NRM on Farms Newsletter November 2015

As we all know El Nino is still going strong, but likely to decline by Autumn 2016. The NSW outlook is for average to dry conditions with warm temperatures. The exceptional hot spell experienced in southern Australia early in October was unusual in its intensity and duration, and possibly related to Australia’s third driest September on record.

DPI Agriculture’s Climate Unit is developing an Enhanced Drought Indicator System (EDIS) that will combine rainfall, soil moisture, and modelled pasture and crop growth data to better assess drought onset, severity and recovery. The project team is looking for data from current and historic grazing, pasture and crop trials to verify and improve EDIS’s accuracy.  If you have data that you would like to contribute to the project, or know of suitable data, please see the contact details on page 5 of the newsletter.

 A number of recent research projects are pointing to diversity of plant species and soil microbes  as keys to resilience in the face of increasing climate variability and extremes. Also of interest is the NSW Government’s recent response to submissions to its White Paper on 2014 Crown Lands legislation. I hope you find something to interest you in this issue of NRM on Farms.