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Queensland regional jobs get grant support
Vivien Lin
The Queensland Government has opened the second round of funding for food and agricultural businesses, with up to $250,000 available to individual projects, and a closing date of September 6.
The Rural Economic Development (RED) Grants Scheme is a $10m program involving three funding rounds over a three-year period ending in 2021. By creating jobs in these agricultural industries, the scheme aims to provide significant economic benefits to rural and regional communities.
Examples of projects that may be eligible under the scheme include the development of new products or markets or improved business processes, where investment will create job opportunities.
“To be eligible to apply, applicant must propose an agricultural supply chain project based in regional Queensland that will generate economic growth and local jobs,” Mr Furner says. “Eligible projects may implement new technologies and innovations that enhance productivity, assist with business development and expansion, or work to achieve improved economies of scale.”
The first round of grants, valued at $3.3 million, supported businesses in regions such as the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley, Mareeba and North Burnett. It is expected to create up to 600 jobs in the agricultural sector and help 15 rural businesses expand.
“We’ve seen some exciting projects that will greatly benefit and value add to the agricultural supply chains in regional areas,” Mr Furner says.
Fair Dinkum Meats at Springsure and Emerald received a grant of more than $217,000 during the first round of the program to help fund its business expansion and create jobs in regional areas. Managing Director Jason O’Loughlin will be using this funding to build a state-of-the-art boutique produce supermarket and smokehouse, creating up to 24 fulltime job opportunities for both meat industry specialists and shop fitters. Mr Furner has also estimated that the project will create up to 48 indirect jobs in the community.
“We already run a successful regional business which prides itself on bringing traditional old school butcher values to providing excellent service, quality products and supporting local employment and communities,” Mr O’Loughlin says. “Establishing our own facilities means we are able to expand the range of goods and better service the needs of customers.”
The project will also benefit local primary producers of beef, pork, lamb and chicken as well as fresh produce growers including herbs and leafy greens.
A third round of the scheme is anticipated to commence in mid 2020. You can find out more here.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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