McGowan Government puts $10.1 million towards drought-resilience initiatives to future-proof WA farms

WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis has unveiled a pre-budget announcement of $10.1 million to future-proof regional WA farms and agricultural business for drought resilience over the next three years.

It matches the Albanese Government’s Future Drought Fund investment in the successful Farm Business Resilience and Regional Drought Resilience Planning programs, bringing the total investment to $20.2m.

Ms Jarvis was joined in Geraldton for the announcement by local farmers and agricultural stakeholders including Northampton Shire president and farmer Liz Sudlow as well as Katherine Allen, CEO of the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council’s Natural Resource Management program.

“We’ve had some amazing seasons in the grain industry in WA, but it’s important to remember with the impact of climate change, there could be some drier seasons coming up, and we want to make sure that the community and farming businesses have that resilience built in to them,” Ms Jarvis said..

Ms Allen said the program has been working with local governments for the past 18 months to identify priority activities for building resilience. The activities were identified as building economic, social and environmental resilience as well as improving the extension and adoption of existing tools and services.

Ms Sudlow added: “The droughts from ‘06 and ‘07 took their toll on the community, so it’s great to see social support as well, and anything else that can contribute to the resilience of the community.”