Starting December 1, Australian dairy farmers can apply to up to $100,000 in grants each through Woolworths’ Dairy Innovation Fund.
Designed with peak industry groups, the fund aims to help struggling dairy farmers make investments in technology and infrastructure projects to build farming efficiency, sustainability and resilience in their businesses.
The yearly grant application rounds are open to all dairy farmers in the Woolworths supply chain, including those supplying vendor brands.
With a total of $5 million in grants, the fund supports the Australian Dairy Plan’s emphasis on innovation as a key driver to reduce the cost of production and increase on-farm profitability.
“Our Dairy Innovation Fund will help Australian farmers invest in projects that increase farming efficiency and modernise their operations with new technology,” said Woolworths Director of Buying Paul Harker in a media release.
The grants are expected to support 60 dairy farms over the next three years which supplements recent industry research showing that 80 per cent of dairy farmers plan to invest in their business in the next two years.
“Dairy farmers have faced tough conditions in recent years through droughts and bushfire. The Dairy Innovation Fund will help farmers invest for the future, while also increasing resilience to withstand these types of challenges,” Harker said.
“This fund will assist in turning long-planned farm improvements into a reality, so we’re inviting dairy farmers to tell us how they would use up to $100,000 to improve their operations”, Harker said.
The Dairy Innovation Fund has been designed in consultation with Australian Dairy Farmers, Dairy Australia, National Farmers’ Federation, Premium Milk Ltd and the NSW Farmers’ Association Dairy Committee.