DROUGHT assistance measures have been dismissed as simply being crisis management, failing to do anything to drought-proof Australian farms.
In the latest video in the Soils For Life video series, Australia’s national soils advocate, former Governor General, Major General Jeffery said the drought has produced outpourings of sympathy, money and donations in kind from Australians presented with pictures of dust bowls, starving sheep and stressed farming families.
“It’s sad to see, but the $1.8 billion in support that the government has been forced to provide, along with donations of hay and other feedstock, in reality, are simply crisis management and not long-term solutions,” General Jeffery said.
“There’s a lot of talk about drought-proofing farms, but too little is being done to inform farmers on how to go about doing that, including providing the necessary technical and focused financial support.
“Australian agriculture has to adopt regenerative practices or continue to suffer through recurring and increasingly severe droughts.”
General Jeffrey said Soils For Life has numerous case studies about farmers who sat back, took stock, and studied what their landscape wanted, rather than only what they as farmers wanted.
“They learned to properly integrate their soil, water, plant and animal management, and markedly reduced the impact of drought,” General Jeffrey said.
“In some cases, our case study farmers appear to have fully drought proofed their properties.”
General Jeffery said he was pleased to report that the national policy objectives outlined in his report, ‘Restore the Soil: Prosper the Nation’ was currently receiving a whole of government response.
The report calls for:
- Educating Australian children about soil health and healthy food with a garden in every primary and junior high school with an agreed syllabus.
- Promoting the production of healthy food from healthy soils as an antidote to illnesses and allergies that increasingly appear to be coming through the food chain.
- Better supporting farmers to adopt regenerative practices so they don’t have to go into debt to make essential changes.
- Establishing a long-term soil, water, vegetation and agricultural knowledge program that encourages collaboration between scientists and successful farmers, re-establishes State/Territory agricultural research stations and provides long-term career planning for agricultural science graduates.
