Climate Change causes largest ever Australian wheat crop

When will it end?

Suffering Australian farmers have had to harvest the largest total volume of agricultural produce since records began, highlighting how stupid it is to let coal plants keep releasing vital plant nutrients into the atmosphere.

: A 42 foot Caterpillar Lexion combine harvester unloading wheat to an auger wagon pulled by a tracked Caterpillar Challenger tractor on the move near Pallamallawa, New South Wales, Australia.

Harvesting in NSW   Cyron Ray Macey

 

Australia’s bumper crop: record agricultural production forecast to total $78bn

The Guardian

Agricultural production will be the largest total volume of commodities Australia has ever produced, with a historic gross production value of $78bn, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences is predicting.

Just one week ago on Reuters:

EXPLAINER: Is climate change boosting hunger around the world?

Weds December 1

LONDON, Dec. 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As a warming planet brings higher sea levels and wilder weather – from droughts to floods – the challenge of growing food is getting tougher with less reliable harvests.

Climate Change destroys investigative journalism.

H/t Tom Nelson

10 out of 10 based on 109 ratings

121 comments to Climate Change causes largest ever Australian wheat crop

  • #
    John+R+Smith

    Investigative journalism and propaganda are two different things.
    Although it often takes a fair amount of investigative journalism to tell them apart.
    A fact well known to propagandists.

    490

  • #
    Yonason

    What?! Plants are accumulating more toxic CO2 from the contaminated atmosphere? We must warn the vegans!

    540

  • #
    Curious George

    Don’t rely too much on official predictions.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    It’s good that the natural increase in atmospheric CO2 has improved crop yields. Atmospheric CO2 was becoming so low that life itself was threatened because plants require a minimum CO2 level of 150ppm.

    On the other hand, global temperatures appear to be dropping which will lead to food shortages. Australia will fair very badly during cooling because of our obsessive commitment to expensive and unreliable “green” energy. In addition, if global cooling leads to less rain, Australia will again suffer because of a failure to build dams, pipelines and other irrigation infrastructure.

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    • #
      William

      18 degrees at 10.18 here in Harbourside Sydney – not looking to get much warmer today. Still yesterday was warm, a little over average, and we did have a couple of warm days in Spring so mustn’t complain.

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    • #
      Ian

      “It’s good that the natural increase in atmospheric CO2 has improved crop yields. ”

      You’re suggesting a single event in a single country is due to an increase in atmospheric CO2 generated by natural causes. Are you serious? You like so many others including the author of this article are confusing weather with climate.

      How about the rest of the world? Or is the “natural increase in atmospheric CO2” focussed solely on Australia? How did other major wheat producing countries fare?

      United States Department of Agriculture confirms 2021 wheat crop the smallest since 2002
      https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/54799-usda-confirms-2021-wheat-crop-the-smallest-since-2002.

      Russia’s wheat crop is expected to be lower than in 2020, when it harvested 85.9 million tonnes, due to dry weather
      https://www.producer.com/news/sovecon-raises-forecast-for-russias-2021-wheat-crop/

      In India wheat production in 2021-22 is estimated between 98 million to 105 million tonnes, lower than the 2020-21 record of 107.9 million tonnes
      https://www.world-grain.com/articles/15589-indias-grain-production-to-reach-new-record-highs

      In Canada wheat production is projected to decrease 38.3% year over year to 21.7 million tonnes in 2021,
      https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210914/dq210914b-eng.htm

      In China wheat production for 2020 was 134,250 thousand tonnes which is the second highest to the record set in 2017
      https://www.statista.com/statistics/242372/wheat-production-in-china/

      France raised its estimate for 2021 soft wheat production to 35.5 million tonnes. This is 21.5% above last year’s poor crop and 6.2% above the five-year average,
      https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/france-raises-2021-wheat-maize-and-sunseed-crop-estimates

      As is apparent wheat production in the rest of the world is, as is usual, varied and suggests your claim that naturally occurring CO2 is responsible for the record wheat harvest in Australia is unlikely.

      730

      • #
        Adellad

        Selective use of data. Without going in chapter and verse, Canada’s two record years for wheat were 2016/7 and last year…so the CO2 argument holds. Also total global wheat production 2020/21 was greater overall than the previous year, an ongoing trend.
        https://www.statista.com/topics/1668/wheat/#dossierKeyfigures

        170

        • #

          Seriously? Every single industry, whether it is agriculture, IT, car making or insurance have increasing efficiency and productivity over time. Thus they all correlate with CO2 rises. CO2 is pretty clever at squeezing more speed into those silicon chips.

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          • #
            clarence.t

            Well done GA, you finally realise that human development goes hand in hand with human use of carbon based fuels. !

            You just got the cause and effect the wrong way around.

