Climate is the biggest individual driver of production variability in agriculture, and accounts for one-third to two-thirds of annual global crop yield variability. Over two decades, the Managing Climate Variability Program (MCV) has been the lead research and development program in Australia for providing climate knowledge to primary producers and natural resource managers. We give them better forecasts, practical climate tools and products, as well as case studies of people who are incorporating climate r
Our latest funding period (MCV V) runs from 2016 to 2020. Our program builds on more than two decades of climate research by its predecessor, the Climate Variability in Agriculture Program, established under the National Drought Policy in 1992 and extended under the Advancing Australian Agriculture initiative in 1998. The program’s consecutive funding periods have supported research through Managing Climate Variability I, II, III, IV and now V.
MCV has supported research for over 20 years; our completed projects reflect this body of work. Independent evaluations show that the research and development we have supported is substantial, with high benefit-to-cost ratios. For each dollar spent, there has been a return of over $6.60.