Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, the Hon David Littleproud MP
Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Mary-Anne Thomas MP
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and Victorian Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas 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, 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 Victoria's partnership and contribution to these important Future Drought Fund initiatives."
Victoria will benefit from $700,000 in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and $1.9 million for Regional Drought Resilience Planning.
Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas said the Regional Drought Resilience Planning program would develop initial plans in the Wimmera Southern Mallee, Goulburn, and Gippsland regions.
"Local farmers have learned valuable lessons from recent drought conditions in these three regions which will help them better prepare for future droughts," Minister Thomas said.
"To support this planning, we are embedding a drought plan facilitator into each of these regions.
"The facilitators will support their communities and industries to develop their plans and strengthen their leadership and governance skills to better prepare for future droughts."
Minister Thomas said the Farm Business Resilience program will complement a range of existing programs and services delivered to the agriculture sector.
"It can be hard for farmers to get away from their farm. This program will give farmers the chance to get together with industry experts and their peers," Minister Thomas said.
"Our delivery program includes partnering with Dairy Australia and the Gardiner Foundation who have similar programs available to farmers, to provide drought resilience training across the sector.
"These programs support the delivery of the Victorian Government's transformational Agriculture Strategy by ensuring the sector is well placed to manage climate risk and continues to be productive and profitable under a changed climate."
Victoria is eager to expand the Farm Business Resilience and the Regional Drought Resilience Programs to more farmers and more regions in future years, in partnership with the Commonwealth.
The Australian Government has recently announced an additional $91 million 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 programs 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.
