About the Managing Climate Variability Program

The Managing Climate Variability Program has been helping Australian farmers to manage climate risk on-the-ground for over a decade, providing them with practical tools to incorporate weather and climate information into farm business decisions.

Three Main Goals

1. To improve seasonal forecasting - accuracy, lead-time, and ease of use.

Our top priority is to improve the accuracy and increase the lead time of seasonal forecasts. Three month forecasts of rainfall and temperature are widely available, but most resource managers need lead times of 12 months or more.

2. To provide tools and services for managing climate risk.

MCV is developing tools and services for farmers and natural resource managers to better manage climate risk.

3. To increase the adoption of climate risk management.

MCV's goal is to increase the number of farmers and natural resource managers who factor seasonal climate forecasts into their decisions.

MCV Partners

The Managing Climate Variability Program brings together ten partners: the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Dairy Australia; the Natural Heritage Trust; Grains Research and Development Corporation; Land & Water Australia; Meat and Livestock Australia; Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and the Sugar Research and Development Corporation.

Australian Wool Innovation Limited and the National Farmers' Federation are associate partners.

Origins of the MCV Program

The MCV program builds on more than a decade of climate research by its predecessor, the Climate Variability in Agriculture Program (CVAP), established under the National Drought Policy in 1992 and extended under the Advancing Australian Agriculture (AAA) initiative in 1998.

Seasonal Forecasting

Seasonal climate forecasting currently relies heavily on statistical techniques.

In the next few years, global climate models have the potential to greatly improve forecast accuracy and lead times and to replace forecasts based on El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Getting this new technology into the hands of land managers and potential users across a range of industries is both a challenge and a priority for MCV.

Future Directions

The current phase of MCV runs from July 2003 to the end of June 2007. Planning for a new phase is underway.

Farmers and natural resource managers will remain the primary focus of MCV.