Funding for primary industries mostly fell into irrigation investment and projects aimed at taking agriculture to the next level.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Irrigation received $13.8 million for irrigation projects across the state, and a further $8.8 million allocated to support agricultural projects and supports across many agricultural sectors.
This included the AgriGrowth Loan scheme, rural financial counselling service, the FarmPoint website as well as funding for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.
The already announced $1.9 million Agricultural Workforce Resilience Package was confirmed in the budget, including the Tassie Harvest Jobs - Take Your Pick campaign, the Safe Farming Tasmania program, and the AgriGrowth Liason officers.
A further $1.9 million over the next two years will help Crown Lands transaction turnaround times through additional staff to respond to increasing sales requests, applications for development and increasing operational costs.
The fishing sector received $500,000 for seafood industry growth recovery, which included a study into a Tasmanian Ocean incubator concept, and $250,000 will look into potential sites for new offshore finfish marine farms.
Primary Industries minister Guy Barnett said water is liquid gold, and government investment will complement 16 new irrigation schemes.
"Our investment is allowing thousands of farmers to expand their planted areas to high value crops, increase rotations, boost yields and diversify into new enterprises such as wine grapes, leafy-green vegetables and berries," he said.
"There has also been a very positive response to the Expressions of Interest process for first five Tranche Three projects."