With support from BMRG, QDO has been working with dairy farmers in the east Gympie area
Burnett Mary Regional Group
'Deal or No Deal' with dairy farmers
With a game show host (consultant), a prize (incentive) to give away and a gamble/risk that has the audience clinging to their seats in suspense - you may have very well been mistaken if you thought a television game show is currently being produced in the dairy farms around Gympie.
Far away from numbered briefcases and cameras, however, a partnership has been established between the Queensland Dairyfarmers' Organisation (QDO), Central Queensland University (CQU) and Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) to pilot the use of competitive tenders to purchase environmental outcomes in regards to improved effluent and riparian management at the farm gate.
A competitive tender is similar to a devolved grant; however there is an emphasis on the outcome (eg. improved water quality) as opposed to the input (eg. riparian fencing). By focussing on the outcome, farmers have greater flexibility in the choice of management change to adopt and there is greater competition in choosing the most cost-effective proposals – the gamble of the tender!
Through BMRG investment, QDO have been on-ground working one-on-one with dairy farmers throughout the east Gympie area. This includes assistance in developing the farmers' tender applications for implementing improved farming practices. Management changes that will be eligible for funding include increasing the exclusion time of cows in creeks, having wider vegetation buffer strips adjacent to the water course, upgrading effluent systems and increasing the area that effluent is spread over, to list a few.
With the support of a team of researchers from CQU, a tool called a 'metric' has been designed to assess the applications. From this assessment, only the most competitive bids will be funded; that is those projects that provide the highest environmental outcomes for the dollars required.
While the concept of competitive tenders has been trialled extensively in Victoria, it is still quite a new idea here in Queensland. Feedback to date in this project however, is pushing a strong argument to continue investment. Some farmers involved in the trial have commented:
"Fabulous. It's not terribly involved and very user friendly. A lot of these things get put in the 'too hard basket' and you just don’t bother, but this process has been very easy."
"The bid has been made really simple and this will make farmers do it rather than big lists of questions you get in other applications. The simplicity is wonderful."
With encouraging feedback like this, BMRG is currently working with other industries to continue the delivery of competitive tenders across commodities, including an upcoming trial in the Kolan catchment with Growcom.
For further information in relation to these pilots, please contact Clinton Muller, BMRG Sustainable Use Regional Coordinator, on 4181 2999.
Back to the VoiceLast updated 05 April 2007