Preparation and planning are everything
It was at the 2022 Hort Connections Conference in Brisbane that South Burnett avocado, garlic and rhubarb growers Michael and Beth Crane learnt about Growcom’s Farm Business Resilience Program for horticulture.
The Program helps primary producers build a sustainable business by planning today for tomorrow’s drought and other climate risks. The objective of the Program is to support growers to develop or update existing Farm Business Resilience Plans. To do this Growcom has incorporated a checklist of questions within our best management practice program, Hort360.
Prior to the completion of their Farm Business Resilience Plan, the Cranes were successful in securing a Sustainability Grant through QRIDA for a dam and irrigation project.
With the funding the Cranes have constructed a five Megaliter dam, with a four Megaliter sump and installed drainage channels to reduce likelihood of erosion by overland flow for the dam.
To maintain progress, Michael and Beth have plans to further increase their production area irrigation and to achieve this, Growcom Central Queensland Resilience Facilitator John Targett has been working with Michael and Beth on a Farm Business Resilience Plan, which is a is a requirement for accessing the Drought Preparedness Grant from QRIDA.
For Michael, the implementation of a Farm Business Resilience Plan will have benefits across the whole enterprise.
“A well-developed business resilience plan designed with a five- to ten-year implementation timeline allows for projects to be adapted, stepped, funded, and implemented which will increase productivity exponentially,” Michael said.
“This also benefits the human side of the business by ensuring employment for staff.
“It also benefits the environment by efficient use of water and increased water quality for irrigation, resulting in a higher quality product going to the marketplace.”
The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Queensland Government’s Drought and Climate Adaptation Program and is available to horticultural growers until June 2024.
Growcom’s Farm Business Resilience Program (FBRP) is assisting horticultural growers to identify gaps in their current farm management systems and develop plans that support growth and aid in mitigating the impacts of future droughts.
Using Growcom’s best management practice platform, Hort360 growers can easily undertake a gap-analysis and develop their Resilience Plan using the inbuilt template. Financial assistance is also available and can be accessed through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).
