The former president of the National Farmers’ Federation, Brent Finlay, has accused politicians of “jumping in front of the cameras” while shirking effective policy work on drought and climate change.
As Scott Morrison and his special drought envoy, Barnaby Joyce, toured south-west Queensland on Tuesday, Finlay described the former deputy prime minister and agriculture minister as the last in a long line of ministers who had “no real appetite” for national drought policy in a changing climate.
If we want strong climate action, we need to get the moderate Liberals on board | Erwin Jackson Read more “Climate change and connectivity are the two biggest issues facing the bush.
Climate change is real and we have to have a national drought policy framed on what we know about climate change – the two are interlinked,” Finlay told Guardian Australia.
“Instead of jumping in front of the cameras when a drought is on, we need them to do the grunt work on effective financial measures that allow our farmers to build up cash reserves in the good times to draw upon when the dry comes again.” He also called on governments to start rewarding good farmers who prepare for drought rather than the “less efficient” farmers.
“I went to Labor and the Coalition in 2013 when nowhere in Australia was in drought,” Finlay said.
The white paper did not include climate change in its terms of reference and the NFF was not consulted on those terms.
By recognising climate change, it is empowering resources to support agriculture.” He would like to see a permanent drought commissioner placed in the prime minister’s office to be proactive on policy development and climate monitoring.
This would be a significant move, as it would place the commissioner out of the hands of the agriculture minister, who is a National party minister in any Coalition government.
If it’s in PMO and hopefully its bipartisan, it elevates the management of the position.” Finlay was president of the National Farmers Federation for three years from 2013, coinciding with the last months of the Gillard-Rudd Labor government and Barnaby Joyce’s first three years as agriculture minister.

DECIN, Czech Republic — Due to this summer’s drought in Central Europe, boulders known as “hunger stones” are reappearing in the Elbe River.
The low water levels in the river that begins in the Czech Republic then crosses Germany into the North Sea has exposed stones on the river bed whose appearances in history used to warn people that hard times were coming.
Over a dozen of the hunger stones, chosen to record low water levels, can now be seen in and near the northern Czech town of Decin near the German border.
The oldest water mark visible dates to 1616.
That stone, is considered the oldest hydrological landmark in Central Europe, bears a chiseled inscription in German that says: “When you see me, cry.” Play Video Play Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Remaining Time -0:00 This is a modal window.
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Record-breaking temperatures mean that water levels have seriously dropped throughout the drought-affected regions, and as a result, “hunger stones” from the 1600s have resurfaced in the Czech Republic’s Elbe River.
According to the Associated Press (AP),the stones, which date from 1616 or earlier, serve as a warning to prepare for the potential impact of major droughts.
NPR notes that a team of researchers wrote about the stone in a 2013 paper about the history of droughts in the Czech Republic.
It’s worth noting that, according to NPR, the hunger stones are seen more often now because of a dam on a tributary of the Elbe River, though the current water levels are still unusually low.
The Guardian reports that unusually high temperatures are hurting crops throughout northern and central regions in Europe.
Swedish farmers have seen only about 12 percent of the typical seasonal rainfall this past summer season.
The Guardian further states that the European Drought Observatory (EDO) describes the current drought trend as “an extensive and severe anomaly,” and recommends that farmers take steps to adapt to warmer climates.
The Guardian also notes that farmers who have invested in irrigation and diversified their crop varieties are better able to withstand the effects of rising temperatures.
The EDO is encouraging water suppliers to prepare “sustainable adaptation measures towards an increase in drought frequency and intensity in the future,” The Guardian further reports.
Dire warnings aside, there’s no doubt that the effects of climate change are severe.

As of this morning about one-third of that drought area is now drenched.
The heaviest rain overnight fell in Muskegon County, with a large area of five to six inches of rain.
Here’s the current radar: Here’s the radar forecast through this afternoon and into overnight tonight.
Another weather feature you’ll notice is dry weather continuing in the southern third of Lower Michigan.
and northern Lower Michigan.
That round of storms will diminish Tuesday morning as it moves into southern Lower.
A third round of storms will develop across the southern half of Lower Michigan Tuesday afternoon and evening.
All of southern Lower should get rain and possible severe storms Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
That’s even in the parched area of southern Lower.
There could be areas that get another three to five inches of rain.

