IROs TO HELP FNQ FARMERS

AGRICULTURAL industries and communities devastated by Cyclone Yasi will be able to boost recovery efforts with the announcement today that the Queensland Farmers’ Federation and its industry member groups and affiliate partners will employ Industry Recovery Officers (IROs) on the ground.

QFF and the Queensland government have signed off on a $1.7 million nine-month project to facilitate employing 12 IROs on the ground to get recovery moving faster.

The IROs will work directly with farmers to help them access the various forms of government assistance on offer and will also provide a vital conduit of information between the on-ground clean up and recovery effort and key business and farm management advisors.

QFF CEO Dan Galligan said a similar program was used immediately following Cyclone Larry in 2006, and it had proven itself as one of the most effective ways for getting farmers and communities on the path to recovery.

“Cyclone Yasi has caused more than $700 million of damage to agricultural production in Far North Queensland,” Mr Galligan said. “The clean-up and recovery will be long, difficult, and costly.

“These IROs will work with farmers as they get their businesses back on track. The Federal and State governments have offered various forms of assistance to farmers during this summer of natural disaster – and it is understandable that sorting through the paperwork and complexity of these is a tough job for farmers when their first priority is dealing with the damage to their farms and communities.

“The IROs will help farmers decide what assistances are most needed for them, and to get the right applications into the right places. This in turn will help communities recover faster but getting the local economy ticking over again.”

Twelve IROs will be employed for up to nine months to assist in Category D declared disaster regions of FNQ and will work with industry groups CANEGROWERS, AgForce, Growcom, the Australian Banana Growers’ Council, the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation, the Queensland Seafood industry Association, Australian Prawn Farmers’ Association and the Nursery and Garden Industry of Queensland.

“The IROs are employed as a direct result of funding from the State and Federal Governments in partnership with industry bodies. This recovery work allows us to take a supply chain focus and provide direct business-by-business recovery advice and assistance. This type of Government and industry partnership is a welcome and highly effective approach to regional disaster recovery efforts.”