The New South Wales government is investing $28 million through the Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program to support 14 innovative projects to help boost local jobs, regional economies and increase productivity across the agriculture sector.
The funding will enable businesses to adopt new technology and upgrade equipment to support more efficient and sustainable production. A key focus of this program is to enable regional industries to grow and adapt to environmental and geopolitical change.
The program is operating through a co-investment model, with funding recipients contributing $77.5 million in total. The state government said this model multiplies the impact of government funding, attracting significant private capital into regional economies. It will enable businesses to access more export opportunities to stay competitive, driving wider flow-on benefits for local businesses and regional communities.
This investment follows the New South Wales government injecting more than $10 million into aquaculture projects across Shoalhaven and the South Coast, through its new $20 million Aquaculture Industry Development Program.
Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, said agriculture is one of the state’s most important industries.
“The sector contributes billions of dollars to our economy, underpins thousands of jobs in regional communities and puts food on our tables,” said Minns.
“This funding is about backing innovation and businesses like Hortifutura to help farmers modernise their operations, stay competitive and continue to grow. This co-investment model unlocks enormous potential for our state’s primary industries, driving private investment in projects that advance the sector and deliver real benefits for regional communities across New South Wales.”
Funding recipients of the Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program include:
- AgConnex – $4,000,000
To upgrade its rail loading, storage, and processing capability at the Western Riverina Connect rail siding outside of Griffith. The project will unlock new opportunities in the plant protein sector and allow greater access to domestic and export markets. - Eringoarrah Pty Ltd – $3,944,297
To construct an on-farm off-grid processing facility on Eringoarrah Station to be capable of processing 130-head of livestock (60 cattle, 50 sheep, 20 pigs) weekly. The main building will contain a slaughter floor, boning room, packaging area and cold storage facilitating end-to-end meat production. - RMIT University – $3,014,760
To design, deploy, and demonstrate an integrated hybrid renewable energy system to displace diesel electricity currently used by an Australian agricultural business operating in a remote or fringe-of-grid environment. - Altitude Farms – $2,954,455
To build a state-of-the-art cherry packing facility, helping growers across the Central Tablelands pack fruit more efficiently and minimise waste, increasing post-harvest capacity for the region. - Provenance Propagation – $2,100,000
To increase its controlled-environment propagation growing area by 1.38 hectares, incorporating state-of-the-art automation and advanced production systems. - Freeman Vineyards – $2,000,000
To build the state’s first dealcoholisation facility, enabling end-to-end production of non-alcoholic wine in regional New South Wales. - Yieldtech Enterprises Pty Ltd – $2,000,000
To support the establishment of a regional manufacturing facility in Coffs Harbour that converts Australian-grown hemp by-products into prefabricated building materials for the construction sector. - Topsoil Organics Pty Ltd – $2,000,000
To deliver an Anaerobic Digester project that will convert agricultural, food and garden organics (FOGO) waste into renewable biomethane and on-site electricity. - AWH Pty Ltd – $1,400,000
To establish the Goulburn Wool Auction Innovation Hub, a first-of-kind, fully digital wool auction and handling facility which will shift a core component of Australia’s wool auction system from metropolitan-centred infrastructure toward a decentralised regional model. - Southern Cotton Pty Ltd – $1,335,000
To deliver an integrated system to capture, process, transport and beneficially reuse cotton gin trash as livestock feed and paddock fertiliser, reducing waste and supporting agricultural practices. - Menura Pty Ltd & Mother Mtn Pty Ltd – $1,110,000
To introduce new technologies to increase production capacity and improve efficiency, including batch pasteurisers for consistent processing, expanded cheese-making infrastructure, automated yoghurt and cream filling, and specialised ice cream manufacturing equipment. - Blantyre Farms Pty Limited – $1,000,000
To install a bespoke on-farm feedmill enabling the production of high-quality pig feed using food waste and by-products. The system will be powered by renewable energy generated on-site through a biogas system that converts pig manure into methane. - Aviagen – $675,228
To install and commission an early candling system at the Goulburn hatchery, using advanced imaging to assess egg fertility and development. - Hortifutura Co Pty Ltd – $500,000
To transform waste into renewable energy, heat, carbon dioxide fertiliser and recycled water to support the state’s first high-tech, certified organic propagation nursery with commercial grafting capacity.
New South Wales Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty, said investing in agriculture means investing in the strength of our regional communities.
“When farming businesses do well, the whole community benefits – from local shops to transport operators and service providers,” said Moriarty.
“Supporting (these) projects helps create local jobs, strengthen supply chains and set our regional industries up for sustained economic growth. This is about the New South Wales government investing in regional New South Wales and our ag sector through an open and transparent process, something that hasn’t happened for many years.”
Further information on the Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program is available online at nsw.gov.au/aiigp.
