cam Nicholson, Agronomist, provided a framework for on farm decision making.

You can read the Regional Horizons program here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/regional-horizons/

Sign the petition here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/net-zero-by-2050-petition/

Associate Professor Lauren Rickards
Lauren Rickards is a co-leader of the Climate Change Transformations research programme of the Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, and co-director of the Climate Change Exchange to facilitate learning between researchers and practitioners. An interdisciplinary researcher, Lauren is a Lead Author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report and coleader of the Nature, Risk and Resilience group at the Institute of Australian Geographers. She has worked at the agriculture-climate change interface for the last fifteen years, with a focus on resilience and agricultural extension. This includes projects with Birchip Cropping Group and CSIRO, as an Associate Partner at RM Consulting Group and as coordinator of the with the Primary Industries Adaptation Research Network. @LaurenARickards

Cam Nicholson
Cam Nicholson is a partner in Nicon Rural Services, a consulting business near Geelong working with the grazing and cropping industries and in natural resource management. Cam has been involved in many farmer programs for the GRDC, MLA, Dairy Australia, Southern Farming Systems and Landcare. He provides consultancy advice to farmers and lectures on animal and pasture systems at Marcus Oldham College. His most recent work has focussed on understanding and discussing risk in farming businesses and how to enhance decision making. He and his wife Fiona run a beef and sheep farm on the Bellarine Peninsula turning off cattle for the long fed Japanese market, lambs and wool.

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine 3450.

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After hearing in Part 1 from Lesley Hughes and Russell Mehmet on the changing climate and future of insuring for climate risk, in Part 2 we turned to the opportunities currently available on farm.

What renewable energy options are there for farmers currently? How can farmers benefit from the latest technological advances? What financial rewards are there for farmers doing good environmental work?

Karin Stark, Farm Renewables Consulting, spoke on her experiences with renewables in agriculture and the barriers to the uptake of new technologies on farm. Doug McNicholl, Meat & Livestock Australia, spoke to the market rewards currently available for farmers who engage in climate smart practices.

Regional Horizons is Farmers for Climate Action’s economic recovery program which places regional Australia at the forefront. (https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/regional-horizons/)

The Regional Horizons Summit is a three-part series which takes a deep dive into the big issues that underpin the program, and the risks and rewards it presents for Australian farmers.

Part 1: Knowing and Managing Risks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzenjmEquwo&t=2944s)

Part 2: On-Farm Opportunities

Part 3: Resilience Strategies

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine VIC, 3450

Karin Stark
Karin Stark’s international and professional history combines 17 years of engagement with communities around contemporary environmental issues. She was a NSW-ACT Agrifuture’s Rural Womens Award Finalist last year for her work convening the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference. She is Director of Farm Renewables Consulting, is also a mum and works part time for ReAqua, with previous roles within the NSW State Government and in Landcare. Karin lives on a cotton farm that installed a 500kW solar diesel hybrid pumping system in 2018, the biggest in the country.

Doug McNicholl
Doug is a research and development Program Manager experienced in livestock production, technology development, and business administration. He holds the role of Supply Chain Sustainability Innovation Manager at Meat and Livestock Australia, investing $12M p.a. into innovation management services for the Australian red meat industry. His focus is investing in initiatives that maintain consumer and community support for the red meat industry and increase profitability in a sustainable manner. Investment areas include developing technologies and practices with value propositions for improved management of natural resources, energy, greenhouse gas emissions and waste streams. Former positions include R&D Program Manager at the Australian Meat Processor Corporation and various renewable energy project development roles in the UK.

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How is Australia’s climate changing? Are insurers prepared to cover Australian agriculture against climate risk?

On Friday 17th July we held a webinar to hear the latest from the nation’s leading experts on climate change and insurance.

Professor Lesley Hughes, Climate Council and Macquarie University, provided an overview of the climate change science in Australia, while Russell Mehmet, Willis Towers Watson, helped us to understand the future outlook for insurance, in particular farm insurance in light of climate change.

Regional Horizons is Farmers for Climate Action’s economic recovery program which places regional Australia at the forefront (available here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/regional-horizons/)

The Regional Horizons Summit is a three-part series which takes a deep dive into the big issues that underpin the program, and the risks and rewards it presents for Australian farmers.

