WEATHER forecasts have been all the talk this year, with plenty of discussion about a dry year ahead followed by widespread storms throughout November.

Many have argued the dull outlook and subsequent reporting of it has contributed to a loss of confidence in livestock markets – which have seen a significant rally since the rain.

South Australia Cattle Co managing director Timothy Burvill has been raising concerns about the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasts throughout the year.

He stressed that he does not want to see BOM lose resources and the concerns raised were about making sure it is a good resource for the country.

Mr Burvill pointed to the forecast dry weather in June turning into an above average rainfall month and a similar situation in November.

“Many other forecasting services were predicting the November rain, but not BOM,” he said.

“Someone said the me the other day that ‘BOM couldn’t forecast a sunrise’ and I think it is terrible that we have a national agency losing the trust of the people it is set up for.”

Mr Burvill said he and a lot of producers he knows were using private forecasting apps for their weather information.

He posted on LinkedIn last week calling for a government review of the bureau, raising concerns that its forecasts had a negative bias.

“We have had situations where they are forecasting a dry month and there is a huge rain front on another of their forecasts,” he told Beef Central.

“With all their super computers, why are they not getting it right? Surely after the year they have had, it warrants some kind of review.

“The bureau has to be cognicent of the importance of their forecasting because it is a bigger issue for farmers than a lot of people realise.”

Beef Central contacted agriculture minister Murray Watt this afternoon to see if there was any appetite for a review of BOM, based on the concerns of producers. We will update this article with any response.

Value in forecasting classes

Central Queensland producer Melinee Leather has recently completed a climate mate forecasting workshop with the local Fitzroy Basin Association. She said she received most of her information from the BOM’s website.

“It was really good to learn what the forecasts mean and really understand what they are saying,” Ms Leather said.

“BOM is a really valuable tool and one of many we can use to manage our land.”

Ms Leather said sometimes there were issues with media interpretation of weather forecasts and the massaging from BOM.

“I think BOM is really good at forecasting, but it is not always good at communicating those forecasts,” she said.

“I have noticed they use wording to try and simplify the forecasts that actually them more complicated – which makes it more important for producers to get educated about weather forecasts.”