Warwick and Stanthorpe farmers to help design digital climate services for building drought resilience

March 11, 2021

Farmers in Warwick and Stanthorpe will play a major role in the design of two innovative Australian Government programs aimed at boosting drought resilience.

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, and Federal Member for Maranoa, David Littleproud announced four pilot locations have been selected to support the development of the Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool and Climate Services for Agriculture programs.

The four regions are the:

• Queensland Dry Tropics
• Condamine and Northern Tablelands
• Victorian Mallee and south-east South Australia
• Western Australian sheep-wheat belt.

“Farmers and industry within the Condamine and Northern Tablelands region, which includes Toowoomba, Warwick and Stanthorpe, will have the opportunity to participate in the design and testing of the initiatives,” Minister Littleproud said.

“I encourage farmers in the region to get involved and share their local knowledge and ideas to help develop this important resource, that will ultimately support their resilience, risk planning and profitability through future drought.

“Feedback gathered in the pilot regions will inform the design of the Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool and the Climate Services for Agriculture digital platform, to make sure both are useful to the agricultural sector.

“The two initiatives will tailor climate risk, impact and resilience information to specific agricultural sectors in pilot regions, enabling farmers to prepare for future drought and climatic conditions.

“Our farmers have a proud history and a wealth of local climate knowledge so it’s important we tap into their ideas when it comes to the design and testing of technology like this.

“Providing farmers with the tools they need to be drought resilient is a key objective of the Future Drought Fund. These products will help farmers assess climate impacts on their farm businesses so they can make informed decisions.

“Engagement with farmers and industry in pilot regions will occur from March 2021.

“I encourage anyone interested in participating in user engagement in these pilot regions to visit the Future Drought Fund website to find out more.”

Fast Facts

• Prototype products will be available nationally by 30 June 2021, with further development occurring to customise information to the needs of users in pilot regions, up until June 2022.
• The $5 billion Future Drought Fund provides secure, continuous funding for drought resilience initiatives. It will help Australian farms and communities prepare for the impacts of drought.
• This long-term, sustainable investment will make $100 million available each year to help our farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought.
• On 1 July 2020, the Australian Government announced 8 foundational programs for the Fund.
• These programs will help boost the performance of Australian agriculture and increase its resilience to the impacts of drought.