Food and Fibre Great South Coast Annual Report 23/24 by foodfibregsc.com.au

Acknowledgement of country

Food and Fibre Great South Coast acknowledges that our region is on the traditional lands, waterways and skies of the Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Gunditjmara, Eastern Maar Nations, Jardwadjali, Boandik, Djab Wurrun and Buandig people.

We recognise the important ongoing role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have in our community and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.

Welcome from the Chair

It is with pleasure that I address you in my capacity as chair of Food and Fibre

Great

South Coast.

It has been a very busy last 12 months with both Nicole Newman, our Chief Executive Officer, and I commencing in our respective roles within 10 weeks of each other. I in mid-September and Nicole at the end of November.

The economy, culture and success of the Great South Coast are heavily reliant on our food and fibre sectors. It is these sectors and the industries within who support both direct work in primary production and processing as well as indirect jobs in allied areas like retail and transportation, offering a substantial number of job opportunities, combined they form the backbone of our regional economy. It is these sectors and industries that we seek to support, promote, advocate and deliver for.

As you will read in the comprehensive report by Nicole Newman, we have not rested on our laurels. Nicole and I in collaboration with the board and our partners, namely the five Local Government Authorities, Southwest Vic Alliance, Great South Coast Economic Futures, Deakin Warrnambool, Wannon Water, Southern Rural Water, DEECA, and advocacy groups have worked together throughout the year; we have had a very busy year of engagements.

These engagements, as you will read in Nicole’s report, have led to several successful outcomes with more success to follow.

With this success I would like to recognise the achievements which Nicole has led and delivered to date. On behalf of Food and Fibre Great South Coast I thank Nicole for her vision for the year, her engagement, the achievements and her tenacity when life’s curve balls have presented themselves.

To the board members and the executive team within the board, thank you for your ongoing contributions over the last year.

Thank you to our local politicians who have reached out from within the regions, and special thanks to Dan Tehan, MP Member of Wannon for his ongoing encouragement and engagement.

To the private agricultural and business donors who appreciate that engagement must be driven from the ground up as well as through the local government areas and other bodies, your support has not gone unnoticed, and we hope to build on this support in the forthcoming year.

To Marlien Lourens, Program Manager Great South Coast Economic Futures, thank you for working with us to ensure that we work towards delivery of the best economic outcomes for the region, to Alistair McCosh, Director of Deakin Warrnambool Campus, your support and generosity with regard to resources and use of your excellent campus have been an enormous benefit to us, to our two amazing external contractors namely Jane Young and Robyn Johnstone, your inputs and work have contributed to the successful year we are about to complete.

Food and Fibre Great South Coast has the capability to deliver so much more, however we need to fund the capacity to do so.

I have been approached to stand again for the position of Chair, if I am successful my aims for Food and Fibre Great South Coast in the forthcoming year together with the board and Nicole is to employ strategies which awaken those who are oblivious to this capacity and capability of the Great South Coast, to advocate for the muchneeded funding for infrastructure investments in water, roads and power distribution to enable us build our rural economies thereby contributing more to the national economy and to build on our successes of 2023/24.

It is with much optimism for the forthcoming year that I avail of a Steve Jobs quotation: “Great things in business are never done by one person: they’re done by a team of people”.

I thank you for your support and ask that you continue to support the individuals, groups and organisations who support the work being undertaken by Food and Fibre Great South Coast.

Thank you,

Oonagh Kilpatrick

Oonagh Kilpatrick Chair, Food Fibre Great South Coast

CEO Report

With almost a year under my belt as CEO of Food & Fibre Great South Coast (FFGSC), penning our annual highlights report has provided an opportunity to reflect on the significant shift FFGSC has taken over this period through the strategic development of partnerships, collaboration and thoughtful forward planning.

My appointment in November 2023 coincided with a substantial shuffling of the FFGSC Board, where we welcomed five new Board Members as well as the appointment of a new Chair. This provided an apt opportunity to re-evaluate and corroborate the core purpose of our organisation, and to develop a new Strategic Plan, where we consolidated our key goals and aspirations and set the direction for the year of growth that has been, and the realisation of a number of aspirations that stem back to the original intent of FFGSC.

