Program: Transformational Agricultural Systems

Program Goal

To achieve efficient and collaborative translation, provision, evaluation and use of knowledge across production, natural resource management and business management domains.

The Transformation Agricultural System program will deliver on this through three key activities.

Featured Projects

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework

ESG is a framework that can help producers to address sustainability issues, enhance sustainability performance, increase resilience, reduce risks and create opportunities. Learn about ESG and how you can implement these practices to reduce risks and create opportunities.

Water and Energy Irrigation Demonstration

To accelerate the adoption of water and energy-saving technologies in the Atherton Tablelands' sugar and horticulture industries by adapting and demonstrating successful systems from the Burdekin cane region.

Climate Data Analysis

Using advanced techniques and expert knowledge, we have been working with our Nodes to analysis multiple towns across the region to help land managers better understand weather patterns and climate trends more clearly, enabling them to make better decisions for their farming practices and achieve better results.

Adoption Officers

Adoption Officers work across the TNQ Drought Hub's multiple programs to support farmers and their communities to pick up innovative tools and practices to build drought-resilient businesses.

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Kara grew up in Far North Queensland with her family operating an organic banana farm in the region. She received a Bachelor of Business (Public Relations) and Bachelor of Media and Communications from Queensland University of Technology in 2015, spent time in the Northern Territory and ran her own Community Growth and Marketing firm in Brisbane before making the move back to the Wet Tropics.

Kara then worked as Head of Engagement and Community with the Australian Agritech Association (AusAgritech) and brings her extensive regional and agrifood tech ecosystem experience to her new role as Digital Ag Innovation Consultant for the Ag Innovation Program.

Kara is passionate about regional growth and development and fostering greater collaboration and engagement between farmers, researchers and key ecosystem players in the agrifood supply chain to generate better outcomes for Far North Queensland and beyond.

Ana is an Environmental specialist with expertise in ESG analysis and has 20 years of experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating socioenvironmental projects and policies dedicated to promoting sustainability, sustainable land management and regenerative agroecosystems.

Ana completed her PhD in 2020 where she developed baseline analysis, indicators, and multi-stakeholder frameworks to assess sustainable planning strategies based on economic, social, and environmental criteria. In 2022, Ana won the annual Pittu Laungani Award for his scientific article entitled “Integrating health promotion into sustainable development goal 11: major challenges and learned lessons from Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HMC) in Brazil.”

Activity 1: Drought Investigation

The TNQ Hub is accessing and interpreting climate data from a number of sources (e.g Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries) to help identify future drought impacts for land managers. Each of the TNQ Hub Drought Resilience Coordinators are working closely with producers and industry groups to integrate local knowledge and available climate data to enhance decision making.

Activity 2: Sustainable Finance and Insurance

The TNQ Hub is enhancing and building knowledge of the benefits and risks for farmers looking to enter the environmental market space. A number of products will be developed in conjunction with the TNQ Hub Drought Resilience Coordinators to ensure the products meet the needs of each region.

As part of this activity, the TNQ Hub in collaboration with key industry experts are investigating a potential opportunity to develop an insurance product aimed at enhancing drought resilience.

Activity 3: AgTech Drought Solution

This activity will demonstrate and adapt the successful water and energy efficiency measures currently being implemented by irrigators in the Burdekin sugar cane industry into other TNQ regions. The TNQ Hub Drought Resilience Coordinators will engage their networks to promote and share opportunities for interested landholders to be involved in demonstrations/farm walks.