From the Director
As the year draws to a close, I want to take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks to you, and all our supporters, partners, and of course, our staff.
I want to thank the land managers and agricultural communities who have given their time, expertise, and commitment to building resilience around the region. Your support has made 2024 another year to remember.
It’s been another big 12 months for the hub and I am pleased to share with you some of this year’s highlights below.
For those navigating the challenges of drought or disasters over the Christmas period, please remember support is available at local, state, and federal levels.
Whether you’re seeking practical assistance, financial resources, or simply a listening ear, there’s help at hand. Please visit:
- Drought, disaster and rural support, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Drought assistance, Department of Primary Industries
- Drought support for Queensland primary producers, Department of Primary Industries
- Drought Wellbeing Service, Royal Flying Doctor Service
- Financial counselling and wellness coaching, Rural Financial Counselling Service North Queensland
Before I sign off, we would love your feedback. Please take a moment to complete our end of year stakeholder survey. Your input is invaluable in understanding what we do well and what needs improvement in the year ahead.
Please note our offices will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period from December 23 to allow our team a well-deserved break. We’ll be back Monday 6 January 2025 to continue building resilience.
Wishing you and your families a joyful and safe Merry Christmas. Here’s to a prosperous and resilient 2025!
Until next time, keep safe and well.
David Phelps
Director
2024 Hub Highlight
Evidence based, well informed, and data-driven decisions are key to building resilience.
The hub has continued to support communities and land managers to do this through tools, resources and workshops such as Succession, Leadership and Governance Workshops, Climate Data Analyses to better understand climate trends, and ESG Assessment tools and educational materials to help understand and integrate the ESG framework on farm.
We are proud to support Indigenous innovation and resilience within hub activities and projects.
This year has provided further opportunities to support, work with and engage First Nations alliances, organisations, business and communities through activities such as the “First Nations and Freshwater in North Queensland 2023” guide, the 2025 pre evokeAG event Millenia of Ag-Innovation, the 2024 Indigenous Australian Datathon, the Fitzroy Catchment Traditional Owners Alliance, Developing Northern Australia Conference and Hope Vale Foundation TEKFARM trials.
We never stop learning, and education and knowledge is important to keep improving resilience within agriculture.
The hub partnered with AgForce for the third time to deliver the AgInspiration program, this time in Cooktown. Five undergraduate Honours scholarships were awarded to students studying topics aligned with the region’s agricultural priorities.
For Extension Professionals, we partnered with the Department of Primary Industries to write an Extension Capability Pathways Paper and guiding Principles to guide career pathways and training needs of extension officers.
We have continued exploring and supporting innovation and research outcomes that enhance the longevity and sustainability of agriculture.
From working with AgTech providers testing usability, to collaborating with JCU on projects such as BeefVantage and EcoSprAI – real-world on-ground application is at the forefront of hub projects. Another tool, AgValuate has been used by over 180 producers across Queensland to evaluate their business and understand their readiness to adopt innovation.
A key role of the Hub is to generate new knowledge by linking science with industry needs.
Through the hub, James Cook University was the recipient of two significant grants from the Natural Heritage Trust’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Program: $4.8 million for “Rejuvenating agricultural soils to enhance productivity, resilience and carbon sequestration using enhanced rock weathering” under the Partnerships and Innovation investment stream; and a share of $6.26 million to host one of the eight Regional Soils Coordinators across Australia, through the Soil Capacity Building investment stream. These grants focus on the agriculture sector adopting sustainable natural resource management practices that protect and conserve natural capital and biodiversity.
TNQ Drought Hub Node Partners
