FARMERS could be forgiven for feeling they're lost in a maze of climate advice as ag bodies, the government and industry pass the parcel on responsibility for adaptability support.
While the NSW government said "local decision-makers" should act on climate change and adaptability research, peak body Local Government NSW argued responsibility rested with Local Land Services (LLS), and NSW Farmers called on producers to address the problem.
However, a leading consultant said state government research was inadequate, and not enough support was available to producers to protect farm productivity in the face of increasingly variable weather.
Pasture cropping consultant Colin Seis, Gulgong, has spent more than 20 years developing conservation farming techniques and ecosystem management.
He said his work increasingly focused on helping farmers adapt to an increasingly variable climate.
Mr Seis, reigning National Bob Hawke Landcare Award winner, 2012 Australian Green Agriculture and Innovation winner, and 2007 National Carbon Farmer of the Year, said there was a hole in state government climate adaptability services.
"Most government departments are 30 to 40 years behind in relation to agriculture," he said.
"They need to start listening to what good farmers are doing.
"Unfortunately, government departments aren't doing that."
Mr Seis' criticism followed a damning assessment from climate researchers of the government's climate adaptability and resilience policies ("Climate policy void defies grim forecasts", The Land August 6, p10).
However, NSW's Office of Environment and Heritage said last week "local decision-makers" were best placed to undertake research and consult with farmers.
A Local Government NSW spokeswoman said despite 82 per cent of NSW councils undertaking climate change risk assessments, they were ultimately not responsible for giving advice on farm climate adaptability - action should instead come from the LLS, she said.
But NSW Farmers research and development general manager David Eyre said producers should take the initiative.
"(State government research) is important - but climate is very difficult to predict at a local level," Mr Eyre said.
"It is the role of representative groups like us to bridge the gap between farmer and government."