2024 began on a high with the development of the Great South Coast Food & Fibre Prospectus in collaboration with Deakin’s Economic Futures department, ably led by Marlien Lourens. Together, we launched this comprehensive document at AgriFutures evokeAG in Perth, where significant interest was shown in the investment potential of our region and several important connections were made providing immediate value to Great South Coast producers.

Inspired by the potential we saw at evokeAG this year, we have again partnered with Economic Futures and successfully applied for funding to support a post-event tour of the region in 2025 where investors will see first-hand the existing strengths and wider potential of the Great South Coast, with visits to the Port of Portland, Deakin’s Hycel research facility and a selection of innovative local producers.

A key focus this year has been attracting funding to sustainably support meaningful projects that align with FFGSC’s key aims. On this bent, the attainment of a Victorian Government Vic Grown grant midyear allowed us to realise an objective that has been at the heart of FFGSC since its inception. Staging the first ever Great South Coast Food & Fibre Showcase in October, celebrating all things locally grown and produced, was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year. The number of local producers that put their hand up to exhibit at the Showcase far exceeded our expectations, as did the support and interest of the wider community. Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive from both stallholders and attendees, and the broader goal of raising awareness of the many and varied local producers in our area, and the huge potential to value add to our existing commodities, was indisputably achieved.

Whilst we acknowledge the highs, 2024 also presented significant challenges for our local producers with dryer than usual climatic conditions coupled with volatile livestock prices in the first half of the year. Reliable rainfall and access to ground water has always been the Great South Coast’s primary competitive advantage, yet the past season has shown that it is imperative to also put measures in place to support our producers through unpredictable dry spells.

With this in mind, FFGSC partnered with Southern Farming Systems to successfully tender to implement the Regional Drought Resilience Plan. Collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders including local LGAs, Catchment Management Authorities, Traditional Owner groups and industry peak bodies, the aim is to put in place systems that increase the capability in our region to build drought resilience, not just for our producers but for the regional communities that rely on the ongoing prosperity of our food and fibre sectors.

More immediately, FFGSC has also been providing input to the South West Drought Coordination Group which will help ensure the effective coordination and delivery of the Victorian Government’s response initiative, identify emerging risks, issues, pressures, and opportunities, and inform decision-making and response efforts.

Current climatic conditions aside, the sustainable and effective use of water to drive value add in our region continues to be one of the main pillars of FFGSC. Meaningful engagement with Southern Rural Water is continuing with the aim of removing barriers to trade and educating licence holders to increase the use of existing available water resources. A working group of key stakeholders has also been coordinated to develop a clear and united message to take to the Department representing this region in relation to accessing available water.

Alongside this ongoing work FFGSC has partnered with key stakeholders this year to bring together our food and fibre communities at events aimed at preparing them for future trends and challenges.

Earlier in the year, our Cyber Security Workshop, held in partnership with Charles Sturt University focused on Farmer cyber security issues, practices, available technologies, technology maturity and awareness levels. More recently we partnered with Deakin University and AgriFutures to present ‘Future Horizons – Food & Fibre’ which brought together an impressive line-up of experts in their respective fields to discuss the future of food & fibre in the region, igniting inspiration, expanding awareness and encouraging our local industry to embrace the future of food & fibre production.

Together with the successes we have achieved this year, the most fulfilling part of my role has been meeting and developing meaningful relationships with the industrious, innovative and entrepreneurial producers that make the Great South Coast one of the highest grossing agricultural regions in Australia. From major local employers like Midfield, Waltanna Farms and Great Ocean Abalone to smaller, but no less innovative, players such as Volcano Produce and Schultz Organic Dairy. The energy and passion evident in our local food & fibre sectors is contagious and the team at FFGSC looks forward to continuing to represent our food and fibre communities and work towards building even greater value and capacity for the benefit of our great region.

Newman

Nicole Newman Chief Executive Officer, Food Fibre Great South Coast

Nicole

AgriFutures evokeAG 2024

Food & Fibre GSC partnered with Deakin University’s Great South Coast Economic Futures team to represent the region at AgriFuture’s

evokeAG 2024 in Perth, Western Australia.

AgriFutures evokeAG is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event. This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain.

The event saw the realisation of months of work for FFGSC with immense interest shown by attendees in the Great South Coast Investment Prospectus, jointly developed with Deakin University. We appreciate and acknowledge the role and foresight of the RDA sponsoring FFGSC to showcase at evokeAG in February this year, which was undeniably a resounding success. The connections and opportunities that have stemmed from evokeAG have been instrumental in securing funding for our region, gaining access to investors, and fostering growth within our local agricultural sector.