            Stop the use of carbon based fuels, humankind development will stall…

            … by 2050 apparently !

            It seems don’t understand enough about plant biology to realise that CO2 is an essential ingredient, currently at lowish levels, and that the gradual increase of atmospheric CO2 is just what the world needs for continued food production efficiency.

            Trying to liken that plant requirement to IT, car making etc is just plain ga. !

            230

          • #
            Raving

            That is progress for you

            10

        • #
          Ian

          “Also total global wheat production 2020/21 was greater overall than the previous year, an ongoing trend.”

          Selective data?

          You clearly are not taking into account the estimates that the harvested area for wheat in the 2020/21 global campaign will increase 2 per cent year-on-year to 221 million hectares. That has considerably more impact year on year than does CO2.

          Nor are you considering IGC estimates that the harvested area for wheat in the 2020/21 global campaign will increase 2 per cent year-on-year to 221 million hectares and that global grain production has come a long way in the last 40 years, thanks to the broad adoption of vastly improved agronomic practices.

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          • #
            clarence.t

            Odd that a biologist would try to downplay the effect of CO2 on plants. 😉

            Maybe forgotten the basics of plant biology ?

            Perhaps some data will help ?

            http://www.co2science.org/data/plant_growth/dry/dry_subject_w.php

            The CO2 values are ” increases for a 300, 600 or 900 ppm increase in the air’s CO2 concentration above ambient conditions.”

            Nearly 40% increase in wheat dry weight for an increase of 300ppm in atmospheric CO2.

            And if you took the atmospheric CO2 level up to around 900-1000ppm (600ppm column), you would get around a 63% increase.

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            • #
              Ian

              Here’s some real life data Clarence. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 from 2000 to 2021 has increased by 12.2%. The global harvest of wheat from 2000 to 2001 has
              increased by 32.8%. A ratio of yield to CO2 increase of around 2.75 compared with the ratio 0.66 from your dates of

              The data you link to show an increase of 100% in CO2 concentration leads to an increase in wheat growth 0.66 which is considerably less.

              These data suggest there are factors that, collectively, have a greater effect on wheat growth than does CO2.

              24

              • #
                clarence.t

                Seems you don’t understand that the growth is to do with “available” CO2, so the real starting point for CO2 should be about 200ppm, where plants shut down

                Try again. A biologist should know better.

                50

              • #
                clarence.t

                And yes, there are other factors.

                But your denial that CO2 has played a significant part, is against all understanding of the biology of plant growth.

                50

      • #

        I’m not suggesting much at all. I’m mocking the media which often and always tells us that single country events, and even for a single weekend, are “due to climate change”.

        Have you heard of satire?

        320

        • #

          I think you need to also direct this to DM, Adellad, FF, Neville etc.

          216

        • #
          TedM

          “Satire”. Absolutely Jo and please keep it up you are so good at it. Most of us who comment here recognise it, appreciate it and love it.

          201

        • #
          Ian

          “Have you heard of satire?”

          Sorry Jo I get so used to reading articles in the media that conflate weather and climate I took this as just another article in the same vein. However as you can see from DM’s claim about CO2 others too did not recognise your satire.

          315

          • #
            peter

            Ian,
            Climate is the time-weighted-average of weather. Saying the two aren’t related is like saying ants and an ant-nest are two different things. If you don’t understand weather you don’t understand climate. All the examples of failed wheat crops you gave were from the northern hemisphere. They have had cold winters over the last few years and unusually cold Spring and Autumn seasons – the very times they need to plant and harvest their grain. They have had another cold Autumn. How does that fit into global warming?

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          • #
            el+gordo

            Leaf was quick on the uptake.

            05

            • #

              Maybe so, but Mr Maddison was taking it very seriously and Ian was responding to his gormless remark. It deserved rebuking rather than Adellad’s factually incorrect affirmation.

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      • #
        John Hultquist

        The farms in the USA are operated to reflect what seems to be the future demand and income. Thus, crops planted and harvested can change quickly.
        Corn and soybeans are displacing small grains where the growing conditions are appropriate. However, world wide small grain harvests are increasing.
        Old line farmers have sent their daughters and sons to Ag and business schools.

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      • #
        clarence.t

        ” that naturally occurring CO2 is responsible for the record wheat harvest”

        A biologist would know that nearly all plants respond with better growth and yield when they are subjected to higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

        It is “almost certain”, to use IPCC slang, that raised CO2 level are at least partially, but “highly likely”, significantly, responsible for the generally increasing crop yields around the world over time.

        As your links point out, cold and/or lack of water are the main contributing factors to lower crop yields.

