New Farm Strong toolkit maps road through disaster to recovery

When it comes to mother nature, Queenslanders tend to keep one eye on the sky and the other on the forecast. The state’s severe weather season – which extends from October through to April – can bring the full gamut of extreme weather events from heatwaves and bushfires to floods and cyclones.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast for November 2025 to January 2026 shows that Far North Queensland is likely to receive higher than average rainfall, with warmer than average days and nights likely across most of the country.

Growcom’s Industry Recovery Program is supporting Queensland growers to map the road from disaster to recovery with the release of the Farm strong: Your disaster planning & recovery toolkit.

The resource is specifically designed for horticultural growers and farm workers, to assist in preparing, enduring, and recovering from extreme weather events.

It provides guidance on supplies, documentation, communication, and actions to help you, your family, your employees and your property through what can be physically and emotionally demanding events.

Actions you take on-farm now can make recovering from any potential weather event easier, and hopefully a little less stressful.

Tasks like holding staff safety briefings, inspecting buildings, clearing debris and photographing crops and important farm infrastructure are some of the things you can do to prepare before severe weather strikes.

Sarah Reynolds, Growcom’s Industry Recovery Officer for Far North Queensland was responsible for the toolkit’s revamp.

She said her goal was to make the resource comprehensive, but easy to follow.

“Weather events can be a time of real overwhelm,” Sarah said.

“When running a farm, you’re responsible for other people, as well as infrastructure and equipment. There are a lot of moving parts to take care of.

“The toolkit splits these different areas of responsibility up into clear checklists, and—should you go through a natural disaster and be in the recovery phase—we step out and prioritise tasks those critical couple of days following an event.”

Download your copy of Farm strong: Your disaster planning & recovery toolkit to start charting your farm’s course through any potential weather disaster that comes your way.

To receive a printed copy of the toolkit, contact Growcom’s Industry Recovery Officer Sarah Reynolds on 0472 835 394 or email sreynolds@qfvg.com.au

The Industry Recovery and Resilience Officer program, recovery loans and grants are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).