February climate & carbon update

Highlights for climate and carbon

• Farmers across Australia have suffered through an incredibly tough start to 2026 with extreme heat, bushfires and floods still ongoing across several key agricultural production regions.
• Victoria recorded an extremely hot January to begin 2026. Multiple regions hit record temperatures, particularly in the northwest areas of the state. Hopetoun broke the record for the hottest temperature across Victoria at 48.9 degrees. The other key regions which have been severely affected include Central, North-East and Southern Victoria, all experiencing thousands of hectares of land burnt due to bushfires. While the recent fires in Victoria have been devastating for affected growers, the overall impact on the state's grain production this season appears limited. This is largely due to the advanced stage of the harvest when the fires occurred. However, we could see issues arise in 2026 due to reduced paddock fertility in burnt areas. Some fires across these regions are still active so further losses are expected to be reported heading into February.
• Australia’s northern agricultural regions recorded a volatile beginning to 2026. Many regions saw extreme rainfall which caused devastating flooding that caused havoc on land, farm equipment and resulted in large stock losses. Stock losses across the Outback, in particular the Flinders River Catchment were severe with current estimations at a minimum of 50,000 and potentially upwards of 100,000 by the time all stock has been accounted for. The extensive damage to critical farm infrastructure has left many farmers without fences, gates and roads, which all will need to be repaired.

Data from Bureau of Meteorology

There are support packages available for affected Bendigo Bank customers - both personal and business.

Please check out the website which outlines what support is on offer and how it can be accessed: https://www.bendigobank.com.au/support/natural-disasters/

There are also support packages available through Rural Finance (bushfires and drought) and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (floods). Please check out their websites which outline what support is on offer and how it can be acquired:

Grants | Rural Finance ,

Further flood aid for northern Queensland communities | Queensland Reconstruction Authority

Rural Finance Counselling services are available, please check out their website to see what is on offer.

Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) - DAFF

Tom Herbert

Agricultural Analyst

Tom combines his agricultural degree with strong industry knowledge to provide commentary on local and international beef and cattle market trends.