Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Ros Spence, is encouraging the state’s farmers and landowners to take advantage of a new program to plant more trees on their farms – helping to boost timber supply, increase biodiversity and prevent soil erosion.
Minister Spence announced the Victorian Trees on Farms Program at Parliament House, alongside industry members at the Victorian Forest Products Association’s Timber Plantations showcase.
“Victoria’s tree plantations are an essential resource – not only for our state’s biodiversity, but to support our housing pipeline, create regional jobs, and produce paper and packaging products to replace single use plastics,” said Ms Spence.
“We’re supporting Victorian farmers and landholders to reap the benefits of planting trees on their farms, including improving grazing outcomes and offsetting carbon emissions.”
The new program is offering grants of up to $80,000 for landholders to plant trees on their property – providing long term solutions including boosting shade and shelter for livestock, improving stock and crop production, offsetting carbon emissions or generating income through carbon credits.
Landholders will also be able to generate additional income through timber production, including from harvested wood products or use the timber for on-farm uses such as firewood and fence posts.
An additional grants program – the Trees on Farms Incubator Program – is offering planting service providers and forestry professionals up to $50,000 to support landowners who might be contemplating planting trees on their property.
The service will help landowners develop tailored, implementation-ready project plans to align with their property and planting goals, while providing education, training and upskilling for tree planting and management activities.
For more information on the programs, visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/trees-on-farms.
