Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
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A
ND GREGORY M. MCKEON
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Since European settlement of Australia began in 1788, drought has been
viewed as a major natural threat. Despite warnings by scientists (e.g.,
Ratcliffe, 1947) and many public inquiries, government policies have, in
the past, encouraged closer land settlement and intensification of cropping
and grazing during wetter periods. Not surprisingly, drought forms part of
the Australian psyche and has been well described in poetry, literature (e.g.,
Ker Conway, 1993), art, and the contemporary media (newspapers and
television). Droughts have resulted in social, economic, and environmental
losses.
Attitudes toward drought in Australia are changing. Government poli-
cies now consider drought to be part of the natural variability of rainfall
and acknowledge that drought should be better managed both by govern-
ments and by primary producers. Nonetheless, each drought serves as a
reminder of the difficult challenges facing primary producers during such
times.
We begin this chapter with a brief overview of drought in Australia and
its impacts on agricultural production, the environment, rural communi-
ties, and the national economy. We outline some of the ways governments
and primary producers plan for and respond to drought and describe in
detail an operational national drought alert system.
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infall Variability and Agricultural Production in Australia
Australia has mainly an arid or semiarid climate. Only 22% of the country
has rainfall in excess of 600 mm per annum, confined to coastal areas to the
north, east, southeast, and far southwest of the country (
http://www.bom.
gov.au/climate/ahead/soirain.shtml).
Australia also has high year-to-year
and decade-to-decade variation in rainfall due, in part, to the influence of
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