Part 1: Knowing and Managing Risks

Part 2: On-Farm Opportunities

Part 3: Resilience Strategies

Sign up for our events here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/what-we-do/events/

Speakers
Lesley Hughes
Lesley Hughes is Distinguished Professor of Biology and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Integrity & Development) at Macquarie University. She has been researching the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems for more than 20 years.

She is a former Lead Author in the IPCC’s 4th and 5th Assessment Report, a former federal Climate Commissioner and now a Councillor with the Climate Council of Australia. She is also a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and a Director of WWF-Australia.

Russell Mehmet
Russell is an Account Director at Willis Towers Watson, a multinational risk management, insurance brokerage and advisory company. Russell has spent over 35 years in the insurance industry. During that time, Russell has successfully introduced, marketed and serviced some of Queensland and Australia’s largest accounts in the following sectors; Government, Natural Resources and Utilities, and Real Estate.

Russell has been involved in a number of agricultural specific projects, including the Drought and Climate Adaption Programme, CSIRO Data Project on Land Use and Yield, Queensland Farmers’ Federation Insurance Data Project, and the National Farmers’ Federation On-Farm Financial Risk Management Project – Mutuals and Co-operatives Sub-Project.

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine 3450.

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The Eden-Monaro by-election was held on Saturday 4 July, with 14 candidates.

Large areas of the Eden-Monaro electorate were significantly impacted by bushfires over the ‘Black Summer’ of 2019/20. The fires, and the prolonged drought which preceded them, were exacerbated by global warming.

Globally, 18 of the hottest years have occurred in the last 20 years. We are now 1.1°C about pre-industrial average temperatures, on an almost certain pathway to 2°C, and very likely 3°C, if current carbon emissions are not significantly reduced.

Australia and the rest of the world need to accelerate and expand current climate mitigation and adaptation programs. This will require massive governmental, business and citizen effort.

Climate Action Monaro and Farmers for Climate Action hosted the Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall OAM MP in a webinar about elevating climate action on the political agenda. She delivered an update on the current status of her own #ClimateActNow Bill.

This webinar was recorded on Tuesday 23 June, 2020.

Visit https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/ for more information.
Other FCA events can be found at https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/what-we-do/events/

Authorised by F. Davis, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine VIC, 3450

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Ever felt overwhelmed or frustrated by the climate jargon? Wondering what it all means, and how it relates to you? Perhaps you just want a simple answer to a simple question: are we on track to limit global warming to 2 degrees?

With so much information out there, it can be overwhelming.

The team at FCA was delighted to host a webinar with Bill Hare from Climate Analytics on 19th June 2020 to unpack all these questions and more. If you’re sick of the jargon and just chasing some straight answers; this is the webinar for you.

Bill Hare is a physicist, climate scientist and CEO of non-profit science and policy institute Climate Analytics. He has contributed to the development of the international climate regime since 1989. Bill was a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, led the influential World Bank Turn Down the Heat reports series in 2013-2014, and is one of the leaders of the Climate Action Tracker. He has been described as the “go to climate advisor” of the most vulnerable countries, particularly the small island states (SIDS) and the least developed countries (LDCs).

You can read more about Bill here https://climateanalytics.org/about-us/team/bill-hare/

You can read more about Climate Analytics here https://climateanalytics.org/

For more information about FCA's Regional Horizons program mentioned throughout go here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/regional-horizons/

Image credit: Angus Emmott Photography

Authorised by F. Davis, The Hub 233 Barker St, Castlemaine, 3450

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As we recover from the COVID pandemic, we can either continue on with business as usual, or invest in a cleaner, renewable driven future. We’ve just launched our Regional Horizons economic stimulus program, which paints the pathway to a better future. One where agriculture is climate ready, where our regions are the renewable powerhouses of the country, and where communities are leading.

In the webinar we discuss the four key priority areas and the strategy for implementation — and how you can get involved! With an introduction from Helen Haines, Member for Indi, and discussion with FCA's own Verity Morgan-Schmidt, this webinar explores a better future for regional and rural Australia.

Read more about the Regional Horizons program here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/regional-horizons/

For any inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 1800 491 633

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine, 3450.

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On Tuesday 9th June, Farmers for Climate Action held the Lismore Climate Change, Fake News and Community Resilience online forum.

