Women wanting to increase their leadership skills and contribute to narrowing the gender gap in agriculture still have time to apply for the National Farmers’ Federation flagship Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program.

The mentorship-based initiative aims to deliver on the NFF’s goal to double the number of women in agriculture’s leadership ranks by 2030 – a goal the industry is well on its way to achieving.

NFF President David Jochinke said the Program had made a significant indent in increasing the number of women on boards, stepping up in their communities and in leadership roles, but there was still more work to be done.

“It’s time to level up the imbalances in gender and take on roles to lead our agriculture forward,” Mr Jochinke said.

The program has alumni across Australia, including Alison Hamilton from Wagga Wagga who said this to potential applicants:

“The opportunity and the ongoing benefit from the learnings of the program are unique. Grab it with both hands and throw your hat in the ring, there is so much to be learned and experienced on many levels. The investment in your time and commitment will pay dividends.”

Mr Jochinke said the program was held up through the support from 31 dedicated partners, including multinational corporations, advocacy bodies and government entities, all who are leading by example in ensuring diverse voices are represented and championed within their organisations.

The Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program provides 12 women with a retreat in Canberra, a five-month intensive one-on-one mentoring opportunity, graduation ceremony, and the opportunity to join a supportive alumni base of 64 graduates. Applications are open until 5pm, Sunday the 28th of April.

 

Parkes Shire Council will be working together with Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils to prepare for and build resilience against future droughts, under Round 2 of the Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program (RDRP Program).

The RDRP Program is designed to enable small consortia of local governments and their communities to better prepare for, respond to and recover from drought through community engagement and the development of a tailor-made drought resilience plan.

Regional economies will continue to be impacted by droughts, which are predicted to become more frequent and severe into the future. Regional Drought Resilience Plans will be co-designed with local stakeholders.

Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty says that the expanded program in NSW aims to help agricultural communities forward-plan to prepare for inevitable periods of reduced rainfall.

“This acknowledges each region in NSW is different and requires a tailor-made approach to drought preparedness to be truly effective. Having community-led Regional Drought Resilience Plans will help set them up for success.”

Mayor of Parkes Shire Council, Neil Westcott, said the program provides a unique opportunity for the local agriculture sector, businesses, and the wider community to inform decision-making moving forward.

“In collaboration with our neighbouring local councils, this program allows us to empower a range of stakeholders across our communities to share their experiences and perspectives. This really is crucial for the success and practicality of our drought resilience plan”, Mayor Westcott said.

The project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the

NSW Government, and will support selected councils to develop Regional Drought Resilience

Plans and small grants that support implementation of the plans.

Forbes Shire Council is joining forces with Lachlan and Parkes to develop a drought resilience plan for the future. The plan acknowledges that drought events are part of the future of any area reliant on the agricultural sector.

With funding from the Australian and NSW Government under the Future Drought Fund, the project will allow Council to use the learnings from previous droughts and implement an evidence based strategy to assist the community to adapt to or mitigate future drought impacts.

“Working together with neighbouring shires makes a lot of sense for this far-reaching issue” explained Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM.

“The impacts of flood are close to mind now, but we need to be ready for inevitable drought conditions that may just be around the corner. We will again work very closely with our community to make sure that this plan is practical and relevant and grows our already strong resilience.”

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program is managed by the Department of Regional NSW and was started as a pilot with three groups of local governments.

Rounds one and two are supporting 59 local Councils and regional areas to prepare 22 regional drought plans. The NSW Model for regional drought resilience planning program involves neighbouring councils working together to develop regional drought resilience plans. These plans will be provided to the CSIRO for independent review and completed plans from across the country will be published on the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website.

“Planning such as this is critical for Council to be able to access funding support for the implementation of these plans”, added Mayor Miller.

“We look forward to working with Parkes and Lachlan on a regional plan that will really make a difference”.

The Albanese Government’s announcement to completely axe the Great Western Highway (GWH) project has been met with great disappointment. 

Upper House MP Sam Farraway has gone ahead and slammed the decision by the Federal Labor government as narrow minded and has called on both levels of government to start standing up for the Central West. 

“The delay for this announcement has seen construction companies lay off staff across the country and with no ability to plan for the future all because the minister wanted to hide behind a fake review rather than come clean on her intentions. 

“The Great Western Highway was not a fantasy. The east and west sections were fully funded and would have made the travel over the mountains substantially safer, quicker and better connecting the east and west of NSW. 

