Check Ready Grow
This project was finalised on 30 June 2023. Funding applications will no longer be accepted.
The NSW Government through Local Land Services provides funding to partner with the community and deliver projects and advice for conservation and restoration of NSW’s natural resources. This funding supports the management of natural resources of soils and water for healthy landscapes and sustainable productivity. North West Local Land Services’ regionally developed project; Check Ready Grow is focused on investing in improving practices to promote positive condition trends for land and soil condition.
The project will contribute to and enhance resilience against climatic fluctuations and events, mitigate the rate of land degradation and build capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Improved capacity and increased adoption of land management actions for sustainable use will address and improve soil health, condition and groundcover, and mitigate erosion and improved water cycling.
Activities will target prioritised mixed farming areas where land is used outside capability. This includes land use practices degrading soil condition particularly in low and moderate capability scored land still under cropping and poor grazing management regimes. Activities will encourage adoption of best management practices resulting in the rehabilitation of soils and improved soil condition across the region to support sustainable use of the natural asset.
Funding is available to improve soil management on farms including:
- Land and grazing management training
- On farm infrastructure improvements when changing land use (landuse change includes cropping to pasture, pasture to native vegetation through regeneration or tree planting)
- Improvements to groundcover (i.e. pasture cropping, cover cropping, water ponding and spreading)
- Protect and rehabilitate riparian areas (rivers and creeks).
Check Ready Grow refers to the three-stage delivery process as defined below:
- Check-in: Participants in prioritised areas should complete a goal setting exercise for their farm business and identify opportunities to improve natural resources. Goal setting can enable landholders to maximise access to environmental markets, improve aesthetics and increase ecosystem services. We ask you watch the ‘Goal Setting for your Farm Business’ 30-minute video and ‘Goal Setting for your Farm Business’ worksheet PDF, 339.71 KB to set goals and identify a path to build capacity and make change on ground.
- Ready: Participants are encouraged to develop skills through training aligned to goals identified during check-in (optional), and
- Grow: Consolidate change through funding to implement on ground changes to soil management on farm.
Download the project proposal. DOCX, 51.16 KB
Who is eligible for funding?
In targeted North West Local Land Services areas:
- Individual landholders
- Groups of landholders including Landcare groups, producer groups, neighbouring landholders working together etc. Each landholder involved is required to complete a project proposal indicating they are part of the group.
- Local government
- Community groups
- Aboriginal groups and organisations.
The measure of success for the project will be monitored through practice change evaluations undertaken by participants prior to the ‘grow’ stage. These will be revisited at the completion of each project to ascertain contributions made towards outcome achievement.
Case studies
To see examples of how other landholders in the region are working with Local Land Services to improve natural resource on their properties, check out these case studies: