GrazingFutures Livestock Business Resilience
The GrazingFutures Livestock Business Resilience (GrazingFutures LBR) program ran from 2021 to 2025. Its aim was to build profitable, resilient and drought-ready livestock businesses across Queensland and is now proceeded by GrazingFutures Prepare & Prosper.
GrazingFutures LBR supported regional livestock extension teams to provide whole-of-business services to producers. This included assisting with business planning, identifying key business risks, assessing management options and implementing practices to cope with drought and other business challenges. The project helped producers access new drought support packages (grants and loans) to prepare for and better manage low rainfall years.
GrazingFutures LBR was funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Queensland Government’s Drought and Climate Adaptation Program.
For more information about GrazingFutures LBR please contact:
- Dave Smith, Project leader
- Jo Gangemi, Project extension leader
- Billie Standfield, Project monitoring and evaluation leader.
GrazingFutures LBR objectives | Partnerships and collaborations | More information
GrazingFutures LBR objectives
The objectives of the GrazingFutures LBR program were to:
- Provide land, livestock, people and business management support services to Queensland’s extensive graziers to assist with assessing and analysing their livestock operations, business planning and implementing strategies to build the drought resilience of their businesses.
- Improve the skills, confidence and capacity of public and private sector grazing industry support staff to assist producers build sustainable, profitable and drought-ready livestock operations.
- Partner with government, non-government agencies and others to deliver comprehensive support to livestock producers and value-add to existing services.
- Analyse, document and showcase regional strategies to prepare for, manage and recover from drought, grazing business best practice as it relates to land, livestock, people and financial management, and the achievements of GrazingFutures LBR in helping producers improve the productivity, profitability and resilience of their livestock operations.
GrazingFutures LBR Partnerships and collaboration
GrazingFutures LBR formally partnered with Natural Resource Management (NRM) Groups Desert Channels Queensland, Gulf Savannah NRM, Southern Gulf NRM and Southern Queensland Landscapes. Other project partners included Rural Consultancy (ConnectAg) and Farm Business Planning services (RAPAD & Rural Solutions Queensland) to better align inter-agency delivery, integrate emerging research messages and improve business literacy and management.
Collaboration with industry advocacy bodies, regional agri-businesses, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), community mental health providers and local councils, are fostered under the GrazingFutures LBR to enhance the overall service provider response to producer and community needs.
These project partners and close collaboration in maintain through ongoing work under GrazingFutures Prepare & Prosper.
Table 1. GrazingFutures LBR partners and collaborators
| Project partners* | Project collaborators* |
|---|---|
| Gulf Savannah NRM | Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation |
| Southern Gulf NRM | Office of the Great Barrier Reef |
| Southern Queensland Landscapes | Healthy Land and Water |
| Desert Channels Queensland | Burnett Mary Regional Group |
| Rural Solutions Qld | Fitzroy Basin Association |
| RAPAD | NQ Dry Tropics |
| ConnectAg | QRIDA |
| GR Consulting | Royal Flying Doctor Service |
| Peter Long Consulting | Queensland Health |
| Business EDGE (Ian McLean) | NB2 (Dave Smith/Steve Banney) |
| Advancing Beef Leaders (including 5 collaborators) | Australian Wool Innovation |
| Meat & Livestock Australia |
* Additional project partners and collaborators may be engaged to achieve project milestones.