CRCNA invests $8 million in four-year program to bolster productivity across Northern Australia’s cropping and cattle sectors
Northern Australia’s cropping and cattle sectors are set to be refined and reset by the CRCNA’s Cotton, Grain Cattle Program (CGC). The CGC program includes six projects and has 30 research and funding partners to address cross-regional, geographically consistent priorities. The four-year, $8 million program is the CRCNA’s largest investment to date.
CRCNA’s Chair, Sheriden Morris said this is part of a significant body of work across Northern Australia, with the potential to develop new industries for long-term growth, shifting the landscape of northern agriculture through sustainable, adaptable cropping systems and cattle production improvements.
Researchers, producers, development corporations, and jurisdictional governments collaborate at CGC in order to maximize the productivity of cropping and beef production systems in Kununurra and the Ord region of WA, the Katherine and Douglas Daly regions of the NT, and in developing crop production in north Queensland.
The Northern Territory Minister for Agribusiness and Fisheries, the Hon Paul Kirby said “Investment in the cattle industry and development in agriculture in the north is integral to growth. The launch of the Cotton, Grains, Cattle initiative is a welcomed boost which will contribute to efficient programs and profitability”.
To bolster productivity across the north’s cropping and cattle sectors the CGC program has six projects across key northern regions to develop integrated agricultural systems.
- Crops for Cattle to increase the efficiency of Northern Australian cattle production systems using local crops to improve dry season weight gain (NT)
- Fundamentals of cropping-systems that deliver sustainable growth of the agricultural sector (NT)
- Cropping enabled cattle production enabled by feed products from irrigated cropping (WA)
- Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) sustainable systems for diversification of ORIA cropping (WA)
- Extension capacity of cropping systems, enhancing to sustain growth (NQ)
- North Queensland Cotton, Grains, Cattle farming systems (NQ)
The four-year program focuses on research and development outcomes that address soil and water suitability and management; optimized agronomy; crop protection; biosecurity; establishing and maintaining local industry capacity in remote regions; developing best practices for animal production; and stewardship and social licence, such as whole-of-life methane emissions tailored to the scale and climate of the north.