Long-term Colorado River forecasts highlight need for action From the Bureau of Reclamation: The Bureau of Reclamation has released updated 5-year probability-based planning model projections for future Colorado River system conditions, which underscore the ongoing impact of record dry conditions across the basin.
Furthermore, recently published results from the August 2018 24-Month Study operational model showed that another dry year like 2018 could drop the elevation of Lake Mead by 20 feet or more by mid-2020.
“These model projections further illustrate the continuing trend of drought and increasing dry conditions in the Colorado River Basin,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman.
Conversely, the 24-Month Study operational model—which was most recently released on August 15—produces a single projection of reservoir conditions based on current inflow forecasts and reservoir conditions.
Projections from the August 24-Month Study were used to determine annual operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead for 2019.
While Lake Mead is near the level that would—for the first time—trigger mandatory cuts to Lower Basin water deliveries, it will continue to operate in normal conditions through calendar year 2019.
CRS Report: ‘Freshwater ‘Harmful Algal Blooms: Causes, Challenges, and Policy Considerations’ From the Water Wired blog: “Scientific research indicates that in recent years, the frequency and geographic distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing nationally and globally.
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NEW YORK — Trea Turner touched the plate, then turned to his teammates on the bench.
"The bats, like I said, these guys can hit," manager Dave Martinez said.
The romp came with a cost, though, as Nationals reliever Kelvin Herrera was carted off the field with one out to go.
The 25-year-old righty blanked the Mets on two singles for six innings.
The major league record is 48 innings without a run by the 1968 Chicago Cubs and the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics.
Turner almost stopped Washington’s string by himself, leading off the sixth with a drive that hit the padding atop the left-field wall and went for a double.
"Just scoring that one run was kind of nice," Martinez said.
In between, Soto drew a bases-loaded walk, Harper doubled and Difo followed with a homer that silenced the crowd.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway was startled by how quickly a one-run game turned into a blowout.
"We threw 78 pitches in two innings and I think we gave up a few homers, too many walks.

The summer of 2017 was lauded as the “greenest ever” for electricity generation, thanks to a growing number of windfarms and solar installations edging out coal and gas power stations.
They usually provide four times as much power as solar each year.
2018’s summer heatwave made electricity generation dirtier Average monthly carbon intensity of UK electricity, grammes of CO2 per kWh.
National Grid said the carbon intensity of electricity generation was down 3% to 252g CO2 per kWh between January and August, compared with the same period last year.
After examining 17 years of monthly wind speeds in the UK, Bernstein bank concluded: “We do not find any evidence of a structural trend in wind speed over time.” Experts also said that the way solar highs coincided with wind lows showed that both technologies were needed in the switch to green energy.
How much renewable energy does the UK have?
Solar provided just over 10% of renewable electricity supply.
Utility-scale batteries have been installed around the UK’s electricity grid, and more are being built now.
Will climate change make wind droughts a regular occurrence?
However, a peer-reviewed paper last year said global warming would hit UK wind power generation.

A drier-than-average spring is expected to ensure drought conditions continue across Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says, after weekend rain did little to soften the ground.
Widespread falls were welcomed by many, but people in southern Queensland were particularly happy, with some describing it as the best single rain event since 2016.
Farmers happy but hesitant Cotton Australia chairman and St George farmer Hamish McIntyre said he had tipped some handsome totals out of the gauges at the weekend.
"We had 64mm on our property Strathmere, north of St George.
Where we live at St George there was 53mm, south of St George at Mooramanna we had 37mm, so we were very lucky.
"We never know what’s around the corner.
But not everyone was so lucky, with many farmers across Queensland disappointed with patchy rain.
More needed to turn paddocks green Currently 57.4 per cent of Queensland is drought-declared, including 23 councils and four part-council areas.
While weekend rainfall helped to settle the dust in some areas, much more is needed to green paddocks.
Ms Sharan said the rain had made a small dent to drought-affected areas, and farmers could expect a drier-than-average spring.

HARRISON, N.J. – If the New York Red Bulls were going to keep pace in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, they needed a difference-maker to step up.
Wednesday’s 1-1 New York Derby draw at Yankee Stadium against nine-man New York City FC felt more like a loss: A glorious chance to draw level with Atlanta United in the Shield race instead saw the Red Bulls tread water.
As they dueled a lively United side to a stalemate, it was beginning to feel like another ho-hum night for the Red Bulls.
“Sometimes things don’t work out, you don’t get goals, you don’t get assists,” Gamarra told MLSsoccer.com after the match via a translator.
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I’m thankful and I tried to give back to them something positive.” The 56th-minute goal featured a bit of industry and a bit of the sublime, showcasing what makes Gamarra such an intriguing part of his team.
The Argentinean – acquired this offseason at a reported Red Bulls-record transfer fee – took three touches to free himself and then, from nearly 20 yards out, fired home his first finish since a May 5th win over NYCFC.
Gamarra was fairly invisible against NYCFC at midweek but Sunday’s performance gives the Red Bulls hope that their playmaker can step up in key moments down the home stretch as his team hunts hardware.
I’m happy to have scored the goal and am focused on the next match.”

Aa Aa WARSAW (Reuters) – Droughts that hit Poland over the last few months were not severe enough to inflate food costs significantly, but prices of grain used in bread may rise more than 10 percent, Agriculture Minister Krzysztof Ardanowski said.
According to state meteorology institute IMGW, Poland experienced above-average temperatures in April-July, while the amount of rain was extraordinarily small.
Some farmers feared they may lose part of their agricultural production.
A sizzling summer has damaged crops in the European Union, leaving some farms struggling to survive.
Some crops were saved thanks to the intensive rains in recent weeks," Ardanowski told Reuters.
But grains used traditionally in bread-making have suffered and a production decline of more than 10 percent will translate into price rises of around 5-15 percent, Ardanowski said.
In October Poland will hold local elections, a test for the ruling eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party, which remains top in opinion polls.
PiS has earmarked 800 million zloty (£169.3 million) so far to help farmers cope with drought.
(Reporting by Anna Koper and Pawel Sobczak; Writing by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Dale Hudson) euronews provides breaking news articles from reuters as a service to its readers, but does not edit the articles it publishes.
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