        160

      • #
        Strop

        Obviously there are weather variables that assist or stifle crop production and likely have a greater impact than whether CO2 is 300ppm or 400ppm. But, whatever the weather, surely you agree that more CO2 is beneficial to crop yield.

        You can post links showing poorer crop yields in any given year or location due to weather. But none of your links say that crops yields are lower because of an increase in CO2.

        60

      • #
        Ronin

        I would agree that it’s not the extra CO2 that’s boosted yields in OZ, two wet years have made a huge difference.

        30

    • #
      TedM

      Correct on all points David. Green tick from me.

      100

    • #
      Simon

      It cracks me up when people that claim CO2 is a ‘trace gas’ and can’t possibly affect the climate can unironically then claim the any crop productivity gain is due to the CO2 fertilisation effect.

      229

      • #
        TedM

        Sigh, Groan, head in hands. CO2 is a trace gas in the atmosphere Simon, but it is the gas that plants use directly from the atmosphere. Didn’t you ever wonder where their carbon came from? Or was that all too hard.

        200

      • #
        peter

        Yeah, too right, Simon.
        Not only do those people claim CO2 is a ‘trace gas’ and can’t possibly affect the climate but claim it also , as a trace gas, has enabled all vegetation, from mosses to grasses, shrubs, trees and all food crops to grow and flourish. Now who would believe that rubbish? Lucky we have you to set the record straight. Ha ha ha. No wait, at 0.04%, it is a trace gas, it does fertilize ALL plants and there is no evidence that it drives climate. Please explain Simon?

        210

      • #
        el+gordo

        This particular trace gas has the ability to green the planet, yet cannot alter temperature, and here we are at the end of the Holocene. Its a pity.

        31

      • #
        David Maddison

        Simon, during the day plants absorb CO2 and release O2 due to photosynthesis. During the night plants absorb O2 and release CO2 due to respiration. Some arid environment plants absorb CO2 at night also by a process called crassulacean acid metabolism.

        120

      • #
        clarence.t

        “It cracks me up”

        Don’t worry, your comments have that effect on everyone else..

        Your comments show a distinct and complete lack of comprehension of anything to do with the operations of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere.

        It has been shown many times at 250ppm CO2 is borderline low for plant growth, and that even at 420 ppm that is well below the optimum level for proper plant growth

        And you have never been able to produce one tiny bit of real science that shows that the highly beneficial rise in atmospheric CO2 has caused any of the nice warm period in which we are currently lucky enough to be living in.

        40

      • #
        clarence.t

        “and can’t possibly affect the climate “

        We await your scientific evidence that it does.

        ….. and wait, and wait….. and wait..

        There is plenty of evidence that it has zero effect on global temperatures, you have either missed that evidence, or been incapable of comprehending it.

        It doesn’t trap radiation. it permutes it to different frequencies that escape through the atmospheric window.

        https://i.postimg.cc/50scywD8/radiative_change_2.jpg

        It doesn’t affect the atmospheric lapse rate, therefore does not affect the temperature lapse or atmospheric pressure gradients, and since net energy transfer is based purely on those two items, it is scientifically impossible for even quite large changes in atmospheric CO2 to have any effect on temperature whatsoever.

        10

  • #
    Lawrie

    Could someone tell that fool Matt Kean. He is so keen to rid us of coal fired power and replace it with windmills. The problem is there are so many money hungry carpetbaggers only too willing to help him , with subsidies of course. I will write to him but we need many to write.

    350

  • #
    Fuel Filter

    Plant food…really?

    Who’dathunkit?

    140

  • #
    Neville

    Good story Jo and I’ve been watching the problems in NSW because of excess rainfall and floods.
    I hope that the 78 billion $ crop is correct and last year was 66 bn $ and was also a record year and now surpassed AGAIN.
    Marvelous and of course the Flannery donkey couldn’t have been more wrong with his idiocy in 2008.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Neville:

      Not all Flannery.
      2008 This drought may never Break
      It may be time to stop describing SE Australia as gripped by drought and accept the extreme dry as permanent.
      “Perhaps we should call it our new climate” said Bureau of Meteorology Head of Climate Analysis, David Jones.

      2010 Floods in northern NSW (and SE Queensland)
      2011 Brisbane Floods January. a wave of brown water inundated the city in the biggest floods to hit Queensland’s capital since 1974
      (The Guardian 2013 Floods in Australia 2010/11 lowered the world sea level).
      2015: the Hunter region, along with Central Coast and Sydney, was lashed by wild weather. It brought heavy rainfall and disrupted power supply to over 200,000 homes. The storms led to some of the most significant flooding that many residents in the region had experienced in 60 years 2017: Heavy falls were recorded along most coastal districts of New South Wales.
      2020: major flooding in Qld and NSW
      2021 40,000 evacuated from flood zones.The Bureau of Meteorology warned cells like this could become more regular throughout the rest of summer, following the wettest November since records began. He said more rain on the way.

