February 28, 2018
Farmers will have better access to climate data to help them make decisions about their properties thanks to a revamped website.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development Mark Furner announced on Wednesday that the popular Long Paddock website has been updated to a modern cloud computing platform.
“The old Long Paddock website had been going for 22 years, providing critical rainfall and pasture outlooks to Queensland graziers,” Mr Furner said.
“It has long been regarded as a key source of climate advice for Queensland, and indeed Australian primary producers, with over 17,000 hits per month.
“Queensland has one of the world’s most demanding environments to undertake agriculture, with very high levels of rainfall variability, and our producers need to continually adapt when faced with drought, flood and tropical cyclones.”
Science Minister Leeanne Enoch said the Long Paddock website would also support climate-smart agriculture by providing industry-relevant information for decision making.
“The new site has greatly improved functionality, making it even easier to access climate and pasture-related information,” Ms Enoch said.
“Long Paddock also includes free online access to customised property reports with climate data, seasonal climate outlooks, simulated pasture growth, as well as satellite-derived ground cover and tree cover maps.”
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin welcomed the Queensland Government’s efforts to provide more accessible and up-to-date information to help farmers understand their climate risks and make more informed decisions in managing those risks.
“We look forward to seeing Long Paddock evolve further over coming years as climate science advances and further decision support tools become available,” Mr Guerin said.
