The State Government has hit back at Opposition criticism about the Mesonet weather network that is facing closure.
Last week the Liberal Opposition called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to support South Australian farmers by committing funding to Mesonet prescriptions.
The Mesonet infrastructure was built for farming communities to help prevent spray drift damage, and to also provide real-time high-quality weather data in agricultural regions in the gaps between Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) stations.
The Mesonet infrastructure also importantly provides information for fire safety at time of harvest.
After an article was published in The SE Voice last month, the Opposition became aware of correspondence between Mesonet and their customers stating that, due to a lack of ongoing funding sources, they are looking to cease functioning just prior to Christmas.
However, Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven has told The SE Voice the government is investigating the matter.
“The State Government committed the initial capital funding on the understanding that operational costs would be met by the end users. PIRSA is currently working closely with COtL to review options to achieve a positive outcome for all stakeholders,” she said.
“COtL recently informed me they have concerns about the sustainability of their currently business model. I have requested PIRSA work with COtL to determine what assistance they may require to allow them to achieve long term business sustainability, enabling the on-going operation of the Mesonet Automatic Weather Station network.”
Minister Scriven said the Mesonet network is one of many tools that can be used to reduce the risk of spray drift incidents.
“Reducing the risk of spray drift incidents is a priority for PIRSA Biosecurity and in recent years, the team has significantly increased its focus on compliance activities which includes checking that spray operators are not spraying in breach of any agrichemical product labels that state spraying must not take place during hazardous inversion,” she said.
“Currently, growers only need to demonstrate how they comply with label instructions. One way that growers can do this is by accessing the Mesonet data, however, growers may also choose to comply by avoiding chemical application overnight when hazardous inversion environments are most likely to occur.”
