$600,000 grant from to encourage tree planting across state

An initiative of Private Forests Tasmania, the Trees on Farms 2021 program aims to have farmers develop commercial forestry plantings across Tasmania.

The program has been developed to assist farmers with up-front establishment costs and builds on the success of the Integrated Farm Forestry Demonstration Sites Program which commenced in 2019.

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Chief executive of Private Forests Tasmania Penny Wells said the grant will target farmers on private land.

"The grant is to assist farmers to integrate and develop the best practices to add trees to a property and get the balance of food and fibre and help with wood supply issues in the future," she said.

"The benefits of trees on farms are well known such as shade, shelter and water efficiency to assist with increasing productivity on farms.

"We have $600,000 in total funds that are co-funded by the Tasmanian and Australian governments and up to around $100,000 is the limit for each applicant so we are looking to establish around another half a dozen demonstration sites on top of the seven established sites from round one of the program."

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Designed to establish several demonstration farms across regions of the state, the economic benefits include increased carbon capture, as well as integrating more trees into the Tasmanian landscape and on farms.

"We expect successful applicants will team up with private forest consultants to assist with establishment and management of the trees," Ms Wells said.

The program will allocate funding to the successful applicants for fencing works, weed control, planting, pest control and more.

Applications for the Trees on Farms program close January 27.

To apply email admin@pft.tas.gov.au

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