Managing agricultural systems in a variable, non-stationary climate : Part II. Natural resource management and grazing systems

Australia's grazing lands are important to it's Agricultural economy as they occupy over 50% of the continent and support approximately 120 million sheep and 25 million cattle. In Queensland, grazing of native pastures is the major land use (85% of State) and contributes approximately $2.5 billion in gross agriculture value (i.e. approximately 40% of total agriculture). Analyses of national climate variability have revealed that climatic events (e.g. drought, flood and extreme temperatures) are increasingly falling outside the long-term historical experience, as a consequence of anthropogenic climate change. As current agricultural practices have been strongly shaped by historical climate conditions, predicted changes in future climate, resulting from enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations, may result in loss of productivity and environmental degradation.