Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, the Hon David Littleproud MP,
Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner MP
• Australian Government Future Drought Fund to support farmers and regions
• Queensland will deliver two Future Drought Fund programs - Farm Business Resilience and Regional Drought Resilience Planning
• The programs will assist with providing Queensland farmers and regional communities with the tools and capabilities they need to build drought resilience.
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the Future Drought Fund programs will support farmers and regions to build resilience to future droughts.
"The $9.85 million Regional Drought Resilience Planning program supports partnerships of regional organisations, councils, communities and farmers to develop regional drought resilience plans," Minister Littleproud said.
"The plans will identify how to manage through droughts by finding ways to build resilience across agricultural sectors and allied industries.
"Planning will be community-led and owned. It will bring regional knowledge and perspectives, along with the best available evidence and data.
"Australian farmers manage uncertainty daily and the business of farming is becoming more challenging," Minister Littleproud said.
"The $16 million Farm Business Resilience program will give farmers access to subsidised learning and development opportunities to meet these challenges.
"The program will take farmers' knowledge and skills to the next level in risk management and decision-making, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience.
"It will also support farm business planning and access to experts and one-on-one advice.
"The Australian Government welcomes Queensland's partnership in these important Future Drought Fund initiatives."
Queensland will benefit from $4.4 million in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and $1.8 million for Regional Drought Resilience Planning.
Minister Furner said the Farm Business Resilience Program would benefit Queensland farm businesses in the grazing, cropping, mixed farming, sugar cane, dairy and tropical horticulture industries.
"The program has two elements; firstly, skills training will be offered for drought, climate preparedness and other business risks facing primary producers through an expansion of our Drought and Climate Adaptation Program," Minister Furner said.
"Secondly, the Farm Management Grants Program will provide a rebate of 50 per cent to a maximum of $2,500 to primary producers towards the cost of developing a Farm Business Resilience Plan for their property.
"The Regional Drought Resilience Program will see plans developed in key drought prone regions that rely heavily on agriculture. The program will be integrated with the regional plans being developed through the $2.7 million Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience.
"We'll assist local governments to develop regional drought plans which builds on their existing resilience plans, or those under development. This approach will bring consistency around drought and natural disaster plans," Minister Furner said.
The Australian Government has recently announced an additional $91 million funding for both programs over 3 years beyond the foundational year, and will be working with states and territories on the detail.
For more details visit the Australian Government Future Drought Fund webpage
Fast Facts:
• The Farm Business Resilience program and Regional Drought Resilience Planning program are foundational programs under the Australian Government's forward-thinking $5 billion Future Drought Fund.
• Both will roll out across the country from 2021 until June 2022.
• The Future Drought Fund is a long term sustained investment of $100 million each year to build drought preparedness.
