The trickle effect of agri-funds

By Elizabeth Hart
THE future of some farmers in the Yarra Valley could hinge on the latest State Government financial package to boost productivity.
It could, that is, if some of the money and services from the government’s new Future Farming – Productive, Competitive and Sustainable strategy trickles to the region’s major primary industries, including wineries.
The package includes $3 million over four years to support the state’s grapevine industry.
In a statement, a spokesman from the office of Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said the money would assist winegrowers in the Yarra Valley to improve biodiversity.
The $205 million strategy, which the government is currently promoting, allocates money over the next four years to categories of agriculture in times of changing technology and changing climates.
Organic growers in the Yarra Valley, and across the state, would also receive $1.08 million to develop resilience to climate change, the minister’s staffer said.
Other areas of farming in line for funds include the dairy industry, which will receive $8.57 million for better information technology relevant to productivity.
The minister said the plan would help the agri-food sector in the Yarra Valley become more responsive and internationally competitive.
An amount of $2.93 million over four years would help capture new markets and support enterprises in the valley, he said.
Agricultural education for young people is also on the agenda, along with regional freight services, a national centre for farmer health, and weed and pest control.
But while the package carries spin-offs for the state as a whole, none of the new centres will be located in the Yarra catchment.
The National Centre for Farmer Health will be in the western district at Hamilton.