      The overnight drenching prompted Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to officially rule out water restrictions this summer.

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      • #
        Neville

        Thanks for the reminder Graeme No 3 and you’re right that Flannery belonged to a herd of donkeys over the decades.
        David Jones BOM + Flannery were called out by the Bolter a number of times and he still shakes his head over their stupidity.

        200

      • #
        RickWill

        The Guardian 2013 Floods in Australia 2010/11 lowered the world sea level

        I learnt recently that the Australian continent is the only one where freshwater runoff into oceans does not follow the rain or snowfall like the other continents. It is the only continent where the variation in water storage beyond an annual cycle is significant.

        This fact is a compelling reason to improve water security in the country. There is huge variation in annual rainfall and drought dominates.

        150

        • #
          TdeF

          from a low close to 30% in 2007, Water Storage in Melbourne is now 90.1%, including the massive Thompson river valley which tripled Melbourne’s water supply. So the rains which fell have filled the dams. Why was Tim Flannery employed as Australia’s National Climate expert?

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          • #
            William

            Had they built all of the planned dams in Victoria, everyone of them would have been largely full today – and manytimes over since they should have been constructed.

            170

            • #
              RickWill

              I was involved in assessing the design of the proposed dam for the Mary River in Queensland. It got very close to approval but there was a rare species of fish that prevented the final go ahead.

              So Gympie continues to flood every few years and Queensland needs to ration water every few years.

              Instead of erecting wind turbines, Australia should be securing its water collection and storage

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              • #
                Kalm Keith

                It’s incredible that so much good work was sidelined and cancelled.

                You could be forgiven for thinking that there was a better “use” for the money somewhere else.

                60

              • #
                Ronin

                That Traveston dam was positioned on porous soil, and was too wide and shallow.

                40

              • #

                I guess Australia is more bowl shaped country than most. 🙂 Without a central mountain range, and with a section “below sea level” perhaps most of Australia doesn’t “drain to the sea” as quickly.

                “Australia is the lowest continent in the world with an average elevation of only 330 metres. The highest points on the other continents are all more than twice the height of Australia’s highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko which is 2228 metres above sea level.”

                Percentage of Australia below sea level = 0.11

                https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/landforms/elevations

                Probably our high variable rainfall and high evaporation rates means the whole continent can dry out some years.

                160

            • #
              Ronin

              They wouldn’t build them when it was dry because there was nothing to fill them with.

              40

              • #
                Wanda

                And they can’t build them when it’s wet because of a rare fish.

                50

              • #
                Chris

                Not all our rivers flow out to sea. When there is a drought on land there is also a drought in the sea – no water is flowing to take essential nutrients to the microscopic flora and fauna in the ocean. These microscopic life forms provide the essential services of a carbon sink and oxygen release to the atmosphere.
                Australia has a giant subterranean dam which we need a serious rethink about. It’s called the Great Artesian basin. Massive slow moving rivers run inland when the rains come, such as the Diamantina and the Coopers, recharging the basins as the rivers move toward Lake Eyre, 9 meters below sea level. I’m fully supportive of dams , but I do believe that we have a mind set that is not compatible with the way our island continent operates.

                50

              • #
                Kalm Keith

                Chris,

                We have lived with and used the GAB for a very long time.

                I’m not sure what your point is.

                20

            • #
              GD

              Had they built all of the planned dams in Victoria, everyone of them would have been largely full today

              The Age, October 2019.

              “the government hasn’t done enough to stop the drought and Victoria’s water woes, and more dams should be built, but Mr. Andrews said that would not be happening.”

              “Dams don’t make it rain,” Mr. Andrews said.

              40

        • #
          Neville

          Rick that big GULLY in the Uni Colorado SL graph was attributed to Aussie storage of record rainfall in 2010/’11

          https://sealevel.colorado.edu/

          20

      • #
        BriantheEngineer

        The Dams may never empty the spillways may never stop overflowing!!!!!!

        50

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Good news for farmers but some were flooded.

    Obviously not all of the record 21 ships anchored off NovoCastria yesterday were waiting for coal. 🙂

    There have been ships loading at the wheat silos as well.

    130

  • #
    Mal

    Under nett zero, we will never be able to produce ever again

    130

  • #
    Neville

    Here Willis Eschenbach explains that everyone is much better fed, clothed and housed today because of the increase in crops etc around the world. This is also the main point of Dr Rosling’s video for all Humans from 1810 to 2010.

    And farmers and farm workers make up a very small percentage of the workforce today compared to 30 years ago or 50 years ago or 100 years ago. Here’s the link and his quotes.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/25/wheres-the-emergency/

    “Yields of all major food crops continue to rise, and humans are better fed, clothed, and housed against the vagaries of weather than at any time in the past.

