Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Tasmanian dairy farmers will soon be able to access grants to help with energy efficiency measures, including capital costs.
The dairy industry is the largest contributor to Tasmania’s farm gate value, worth $429 million in 2017-18 and in these difficult times we want to do everything we can to help those working in our important industries.
In recognising that our dairy farms are high energy users in the agricultural sector, we are opening a dairy-specific round of the highly successful On Farm Energy Audit and Capital Grants Program.
An additional $250,000 has also been made available to fund grants of up to $20,000 per applicant, which can be used to fund an energy audit and a wide range of energy efficient equipment.
The funding allows farmers to engage a qualified professional to review their energy use, identify savings and then to implement recommended energy efficiency measures, including for capital costs.
Funding can be spread across an audit and purchase of capital infrastructure which could also include professional advice on pumping and efficient irrigation systems, general farm operations, solar, domestic usage, and farm machinery and equipment.
The dairy-specific round builds on the very successful program that has seen over $740,000 allocated to farmers to take practical steps to reduce their business costs through energy saving initiatives.
It is part of the Government’s commitment of $900,000 over four years through the ‘Grow more, Milk more and Make more’ initiative to work with dairy farmers on productivity, farm business and value-adding strategies.
The On-Farm Energy Audit and Capital Grant Program is a key part of the Government’s plan to improve the competitiveness of Tasmanian agriculture and grow the annual farm gate value of the sector to $10 billion a year by 2050.
