Illawarra farmers concerned about climate change, not wind farms, poll finds

And while the debate on wind farms and renewable energy heads to Canberra, local farmers are embracing solar power and batteries to reduce their own energy usage, find their own source of income and ensure they can pass on their farms to the next generation.

Polling conducted for Farmers for Climate Action surveyed over 300 Illawarra farmers, more than 200 of which cited the cost of living as the issue causing the most pain in their local region.

Only eight thought that renewable energy projects were causing the most pain.

When it came to farming in particular, the number one threat was increased fires, flooding and droughts driven by climate change, followed by the commercial conduct of the large supermarket chains, with 32 and 30 per cent of farmers selecting theses as their top threats.

Less than 10 per cent picked either the construction of transmission lines or renewable energy projects as the major threat, less than the increased cost of insurance, fertilisers and other suppliers and increased bureaucracy and red tape.

Southern Highlands farmers Mike and Cressida Cains run a sheep farm in the southern highlands and sell their award winning cheeses at a store in Robertson.

A few years ago, Mr Cains joined with Moonacres farm, also in the Southern Highlands and The Pines in Kiama to generate and share their own energy, and avoid paying high prices to major electricity retailers.

At Pecora alone, the Cains have installed about 100 solar panels and 60 kilowatt hours of batteries costing around $200,00. Already, the investment has paid for itself.

"What that's meant for us is that our farms become energy positive, we're producing more energy than we use, but also, we've got more resilient businesses and we've been able to reduce our energy bills substantially," Mr Cains said.

Down the road from Mr Cains, plans for massive transition lines known as the Hume Link have stirred up heated debate in the Highlands and Southern Tablelands, with farmers often at the forefront of pushback against energy transmission infrastructure.

However, the Illawarra poll found when it came to energy infrastructure near them most farmers by far would prefer renewables (71 per cent) over coal (16 per cent) and nuclear (13 per cent).

Mr Cains - a former Liberal candidate for Whitlam - acknowledged that regional communities could respond harshly to renewable energy projects, but said farmers were also part of the solution to the energy transition.

"We know that there are great benefits to renewables, and we know that more and more farmers are starting to see renewables as not just a way to make their own farms viable, but also a vehicle by which they can create additional revenue streams."

The Illawarra results of the Farmers for Climate poll mirrored findings in the Hunter and Queensland, and Farmers for Climate Action chair, Brett Hall, presented the findings in Canberra today, February 5.

"Sun and wind are modern commodities which make farmers serious money," Mr Hall said.

"Renewables help keep family farms profitable."

Mr Cains, who has previously voiced his opposition to offshore wind farms in the Illawarra, said the government could instead change the rules for connecting and buying and selling into the grid to encourage more farmers to make investments and buy into the renewable energy transition.

"There are a myriad of ways where farmers can produce more renewable energy in this country, but the economics so often are just not there, so one way the government could make a substantial difference here is to allow the network to have more flexibility in relation to transmission costs," he said.

"The network is not flexible enough to give people a decent economic return for the renewable assets they might put on their farms, if we change that, then it makes the economics of putting renewables on farms much more attractive."