Anewly launched NSW Government online farm planning tool has received an accolade at the prestigious Planning Institute of Australia NSW (PIA NSW) annual industry awards.
Developed by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW DPIRD), myFarmPlanner has won the Award for Planning Excellence in the category of Technology and Digital Innovation.
The win makes myFarmPlanner eligible for the PIA National Awards for Planning Excellence.
myFarmPlanner is a digital pre-lodgement tool for dairy, horticulture, poultry and agritourism development in NSW.
The tool is part of the NSW Government's plan to strengthen the state's $20 billion agriculture sector and to boost productivity by helping farmers use the latest technology to make practical, cost-effective decisions.
NSW DPIRD Agricultural Landuse Planning Officer Wendy Goodburn, and Manager Digital Transformation Adrian Barr, led the project to develop the tool and received the award at a ceremony held in Sydney this week.
"We're honoured myFarmPlanner has been recognised with this award from the Planning Institute of Australia NSW," Ms Goodburn said.
"The win for myFarmPlanner is testament to designing digital services around real farmer needs. We've made it simple for farmers to understand what's possible on their land, saving them months of confusion and thousands in consultant fees." Mr Barr said.
NSW DPIRD Director Intensive Livestock Industries Alex Russell congratulated the team behind myFarmPlanner on their efforts and the award win.
"The news that myFarmPlanner has won in the PIA NSW awards is recognition of how teamwork, innovation and a clear focus of customer needs can deliver effective digital services to benefit the end user, in this case the primary producers of NSW," Mr Russell said.
The tool is designed for dairy, horticultural and poultry farmers who want to invest in new infrastructure to reduce the risks associated with extreme weather events, expand, change, or upgrade existing farm operations, or explore agritourism.
It streamlines the pre-lodgement process by providing farmers with all the information they need to know to lodge a development application, in as little as 15 minutes, using a tailored questionnaire and interactive map.
Under normal circumstances it can take up to 12 months for a farmer to gather the information required to submit a DA, with uncertainty about what information is required being a major source of delay, particularly after a flood, bushfire, or a storm.
By entering farm data individually, producers using the tool can also save money, with the self-service capabilities estimated to eliminate up to $2,000 in consultant fees per application.
The development of the myFarmPlanner platform was jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments through the Storm and Flood Industry Recovery Program (SFIRP).
