The NSW Government has committed ~$48 million for an expanded Farms of the Future program (the program). The program will deliver on-farm connectivity and encourage farmers to adopt Ag Tech to boost productivity and improve resource management, including water efficiency and drought preparedness.

The program is part of the NSW Government’s Future Ready Regions strategy, that lays out the government’s plans to support and work with regional communities, farmers and industries, enabling them to become more self-reliant and better prepared for the impacts of future drought events and other economic shocks.

The pilot program has three core streams of investment:

•Connectivity: the construction and operation of Long-Range Wide Area Networks (LoRaWAN) in target local government areas (LGAs). 

•Extension and Capacity Building: the development and roll-out of a multifaceted education and capacity building campaign aimed at building farmer and supplier knowledge of the benefits and use of Ag Tech. 

•Grants: the provision of grants for farmers in target LGAs to incentivise Ag Tech device uptake and de-risk investment. 

The focus of this EOI is the program’s connectivity stream."