Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture in the NRM North region is highly significant - the gross value of agricultural production in the region was estimated at $600M in 2016/17. The sector is experiencing impacts due to climate change, irrigation expansion, and agricultural intensification, which are likely to change the agricultural sector over the next decade. There is an opportunity to work with the region’s farmers to improve their capacity to meet opportunities and manage challenges to achieve higher levels of agricultural production and profitability through adoption of best practice farm environmental management.

The strategic focus of the Sustainable Agriculture Program is to build the skills and capacity of the region’s farmers to better manage soil health and promote the adoption of best management practices leading to greater resilience of the farming business, its people and resources.

Soil health is one of the foundations of productive and profitable agricultural enterprises and poor management can lead to both environmental degradation and economic losses. Our focus on soil health is considered a good investment that will help buffer the impacts that will confront the agricultural sector over the next few decades. Creating an awareness of practices and promoting adoption that lead to resilience of the farming business, its people and resources, is critically important as farmers are faced with increasing economic, social and biophysical pressures such as climate change. Supporting farmers to enhance resilience and manage these increasing pressures is a priority of the Sustainable Agriculture Program.

The target issues that NRM North's Sustainable Agriculture Program are focussed on between 2015-2025 include promoting the adoption of practices to:

• reduce the risk of soil and nutrient loss from hillslope erosion;
• reduce the risk of soil acidification;
• reduce wind erosion, soil compaction and salinity;
• maintain or improve soil carbon; and
• improve resilience in the face of economic, social, and biophysical pressures and challenges.

You can learn more about the Sustainable Agriculture Program (known as the Land Theme) in the 2030 NRM Strategy for Northern Tasmania.