More jobs and organic produce for Livingstone thanks to RED Grant
Ross O’Reilly
22 September 2023
A Livingstone Shire regenerative farm is building a dedicated post-harvest facility for its fruit and vegetables and creating up to three full-time jobs thanks to a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant.
High Valley Dawn Permaculture at Rosslyn Bay is building a processing and packaging facility to help increase the output of its organic fruit and vegetables for local markets, businesses, and the farm’s paddock-to-plate restaurant Beaches Rosslyn Bay.
Owner Ross O'Reilly said the facility would include processing and packaging equipment, washing stations and a solar-powered fridge.
“For the past five years we’ve been having to take all our produce into our restaurant, which is four kilometres away from the farm, for processing, so having this new post-harvest facility at the farm is going to be so much easier for us," he said.
“The new facility will create jobs for people to work in the packing shed and at the garden and it will enable us to increase the amount of produce we can cook at our restaurant and sell at the local markets."
The expansion will create up to three full-time jobs and is expected to be completed by next year.
"The Rural Economic Development Grant is giving us extra cashflow to produce more, process more, and do more," Ross said.
High Valley Dawn Permaculture Farm is one of 24 businesses approved for the fifth round of the competitive RED grants program with a total funding of $3.9 million. Overall, the fifth round of the RED Grants program is expected to create up to 215 direct, long-term jobs.
Grants are available for up to $200,000 with a 50 percent cash contribution requirement from applicants to fund projects which generate economic and employment opportunities related to primary production value chains across rural and remote Queensland.
Over five years, the Palaszczuk Government’s RED Grants program has provided a total of $13.3 million in funding to support 59 successful regional agribusiness projects, worth more than $52.4 million and estimated to create over 2,500 new direct and indirect jobs.
A sixth round of RED Grants, supporting Indigenous-owned agribusinesses and projects aimed at low-emissions agriculture, has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, with applications to open later this year.
For more information about the RED Grant scheme, visit the RED Grant scheme page.
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administers the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
