Combining historical, seasonal forecast and projected climate data
The Climate Services for Agriculture (CSA) prototype helps Australian farmers to adapt to climate variability and related trends and thereby improving the viability of their businesses.
The CSA prototype is unique in that it helps you understand the historical, seasonal and future climate at your location to help inform decisions for your business. It provides you with:
- historical data (1961-2020)
- seasonal forecasts (1-3 months)
- future climate projections (2030, 2050, 2070).
Delivery approach
This prototype is being delivered by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, combining climate science and agriculture expertise. The program is using a human centred design process and a multi-disciplinary capability to design the prototype in collaboration with end users.
Explore the prototype
Please explore the CSA prototype.
We encourage users to provide feedback within the prototype or by emailing CSAEnquiries@csiro.au.
Please note:
- The prototype is being used to deliver relevant data and insights at national scale and is focussed on the 8 pilot regions for consultation, evaluation and feedback purposes.
- The prototype is best viewed on a desktop computer using Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Safari.
- System performance may be variable for some locations in Australia.
User engagement in pilot regions
Additional climate risk, impact and resilience information will be developed with users in pilot regions, through to June 2023. 8 pilot regions have been identified to focus engagement with farmers on the development of the CSA platform and the related Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool (DR.SAT).
The initial 4 pilot regions announced in March 2021 include:
- Queensland Dry Tropics – including the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region. Key centres include Townsville, Charters Towers and Bowen.
- Condamine and the Northern Tablelands – including the Condamine catchment and Northern Tablelands NRM regions. Key centres include Toowoomba, Stanthorpe, Warwick, Armidale and Glen Innes.
- Victorian Mallee and south-east South Australia – including the Sunraysia and Wimmera / Mallee regions of Victoria and Riverland and Mallee regions of South Australia. Key centres include Mildura, Swan Hill, Renmark, Berri, Ouyen and Horsham.
- Western Australian Wheatbelt – including the Wheatbelt NRM region and surrounding areas. Key centres include Northam and Narrogin.
The additional 4 pilot regions announced in November 2021 include:
- Tropical North – including coastal Queensland between Townsville and Cooktown, the NT Katherine region and north-eastern WA in the Ord River region. Key centres include Cairns, Darwin, Katherine, and Kununurra.
- Central West New South Wales – including the broad-acre cropping regions. Key centres include Dubbo, Parkes, and West Wyalong.
- Riverina and Goulburn-Murray – including the irrigated area within the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Key centres include Shepparton and Griffith.
- Gippsland and Northern Tasmania – including the irrigated and non-irrigated dairy and vegetable growing regions. Key centres include Bairnsdale, Sale, Yarram, Burnie, and Launceston.
Indicative boundaries are shown on the map below:
Further information on how to participate is provided in the Questions and Answers (below) or by contacting DroughtResilience@agriculture.gov.au.
Questions and Answers
| March 2021 |
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| July 2021 |
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| July – November 2021 |
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| December 2021 |
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| January – May 2022 |
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| June 2022 |
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| 2022-2023 |
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We’re looking for people working in agriculture in each pilot region to participate in user-engagement activities up until June 2023.
This includes farmers, advisers, extension officers and natural resource managers, as well as businesses servicing agriculture, such as agricultural suppliers and people working in business financing and banking.
Different options will be available for participation, depending on your time, interest, and availability.
Once you’ve registered your interest by emailing CSAEnquiries@csiro.au, we’ll be in touch with further details.
As a participant, you may be invited to attend regular workshops or participate in interviews with product developers from December 2021 to June 2023. Depending on your time, interest, and availability, you could be involved in:
- helping to develop climate information products, to assist farm businesses understand future climate and how that could impact the key commodities in their region
- providing input into the design, function and content of the new CSA digital platform
Key activities are likely to include:
- online and/or face-to-face group workshops
- one-on-one interviews
- website testing, surveys, and other online activities.
Recordings of the first series of online workshops held in pilot regions in October and November 2021 are available on request by emailing DroughtResilience@agriculture.gov.au.
This will depend on the type of activity you are involved in, your interests and availability.
Activities could occur online, in-person or over the phone.
Yes, it is intended that the prototypes will be extended beyond pilot regions to reach additional commodities and farmers.
Currently CSA includes regional scale climate projections for all of Australia. You can provide feedback within the prototype or by emailing CSAEnquiries@csiro.au.
Funding information
The table below details the payment information for the Climate Services for Agriculture program, as required under the Future Drought Fund Act 2019.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
To develop an interactive digital platform bringing together a variety of climate information specifically for farmers and the agricultural sector, in conjunction with the Bureau of Meteorology.
| Total amount payable | Date of first payment | Amount of first payment | Total amount paid | Total amount still to be paid (by June 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $14,234,892 | 2 February 2021 | $612,802 | $2,144,809 | $12,090,083 |
Bureau of Meteorology
To develop an interactive digital platform bringing together a variety of climate information specifically for farmers and the agricultural sector, in conjunction with CSIRO.
| Total amount payable | Date of first payment | Amount of first payment | Total amount paid | Total amount still to be paid (by June 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $7,753,393 | 2 February 2021 | $387,167 | $1,355,086 | $6,398,307 |