Experts warn that crucial farming sector could face tough year ahead: 'Nearly 70% of farmers affected'

Australian dairy farmers and consumers may be in for a rough rest of the year, as extreme weather conditions pose risks to livestock and production, while operating costs could cut into profits. 

What's happening?

Dairy Australia's Mid-Year Situation and Outlook report could spell bad news for dairy producers and the customers they serve.

Extreme weather conditions projected over the remainder of 2025 are reportedly set to impact animals and reduce dairy yields. Meanwhile, increased operating costs and potential tariffs could have a significant impact on profits and trade.

According to the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, the country "exports approximately 30 per cent of its milk production." This could be a case where climate-related issues end up intersecting with political matters to jeopardize industry functions, consumer access, and market dynamics.

Even with trade uncertainty and expensive overhead, experts like Dairy Australia's analysis and insights manager, Eliza Redfern, insist that rising temperatures and their intensifying effects are a prime worry. As Redfern explained to Dairy News Australia, "climate remains the greatest concern, with nearly 70% of farmers affected by extreme weather."

Why is the climate concerning farmers?

Farmers around the world are struggling to adapt to the rapid heating of the planet and the extreme weather events that result. Droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires can leave animals, plants, and soil systems parched. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall, flash floods, and cold snaps can rot roots and delay fruiting. 

If global temperatures continue to rise, we can expect significant threats to the food supply. Some crops — like wheat, rice, and corn — may be too difficult to grow at all. Coffee, olive oil, and champagne are already seeing related production challenges.

And crop loss isn't just bad for business — it can be deadly. More than a billion people, many of them children, are currently facing food insecurity, suffering from malnutrition, or at risk of starvation. With less food, more people will go hungry.

What's being done to prevent crop loss?

Farmers and researchers are studying sustainable farming strategies to shore up crop resilience, many of them drawing on Indigenous knowledge. Improving water management and irrigation while boosting crop resistance to drought, pests, and frost could strengthen global food systems. 

In the long term, it will take a large-scale reduction of heat-trapping pollution to avoid reaching the point of no return. But with an assortment of zero-emission power sources, we already have more than one lever to pull to make a mass transition to clean energy.

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