The Impact of Climate Change on Farm Business Performance in Western Australia. Understanding Farmer’s Adaptation Responses and Their Key Characteristics in Response to a Changing and Variable Climate

Abstract

This study examines ten years of financial and production data of 249 farm businesses operating in southwestern Australia. It also identifies the behavioural characteristics of the farm operators through a comprehensive socio-managerial survey of each farm business. The study area has a Mediterranean climate, where three quarters of the rainfall is received during the growing season from April and October. Growers have learned to produce 2 tonnes per hectare of wheat on less than 200 ml of growing season rainfall. Australia is the driest continent in the world and is renowned for its climate variability. In addition, evidence is emerging that its southern parts, like south-western Australia, are experiencing a warming, drying trend in their climate. Average annual rainfall over the last thirty years in the study area has declined and average minimum and maximum temperatures have risen. Moreover, in the last ten years a number of droughts have occurred. This multidisciplinary study examines the business performance of 249 farms from 2002 to 2011 and identifies the strategies farm managers have adopted to adapt to a drying, warming environment. Farms are categorised according to their performance. Their characteristics are compared and contrasted. We find many significant differences between farm performance categories and the adaptation strategies used by the farmers in each category. There are also different socio-managerial and behavioural characteristics between the groups of farmers identified.