Climate adaptation in early Australian wheat farming (1860-1960)

The “European” agricultural model introduced during the first British settlement in 1788 proved unsuitable for the very different Australian environment, forcing farmers to adapt creatively. This study examines how climate shaped such adaptive behavior in wheat farming in Australia from the mid-19th century until just before the green revolution. Climate adaptation is modeled using a methodology that allows one to disentangle long-term from short-term responses of farmers to climate without explicit data on adaptation. We apply this approach to digitalized historical records on sub-national wheat yields and gridded climate reanalysis data for the period 1860 to 1960. There is evidence of significant adaptation to precipitation but no adaptation to temperature for wheat yields in the long run. The results broadly coincide with how adaptations are known to have developed differently across time and regions in Australia.