Kempsey Shire Council is offering a series of free online courses to help local farmers and agricultural businesses become more disaster resilient into the future.
In the aftermath of last year’s disastrous bushfires, it was identified that enabling farming and related businesses to prepare business plans that included planning around potential future disasters was a key recovery goal.
Council’s Economic Development Project Officer, Ali Briggs, said this prompted the creation of the Farming Resilience Workshops.
“Our community has experienced more than its share of disasters, with the last year alone presenting enormous challenges for local businesses, particularly those in the agricultural sector,” she said.
“The current climate has forced many farmers and businesses to rethink how they operate and make necessary adjustments to stay commercially viable and competitive.
“The purpose of these Farming Resilience workshops is to help our farmers and ag businesses become more prepared in the event another disaster and to come out the other side of it.”
Ms Briggs said the workshops were for anyone operating a business in agriculture in the Macleay Valley.
“You might operate a large farm or a small hobby farm, or perhaps you are a supporting business like a produce store or a fencing business, either way we are keen to hear from you and have you on board.”
The workshops will be hosted by industry experts who will provide businesses with free training, advice and mentoring via nine webinars over 12 weeks.
Topics include developing a business plan, developing goals for your business, recruitment and retention and marketing your business.
The workshops are being funded under the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.
