If there’s something that sets farming aside from just about every other occupation, it’s surely the opportunity to appreciate and participate in the patterns of nature, seasonal change and regeneration.
While we’re endlessly reminded that farming these days is a business and not a lifestyle, we also generally understand that it’s also a lifelong experience of living with and understanding nature – on nature’s not always accommodating terms.
As with close human relationships, life with nature is fraught with crisis, periods of anger, resentment and doubt but nothing beats the joy of “making up” as the old song goes, after a rough patch. Understanding the rhythms of the land and life and the miracle of recovery from abuse of the resource is one of the immense satisfactions of a life in farming.
“Old weathered soils and variable climate have shaped the productivity, reliability and stability of Australia’s environments. The level of population that can be supported by Australian ecosystems is dependent on how well modern agriculture works within the boundaries set by soil productivity and climate variability.”
Tim Flannery, Chairman, Climate Change Advisory Committee to the Australian Prime Minister, is on a mission. He believes that human activity is drastically altering the earth’s climate and that before too long these changes will have a devastating effect on life on this planet. He wants to mobilize the social and political will to address this problem before it’s too late.
As a Land Resources Scientist, I reached the conclusion early in my career that scientific knowledge alone will not help a nation to achieve sustainable management of its land, water and environmental values. Even enthusiastic and committed environmentalists like Tim Flannery realise that partnerships are needed between land and water users, scientists, managers and the community if a nation is to preserve its rural resources.
These partnerships are not easy to achieve because of the differing perspectives of the parties and the past lack of dialogue between rural communities and researchers.
How do we judge the sustainability of farming systems?
In Australia, while it is true that changes in farm management at the paddock and farm scale have decreased rates of soil erosion, maintained soil productivity and improved the hydrology of waterway systems, unfortunately, at the broader catchment and regional scale, farming systems are still far from sustainable.
Soil and water salinisation is increasing across catchments, river system health is in decline and there is continuing loss and fragmentation of bushland resulting in loss of regional biodiversity.
Modifying the perceptions of the key stakeholders towards environmental issues remains, in my mind, the key to improving the sustainability of the rural landscape
