Paradise ...................................... 102

Trust, connectivity crucial

By Fiona Gowers

Trustworthy data - and decent access to it - is what rural and regional residents deem essential if they are going to thrive in the 21st Century.

This was the message Professor John McVeigh, director of the Southern Queensland and Northern NSW Drought Resilience Innovation and Adoption Hub, heard last month from attendees at workshops in Lismore, Armidale, Narrabri, Stanthorpe, Roma and Longreach.

He said across all online and in-person sessions, producers and local government leaders in southern Queensland and northern NSW raised two recurring themes.

“We asked, ‘what does your region look like in the middle of the next drought if it’s doing ok?’

And, what’s constantly coming back is trust in data and connectivity.

“They say if we’re going to have practical solutions through the next drought, be selfsufficient and have access to new farming techniques, we need reliable internet access.

“It’s not optional, not if we want to be worldclass farmers.”

Professor McVeigh said whether it was on- or off-farm, producers wanted access to solid, reliable data relevant to their local area to facilitate smart decision-making.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s about insurance, weather forecasting, pasture condition, personal wellbeing, water quality, risk management or nutrition,” he said.

“We’ve heard pretty clearly that people want this data presented in a user-friendly way, that they can integrate into their on-property operations or within their regional businesses.

“And they want trust.

“They want to be able to a) trust the data is relevant to them, especially if they’re changing their management based on it and b) they want to be able to trust in data ownership and privacy.”

The Southern Queensland and Northern NSW Drought Resilience Innovation and Adoption Hub is one of eight operating nationally.

Established to help rural and regional areas build resilience and foster agricultural innovation, they form part of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.

Professor McVeigh said other important areas identified by the 80-plus workshop participants were building the handson skills of land managers in restorative practices, the importance of investing in property infrastructure to build resilience, the potential of emerging environment markets and personal and family wellbeing to help maintain community connections.

He said community and industry were now “calling the shots” on drought resilience planning.

“Just quoting (Minister for Agriculture) David Littleproud here, information and research has to be out of universities and on farms being implemented in a practical sense.

“So, having collected this data, we have our operational plan for the next two years. And, we have the basis from which we go and work with our commercial and community partners.

“It’s a tremendous initiative, especially as it is right across the country.”

The Hub nodes at Armidale, Narrabri, Lismore, Stanthorpe, Roma and Longreach are now prioritising and planning so they can help and support regional communities and businesses.

“One of the definite next steps for the Hub is to spread the word about existing innovative practices that we know some primary producers are already using and getting existing research in front of people so it can be adopted,” Professor McVeigh said.

Professor John McVeigh, director of the Southern Queensland and Northern NSW Drought Resilience Innovation and Adoption Hub.

Drought programs give producers solutions

AgForce has welcomed the launch of Queensland’s new drought programs, which are set to help all producers make the right decisions for their businesses.

The biggest ever reform to the State’s drought assistance was announced this month by State Minister for Agriculture Mark Furner.

New drought assistance programs will focus on greater preparedness and business resilience for a broader range of eligible Queensland primary producers.

Under the new drought assistance guidelines, producers will no longer need a drought declaration to access drought preparedness assistance, which will be available anytime.

AgForce CEO Mike Guerin said he was delighted to see for the first time that all producers and landholders would be eligible for drought assistance, enabling them to build resilience for the future.

“It’s wonderful to see that the programs have adopted many of the key principles found in AgForce’s foundation drought policy, the Agricultural Business Cycle,” he said.

“Key to this assistance is that preparation work will be available at all times, regardless of drought declaration status.

“We believe Queensland landholders will feel empowered to make the right decisions for their business, at the right time and, for the first time, everyone will be able to receive assistance – including grain and cane farmers.

“In addition, all producers will continue to be supported in times of drought, with the announcement of interest free emergency loans and other larger carry-on finance facilities.”

AgForce will continue to monitor the rollout and implementation of these programs to ensure that AgForce members, whether they produce cane, cattle, grain or sheep and wool, will be well supported to prepare for and endure drought.

“Welcome recent rains in many areas have provided some respite and hope of a good summer wet season,” Mr Guerin said.

“However, recovery from up to seven years of drought cannot happen overnight and 66 per cent of the State is still struggling.”

Mr Guerin said compared to other sectors of the economy, Australian agriculture operated in a “highly” variable business environment, with dry periods a recurring feature.

“This new suite of programs recognises the importance of preparation, with support for farm businesses across all four phases of the drought cycle: ‘Normal’, ‘Drying’, ‘Dry’, and ‘Recovery’.

“AgForce will, of course, be there every step of the way for our members, to not only guide them through the detail, but to ensure they understand how they can best access these programs and put themselves in the best position possible to combat not only this current drought, but to withstand future droughts when they arise.”