Rising November temperatures are making it difficult for farmers to grow many of Australia's key crops

Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick explains how November temperatures are increasing in the Shire. Plus, what is the impact of climate change on Australia's crops?

NOVEMBER often marks the first taste of summer heat and the dawn of warm-season crops.

From tomatoes and melons to passionfruit and strawberries, springtime weather sees farms around Australia thrive.

However, spring crops are increasingly impacted by rising temperatures.

Back in 1970, the Shire's hottest November day was typically around 33 degrees.

These days it's more like 37 degrees - that's approximately four degrees warmer than 50 years ago.

Warmer weather impacts:

Most of the food sold in Australia is grown and supplied by Australian farmers, and we export more than half of our agricultural harvest.

However, rising temperatures threaten our ability to meet national and international demand.

This has become particularly evident in the growth of Australia's third largest crop - canola, which comes into bloom each spring.

We typically produce more than two million tonnes of canola grain every year, with 25 per cent exported overseas.

Canola oil is a commonly used biofuel and an essential ingredient for many foods, including the beloved crinkle-cut chip, fried rice and doughnuts.

However, the quality and quantity of canola is likely to be impaired by climate change.

Reduced rainfall and higher temperatures are expected to decrease soil moisture, resulting in lower crop yield.

Furthermore, recent research has found exposure to high temperatures over short time periods -- as little as half an hour -- can damage the crop's pollen, seed set and yield.

And it's not just canola. The sustainability of Australia's entire agricultural sector is facing the consequences of climate change.

Our agricultural profits have decreased by 23 per cent over the past 20 years and it's likely this trend will continue.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences predicts that

overall farm profit could fall by a further 26 per cent by 2050.

For consumers, reduced productivity typically results in surging food prices.

This reinforces the need to transform our approach to agriculture.

There is already evidence of strong farm adaptation to recent climate shifts with improvements in technology and management practices helping increase farm productivity.

For example, the breeding of new 'heat-tolerant' crop varieties through targeted genomic selection is well underway.

This could help rescue many of our most economically important species including canola, wheat, sorghum and sugarcane.

Hear from your community:

Want more information on how your climate is changing? Check out the last article in this series.

Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick is a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales.

This column is part of a collaboration between Monash University and News Corp to deliver hyperlocal weather and climate information.