The Tasmanian Government has pledged $100 million from the 2019 Budget to farmers and rural communities in order to build a stronger economy and create more jobs.
It will contribute $70 million to the Pipeline to Prosperity Tranche 3 irrigation schemes in addition to the Commonwealth’s commitment of $100 million, enabling the first phase of at least five irrigation projects to proceed, whilst Tasmanian Irrigation continues with the planning for other proposed schemes.
Another $16 million will be invested in industry development projects across all key agricultural sectors including the Rural Financial Counselling Service, Farm Business Mentoring, Blundstone Scholarships, the Tasmanian Women in Agriculture and Rural Youth Tasmanian leadership programs, the TFGA Living Next Door to a Farmer Campaign, Agrigrowth Liaison Officers, and the FarmPoint website and helpline.
The Tasmanian Government will also provide additional funding for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture for the Agricultural Innovation Fund for industry aligned priority research projects and to modernise the research of farm assets, as well as the Stock Underpass Program.
The On-farm Energy Irrigation Audit and Capital Grant program will also be continued, as will the Tasmanian Irrigation Renewable Energy Project. In addition, $3 million will be injected into Landcare across the state and $4.8 million into the Weeds Action Fund.
The Tasmanian Government’s AgriFood Plan aims to grow the farm gate value of the agricultural sector to $10 billion per annum by 2050.