Farming in Australia requires a special breed of person, one who has the courage, and the determination, to harness mother nature in her most challenging moods. Australian soils are less fertile than most other countries. We have the dubious honour of being the driest inhabited continent on earth with very limited rainfall, infertile soils in many areas, and a change in the season can often bring, drought, fire, or even flood. Our diverse climate ranges from alpine to monsoonal, tropical to temperate, with expanses of desert in the middle. The extremities of dry land farming present countless challenges, which keep them in touch with the force of nature so aptly depicted in Dorothea McKellar's timeless poem, 'My Country'. You learn enough about farming in one year to for it to make a fool of you in the next, and it is this ongoing challenge of the unknown that makes farming a very interesting occupation. "We love the land and what it provides." John and Jennifer, Simon, Sue and their children, Anastasia, Sienna and Harvey.McFarlane Family Farmers are always safeguarding their livestock and their crops against extreme weather in order to protect their livelihoods. Horticulture farmers spread their risk often by spreading having their have crops in across multiple locations to make sure all their eggs are not in one basket if in case it floods, or they get hit with a or a hail storm. Livestock farmers often have station country for breeding their livestock, but finish them at another location that gets more reliable rainfall and has better soils. But farmers also need to protect against the financial market storms that can swing commodity prices wildly from one season to the next. They hedge their livelihood through multiple crop types, livestock types and combinations of these. If you don't do your numbers you can lose everything! If farmers don't work in harmony with the environment then it won't be viable for generations to come. They really are the biggest environmentalists Australia has.

Agriculture & gas production enterprises have different values & goals. For the sake of our farmers & our agriculture sector, it's time to take our foot off the gas. This short video summarises the AFI briefing paper produced with the support of Farmers for Climate Action and the Australian Conservation Foundation.