    And it’s not just yields that are going up. Despite the gradual warming since 1965, humans are better fed than ever. And this is a very valuable measure. Measures of income and wealth can get distorted because one person can make fifty times the income as another, or own fifty houses to the other’s one house.

    But nobody can eat 50 breakfasts, so average food consumption measures the nutrition of the whole population, rich and poor alike. Here is the consumption of protein, calories, and fat for all the regions of the world”.

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    • #
      Neville

      BTW I should’ve noted that Willis has included a number of graphs for crops etc over the years at the link above.
      Very easy to prove that we’re living in the very best of times.
      Don’t forget that population in 1970 was 3.7 bn and today is 7.8 bn and yet everything has improved over the last 51 years and by a huge margin.
      And certainly no obvious, detrimental crop losses from droughts or floods around the world over many decades.

      150

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    What does the 97% junk science say?

    Where else to go but Australia’s leading “academic” site for junk 97% doomsday global warming “science” but … The Conversation.

    Over 5 pages of low hanging fruit so low you have to bend over to pick it!

    I picked this over ripe one from 2017 from the CSIRO …

    Changing climate has stalled Australian wheat yields: study

    https://theconversation.com/changing-climate-has-stalled-australian-wheat-yields-study-71411

    My back hurts.

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  • #
    Geoffrey+Williams

    This is good news for Aussie farmers, hope that the harvesting continues to go well.
    ABC of course will not report on this in case their newscaster ‘chokes’ on it !
    GeoffW

    100

  • #
    Geoffrey+Williams

    $78bn grain harvest !! that’s a lot of dough . .
    GeoffW

    130

    • #
      Neville

      Yes Geoffrey+ Williams and just think of the unbelievable increase in calories+cropping, housing, clothing ( or wealth/ GDP) etc around the world since 1970.

      In 1970 global GDP was about 2.5 Trillion $ and by 1990 about 18.4 trillion and by $ 2000 about 33.5 Trillion $ and today about 84.7 Trillion $. Yet the Glasgow loonies + Biden+ Bojo + UN etc have just told us we have a CRISIS or EXISTENTIAL threat hanging over our heads and we must wreck our economies ASAP.
      Of course if anyone believes their idiocy they’ll believe anything. AND THEY OBVIOUSLY DO BELIEVE IT.

      https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/gdp-gross-domestic-product

      80

    • #
      Annie

      We knead a lot of dough.

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  • #
    Bill+In+Oz

    But Jo, it is just a prediction.
    “Agricultural production WILL be the largest total volume of commodities Australia has ever produced, with a historic gross production value of $78bn, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences is PREDICTING.”

    Lets see what the actual value is when the crops are harvested and sold.

    The curious thing is that it is the cool & wet climatic conditions which are generating this level of production.
    Of course the Guardian is unable to admit or even recognise this.
    it has to keep banging the drum that CO2 causes GOREBULL Warming.

    As Einstein once said “theory determines what facts ya see”.
    And the Guardian’s theory & ideology make it as blind as a bat.

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    • #
      el+gordo

      We are aware that the Guardian is an AGW supporter, but this is news and they have to play it with a straight bat. Same goes for the ABC, too difficult to insert their global warming meme so they leave it out.

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      • #

        The ABC reporting seems to be focussing on how much of the harvest has been lost in the east due to the recent flooding etc.
        Also, that $78bn figure must be based on some forecast values, but since China has stopped buying our grain crops, those values are very unpredictable.
        Why dont they judge crop production in Tonnes, rather than $$$s …a more accurate measure.?

        80

        • #
          Neville

          So far Chad I hope you’re wrong but fear that you could be right.
          I feel so sorry for the poor farmers with downgraded and in some cases lost crops.
          Fingers crossed for them until we know the outcome.

          30

  • #
    beowulf

    Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) still doesn’t know how much rain damage will impact on their predictions, and they won’t know until the wheat is actually in the silo.

    ABARES executive director Jared Greenville said “it would be the first time in at least half a century that production will increase for so many products at the same time”.

    Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said “production is expected to increase for every major livestock commodity and almost every major crop, our farmers are expected to produce the largest volume ever.”

    Dr Greenville said while heavy rain in eastern Australia has led to harvest delays and some crop losses, it’s unlikely to have a significant impact on Australia’s national harvest tonnage.

    “The larger impact will be on grain quality, with a higher than usual proportion of the crop being lower-value feed-grade wheat,” he said.

    . . . the upgrade of the Australian crop to a bin bursting record of 34.429 million tonnes, an increase of 1.8 million tonnes from the September projections.

