aPPLY TO THE PROGRAM

Decided to join the program and wish to go directly to the ‘register’ portal?
Click the button below to complete application survey.

The current program finishes in June 2025, and enrolment for farm visits and one-to-one coaching sessions should be completed by the end of March 2025.

  • The Resilient Farming Tas program will outline the decision-making actions you need to prepare and identify risks and opportunities associated with drought, the effects of climate extremes, and other unexpected events. This Program aims to support and provide access to a range of tools to manage the impacts of climate change and risks to your farm business. We will work with individual farm businesses in Tasmania to prepare a Farm Business Resilience Plan.

  • A Resilience Plan will lay out actions to prepare your business, land and people for climatic variability and reduce damage and loss and recover quickly. Having a plan has the added benefit of being able to seek grants or funds for specific actions.

    For the program entry fee of $500 – three people in your business get access to all workshops, webinars, farm tours and the online knowledge platform that the Resilient Farming Tas program will deliver over the next 12 months. This includes free decision-making support during farm visits as well as coaching to develop the ‘Farm Business Resilience Plan’.

  • 1. A farm visit - to complete a Farm Business Checklist and talk about your business/farm operation risks.

    2. Field Days and workshops - for different industry or regional groups across the state on topics of key interest (e.g., soil, water, nutrient use efficiency, workforce, succession planning, financial, emission reduction)

    3. Support and access to information resources - to help identifying risks, opportunities, and prevention or management options

    4. One-on-one or group coaching - to develop a succinct Business Resilience Plan

Resilience

[ri–zil–yuhns] noun

A resilient business can react quickly to challenges and opportunities and make good decisions at the right time. It is prepared to handle sudden changes and survive difficult times.

Farm Business Resilience Topics

    • The Farm Team

    • Leadership

    • Human Resource Management (HR)

    • Effective Communication

    • Succession Planning

    • Workplace Induction

    • Relationships with suppliers, customers and industry networks

    • Decision-making, getting good advice and using it

    • Insurance

    • Financial - Making sense of the numbers

    • Legal Obligations (Compliance), Planning Schemes, Environmental Obligations

    • Diversification, access to off farm obligations

    • Biodiversity

    • Waterways on farm

    • Climate adaptation

    • On-farm carbon and greenhouse gas emissions

    • Managing waste and resources and agriculture in the circular economy

    • Environmental Stewardship

    • First Nations Cultural Heritage TBD

    • European Heritage

    • First Nations Cultural heritage

    • Whole farm plan / PMP / WAR

    • Farm Infrastructure

    • On Farm Safety, WH&S

    • Technology and Innovation (precision agriculture, including sensors and data analytics)

    • Biosecurity (pest, weed and disease management) and managing wildlife pial, birds, deer, etc.)

    • Looking after livestock (stocking rates, feed availability, animal welfare)

    • Irrigation and stock water (access, security)

    • Nutrient management knowledge (annual crops, pasture, livestock, perennial crops)

    • Soil (managing risks to soil health)

Your Program Journey

  • The first step is to register in the program!
    Click here to register

  • An team member will contact you to discuss the risks affecting your business and management of those risks.

    We will connect you to people and resources for support to help start working on your Farm Business Resilience Plan.

    During this step we will also provide access to he online learning platform.

  • You will choose which focus areas of the program are most important to you depending on risks and opportunities you identified

    You can then choose how you engage and get relevant information for planning through farm visits, conversations with specialists, events and/or the online knowledge platform

  • We will support you to develop a Farm Business Resilience Plan with clear Risks and Actions.

“You want to find information on the internet and you just get overwhelmed. What I like about this is that you can go and look and find the information that you need and it's sort of there for you which is great.”

- Nicki Madsen (RFT Participant) on the program and Google Classroom

What's Happening

Lunch & Learn Webinar Series

ONLINE WEBINAR, Ongoing Series

Asparagopsis in Action Bus Tour Day trip to Sea Forest

11th, February
This event is for participants only.

How Prepared are you?

Stay ahead of the curve with a farm business resilience plan! A plan will provide the framework for action and can be used in grant applications to attract funding for your projects/business.

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Delivery Team

RMCG is an Australian environmental and agricultural consulting business. The team members in this project live in Penguin, Launceston and Hobart.

Optimum Standard is a Tasmanian consultancy, located in Hobart, focusing on regional communities and agricultural businesses and supply chains. We work with governments, farm businesses, food processors, logistic operators, waste managers and service providers here in Tassie. RMCG and Optimum Standard have collaborated before and share an office. 

We know there are a range of experts and specialists here in Tasmania, Rural Business Tasmania (RBT), Rural Alive and Well (RAW) and Safe Farming Tasmania to name a few. Our delivery team will collaborate with these organisations and other specialists to provide program participants with the input and insight they need to make a good plan. 

Image L-R: Benjamin Freudenmann (Optimum Standard), Belinda Hazell OAM (Optimum Standard), Dr Doris Blaesing (RMCG), Harrison Tew (Optimum Standard), Morag Anderson (RMCG), Isabel Axio (RMCG), Allison Clark (Optimum Standard)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We recognise that each participant will have varying degrees of availability and time to commit to this Program. We therefore offer several ways to progress through the content to develop your Business Resilience Plan.

    • Intensive (4-6 weeks) - A program team member will visit your site to assist you in developing a risk assessment and farm business resilience plan plan. You will attend 1-2 workshops and complete your plan within 4-6 weeks.

    • The self-guided (1-9 months) – A program team member visits your site and helps you work through a risk assessment; you have access to this online learning platform with resources and activities and you spend however long you like working through this; you attend as many (or few) of the workshop, field days and webinars you like, and finalise your Farm Business Resilience Plan before March 2025.

    • The guided experience (2-3 months) Recommended - A program team member visits your site and helps you work through a risk assessment; you are guided to review key topics on an online learning platform that are most suited to the risks you identify; you attend a specific workshop, webinar and finalise your Farm Business Resilience Plan.

  • This program is for any Tasmanian farm business registered for GST, and that is not a corporate business.

  • The Program has already started; however, you can register at any time. We will be running cohorts through and providing one on one and group support as needed. We will work with you to created a participation schedule.

    The current program finishes up on June 25, and enrolment for farm visits and one-to-one coaching sessions should be completed by the end of March 2025.

  • The $500 payment to participate in the Program is requested to ensure commitment of you and your business to achieving the output of a Farm Business Resilience Plan and involvement in the workshops, events and online learning opportunities. The Resilient Farming Tas Program is heavily subsidised through the Future Drought Fund.

  • Up to 3 members from each business are eligible to participate in the program, with a total cost to the business of $500 plus GST

  • You absolutely can! We will be accepting registrations into 2025; however, the earlier you register the more you will get from the Program as you will have longer access to online materials, events and workshops. You can participate at a pace that works for you and we will support you to ensure you get the most from what we are offering.

  • Your Resilience Plan will lay out the decision-making actions you need to prepare your land and people for predicted climatic variability and reduce damage and loss. For example

    • knowing when a good time is to expand or diversify or alternatively when is a good time to de-stock or sell.

    • knowing what operational actions to be taken in the event of a biosecurity incursion.

    A Resilience Plan (or equivalent) will be needed to apply for drought assistance grants or loans.

Contact Us

Interested in learning more about the program from a RFT team member? Use the contact details below!


Phone: 03 5441 4821
Email: bst@rmcg.com.au 

Funding Statement

The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Tasmanian Government’s Rural Business Resilience Package.