Farming Forward Project
Sustainable agriculture is one of Local Land Services’ highest priorities. We are investing considerable resources into delivering the Farming Forward Project, an initiative of the Local Land Services Agricultural Services Framework, to boost on-farm productivity, resilience and sustainability.
Over the past four years, Local Land Services staff have been largely focused on assisting landholders to manage and recover from major events including drought, fire and floods. While our staff will always be there for landholders during the tough times, much of the state is now experiencing good seasonal conditions and solid commodity prices which provides an excellent opportunity to build on-farm decision making capacity.
In order to create the maximum benefit for landholders, communities and industry we are targeting coordinated resources and effort to drought preparedness and planning, soils intelligence, and livestock production. This coordinated approach gives Local Land Services the ability to leverage expertise and resources right across the organisation.
By coordinating our service delivery in these three key areas across all Local Land Services regions, we can be even better placed to help landholders make informed decisions to improve their farm businesses.
Local Land Services will continue to deliver other local targeted extension and advisory services as required but the Farming Forward Project will be our key focus across the state in 2022/23.
Drought planning and preparedness
During the 2018-19 drought, Local Land Services staff helped over 60,000 landholders, and it was clear that producers who had thought about, planned for and made clear management decisions before and during the drought, improved their economic and mental health, decreased animal welfare issues, improved productivity, reduced damage to their natural assets and recovered more quickly.
Now is the time to plan for the next drought (or any tough situation) – while the seasons are favourable, commodity prices are high and we can be proactive in planning, decision-making and undertaking priority activities that will improve your enterprise resilience.
Soils intelligence
Soils are the key foundational part of almost all agriculture enterprises.
Understanding and interpreting soil testing data, soil capabilities and other key soil constraints including soil moisture allows producers to adapt and implement management strategies that increase their productivity and sustainability. This knowledge is key to improving soil health, managing soil constraints, matching nutrient requirements to production goals, managing soil moisture and ultimately optimising pasture / crop growth and yield. Local Land Services is providing that information through soil testing programs and soil health workshops.
Livestock production
Now is the time to maximise productivity and build financial resilience - while the seasons are favourable, commodity prices are high and we can be proactive in decision-making.
Increased knowledge of livestock production, requirements, parameters and management strategies builds a solid foundation for producers to increase productivity and set their enterprise up for success.
Through the delivery of PROGRAZE™ and Tactical Grazing Management courses, Local Land Services assists livestock producers to improve their knowledge of animal nutrition requirements at different ages / stages of production. Producers will also improve their capacity to assess pasture/feed availability and match these requirements to increase productivity.
Get involved
Farming Forward events and activities will be held regularly across the regions over the next two years. To find out what is coming up in your region, keep an eye on our events page or contact your local ag team on 1300 795 299.