Farmers in South Australia gather to scrutinise drought management

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Farmers are calling for a review of drought supports and policies as they gather at a national forum in South Australia. The event is held every two years to scrutinise how drought is managed across the country's agricultural sector.

Transcript

00:00A national forum with a clear call to action.

00:05We have to understand what drought means to Australia and how we're going to approach it.

00:10Hundreds of farmers and policy makers gathering an hour north of Adelaide in Gawler,

00:15part of the nation in the grips of drought.

00:18This is an unprecedented event that we're seeing in this part of the world right now.

00:23Many farmers and advocates want to see an overhaul in how support is administered.

00:29There's a big opportunity to make that program more relevant,

00:32to potentially take it out of the shackles of bureaucracy

00:35and actually see it deliver in the midst of drought.

00:40Some farmers are keen to see more in that response phase,

00:44but I'm actually hoping that farmers get more support in that recovery phase.

00:51Site visits at nearby Roseworthy showcased the latest innovation

00:55and research in making farming more drought resilient.

00:59I think it means we can move forward collectively to understand the issue facing us.

01:03And while there's some hope on the horizon with increased rainfall forecast

01:07in the next two years, the longer term outlook is bleak.

01:11The last 30 years has seen significantly less rain than the 100 years before.

01:16We are seeing a drying trend in this part of the continent and this will continue.

01:22This has certainly been the worst drought that our business has gone through.

01:27And so, yeah, I guess if we've gotten through this we can get through anything.

01:33But yeah, we're not out of the woods yet.

01:35All agree drought is something they'll continue to have to live with.

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