NRM South is thrilled to announce that our $1.445M Drought Resilience Innovation Grant application has been successful. Our “Co-developing and improving digital tools for increased drought resilience with, and for, Tasmanian farmers” project will drive improved drought resilience through a state-wide rollout of the Farming Forecaster decision support tool in drought-affected regions of Tasmania.
This project will deliver innovation across two channels. It will build on the pilot already underway in Tasmania and deliver Farming Forecaster and StockPlan, proven drought resilience decision support and stock management tools operating in NSW, into the hands of more Tasmanian farmers facing the same challenges. Secondly, it will bring new innovations to the Farming Forecaster platform, by incorporating Tasmanian data such as new pasture cultivars and species. Improved pasture performance data will be made available to future users of Farming Forecaster, enabling drought resilience over time and beyond the end of the project.
The project will allow farmers to better adapt to and reorganise farming systems, to design strategies for drought adaptation and resilience. This will help agricultural communities to adapt to changing conditions such as drought. Data on soil moisture, fire risk, wind speed and direction generated through the project can also inform other aspects of farm-planning and assist rural communities to plan for other natural disasters such as bushfires.
This is a partnership project with NRM North, The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, the Tasmanian Drought Resilience Adaption and Innovation Hub and CSIRO. This project received funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.
For more information, visit https://nrmsouth.org.au/supporting-farmers-drought-resilience/
To view the ministerial media release, head to https://minister.awe.gov.au/littleproud/media-releases/fdf-drought-resilience-innovation-grants