    The report found La Nina conditions will see above average rain continue to fall in eastern and northern Australia bringing with it good growing conditions in 2022.

    If forecasts are realised, Australia’s agricultural production will reach a record $78 billion in 2021/22, with the most valuable winter crop ever expected worth $22.3 billion.

    We have now also seen the Canadians increase the size of their bread wheat crop by 700,000 tonnes, to 16 million tonnes, when a reduction to below 15 million tonnes had been expected.

    The Russians however are doing it tough.

    https://www.theland.com.au/story/7539477/australian-wheat-crop-upgraded-to-a-bin-bursting-record/?cs=4932
    https://www.theland.com.au/story/7541532/ag-records-to-tumble-for-aussie-farmers/?cs=4932

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  • #
    RickWill

    Climate Change causes largest ever Australian wheat crop

    Not so much climate change but rather favourable weather and more CO2 in the atmosphere. Neither could possibly be regarded as “Climate Change” so I take the heading as being cynical.

    There are subtle changes in climate but they are barely noticeable.

    60

  • #
    TdeF

    I am increasingly staggered about how prominent Climate Change is in the news. AGL is hell bent on closing Liddell. Dr. Twiggy Forrest is trying to make another fortune from Hydrogen. Even elections are about Climate Change as Holmes a Court and other rich listers try to pack the parliament with people sympathetic to saving the planet from something which you can see has not happened in 33 years, but is now super super urgent?

    It is really perplexing to understand whether these people actually believe what they are saying or they just want a piece of the next gold rush?

    Seriously, how can anyone believe in rapid sea level rise? Or rapid Global Warming? Or this unbelievable urgency and crisis and even ‘extinction’? Or that windmills or solar and batteries can replace fossil fuel power in Australia? Or that CO2 is somehow dangerous when everyone, every second of the day is breathing out 14% CO2. And the extra 6 billion people on the planet in 100 years has obviously not devastated the world’s climates? Really, a 50% increase in CO2 in 170 years is not a big or rapid change, less than 3% a decade no matter how you draw the graph. And it’s nothing compared with the rise in the population of 700%.

    Or it could be a religion, but I really doubt it. Consider the rich and most famous and successful opportunists of history and their children are now into Climate Change as the next big thing and you have to think they do not want to miss out. Or you could take the view that they have already made enough money and are into philanthropy. I am sure Alan Bond would be into Climate Change in a big way. With other people’s money.

    It’s odd though that Twiggy did not demand miners pay massive new diesel taxes (removing ‘subsidies’, tax ‘reform’) when he was one. And now he wants the money raised to be given to a good cause. His own project. It’s as if he does not want to risk his own cash and wants the people of Australia to fund his hydrogen adventure?

    100

    • #
      clarence.t

      Correction needed.. Human breath contains around 4% CO2, not 14%.

      Everything else you said is spot on.

      Its so anti-science and anti-reality as to have nearly reached the “bizarre” stage.

      70

      • #
        TdeF

        I have read the 14% figure, but it is hard to find again. It is likely an upper limit. Of course it cannot exceed the incoming 21% figure for oxygen except for a short period.

        The amount and % of CO2 varies, of course, with exertion levels. 4%-5% is a resting minimum. 3.8% is pushed by Wikipedia but what
        proportion of humanity have desk jobs?

        The total volume goes up dramatically as well “When you jog at 6 mph, you need 10.2 times the resting oxygen requirement”

        But you also start using anaerobic energy which means more CO2 per breath. That is you can move without breathing, dramatically
        increasing CO2 levels when you do finally breathe out. Holding your breath in exercise will do this, or very heavy exertion.

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          clarence.t

          “or very heavy exertion.”

          I’d forgotten about that.. 😉

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          TdeF

          In fact it is fascinating. All the numbers from a few years ago are gone and almost every article on a Google search is about Climate Change, page after page and the contribution of human breathing. Real science has been buried under a mountain of denial that humans actually contribute to CO2 by breathing. And that an extra 6 billion people is of no consequence. Nothing to see here folks. But they are missing the point.

          Simply I would have thought human caused CO2 output should at least scale with the human population, not least by breathing but also by travelling, working, building, eating, burning and just working. From that point of view the 50% increase in CO2 attributed to humans and the industrial revolution should be much higher when the human population has increased x10 in the same period and the CO2 produced per human would have gone up greatly too, as we see in the demand for massive increases of energy in China.

          So why is the CO2 increase only 50%? It is pretty obvious the cause is natural and not human activity or it would be much higher.

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    el+gordo

    Not sure about that, the climate changes when the PDO gets hot or cold.

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    David Maddison

    I keep asking warmists when has a period of natural warming such as the Mimoan, Egyptian, Roman or Medieval war periods, ever been bad for human civilisation. Even if the world were warming, what is the problem?

