Climate change has cut Australian farm profits by 22% a year over past 20 years, report says

Agriculture department report says changes in climate since 2000 have reduced revenue of cropping farms by $1.1bn a year

Climate change has reduced Australian farms' average annual profitability by 22%, or around $18,600 per farm, in the past two decades, according to the agriculture department.

In a report released on Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences has found that since 2000 changes in climate have reduced the revenue of Australian cropping farms by a total of $1.1bn a year.