Drought Hub
The Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (or Drought Hub) aims to help farmers, agricultural businesses and communities become more resilient to the impacts of future droughts.
The University of Melbourne is leading the hub and Birchip Cropping Group will lead the North West regional node. In 2019, WSMD responded to the draft Australian Government Future Drought Funding Plan 2020 to 2024. The program aims to help farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought.
– 2019 WDA response to the Drought Resilience Funding Plan 2020 to 2024 (760kb PDF)
Longerenong DATA Farm
The Longerenong DATA Farm is the farm of the future.
The DATA Farm showcases the latest digital agriculture technologies, with financial support from the Victorian Government.
It will promote and encourage farmers, students and industry to engage with digital agriculture to enhance on-farm decision making.
Horsham SmartFarm
The Horsham SmartFarm, based at the Grains Innovation Park is a 600-hectare research farm.
It is using and demonstrating innovative, cutting-edge digital technology to increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of grain growers.
Indigenous agriculture
In partnership with the Barenji Gadjin Land Council, WSM Development is working to develop Indigenous agriculture on a commercial scale.
National Agricultural Workforce Strategy
In 2020, WSMD responded to the draft Australian Government National Agricultural Workforce Strategy.
The Strategy confirms that Australian agriculture is a complex and sophisticated system. Its performance relies heavily on the quality of its people.