    On the other hand, periods of natural cooling such as the Little Ice Age are devastating for humanity.

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      David Maddison

      Warm not war…

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      clarence.t

      And if everyone hates the warmth so much..

      … why to roads northwards out of Sydney become jam-packed at the beginning of the school summer vacation?

      Heading to the even warmer northern NSW beaches. !

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    Yesterdays news was the announcement from BlueScope steel and Shell cosying up for a proposed “Green” Hydrogen plant at Port Kembla to supply the steelworks.
    A 10MW Electrolyser facility to split water to feed the steel plant.
    But, some details were missing. ..
    .source of rge Green electricity ..? ( presumeably a Solar/Wind /Battery, farm ?)
    ..how the Hydrogen would be used in the steel mill ? ..Heating ? Steel conversion ?
    ..how much (if any) truely Green Steel this would produce ?
    …how it would affect the cost of steel production. ( this would be a $100m project )
    Basicly , just a PR exercise to drum up support for Govmt funding, i suspect.

    Currently there are now 3 of these 10 MW Hydrogen Electrolyser projects in the pipeline , with over $100m of public money invested in them
    Note ….there are No 10MW Electrolysers operating yet anywhere in the world !

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      clarence.t

      Don’t worry, Port Kembla has the coal to power them.

      Its a good place to put them, if you absolutely have to go down the unicorn fart avenue.. 🙂

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      David Maddison

      If it’s a stupid and expensive idea, Australia is sure to adopt it.

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    Ronin

    What, a warmer climate causing more evaporation therefore giving more rainfall plus more CO2 to feed plant life, this is terrible, this will derail Gates’ depopulation plans. /Sarc Off/

    [wee edit. – LVA]

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    David Maddison

    It’s unbelievable that no warmists seem to understand that more CO2 (whatever its source) is good for plant productivity.

    Also, the atmosphere will remain perfectly breathable for oxygen breathers up to 8000ppm CO2 which is the limit imposed for submarines by the US Navy although normal operation is 2000-5000ppm.

    No warmist seems to be capable of demonstrating in a real open system such as the atmosphere that CO2 causes warming.

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      Yes, it would be hard for anyone to demonstrate the heating effect of a greenhouse with no glass in its frames !

      The best example of the REAL “CO2 Greenhouse” effect , is the use of commercial growers pumping additional CO2 into their greenhouses to boost the growth and productivity of plants.

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      Richard+Ilfeld

      Warmist = believer; all those other words like “demonstrate” are pretty useless in their world.

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    And , further Govmt support for renewables..

    the NSW government revealed that it had received an “overwhelming” 11GW worth of pumped hydro project proposals in response to a call for storage options to help the state’s “renewable energy revolution”.

    According to NSW state treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean, 28 different sites have been proposed for potential pumped hydro projects in response to a relatively modest $50 million of grant money up for grabs under its Pumped Hydrogen Recoverable Grants Program.

    The 11GW worth of project proposals is more than five times the estimated 2GW the government needs to support the more than 10GW of wind and solar projects that are also beign sought by 2030 in its planned renewable energy zones.

    11 GW from 28 proposals suggests that none of them will be more than 500 MW max, ..
    ….and someone should tell them the important metric for pumped hydro is the “capacity” in GWhrs..
    No point in having 500 MW of power if it only lasts 4 hrs !

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      RickWill

      No point in having 500 MW of power if it only lasts 4 hrs !

      It is useful down to about 2 hours storage. Anything that gets through the evening peak could provide an economic return. If it is fast response then it can give stability benefits as well.

      Substantial curtailment during the middle of the day in SA yesterday and today:
      http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/sa/
      Significant curtailment in Victoria today and some yesterday:
      http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/vic/

      Curtailment is often occurring because of the cost of keeping the system stable. The intermittent pay about 50% of the FCAS charges and these are now eats into the benefit of the LGC subsidy.

      Any pumps in SA and Vic today could be paid to consume power:
      https://www.aemo.com.au/energy-systems/electricity/national-electricity-market-nem/data-nem/data-dashboard-nem#price-demand

      The LNP government in NSW has not been as gung-ho with its “renewables” subsidies as SA and Victoria but it appears it is now drinking from the same fountain of faith as the Labor camps.

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        Rick, remember that the plan is to have 82% RE grid power by 2030…..presumably much of that will be solar. .?
        So, sure a few hours of PH may help with the evening peak , but it doesnt do much for the following 8 hrs until the Sun starts chipping in again, or the early am peak if you have drained the PH for the evening exercise.
        Somehow, they have to cater for the still, windless, nights…and overcast days….
        …..and we know batteries wont cut it !

