The Industry Recovery and Resilience Officer (IRRO) program supports primary producers recovering from the impacts of the 2021-2022 flooding and cyclone events in Southern, Central, Southeast and Western Queensland. Through the program, the Queensland Farmers Federation’s (QFF) IRROs, Eloise Cosgrove, and Julia Jurgs, can work alongside your business to develop a Flood Management Plan, documenting the risk mitigation strategies that are being implemented or planned on your farm, to best prepare your business for future weather events.
Eloise and Julia, who joined QFF earlier this year, have been working with producers across a broad range of agricultural industries, hearing about people’s experiences during the 2022 flooding events and offering them support to plan effectively for future rainfall and flooding events.
“I already knew farmers are some of the most resilient people around, so it’s great to see them utilising free support resources particularly when it comes to preparedness and planning for future success,” said Eloise. “We’ve already been receiving some fantastic feedback from the farmers who we’ve worked with so far, and I’m really looking forward to getting some turf growers involved and building on our connections within Turf Queensland.”
“There is nothing quite like being an advocate for primary producers, being able to help in any way, which in our case is flood preparedness, creates inspiration for me to get to work each day and do what I can to help farmers,” said Julia. “Although we are discussing stressful impacts from debilitating weather events, the farmer’s openness and trust in sharing these experiences is really important to me, and to their disaster readiness. Developing these strong relationships with farmers and being able to spend time on their farm is the most enjoyable part of my role.”
Whilst Eloise and Julia recognise that most farmers already have recovery and risk mitigation strategies practically in place, these aren’t always documented with time frames or specific detail. “It’s incredibly positive to see the various risk management practices that farmers are already putting in place or aiming towards, but I think it’s also really beneficial to have a document in place which outlines their overall plan and goals,” said Eloise. “This is especially true if a farmer is thinking about applying for funding to support their recovery and resilience planning.”
Not only are QFF’s IRROs working to support farms develop flood management plans, they are also available to assist with creating business plans and applications for eligible funding, and to offering mental health and other resources if beneficial. The IRROs can also help with connecting farmers to key contacts through QFF’s membership and the wider industry to support other areas of your business, specific to their needs and future goals.
The Industry Recovery and Resilience Office Program is jointly funded by the Queensland Government and the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Further information can be found about the program at https://www.qff.org.au/projects/irro/
Or by contacting Eloise or Julia directly for a chat:
Eloise Cosgrove
M: 0409265427
E: eloise@qff.org.au
Julia Jurgs
M: 0416951450
E:julia@qff.org.au
Lene Knudsen also assists as an IRRO one day per week. Lene can be reached via mobile 0429 000 179 or email lknudsen@qfvg.org.au