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AAA Farm Innovation Program
The Agriculture Advancing Australia (AAA) Farm Innovation Program concluded on 30 June 2003.
Looking for a current grant from the Australian Government? Go to www.grantslink.gov.au.
Overview Farm Innovation Program (FIP)
The Agriculture Advancing Australia (AAA) Farm Innovation Program (FIP) was launched as a three-year pilot program in May 2000. The objective of the Farm Innovation Program was to encourage the adoption of innovative and already researched and trialled practices, processes, production techniques, technologies and products in the farming, fishing, food and forestry industries, through the provision of grants.
Applicants needed to be registered rural businesses with an annual turnover in the range of $50 000 to $3 million in any of the preceding three years, and not exceeding $3 million in any one year. Projects selected for funding received up to 50% of eligible project costs (capital items, input costs and demonstration).
A key component of the Farm Innovation Program was the inclusion of field days and demonstrations which proved to be the most popular form of training. It was a compulsory component of the program that successful applicants demonstrate their innovation to relevant members of their industry, so that industry members could see the operations of the innovation which in turn gave the innovation more credibility.
A total of 443 applications were received with 97 projects approved and funded, to a total of $10.2m, with the largest project representing an investment of $525 000. Successful applicants were required to match grant funds.
The program facilitated the adoption of research and development from one or more of a range of sources including 36 projects from Regional Development Corporations, 28 projects from universities, 62 projects from Australian industry/private and state organisations and 23 projects from private research inspired by overseas innovations.
One of the most exciting aspects of the program was the variety of projects undertaken. These included addressing Australia wide problems such as environmental degradation, salinity, water recycling and reduced use of herbicides and fertilisers.
Examples of some successful FIP Projects
Auto Egg Collection
Grant awarded to: Fyfe Enterprises, Tamworth, New South Wales
Amount of grant: Up to $223 000
Tamworth poultry breeder Jim Fyfe is starting the first commercial trial of an automated egg collecting system that could boost the Australian chick breeding industry and meet demands for alternative methods of egg production. "The Range Egg Harvester will make breeder farms more efficient, reduce animal disease and lower the health and safety risks associated with working in large poultry sheds," says Mr Fyfe. "The Harvester, developed and patented by Colin Smith in Queensland, also promises cheaper eggs and better chick quality for poultry processors. "The industry has trialled many imported nesting systems over the past four decades but has stayed with manual collection because many other methods performed poorly. The Australian system is special because it aerates and cleans nest fillers as it places the eggs on a belt that takes them to the packers. The fillers are made of natural wood shavings or rice hulls, which the chickens prefer to the plastic mats and slatted floors used in other systems. The Range Egg Harvester has applications for the breeder, free range and barn range sectors of the poultry industry. It could provide a cost-effective alternative to caged enclosures by allowing hens to wander around barns with deep litter floors."
Green Cane Harvesting
Grant awarded to: Tweed Harvesting Incorporated, New South Wales
Amount of grant: Up to $512 602
The project will achieve a reduction of pre-harvest and post harvest burns by supplying the green trash to Sunshine Energy Condong Cogeneration Project as a biomass fuel supply for the production of electricity. This will involve transporting green trash from the fields to a factory for separation, a practice that is conventionally undertaken on the harvester, and then onto the Sunshine Energy Condong Cogeneration Project for use as a biomass fuel.
Valuable Veneer: River Red Gum For High End Uses
Grant awarded to: The Bonum Sawmills, Barham, NSW
Amount of grant: Up to $541 625
River Red Gum is a beautifully grained timber with high value potential for applications in flooring, furniture, interiors and decorative items. It is a very hard timber with irregular grain structure and other idiosyncrasies which make it difficult to process for these 'value-added' applications, so it tends to be used for lower value products such as fence posts and landscaping sleepers. With the importation of German-designed, Brazilian-built veneer slicing equipment, The Bonum Sawmills will enable commercial quantities of Red Gum veneer of a consistent quality to be available in Australia for the first time. Existing veneer slicing plants in Australia are not geared to dealing with the peculiarities of Red Gum. Because continuous supplies of high quality product have not been available, the use of River Red Gum for premium applications has not been promoted. The Bonum Sawmills project will provide commercial quantities of Red Gum veneer of consistent quality to Australian and world markets.
Mangoes On The Move From Territory To Tokyo
Grant awarded to: Jabiru Tropical Orchards, Berry Springs, Northern Territory
Amount of grant: Up to $200 000
Jabiru Tropical Orchards produce mangoes and mangosteens for markets in Australia and overseas. Jabiru will use a combination of technologies to provide premium quality mangoes to Japan. One of these technologies funded by the Farm Innovation Program: Vapour heat treatment (VHT) will replace chemical treatments for fruit fly. This project has the capacity to increase the supply of Australian mangoes to Japan from the existing 400 tonnes to 2000 tonnes and is predicted to achieve sales of $15m within 5 years. Australian suppliers have the advantage of being able to supply this market with ready-to-eat fruit when other suppliers (e.g. Philippines, Mexico) are out of season, so there is great scope to significantly increase Australian mango exports to Japan and later, other Asian Markets.
