The state’s peak body for farmers is stepping up its push for specialised weather radar to cover the Orana and far west regions.
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Doppler radar is used to inform forecasting and knowledge of weather systems, but there’s a “black spot” in coverage in inland NSW.
The NSW Farmers’ Association wants to see the instruments installed at three locations in the Orana and far west to address the issue.
It’s calling on the NSW government to stump up $30 million for the project in the forthcoming budget.
NSW Farmers’ rural affairs and business, economics and trade policy director Kathy Rankin said Doppler radar had wide-ranging benefits, not just for the agricultural sector but also in emergency management.
Better radar information could help farmers decide when to sow and when to harvest, or when to irrigate if they had extra water available, she said.
...it also means that it will help with management and preparedness around fires and storms and floods.
- NSW Farmers' Association policy director Kathy Rankin
“But it also means that it will help with management and preparedness around fires and storms and floods, giving greater barometric information to help decision making and provide alerts,” she said.
“...[The] benefit in helping the community to understand what’s happening and how they might be able to be informed, particularly around those emergency responses… are very important.”
It’s not the first time there has been a push for a Doppler radar for the west.
NSW Farmers’ Association asked for consideration of the item in 2017, and is pursuing it again this year.
“We’ve now asked for three Doppler radars to cover not only the Orana region but up into the Broken Hill and greater north-west area,” Ms Rankin said.
“We’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to get some response to this.”
The project is one of a list recommended by NSW Farmers’ in its budget submission that calls for the investment of $1 billion into rural and regional communities to drive growth in the agricultural sector.
“It already contributes significantly to regional economies and we believe that our budget submissions, if they are responded to, will improve the viability and the economic output and support agriculture to grow across the state,” Ms Rankin said.
Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