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          RickWill

          remember that the plan is to have 82% RE grid power by 2030

          South Australia has managed to get to 60% on the back of the big battery otherwise known as Victoria over 20 years and it is a tiny part of the NEM. NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia do not have their own “Victoria” to use as a big battery. No way can adequate storage be built in 9 years.

          Labor’s “plan” is like the “greenhouse effect” a fairy tale. It might make entertaining reading but it will have no substance. AEMO are just realising that the only way to model the power supply system is a stochastic model based on 5 minute time intervals using currently available time run intermittent generation data with some Monte Carlo randomness thrown in. It has taken them 20 years to get to that realisation and is the main reason power costs are always higher than predicted. Current models are based on capacity factors and the diversity fairy, which has often been absent across the NEM.

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    John+R+Smith

    “Climate Change causes largest ever Australian wheat crop”

    One might conclude Gaia is delivering again, as she has for billions of years, right on cue … uncanny, almost as if there’s a … Gaia.
    As long before we were hear and long after we’re gone.
    It’s a bad idea to fix things that ain’t broke.
    I include my immune system in this.

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    Ross

    What can I say? Us aggies are very efficient. Its not all due to the weather of course or even elevated CO2 levels. Aussie farmers are probably the most efficient, unsubsidised primary producers on the globe. Big uptakers of technology with huge improvements in machinery, genetics, crop protection, analytics, quality control all the time. Also Aussie farmers have ALWAYS farmed in a variable climate, which is something I find infuriating with a lot of the crazy AGW/climate change supporters. They seem to think that in past decades/centuries the farming conditions in Australia were akin to something from a Bambi movie. That Mother nature is some kind ,benign, caring creature. Whereas anyone who has spent any time on the land will know- first chance, she’ll kick you fair in the gonads. This is also the incorrect perception provided by the likes of CSIRO and state department of ag/primary industries.

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    Mark Allinson

    Climate change is affecting crop yields and reducing global food supplies

    https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2019/07/climate-change-affecting-crop-yields-reducing-global-food-supplies/

    This is the message from actual “climate scientists”, so they should know.

    The reports of rising crop yields is thus obviously an exercise in propaganda from white supremacist anti-vaxxers and should be ignored.

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    RoHa

    Horror upon horror.

    We’re doomed.

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    clarence.t

    This “climate emergency” nonsense is really just a total farce.

    Humans have never been safer from the vagaries of climate, than they are now.

    https://climatechangedispatch.com/weve-never-been-safer-from-the-climate-than-right-now/

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    Neville

    The great Chinese famine of 1958 to 1961 seems to have had many causes and the death toll was from 15 million to 50 million.
    Certainly it could’ve been a mixture of droughts, floods, very bad decisions etc and many reports found numerous reasons.
    Certainly many millions of people lost their lives over that 3 year period of time.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine

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    From RE site..

    “Remarkable:” South Australia reached 100 pct renewables nearly every day in October

    Since i have been barred from commenting there, and i am sure one of their cult will be reading here,…i will add my comment here…..
    ..for exactly how long each day did renewables reach that 100% of demand ?
    ..”.South Australia would have had power cuts or blackouts every day in October if they did not have Gas generators and interconnectors to Victoria available , to cover the daily supply shortages from renewables !”

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    Ronin

    Poms all out for 147, rain stops play, snowing in the high country, it’s all happening.

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    Zigmaster

    I remember in 1960s and 70s all the talk about the millions dying of starvation in Biafra ( whatever it is called now). There was a general sense that world hunger would be one of the worlds greatest problems and the solution from certain geniuses was that we need some sort of culling because there were too many people to support. 50 years on not only has the population increased significantly the fear of global hunger on a large scale has disappeared except in the creative minds of climate activists

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    Philip

    I want to drive one of those things and bring in the harvest. I could think of nothing better. Either the header or the tractor. Any farmers or contractors in here who wants a responsible and 120 HP experienced tractor driver ??

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      Klem

      Yes but think of all of that CO2 that you would be releasing while you drove. Roughly equivalent to 2.7 Hiroshima bombs exploding every 9 seconds…or something.

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    Sky news are running a pro Nuclear doco with Chris Kenny currently (now !)
    “Nuclear as the solution to future energy and net zero “…or some such title
    Its good, but, …..it is still based on the belief of a desperate need to eliminate CO2 from the energy sector. …so still seriously flawed in basic concept.

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    CHRIS

    This is the age of the “have’s” and the “have nots”. The “have’s” are turning from traditional energy sources into the new “Green Energy” Capitalism. The “have nots” will have no choice but to follow what the “have’s” tell them to do. There is no turning back from this unfortunate future unless the power of world governments is severely reduced.

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    […] Climate Change causes largest ever Australian wheat crop […]

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