Mudcrab & Seacucumber Hatchery
Grant awarded to: Ross Meaclem, Harvey Bay, Queensland
Amount of grant: Up to $119 020
The rapidly growing market for mud crab and sea cucumber is posing a problem for seafood processors and exporters - how to meet demand from depleted world stocks. A Cairns company, Bluefin Seafood's, hopes new research and technology will provide the answer. The company has bought a site at Hervey Bay on Queensland's mid-north coast to develop a commercial mud crab and sea cucumber hatchery.
The company exports 20-40 tonnes of live mud crab to Singapore and Taiwan a year, and recently made two live shipments to Canada. It also harvests and processes up to 80 tonnes of sea cucumber a year. The company hopes the new venture will allow it to safeguard and increase future supply, protect its existing customer base and expand into new markets. Bluefin Seafood's believes there may be other spin-offs from the venture, such as the hatchery doubling as tourist centre, and possibly as a research facility.
Dairy Calf Rearing Pens
Grant awarded to: Stockwell investments Pty Ltd, Meningie, South Australia
Amount of grant: Up to $48 000
Stockwell Investments Pty Ltd of Meningie in southeastern South Australia is developing Shelter Pens to rear dairy calves. The use of plastic slatted flooring, as used in Europe and USA, is far superior to alternatives of saw dust, pink bark, concrete or wooden slats. As the plastic slats are comfortable and easy to keep clean and does not have the tendency to harbor pathogens or disease, as do most of the alternatives. Which will improve the health, hygiene and growth rates of the calves. These pens will be portable with ease of dismantling and relocation, and will lay flat for ease of transportation. They are designed to be easily joined to other pens, reducing costs by way of shared panels. The design incorporates outside facilities to feed milk, water and grain, which reduces the risk of contaminated feed and water.
Native Pepper
Grant awarded to: Essential Oils Tasmania, Kingston, Tasmania
Amount of grant: Up to $50 325
Essential Oils of Tasmania (EOT) have been producing and marketing premium essential oils to the international market for more than 15 years. They have strong commercial relationships with perfume and flavour houses in Europe, the USA and Asia and the company has a firm commitment to product development and research. Project partners, Diemen Pepper, are involved in the harvesting, preparation, value adding and marketing of leaf and berry products of the native pepper (Tasmania lanceolata). In addition to supplying a large proportion of raw pepper products to the Australian bushfood industry since 1995, they have also provided most of the raw leaf used by EOT for its 'lanceolata extract' exported to Japan. This project will develop a 10 ha plantation of Tasmania lanceolata which will overcome problems of wild harvesting. By careful management under controlled conditions, the project aims to produce :- a suite of clonal materials selected as suitable for the leaf extract market; clonal material known to be of high fruit yield; a collection of individual plants which represent a widely diverse natural population of this species in Tasmania. The grantees currently produce a range of products from wild-harvest T lanceolata including food and pharmaceutical additives, bushfood products, and products used in food production and processing.
Peeled Potato Technology
Grant awarded to: Frank Sheehan, Ballarat, Victoria
Amount of grant: Up to $312 000
An innovative process developed by Green Lands Holdings in conjunction with the University of Ballarat, will extend the "shelf life" of peeled potatoes up to a period of 35-40 days, depending on the variety. By using a "vegetable gum" coating, which replaces the peeled skins with another "skin" of vegetable gum. Avoiding the current use of sodium meta bisulphite, which develops an odour and can become an allergen for consumers with respiratory ailments. This process uses naturally occurring ingredients in a water base into which the peeled potatoes are dipped. This process involves peeling, trimming and dipping, vacuum packing then refrigeration at normal household refrigerator temperatures. Providing a "consumer ready" end product, better able to compete with pasta, rice and noodles with improved longer term market opportunities for growers.
Salinity Reducing Legume
Grant awarded to: DN & DS Clarke, Lake Grace, Western Australia
Amount of grant: Up to $39 325
Doug and Debbie Clarke from Lake Grace in southern Western Australia will plant the first commercial scale crop of Sulla, a legume from Sicily, in an effort to combat dryland salinity in their region. Sulla has the potential to improve soil quality in high pH soils, by increasing nitrogen and reducing salinity. Sulla is a biennial legume that makes use of rainfall whenever it occurs. Its ability to use out-of-season rainfall helps reduce recharge into the water table, particularly in summer when the usual cropping systems don't absorb all the excess water. Sulla has already been used successfully in New Zealand for stock feed, erosion control and land revegetation. "The use of new perennial pasture legumes is critical to combating spreading dryland salinity in this state. Our project follows research by Agriculture Western Australia on trial crops, " says Mr Clarke.