Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
The Hodgman Liberal Government is the strongest supporter of our dairy industry and we are backing our farmers to grow the industry further, creating more jobs and stimulating investment in our regions.
The Hodgman Liberal Government and DairyTas have agreed to establish a new $300,000 program over three years to deliver a suite of training for dairy producers that they need to take their businesses to the next level.
This is part of our four-year commitment for a dairy extension 'Grow more, Milk more and Make more' initiative, working with dairy farmers on productivity, job creation, farm business and value-adding strategies.
This will include:
- A People Ready training program to help businesses grow their workforce;
- Skills training for farm managers and emerging managers to embed growth and diversification skills;
- Pasture principles monitoring and training to consolidate practical pasture knowledge and grazing principles; and
- Extending the successful Cows Create Careers Program to an additional eight schools per year and extra support teacher development sessions.
While many other dairy regions across Australia have contracted, Tasmanian's dairy sector has shown consistent growth over the past decade, rebounding strongly from difficulties in 2016 to set a new production record of over 910 million litres in 2017-18.
Growing our $429 million dairy industry, which supports thousands of jobs across hundreds of farms, is a key part of the Hodgman Liberal Government's Plan to increase the farm gate value of agriculture to $10 billion by 2050.
The ongoing strength and potential of the industry has been repeatedly demonstrated by major investments in Tasmania by Australian and international dairy processors.
The Hodgman Liberal Government greatly values our dairy farmers, and the dairy industry which is synonymous with our quality Brand, and we will continue to work with them to ensure dairy has an even brighter future.
