printThe Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO are seeking farmers willing to contribute around an hour of their time to provide input into the development of a new online climate and forecasting tool, specifically for the ag and horticulture sectors.
The Climate Services for Agriculture project is funded by the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment through the Future Drought Fund. It's intended to help primary producers recognise trends and conditions that have, or may in the future, impact the way they operate. It involves the development of a region- and commodity-specific online climate tool, with a goal to assist producers with on-farm decision making.
There are a couple of ways in which the BOM and CSIRO are engaging with growers and advisers, including commodity-specific focus groups and one-on-one discussions, social science interviews, and user experience testing of the tool. Farming systems research group partner FarmLink is helping the development teams identify and engage with farmers who may be interested in participating in one or more of these activities.
Participation involves a one-off discussion via video call of about 45-60 minutes at a date and time that suits you. The prototype of the tool can be viewed here (bear in mind it is early iteration):
https://climateservicesforag.indraweb.io/
Username: csa
Password: demo
Ultimately the tool will be available for a national audience across all commodities, so the team welcome participants of any age or gender, in any agricultural or horticultural industry.
To get involved, or if you just want to know more, contact Sarah Clarry at comms@farmlink.com.au or on 0419 165 771.