Danny Chan
Dairy farmers are now eligible to receive up to $20,000 in business grants to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy costs and lower on-farm emissions.
The Dairy Farming Business Grants are part of a $40m Energy Efficient Communities Program that is designed to help eligible businesses effectively reduce energy bills and slash related emissions.
The grants may be used for equipment replacement, component upgrades, energy audits or feasibility studies. Eligible applicants will receive between $5000 and $20,000, based on the maximum project period of 18 months.
The Federal Government says the grant is available to help Australian dairy farming businesses save energy through:
- replacing existing equipment with higher efficiency equipment
- installing or replacing a components to help an existing system run more efficiently
- carrying out on-farm energy audits
- monitoring energy usage and emissions.
An estimated $10m is available for this grant opportunity. Funding will be distributed between jurisdictions in proportion to the number of dairy cow farms (refer to the breakdown in jurisdiction and budget limit here).
Welcoming the program, Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) president Terry Richardson says that the grant fulfilled a request that the group made during the 2019 Federal Election.
“Dairy farmers are facing pressure from high production costs that are, in many cases, outstripping their income,” says Richardson.
“We called on the Government to provide relief to businesses installing or upgrading to more energy efficient or renewable energy systems.
“These grants will not only mitigate the excessive cost of energy, but also contribute to the dairy industry’s target to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.”
More information on grant guidelines and eligibility is available here. The closing date for submissions is August 17.
Leave a Reply