• Research by a Charles Sturt University academic will benefit high-value irrigated agriculture across the Murray Darling Basin
• The sustainability research is particularly relevant to climate change and supporting farmers’ resilience to both climate and market risk
• More productive and efficient farmers are better placed to navigate any potential US trade wars and tariffs that may be imposed on Australia

A Charles Sturt University researcher argues that sustainability research is particularly relevant to supporting Australian farmers’ resilience to both climate change and market risk.

Lecturer in Economics and Finance in the Charles Sturt School of Business Dr Nicola Thomas (picture above) teaches Business Economics and Macroeconomics in the Bachelor of Business.

Dr Thomas recently spoke at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) 2025 Conference in Canberra (4-5 March).

“It was fantastic to be invited to discuss how green finance can be used to support the adoption of sustainable irrigation practices to improve farmers’ bottom line and increase their resilience to climate change,” Dr Thomas said.

“This will improve land productivity and sustainably increase water use efficiency to support farmers undertaking these investments from the range of ‘green finance’ options available.”

Dr Thomas is part of a team conducting research for One Basin Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), the federal government-funded research hub focussed on working with communities across the Murray Darling Basin.

The team is led by Charles Sturt’s Associate Professor Nicholas Pawsey in conjunction with The University of Sydney and industry partners Wine Australia, the Australian Wine Research Institute and community representatives from the Western Murray Land Improvement Group.

The team’s project is ‘Incentivising and Investing in Climate Adaptation and the Adoption of Sustainable Basin Management Practices’ and aims to develop a green finance investing framework to benefit land users and to finance agricultural industry.

The research is identifying sources of green finance and talking to irrigators to explore what sort of sustainable practices they are investing in or are interested to invest in.

This includes things like fish screens on water pumps, netting and barriers to reduce wind for high value horticultural crops, increasing soil carbon, and potential biodiversity services.

Dr Thomas said the research will benefit high-value irrigated agriculture, which includes table grapes, wine, almonds and citrus crops across the Murray Darling Basin.

“The sustainability research is particularly relevant to climate change and supporting farmers’ resilience to both climate and market risk,” she said.

“If farmers are more productive and efficient, they are better placed to navigate future droughts and the shifting global trade landscape.”

Dr Thomas said that with another year to go on the project, in the next stage they will talk to as many irrigators and people in the finance industry as possible to assess the demand for things like green bonds, biodiversity credits and carbon credits etc.

“We will also talk to more irrigators to see how they feel they could supply those services and what payment they would like to receive and what are the barriers they are experiencing when trying to adopt sustainability activities on the farm,” she said.

ABARES Outlook 2025 offered a platform to engage in thought-provoking discussions, expand networks and contribute to building a sustainable and competitive agricultural sector. With the theme Insights for Action: Fostering Growth in a Changing World, the conference underscored ABARES’ role in delivering data and insights that inform policies, programs and service delivery.