The very complex questions of whether and how climate change might affect the long-term future of crop production in Central Queensland are up for discussion at Grains Research Updates in Emerald and Biloela later this month.

And the answers aren’t all bad news – far from it – although some of them will be surprising to the graingrowers who attend.

Former farmer and current author Warwick Jones will tell Update audiences in Emerald on August 24 and Biloela on August 25 that nearly all available climate change information is written by urban Australians, for urban Australians.

It concentrates on just two aspects – temperature and rainfall – and Mr Jones says there are a lot more changes occurring in the atmosphere than just increasing concentrations of man made greenhouse gases.

These other changes are also having a significant effect on the way plants grow and farmers should be looking beyond temperature and rainfall when considering climate, taking “a crop’s eye view” of the situation. 

Mr Jones will tell Central Queensland graingrowers the variability of rainfall, rather than its amount, could be the critical climate change issue for them. 

He says the CQ climate is so highly variable anyway that it’s hard to say whether it’s becoming more or less variable.

Certainly the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle time has been reduced from a bit more than seven years in the 1870s to a bit more than four years now but there’s nothing to suggest this is because of greenhouse gases.

Study of coral cores and tree rings shows ENSO over the ages has been capable of much more variability than revealed in our instrumental records for the past 100 years or so. 

Mr Jones’ presentation at Emerald and Biloela will include the particular effects climate change might have on CQ, including the possibility the climate could “churn”, making it impossible to assess risk even with the always improving computer models.

His personal answer to continued crop production in Central Queensland’s difficult and increasingly variable climate would be a perennial crop, possible through genetic modification.

Designing the crop to suit the environment rather than trying to change the environment to suit the crop.

Grains Research Updates are organised by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) with the support of Queensland’s Departments of Primary Industries and Fisheries and Natural Resources and Mines, CSIRO, the universities and AgForce. 

The CQ Updates will be held at the Emerald Memorial Club on August 24 and Biloela ANZAC Memorial Club on August 25, with registration from 8:30 am. . There will be a $30 charge per head ($25 second person from the same farm) to cover the cost of catering and printing. 

To register, or for further details, contact Anne Sullivan (Emerald) 07 4983 7420 or Rod Collins (Biloela) 07 4992 9111