The direct benefits of our representation at evokeAG 2024 include:

• Grange Garlic being selected for the National Agricultural and Food Incubator (NAFI) for investment

• Deakin & Food & Fibre GSC received a $25k grant from AgriFutures to host a regional agriculture showcase at Deakin Warrnambool on September 12, 2024

• Deakin Economic Futures/Hycel & Food & Fibre GSC received a $25k grant from AgriFutures to host the Application of Hydrogen in Dairy Industries event in February 2025

• Our regional delegation made 150 new connections; in particular, the connections with AgVic, Dairy Australia and AgriFutures have helped us build and develop our local agricultural sector.

AgriFutures evokeAG 2025

After the success of evokeAG 2024, Hycel/Deakin and FFGSC partnered to successfully apply for a $100,000 funding application for an Investment Tour to the region post evokeAG 2025.

FFGSC will host a 3-4 day event bringing 15 investors to the region to tour Hycel, Port of Portland and innovative agricultural sites.

The Great South Coast Drought Resilience Plan

In September, Food & Fibre GSC, in partnership with Southern Farming Systems, was awarded the contract to coordinate the Great South Coast Drought Resilience Plan.

The Great South Coast (GSC) Drought Resilience Plan is one of nine regional drought plans developed in Victoria, as part of the Regional Drought Resilience Planning (RDRP) Program, under the Future Drought Fund. Coordinating the Plan will ensure GSC communities commit to taking steps now to prepare for and respond to dry seasonal conditions and droughts.

The Drought Resilience Plan has been developed as part of the $5 billion Future Drought Fund which invests in a wide range of drought related initiatives to help Australian communities prepare for the impacts of drought. These are implemented through a suite of programs under four focus areas:

1. Better climate information

2. Better practices

3. Better planning

4. Better prepared communities

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program is part of the ‘better planning’ focus area and supports the development of regional drought resilience plans throughout Australia from 2021 to 2025.

The Drought Resilience Plan for the GSC region (the Plan) was developed through extensive consultation with a wide range of local individuals, groups and organisations. The Plan includes a collectively agreed framework for building economic, environmental and social resilience to guide regional effort and investment.

The plan builds on historic and recent experiences of drought and integrates existing drought-related programs and strategies.

Some aspects of the plan have been developed using a consistent methodology across Victoria including:

• Drought impact analysis to understand the prevalence, severity and frequency of past, present and future drought impacts

• Stakeholder engagement to identify key insights and suggested priority areas for action to build drought resilience.

As part of the planning process a Drought Resilience Reference Group was established for the region. This group included key stakeholders with specialist knowledge of agriculture, health, finance, water and environment. The GSC Reference Group members include:

• Corangamite Shire Council

• Moyne Shire Council

• Southern Grampians Shire Council

• Glenelg Shire Council

• Warrnambool City Council

• Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority

• Food & Fibre Great South Coast

• South West Node of the Victorian Drought Resilience Innovation and Adoption Hub

• Wannon Water

• Southern Farming Systems

• Southern Rural Water

• West Vic Dairy

• Rural Financial Counselling Service

• Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

• Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

• Department of Health and Human Services

• National Centre for Farmer Health

• National Emergency Management Agency

Next steps will involve discussions and engagement with everyone involved and formation of detailed activities and budgets. Noting that this work was developed for preparation of drought and now (with dry times) we have many programs active and there is a need to be specific about which program this is, i.e. a collaborative, pro-active program to look at drought resilience long-term.

Realising the Water Opportunity

Water is the foundation of the Great South Coast’s enviable agricultural output. Our reliable rainfall and abundant groundwater supplies provide us an advantage over almost all other regions of Australia.

Despite this, significant economic opportunity remains untapped due to underuse of allocated groundwaterwhilst 100% is allocated, less than 50% of this is extracted and leveraged in any given year. These underutilised groundwater assets represent a significant regional economic opportunity to further grow our region’s food and fibre output.

