Author Archives: Gordon Rogers

The many tools available online

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There is a wide range of tools available for helping growers and others involved in the vegetable industry to manage the impacts of climate change and variability. Although some have been developed for other industries, such as grains and broad acre agriculture, they still contain elements useful for vegetable growers.

The tools can be grouped into

  • Understanding and managing climate
  • Forecasting weather
  • Carbon footprinting and managing emissions
  • Financial management and compliance

Understanding and managing climate

The Australian CliMate tool and Yield Prophet (designed for grain growers) have both proven very popular tools for understanding and managing climate. However, there are many others also available.

Click HERE for a table listing the huge range of climate management tools available over the Internet. The tools which have more detailed descriptions on this website are highlighted in green.

There are also several models which aim to help people understand how the climate is predicted to change. These can help in making specific predictions on what is expected given different scenarios and interests. Climate dogs, developed by the Victorian DPI, NSW DPI and the Bureau of Meteorology presents a fairly lighthearted, entertaining look at global climate processes. The CSIRO site OzClim takes a more serious look at climate modelling based on different scenarios.

The tools that are missing are ones which would help growers evaluate the suitability and risks of growing specific crops in their region. It would be possible to create such a tool from the GIS formatted output in OzClim matched to crop growing requirements, temperature and rainfall.

A tool which helped predict extreme weather events would also be extremely useful for vegetable growers. The “Managing Climate Variability” project would be ideally suited to work with the vegetable industry and the Bureau of Meteorology to improve forecasting in growing regions.

Forecasting weather

The main reputable online sources of weather and climate forecasts for Australia are:

 Carbon footprinting and managing emissions

The most important tool in this area is the Vegetable Carbon Calculator. This was developed as part of a HAL project (VG09187), funded by Australian vegetable growers through HAL with support from Houston’s Farms (Tasmania) and Woolworths.

Other agricultural industries have also developed tools for calculating carbon footprint and minimising greenhouse gas emissions. These include the Cool Farm tool (crops and livestock), FarmGas tool (Meat and Livestock Australia), Renewable energy Calculator (Nursery and Garden Industry) and the Australian Wine Carbon Calculator (Winemakers Federation of Australia).

Financial Management and Compliance

The tool most likely to be useful to the vegetable industry is the Veg Tool. This was developed by Schofield Robinson with funding from the Australian Vegetable Industry and HAL. While it is not specifically related to managing the impacts of climate change, the tool does provide a framework for assessing gross margins and can be used to compare different  scenarios.

As agriculture is not covered by the carbon tax, vegetable growers are not required to report emissions under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme.

However, some processors and suppliers to the industry may be liable. The NGER is administered by the Clean Energy Regulator, who provides a number of compliance tools on their website:

  • The Threshold estimator enable users to assess whether they are likely to be liable under the Clean Energy Act 2011 as well as whether a controlling corporation is likely to be obliged to report under the NGER Act 2007.
  • Solid waste calculator and user guide is used to assess greenhouse gas emissions from landfill operations.
  • NGER wastewater calculators are available for domestic, commercial and industrial applications. They aim to assess greenhouse gas emissions resulting from wastewater treatment.
  • Uncertainty calculators are used to assess and report uncertainty associated with scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions.

 

 

CO2 effects on nitrogen requirements

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There are two main effects of elevated CO2 on the nitrogen nutrition and growth of vegetable crops:

First, as CO2 levels increase, the level of nitrogen in the tissue of plants decreases. This is due to more efficient use of nitrogen by plants grown at high CO2 and means that less nitrogen is required to produce maximum yields than would be required at 1990 levels of CO2. For example, in cucumbers, spinach and fenugreek, N concentrations in the leaves were about 16% lower at high CO2 compared to plants grown at ambient CO2 levels.

The implication of this is that if CO2 levels continue to rise, vegetable crops will become more efficient in their use of nitrogen and therefore less will need to be applied. This may fit well with methodologies aimed at reducing N2O emissions based on better nitrogen management as part of the Carbon Farming Initiative.

The other main impact of nitrogen relates to the growth and yield stimulation that can be expected at higher CO2 levels. This response is highly dependent on the supply of nitrogen to the plants, as plants need adequate nitrogen to take advantage of the benefits of elevated CO2.


Luomala, E. M., L. Sarkka, et al. (2008). Altered plant structure and greater yield of cucumber grown at elevated CO 2 in a semi-closed greenhouse. Acta Horticulturae. S. d. Pascale, G. Scarascia Mugnozza, A. Maggio and E. Schettini: 1339-1346.

Jain, V., M. Pal, et al. (2007). “Photosynthesis and nutrient composition of spinach and fenugreek grown under elevated carbon dioxide concentration.” Biologia Plantarum 51(3): 559-562.

DAFF. (2013). “Carbon Farming Initiative.” 2013, from http://www.climatechange.gov.au/cfi.

Rogers, G. S., P. J. Milham, et al. (1996). “Sink strength may be the key to growth and nitrogen responses in N-deficient wheat at elevated CO 2.” Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 23(3): 253-264.

Frosts

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Frost is a major risk to vegetable producers. It might be thought that one benefit of increases in the minimum temperature would be to reduce the chance of frost.

Researchers at the Managing Climate Variability have found that the period during which frosts can occur – the frost window – has widened over the last 20 years, particularly in the eastern parts of Australia. This is despite an overall increase in mean minimum temperatures.

The analyses have revealed that in the east the frost window is starting up to 10 days earlier and ending up to 46 days later.

This means that frost will be MORE likely to occur in the future: the risk period will start earlier and finish later.

The pattern of later endings is consistent across much of southern Australia, whereas the earlier starts are more localised to western New South Wales and northern Victoria.

The frequency of extreme cold temperatures is also on the rise across much of southern New South Wales and northern Victoria. An average increase of four frost days and five cold nights each decade has been identified since 1970.

The changes in the frost window, despite increases in mean temperature, are consistent with the expected increases in climate variability. This is due to changes in regional weather patterns. The trend is that the band of high pressure, which normally sits across southern Australia has moved further south and intensified, allowing cold polar air to move onto the continent following the passage of any cold fronts.