SMART FARMING INVESTMENT YIELDS POSITIVES

Farmers in Kennedy will benefit from the third round of the Smart Farms Small Grants program.
• 113 projects nationally will share in over $5 million funding
• Smart Farms Small Grants fund organisations and individuals to undertake sustainable agriculture projects
The Federal Government is investing more than $5 million – including nearly $200,000 in the federal electorate of Kennedy – to help equip farmers with new skills and knowledge to improve sustainability and their bottom line.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said 113 projects nationally will receive grants of up to $50,000 from the third round of the Smart Farms Small Grants program.
“Australian agriculture has a long history of early adoption of innovation – the ingenuity of our farmers never ceases to amaze me,” Minister Littleproud said.
“They have always looked after the land and we are giving them a helping hand through this grants program to adopt best practice natural resource management methods.
“These are projects happening throughout the country and are about improving the resilience and productive capacity of farms.”
North Queensland-based Senator, Susan McDonald, congratulated the winning farms:
• Barron River Catchment Management Association Incorporated, $49,988 for Feral Pig Control, Community Engagement and Education via Pig Collaring and Mapping in the Barron River Catchment;
• Dalrymple Landcare Committee Inc., $48,700 for building the connection between soil health, biodiversity, grazing productivity and enterprise profitability in the Burdekin Rangelands;
• Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd, $50,000 for Powerful Pollinators – Promoting healthy populations of pollinating insects essential for horticultural crop production and native ecosystems;
• Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd, $49,780 for Healthy Farming Soils. Improving farming environmental and financial sustainability through healthy soils.
She added that farmers had always been early adopters of new technologies.
“These recently funded projects show the determination of many in the electorate to continue that tradition,” she said.
“I am particularly pleased to see feral pig control being funded as these animals spread disease and wreak a terrible toll on farmland, riverbanks and native wildlife.”
Grants have been given to farming and landcare groups for projects related to sustainable farming education, pest management, improving soil health, agroforestry and more.
For more information on the Smart Farms Small Grants program visit: www.agriculture.gov.au

  Smart Farms Small Grants is part of the Federal Government’s Smart Farms program – a key initiative of phase two of the National Landcare program
• Smart Farms Small Grants is a $43.5 million grants program (six annual rounds)
• Round 1 funded 77 projects for a total of $4.75 million. These are expected to be completed by April 2020
• Round 2 funded 110 projects for a total of $9.25 million. These are expected to be completed by September 2021
• Round 3 projects must be completed by 30 June 2022