FARMERS east and north of Bendigo are being urged to plan ahead after climate data revealed rainfall has become increasingly unreliable.
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A new central Victorian climate guide is being recommended as a starting point for those grappling with a changing climate.
Downpours east and north of Bendigo are unreliable from spring through to autumn and average rainfall has decreased, according to 30 years of data compiled by the CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and FarmLink.
The decrease is "slight" at 30mm, but comes as the region experiences more hotter days each year and a second consecutive year of below average rainfall.
There has been an average 350mm in Bendigo between April and October, the main growing season for the region's farmers.
That is 52mm a year lower than in the three decades to 1988 and comes amid BOM predictions that this spring and summer will be drier than usual.
Some of the most unreliable rainfall drops in the Loddon Shire, which noted in a newly released draft economic plan that its main economic pillar - agriculture - will face climate change challenges over the next five years.
The council is hoping "rapidly improving" supplies of irrigation water will help it cope and attract new agribusinesses to the area, according to the draft plan.
"Drought proofing the Shire has only been a Utopian vision in the past, but with major new stock and domestic pipeline infrastructure, technologies to improve the effective use of water, and enlightened farm practices ... there is renewed hope for much greater security," the plan states.
The Central Catchment Management Authority is working with farmers across central and northern Victoria amid concerns about unreliable rainfall, water price rises and environmental demands will stretch rivers and lakes, spokesman Anthony Radford said.
"We basically sit with farmers and say 'what does your future look like and how can we help you?' This data is obviously key to that," he said.
"It's a good starting point for planning and working out how businesses can work better."
The authority will also use the CSIRO data to plan for how it manages natural environments, which could see bigger flood events as well as hotter days as the climate shifts, Mr Radford said.
"This is on top of the fact that the long-term data tells us Bendigo's climate could become more like Echuca's in the next 50 years," he said.
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