Berries Australia is proud to announce a new resilience and recovery project to support growers after a number of difficult years, funded by the Australian and NSW government’s Storm and Flood Industry Recovery Program Stream 2.
Berries Australia Executive Director Ms. Mackenzie said a key focus of the berry recovery and resilience project was building industry capacity to enable better preparedness and ability to bounce back in the face of future events.
‘It is no secret that we live in a volatile and changing climate and the last few years of La Nina have been challenging for the sector. Whilst at an industry level we can’t stop these events from occurring, we can ensure that our growers have the best capacity and tools to deal with these events,” Ms Mackenzie said.
“All growers in the Northern NSW region will have the opportunity to undertake a facilitated on-farm assessment using the well-regarded Growcom Hort360 tool which identifies areas of their business that need improvement. The tool covers off on a diverse range of topics including water use efficiency and run-off management, energy efficiency, and soil and nutrient management.”
The project will deploy two recovery and resilience officers based in Coffs Harbour and Wollongbar respectively.
New Berries Australia Recovery Officer John Hay said that he is passionate about sustainable farming but recognises that sustainability and profitability go hand in hand so will be working with growers to achieve both objectives.
“The remit of the project is quite broad so I am excited to be using the Hort360 tool to ensure that growers get the resources and support they actually need rather than what we or government think they need.”
For more information: 
Rachel Mackenzie
Berries Australia
Tel.: +61 0408 796 199
[email protected]