Future shock for farmers

Countryman
Thursday 29/3/2007 Page: 6

Peak oil and climate change will change the face of agriculture for future generations of farmers. Both issues were high on the agenda at this year's WAFarmers young farmer conference.

Sustainable Transport Coalition deputy convenor David Worth told the conference that while the jury was out among different schools of thought on whether we had reached peak oil two years ago or were still 20 years away, as predicted by Shell, the gap between supply and demand would grow dramatically.

"The entire world assumes Saudi Arabia can carry everyone's energy needs on its back but there is no plan B," he said. Mr Worth said agriculture would be hit hard by surging oil prices, not only because of its dependency on diesel fuel but because of the use of crude oil in herbicides and fertilisers.

With operating oil wells in decline by five per cent annually, equating to four million barrels of oils a day, and new demand from China the outlook for oil prices and supply was bleak. "Discoveries of new oil areas peaked in 1960 and Australia peaked in 2000," he said. "We are growing two per cent per annum in terms of oil use, joining the list of about 60 other oil-producing countries.

"Last year Australia spent $25 billion on oil imports." Mr Worth said a pay-as-you-use car registration, biodiesel plants in regional communities and taxes on companies exporting Australian oil and gas to encourage them to sell gas locally would go some way to relieve the problem.

Badgingarra farmer Dale Park looked at ways for farmers to become part of the solution for global warming. "We in agriculture are often seen as part of the problem rather than part of the solution," he said.

"It's not good enough for us to say we are only a small part of the problem." Mr Park said Australian farmers needed to look at options such as wind power and to aspire to 40 per cent wind power generation. "As custodians of the land your permission is needed for wind power," he said. "Some farmers are getting two per cent of the gross of the power generated which is $10,000 to $15,000 per turbine in some cases."