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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-06/farming-activism-banking-super-ethical-investment-climate-change/104701338>
'Beef producer Deanna Fernance has done what she can to mitigate the effects of
changing local weather patterns on her farm, and she wants her bank and super
fund to do the same.
Three-quarters of her 32-hectare property north of Grafton, in New South Wales,
is flood plain, so moving her herd to higher ground around the house is nothing
new, but increasingly hot summers are posing a new challenge.
The cattle are losing condition in the hot and humid conditions, which also
reduces nutrition in the grass.
To adapt she is breeding lighter-coloured animals and she has planted a
diversity of ground cover to improve soil health.
She has also planted hundreds of shade trees, but half were lost when another
flood came through.
"The floods, the fires, the storms — there's no real break in between, that is
the real difference," she said.
Ms Fernance said she was trying to meet the challenges by also looking at what
should could do beyond her front gate, including volunteering with Landcare and
joining lobby group Farmers For Climate Action.
She said although she was "small fry", she had deliberately opted to do
business with a bank and super fund that aligned with her concerns.
"I have less than average income, I'm a single parent, but when I invest money
I try to do it where the money is going to be well spent.
"I think it's tricky for farmers because we generally like to stick to
ourselves and try keep our heads down.
"But I don't think we can do that anymore, we have to be more out there."'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
