Black Summer bushfire damage to agriculture tallied to $5 billion

The study by University of Sydney and the World Wide Fund for Nature found of the more than 10 million hectares burnt in south eastern Australia during the 2019/2020 summer fires, about one-quarter was agricultural land.

The report found $2 to $3 billion worth of direct fire damage to farm property, food production losses of about $2b, including more than 100,000 livestock deaths and health impacts on farmers valued at $279 million.

The $4 to $5 billion of economic loss was equivalent to 6 to 8 per cent of national agricultural output in the same period.

Insurance pay-outs and government assistance compensated for only part of these costs, with farmers and other food-related businesses receiving approximately 20pc of economic recovery grants provided by governments in response to the bushfires.

The report found an urgent need to develop effective strategies to protect the food system in Australia from the expected increases in the risk of bushfires, while intensifying efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change.

"Even with concerted efforts, the increasing risk of fire due to climate change is likely to have serious implications for the food system in Australia," the report stated.

Farmers for Climate Action chief executive Fiona Davis said Australia's farmers needed strong climate policy to protect them from the compounding impacts of more frequent and severe weather events, including bushfires.

"Australian agriculture has been leading the way on emissions reduction, and it's time for the energy and transport sectors to catch up," Dr Davis said.

"Emissions reduction gives farmers the opportunity to make drought-resistant income from selling carbon credits while we grow jobs in regional Australia. Let's not allow that opportunity and those jobs to slip through our hands and instead go overseas."

The report also recommended the government take action by strengthening insurance arrangements to cover the full costs of bushfires and assisting primary industry businesses to develop cost-effective bushfire risk mitigation and resilience plans.