Many farms in Tweed Shire in New South Wales are under threat from a range of issues that will be addressed in a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy being developed by the council in cooperation with local farmers.
Council will stage a series of community workshops this month to further develop the draft strategy, by working directly with Tweed producers to identify solutions to the economic, environmental and social issues they face.
The workshops would build upon public feedback received during an initial round of community forums in 2011.
Agriculture’s importance to the Tweed economy, cultural identity and way of life cannot be overestimated, according to Council’s Sustainable Agriculture Program Leader, Eli Szandala.
“The viability of many of these enterprises is under increasing pressure from a number of global, regional and more localised factors.
“Climate change and extreme weather events, the effects of global commodity markets, decline in soil health and loss of ecosystem services that benefit food production systems are just a few of the many issues that producers face.”
Mr Szandala said the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy would set a vision for an economically, environmentally and socially viable agricultural sector and outline the actions required to address the issues farmers faced.
“Producers in the cane, dairy, grazing and horticultural sectors are encouraged to participate in the workshops, to provide broad insight to what is needed to make Tweed agriculture more sustainable.”
