Dairy producers should hook up with a new Federal Government program designed to fund equipment upgrades for milk cooling, milk-harvesting and hot water production, according to Dairy Connect.
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Dairy Connect, CEO Shaughn Morgan said the federal initiative which would help boost on-farm efficiency and productivity.
"Dairy farmers are able to receive grants of up to $20,000 to upgrade equipment and reduce energy consumption," he said.
"The grants were made available from June 23 under the Government's energy efficient communities' program.
Graham Forbes, Farmers Group committee president said, "The grants will also allow producers to invest in monitoring systems to better manage energy use, to run energy audits and to investigate other opportunities for energy efficient activities."
The Energy Efficient Communities Program was announced as part of the government's Climate Solutions Package in the 2019 federal budget. A total of $10 million has been put aside for the dairy round.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the grants were providing financial support at a time when many in the dairy industry were struggling.
"Supporting the long-term sustainability of our dairy farmers is critical to the sustainability of regional Australia and to Australia's food security," he said.
"Energy use in milk cooling, milk-harvesting and hot water production is one of the highest overheads in the dairy industry, costing producers as much as $12,800 per 100 cows each year."