FFGSC is continuing its work with Southern Rural Water to increase water usage and reduce barriers to trade in the Great South Coast. In October, a Working Group was formed comprising local producers, key sector representatives, Deakin University and Southern Rural Water to develop a united message to take to DEECA to advocate for fit-for-purpose rules and regulations that will enable more producers to utilise our region’s abundant water resources.

We are also advocating for increased sustainable access to the Dilwyn Acquifer, which alone holds the potential to generate an additional $54m in food and fibre output annually. Drawing on our economic forecasts, these benefits would accrue to the wider community through jobs and amenity.

Charles Sturt Cyber Security Forum

Earlier in the year, FFGSC presented a Cyber Security Workshop, held in partnership with Charles Sturt University focused on Farmer cyber security issues, practices, available technologies, technology maturity and awareness levels.

The aim of the workshop was to investigate the current understanding, methods, and viewpoints on cyber security among primary producers and supply chain stakeholders, and to create educational resources to help primary producers comprehend and minimise cyber security threats, as well as communication tools for farmer groups.

The Great South Coast Food & Fibre Showcase

October saw the culmination of months of planning with the successful delivery of the first Great South Coast Food & Fibre Showcase.

Funded by the Victorian Government’s Vic Grown – Regional Activation Grants Program (RAGP), the aim was to stage an activation to increase awareness and consumption of locally produced food and beverages with at least five local businesses showcased.

Exceeding all expectations, the Showcase attracted over 40 local food and fibre businesses, from beef producers, vegetable growers, flower farms, wool, seafood, distilleries, bakeries, cheese, wine, chocolate and apple juice, there was something for everyone on the day. With over 1000 attendees, a number of stallholders sold out of product, and the overwhelming response from all involved was that the Showcase was a resounding success and the perfect celebration of all things food and fibre in the Great South Coast.

Thanks to Deakin University for their generosity in providing the perfect venue, and to local young musicians Amelia Jordyn and Madison Ness for entertaining the crowds. There was facepainting for our younger attendees and five informative Masterclasses presented throughout the day, MCed by Wendy Hargreaves, including muffin making with Waltanna Farms’ Flaxseed, Abalone tasting with Great Ocean Abalone, pizza making with Mitches Preserves, cheese and gin pairing with Apostle Whey Cheese and rounding up the day with gin mixing with Suffoir Distillery.

Eastern Maar Elder Pauly Wright opened the Showcase with a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country, and gold coin entry donations contributed over $650 to our local Food Share.

The Showcase illustrated the multitude of farmers in the Great South Coast who are value-adding to their product and building one-on-one relationships with their community and customers. It was also an opportunity to show people where their food and fibre comes from and how it’s produced, raising awareness and enabling people to make the connection between food, community, environment and personal health.

Your Neck of the Woods

A healthy by-product of the Great South Coast Food & Fibre Showcase was the opportunity to work with renowned food writer Wendy Hargreaves to create a YouTube feature celebrating connectivity between local producers and makers entitled Your Neck of the Woods.

FFGSC worked with Wendy to create two separate episodes focusing on the Koroit region and Timboon. The first episode, Koroit, was launched at the Showcase and has quickly been gaining popularity online with 1,600 views in the first two weeks of the launch.

Featuring local growers Volcano Produce, Cambus Glen Highland Beef, Great Ocean Abalone and makers Mitches Preserves, The Pickle Project, Basalt Winery and Noodledoof Brewery and Distillery, the Koroit episode highlights the strength of our local communities in supporting each other in the development innovative food & fibre ventures that not only add to the appeal of our region from an agri-tourism perspective, but also improve the experience of living and working in the Great South Coast.

AgriFutures

‘Future Horizons, Food & Fibre’

In

September, FFGSC

partnered with Deakin University and AgriFutures to present a day-long seminar Future Horizons, Food and Fibre.

The seminar delved into the future of local food and fibre industries, providing the opportunity for attendees to discover the latest innovations, trends, and opportunities in agriculture, sustainability, and technology. Discussion focused on global trends that could impact current business models and exploring new pathways for growth and sustainability.

The event sparked thought-provoking conversations, challenging perspectives and provided the opportunity attendees to connect with industry leaders, innovators, and peers to expand their professional network.

Pasture 365

The Pasture 365 project has continued this year researching whether more diverse pastures can build resilience to support 365 days of feed production.

The key research question is: ‘Can diverse pasture mixes alter soil moisture and feed biomass to maximise the time that properties are self-sufficient in feed production?’

