Landcare wins grant to help local farmers take on the droughts of climate change

The local green organisation has won a $30,000 grant to help conduct a series of workshops to provide up-to-date information to farmers.

Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator Lana Andrews said the organisation had actually been approached by some farmers wanting to advance their sustainable farming practices to adapt to climate change.

"Workshops and training delivered across the region by this program will focus on improving ground cover, increasing water infiltration and species diversity," she said.

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Tamworth Landcare President Paul Moxon said climate change was likely to drastically reduce rainfall in summer and spring, but increase it in autumn and winter.

"One of the things we're working on is what kind of tree plantings you can do," he said.

"So we're doing a lot of our seed collecting up around Moree and to the border to grow trees in our nursery so that as those trees get bigger they'll be the type of trees that will be used to those slightly hotter, slightly drier conditions."

Asked if they would face a challenge convincing some farmers that climate change was a real phenomenon, Mr Moxon said most landholders had realised conditions were changing.

"Two or three years ago, I'd have said, yes, they were maybe even in the majority, but not now," he said.

"This last drought has opened everybody's eyes. Well, not everybody, but a really large percentage of people's eyes.

"It's like anything, there's people that keep up and there's people who don't."

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Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said the region's farming sector had suffered during the recent drought, the worst on record, and many landholders had accepted the need to make changes to farm practices as a result.

"By improving ground cover and water infiltration farmers can increase their productivity and continue to operate during dry periods," he said.

"This will mean maintaining a regular farming income, contribute to succession planning for farming families, keeping people in our regions, creating farming jobs and supporting our economy."

The $30,000 grant from the Increasing Resilience to Climate Change NSW community grants program will help Landcare fund their project Farming for Change.

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