Step Up In Drought Budget Support
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro announced the Future Drought Fund programs last week, which will support farmers and regions to build resilience to future droughts.
“The $9.85 million Regional Drought Resilience Planning program supports partnerships of councils, regional organisations, communities, industries 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.”
“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.”
NSW will benefit from $5.5 million in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and $1.9 million for Regional Drought Resilience Planning.
“Our agriculture sector is the backbone of this state and we have seen the devastating social and economic impacts drought can have so we need to act now to prevent this happening again,” John said.
For more details visit the Australian Government Future Drought Fund webpage www.agriculture.gov.au/fdf.