Matthew Ricketson delivered this forum’s focused address on the impact of a changing media landscape and fake news on the understanding of climate change and community resilience.

Matthew Ricketson is an academic and journalist. He is currently the head of the Communications Group at Deakin University. Prior to this role, he was the inaugural Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra between 2009 and 2017. For three years before that he was Media and Communications Editor for The Age.

For more information, visit our website https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/
For information about other Farmers for Climate Action webinars and events, go here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/what-we-do/events/

Photo credit: Angus Emmott Photography

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine, 3450

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On Tuesday 9th June, Farmers for Climate Action held the Lismore Climate Change, Fake News and Community Resilience online forum.

Matthew Ricketson delivered this forum’s focused address on the impact of a changing media landscape and fake news on the understanding of climate change and community resilience. Other speakers included clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, grassroots political expert Denis Ginnivan, your very own regenerative agriculturalist Lorraine Gordon and Farmers for Climate Action CEO Wendy Cohen.

The aim of this forum was to provide attendees with an understanding of the mental impacts of bushfires on the community. It also endeavoured to provide a pathway for the community to commence the long process of building resilience and recovery.

For more information, visit our website https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/
For information about other Farmers for Climate Action webinars and events, go here https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/what-we-do/events/

Photo credit: Angus Emmott Photography

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr Rob Gordon is a clinical psychologist who has been working in the field of disaster recovery since Ash Wednesday in 1983. He has worked with people and communities after the Port Arthur shooting, the Bali Bombing, Black Saturday and numerous natural disasters throughout Australia and New Zealand. He will speak on the impact of disasters on weakening the social fabric of communities.

Matthew Ricketson is an academic and journalist. He is currently the head of the Communications Group at Deakin University. Prior to this role, he was the inaugural Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra between 2009 and 2017. For three years before that he was Media and Communications Editor for The Age.

Lorraine Gordon is the founder of the National Regenerative Agriculture Alliance based out of Southern Cross University (SCU). As Director of Strategic Projects at SCU and Associate Director of the University’s Centre for Organic Research, Lorraine acts as a conduit between industry and research, delivering sustainable and regenerative agriculture solutions nationally. Lorraine is a beef trader from Ebor, NSW. Lorraine was awarded the 2018 Australian Rural Community Leader of the Year for her work with farmers.

Denis Ginnivan is a grassroots political leader, who is President and a foundation member of Voices for Indi, a community group based in northeast Victoria. He is also co-chair of Totally Renewable Yackandandah. Denis will work with the community to explore the type of actions and future directions participants might like to take or strengthen to increase the resilience of their community into the future.

Wendy Cohen is the CEO of Farmers for Climate Action, an alliance of farmers, agricultural leaders and rural Australians working to ensure farmers are a key part of the solution to climate change. Wendy was previously the CEO of the Country Education Foundation of Australia, where she fought for better education outcomes for rural and regional students. Wendy was also the CEO of Equestrian NSW during the 2007 equine influenza crisis, spearheading the response and overseeing the distribution of over $25 million in relief funds.

Authorised by F. Davis, c/o The Hub, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine, 3450

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On Tuesday 2nd June, Farmers for Climate Action held the online Shepparton Climate Change, Water Availability and Community Resilience Forum.

The impacts of water constraints on the Murray-Darling Basin are still being felt across our communities. This forum was developed to support communities and people still grappling with reduced water allocations and drought.

Dr Peter Hayman delivered this forum’s focused address on the impact of climate change and climate variability on river inflows and water availability.

Dr Peter Hayman is the Principal Scientist in Climate Applications at SARDI. As program leader of the climate applications science program area, he works with industry stakeholders in dryland and irrigated industries to identify key climate risks and then form appropriate research and development partnerships to address the issue. He provides a two way flow of information between climate scientists from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO and agriculture in South Australia.

You can watch the full forum by clicking on the video on the end screen of this video.

For more information visit our website https://www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au/

We regularly hold webinars and other events to share information with farmers and rural communities, have a look on our website to see if there are any coming up that may be of interest to you https://www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au/events

If you are interested in joining a community group in your area, please email [email protected]

Authorised by F. Davis, 233 Barker St, Castlemaine, 3450

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