Grants lower energy costs

Gippsland’s dairy farmers are encouraged to apply for grants that will help to lower their energy costs.

Member for Monash Russell Broadbent said energy bills were one of the big expenses for dairy farmers and the Commonwealth Government’s Energy Efficient Communities Program was targeted to help them reduce energy costs whilst lowering emissions.

“The dairy industry is a significant contributor to Gippsland’s economy and without dairy farmers there simply is no industry.

“In these tough economic times, anything that can help lower the cost of production for our farmers is going to be welcome,” Mr Broadbent said.

Grants are targeted towards identifying and putting in place better systems to manage energy usage for dairy farmers and can be used to assist farmers audit their on-farm energy usage, replace existing equipment with higher efficiency equipment and make the changes required to help an existing system run more efficiently.

“Providing this support to our dairy farmers results in less expense and more money for farming families, leading to greater peace of mind for them during this challenging period of economic uncertainty,” Mr Broadbent said.

The Energy Efficient Communities Program was announced as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Climate Solutions Package in the 2019 Federal Budget with an estimated $10 million specifically available for the dairy round.

To ensure an equitable distribution across dairying regions, funding will be available in each state in proportion to the number of dairy farms.

Grants of up to $20,000 are available for dairy farm businesses to save energy by:

Replacing existing equipment with higher efficiency equipment;

Installing or replacing components to help an existing system run more efficiently; Carrying out on-farm audits; and

Monitoring energy use and emissions.

ADF president Terry Richardson said ADF called on the government to provide relief to businesses installing or upgrading to more energy efficient or renewable energy systems.

“These grants will not only mitigate the excessive cost of energy, but also contribute to the dairy industry’s target to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030,” he said.

The grants are part of a $22 million support package promised to dairy farmers in the lead up to last year’s election, which also included over $1 million in projects to be delivered by ADF.

Grant guidelines and application forms for the dairy round are available at www.business.gov.au, or by telephone on 13 28 46.

Applications close on 17 August 2020.