Farmer News
1 July, 2025
Farmers to pilot sustainable farming initiative
TEN south-west Victorian farmers will be part of a new sustainable farming initiative that could lead to greater participation in emerging green investment markets.
The New Futures for Victorian Landcare project, led by the Heytesbury District Landcare Network (HDLN), will explore practical and profitable ways to manage soil, water and biodiversity at a landscape scale by tapping into green investment markets.
It will involve development of investment-ready landscape plans designed to attract significant non-traditional funding to support ongoing protection and restoration of vital landscape values.
The project will also aim to address the major challenges facing landholders in securing funding for on-ground environmental outcomes.
The project brings together farmers, the Landcare community and key rural stakeholders including dairy and meat processors, Dairy Australia, catchment management authorities, financial institutions, and local businesses to co-design a new model for funding environmentally sustainable farming.
It will work directly with 10 local farming businesses, including eight dairy and two beef enterprises, to develop a shared vision for long-term environmental improvement.
Farmers involved will gain access to tools and support to make informed decisions about on-farm biodiversity actions, use interactive mapping platforms for farm planning, identify pathways to green investment and incentive schemes, and strengthen access to premium markets for environmentally sustainable produce.
A series of workshops and online training sessions will be held through to October to activate local knowledge, support peer learning, and foster partnerships.
HDLN is one of two New Futures for Victorian Landcare pilot projects for 2025, following on two similar projects in 2024.
HDLN has appointed Debbie Dalziel as landscape coordinator to manage the project which runs to the end of the year, along with a project working group.
Working group member Chris Hibburt said green investment markets were growing and actively seeking high-quality, landscape-scale projects.
“We are already seeing our trading partners offer incentives and price premiums for farm products backed by strong environmental credentials,” Mr Hibburt said.
“Australia will need to follow this path if we want to remain competitive globally and achieve premiums locally.
“It may end up meaning that farmers get more money for their milk or meat because the supply chain is offering incentives for products that are produced in an environmentally sustainable manner.”
Mr Hibburt said that is what consumers are wanting.
“This program gives us a chance to lead the way by demonstrating that farm practices can be both commercially viable and environmentally responsible.”
One of the pilot farmers, Ecklin South dairy farmer Peter Doolan, expects the project will give producers more incentive to be sustainable.
“We have three generations on this farm with a mindset of being good environmental stewards for our current generation, the next generations and for the whole community,” he said.
“At the moment we go down an environmentally sustainable path at a personal level, but in the future, there could be financial incentives to do that.
“It would be good to look at ways to diversify income, but it’s not all about the money.”
Mr Doolan said his family takes pride in having a pretty, environmentally-sustainable farm with tree plantations and protecting the riparian zones on waterways.
“Down the track, we expect stakeholders in the farming industry will incentivise farmers to become more environmentally aware so it will be good to start working on that option now,” he said.
The project is funded through the New Futures for Victorian Landcare initiative and is designed to generate scalable models for use across the state.
Project partners include Heytesbury District Landcare Network, Landcare Victoria, Landscape Finance Lab, Regen Farmers Mutual, Australian National University, and the Pilot 10 landholder group.