“We’re elected to parliament to serve our communities no matter how they vote. I feel today’s decision was entirely political. NSW has four years until the next election so it’s no surprise that regional NSW had the biggest chunk of projects scrapped. 

“Labor, who are fixated on Western Sydney and have no experience in building road projects have completely taken us back 10 years with the scrapping of this project. I encourage everyone who drives this road regularly to share your thoughts on this decision directly to the local members of Parliament at both state and federal levels.” 

Central West Local Land Services (LLS) is calling for expressions of interest from landholders who want to promote riparian restoration and soil health on their properties. 

The Riparian Restoration Program and Soil and Land Program are seeking locations to develop demonstration sites that will showcase environmental stewardship and how best to conserve our local ecosystems. 

Central West LLS Senior Land Services Officer Dominic Nowlan said the programs will enable landholders to restore and improve habitat and natural environments on farms to help protect priority species across the region. 

“Riparian areas are the zones adjacent to rivers, creeks and other water bodies. They play a crucial role in maintaining water quality, preventing erosion and supporting biodiversity” Mr Nowlan said. 

“Unfortunately, these areas are often subject to degradation due to stock access and over grazing. 

“Our Riparian Restoration Program aims to assist in raising awareness about the importance of riparian areas in the landscape and promote environmental stewardship practices. 

“The Soil and Land Program will focus on healthy soils that are crucial to the function of a healthy ecosystem and productive farming. 

“Due to the nature of our soils and some farming practices, our soils have become degraded. The most common soil degradation issues across our region are dryland salinity and erosion. 

Expressions of interest close 5.00pm December 3rd. 

Any Central West landholders interested in participating can contact Catie Guise on 0429 982 197 or Dominic Nowlan on 0409 915 695. 

A new project funded by the state government will give women in agriculture the chance to develop their own small business and skills training. The innovative Empowering Women in Farming Businesses project, delivered by NSW Farmers, does away with the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead gives local women a hand in designing their own development opportunities.

NSW Farmers Projects Manager Georgia Campbell said the aim was to establish formal networking and learning programs to connect women in small business – or who were looking to start a small business – specifically related to agricultural sectors.

“We know that no two country communities are alike, and what works in Moree may not be needed in Leeton, so it’s about partnering with locals and developing something that will deliver the biggest benefit,” Ms Campbell said.

“Women make an immense contribution to the agriculture sector, and we want to provide regional, rural and remote women with business-focused networking and skill development opportunities to further develop their confidence and support systems.

“We will be delivering between eight and 10 events next year, and we’re looking for interested communities/groups/prominent women to put their hands up to be involved and help shape these events.”

Options available will include skill-based workshops, networking events, and farm or business tours in their local region, which NSW Farmers would then organise and facilitate for the community. 

“By offering communities a choice of events, we believe they will be able to gain maximum benefit by selecting the option which most develops their targeted skills or networks,” Ms Campbell said.

Approximately 100 farmers and contract harvesters attended the recent Be Road Ready for Harvest Satellite Events in Bedgerabong, Parkes, Derriwong and Trundle.

The events were supported by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Transport for NSW, the Grain Transport Safety Network (GTSN), SafeWork NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Farmers, the Australian Custom Harvesters Association, and the Parkes Show Society.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said anecdotal feedback from attendees was very positive, “Regulations are constantly changing, so events like these are important to ensure we provide information about how to safely and legally move agricultural machinery, combinations and trucks on the road network in the lead up to the busy harvest period.”

“We had presentations about Chain of Responsibility, conditional registration and primary producer concessions, GTSN’s updated resources, fire safety, SafeWork NSW safety reminders and resources, an overview of how heavy vehicle access operates and relevant compliance information.”

“The highlight of the morning was the interactive activity, where we showed participants how to read the relevant notice (National Class 1 Agricultural Vehicle and Combination Mass and Dimension Exemption Notice) to work out what the travel requirements would be for a header with a front, various sized tractors towing implements and an auger.

“Participants could take home some windscreen stickers that they can attach to their machinery that acts as a quick reference guide for travel requirements such as pilots, lights and signage – these were extremely popular.”

“Harvest USBs and windscreen stickers will be distributed to local agricultural machinery retailers and rural supply stores in October. Thanks to everyone involved in running the events and to everyone who attended,” Ms Suitor said.