- The Crisafulli Government delivers funding to grow the use of sustainable farming practices in South East Queensland.
- The Best Management Practice program offers grants of up to $30,000, for landholders to reduce chemical use, improve water quality, minimise erosion and increase productivity.
- New program builds on a highly successful pilot in the Pumicestone Passage catchment.
The Crisafulli Government is boosting environmental stewardship across South East Queensland's horticulture sector, expanding a program to help growers improve water quality, protect local waterways, and enhance farm productivity.
The South East Queensland Horticultural Best Management Practice (BMP) Incentive Program will expand its reach to support at least 60 additional growers over the next four years.
It builds on the success of a pilot program popular with pineapple growers in the Pumicestone Passage catchment, and delivers greater environmental benefits.
The expanded program responds directly to calls from industry leaders who want to see these benefits extended to other high-value horticultural regions and commodities.
The decade of Labor's crisis and chaos for primary producers is over, with the Crisafulli Government delivering support for primary production as the backbone of the State's economy and of regional communities.
Targeted at key catchments including the Pumicestone Passage, Lockyer and Bremer River regions, the initiative aligns with similar sustainability programs already benefiting Great Barrier Reef catchments to improve the marine environment.
Horticulturalists will work with industry extension officers to determine changes that can made on their property and have access to grants of up to $30,000 to adopt proven best management practices to improve outcomes on their farm.
Practices supported can include adapting equipment to more efficiently use herbicides and pesticides; installing "bioreactors" to improve water quality; and drain stabilisation, retention ponds and contour banks where needed to manage waterflow and sediment - to reduce erosion and keep soil on the farm.
Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation, Andrew Powell, said the program represented a smart investment in the future of Queensland's agriculture and environment.
"Horticulture is a cornerstone of the South East Queensland economy," Minister Powell said.
"This program gives our growers the tools they need to be environmental stewards while improving productivity and profitability.
"By reducing the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilisers, and tackling sediment runoff, we're seeing real improvements to local water quality – with benefits extending all the way to Moreton Bay."
Minister for Primary Industries Tony Perrett encouraged farmers to tap into the program to improve the environmental health of their properties as well as our waterways.
"With advances in agtech and research we're not only improving our planting, picking and packing we have the ability to invest in and grow our game changing environmental techniques and best management practices," Minister Perrett said.
"We've set an ambitious target to grow the value of primary production to $30 billion by 2030 to reach higher productivity and profitability our core inputs – our land and water - need to be in the best shape possible.
"The adoption of best management practices that improve water quality not only make for a healthier farm they also support our fisheries and tourism sectors."
Pumicestone region pineapple grower Trudy Morgan, who co-owns Morgans Pines with her father Keith, said pineapple growers knew the importance of best practice management.
"As growers, we've seen firsthand how adopting best management practices can cut our input costs and improve the health of our crops and our soils, giving a win-win for our farms and the environment," Ms Morgan said.
"The Pumicestone Passage is right on our doorstep, and we all have a responsibility to protect it.
"By improving drainage, reducing runoff, and being smarter with how we use fertilisers and pesticides, we're keeping soil on the farm and clean water in our creeks."