The project is prompted by the summer feed gap experienced across most of our region, often between November and April, where grazing enterprises must source feed off-farm to support their stock, which is common in temperate grazing systems. This feed gap increases during dry years and times of drought and is a source of significant financial cost that leads to high levels of stress in farming families. Multispecies plantings and deep-rooted perennials have been explored in some contexts to improve soil health and feed yield. However, the interventions attempted have often differed widely among trials, or have been attempted by individual farmers without access to robust scientific assessment to quantify impacts.

Industries such as dairy still rely almost exclusively on monoculture rye grass that is likely to be adversely affected by increased droughts under climate change. The sheep and beef industries have begun to experiment with alternative pasture composition, but much remains to be tested.

Pasture 365 aims to provide a long-term, robust and methodical assessment of the effects of multispecies plantings on soil moisture and feed biomass, two of the critical elements in decreasing the summer feed gap in temperate grazing systems.

Identifying tailored pathways to support 365 days of feed production should make grazing enterprises more financially secure, more resilient to a changing climate and times of drought and increase farmer wellbeing by removing a significant stressor. Pasture 365 will test these propositions.

Trial design:

Pasture 365 is bringing a triple-bottom line approach to assessing the impact of diverse pastures on feed production during times of drought.

Long-term trial ‘focal’ sites are currently located throughout temperate Australia spanning four states (Tasmania, Victoria, southern South Australia and south-west Western Australia) and three industries (dairy, sheep, beef).

The project is also leveraging existing long-term sites to provide consistency in instrumentation and approach across the sites to enable robust modelling of impact at new locations and under projected future climates.

Each focal site is fully instrumented, with options to specialise measurements based on the specific conditions, interventions and industries involved. Multiple, replicated interventions are being trialled at each focal site, with long-term ongoing monitoring of outcomes. Experimental manipulation of temperature and rainfall will be enabled if conditions throughout the trial do not span the desired range. These will represent a chain of focal sites that will form the basis for collection of data to inform our modelling.

Interventions include changing mixes of pasture species to include deep-rooted, multispecies mixes, mixes of native and introduced species and to incorporate shrubs and trees. Alternatives to mineral fertilisers to support soil health are also being explored.

Key response variables are soil moisture and feed biomass. Additional responses are also being assessed at selected focal sites to investigate changes in microbial diversity, soil carbon storage, catchment hydrology and biodiversity of invertebrates, birds and frogs.

Surrounding each focal site are a constellation of satellite sites. These satellite sites are privately-owned enterprises where farmers wish to implement a single intervention. They are minimally instrumented to assess the impact of intervention. This approach of fully monitored focal sites and associated satellite sites provides an ideal mix of value for money, while simultaneously increasing the replication of specific interventions without undue impost on landholders.

Further, it provides a direct extension benefit, linking individual farming enterprises with the focal sites and trial outcomes directly during the trial, creating a deeper connection than is possible using trial sites alone. Farmer wellbeing is being measured, comparing individuals who implement diverse pasture composition with those operating a business-as-usual approach.

Data collected from these field experimental trials will then be used as the basis of a triple-bottom-line bio-economic model. The model will simulate the impact of different pasture compositions under a range of plausible future climates and assess water use efficiency, feed biomass including the length of any feed gap and secondary benefits including financial and environmental. This will be used to develop a decision support tool which will be freely available to farmers to assist with decision making on their own properties under different seasonal weather conditions and taking into account different risk appetite.

Marketing and Communications

Keeping the broader community, our partners and stakeholders informed of our work is vital.

To this end, we have achieved greater engagement this past year through regular social media posts, digital mail outs, radio interviews and press releases.

A dedicated social media campaign for the Great South Coast Food & Fibre Showcase resulted in record engagement with our wider community, with audience growth of over 670 new followers, brining our total followers to 4,200, and 250,000 new impressions. The production of two Your Neck of the Woods YouTube

features have also created steadily increasing interest in food & fibre production in our region, as well as providing us with a fantastic array of quality images and videos to further promote our great region and the important work that we do.

Our website is a central point for communicating information and sharing resources, and we have recently updated the format and content to ensure that the site is effective, engaging and easier to navigate. We trust users will enjoy this new format and encourage those who have not logged in recently to explore our new and improved site.