BOM: ’It’s better to be good and on time than perfect and late’

The Bureau of Meteorology reports it has added more than $100 million in economic value to the agriculture sector in the past financial year.

The Bureau of Meteorology reports it has delivered more than $100 million in economic value to Australia’s agricultural industries in 2022-23, despite widespread farmer frustration about the role its forecasts have played in the past year’s livestock price crash.

The BOM has faced a barrage of criticism over inaccurate forecasts, especially since officially declaring an El Nino event in September. Agriculture industry leaders have said widespread talk of El Nino contributed to livestock market volatility, causing producers to offload stock early, which boosted yardings and pushed down prices.

But rainfall across eastern states through December has defied the dire warnings of a drier and hotter summer.

Despite the lack of accuracy, the BOM in its annual report said it had more than met its goal of adding value to agricultural industries.

“The bureau contributed an estimated $132 million of economic value to Australia’s agriculture sector in 2022-23 through the delivery of initiatives such as Forewarned is Forearmed, Climate Services for Agriculture and Agri-Climate Outlooks,” the annual report said.

The report also disclosed the forecaster had three times as many administrative staff as researcher scientists.

The annual report showed there were 1797 staff in 2022-23, with 368 staff working in administration compared to 113 who were classed as research scientists.

Of all employees, 182 earned $125,000-$193,000 and another 331 were paid between $103,000 and $116,000. There were also 14 staff that had salary packages between $214,000-$235,000 with BOM boss Andrew Johnson pocketing more than $570,000 in the past financial year in his role as chief executive officer.

Another document, which outlined the way the BOM’s messages should be delivered and prepared in 2022, was released under Freedom of Information in September last year.

It revealed staff were advised to “be timely, not perfect”.

“It’s better to be good and on time than perfect and late,” the staff were advised. “The faster we can share information, the better we can contribute to a reduction in lives lost from natural hazards and added social and economic impact and value.”

National Farmers Federation chief executive officer Tony Mahar said the BOM had to be “able to keep up with the community expectations”.

“Farm business operations definitely rely on this information and surely the technology and the data sets and the algorithms we have now could make forecasting more accurate,” Mr Mahar said.

“It is important that we get more impactful and accurate weather information.

“And while by its very nature weather forecasts cannot be perfect, they should be timely and accurate.”

The BOM was contacted for comment but said it was unable to provide a response due to staff being on leave.