LONG-TERM weather data has confirmed the Mallee is getting hotter and drier.
The report – A climate guide for agriculture-Mallee – has revealed a 7 per cent decrease in annual rainfall, twice as many dry years than wet and more consecutive days above 38 degrees.
Produced by the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and Farmlink, the report shows annual Mallee rainfall has decreased from about 320mm to 300mm over the past 30 years.
Anthony Radford, from the North Central Management Authority, said while the rainfall figures don’t seem too alarming, the impact of the decrease in rain during autumn and spring is very harmful.
“That rainfall has decreased in the autumn and spring months when this is a time the environment needs to take advantage and grow the most,” he said.
The report has also shown the average number of days greater than 38 degrees was now 16 as opposed to the 10 recorded in the 30 years before.
In 2009 and 2018, temperatures above 38 degrees were recorded for 13 consecutive days.
While the data doesn’t look good for the future of the Mallee region, Mr Radford said any data of this kind can aid in helping local farmers and communities to adapt to the change.
“We can work together with them whether it be things like planting or how to get the best out of their crops based on this sort of data as well,” he said.
“Not only does it highlight a change in climate across the years but it highlights more localised data for us which we can use for our community.”
