New state government grants to help food production businesses and farms to adapt to coronavirus have been welcomed by Victorian Farmers Markets' Association executive officer Kate Archdeacon.
Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes has launched the Business Adaptation grants program - part of the Working for Victoria Agriculture Workforce Plan - to support food supply chain businesses in rural and regional areas.
"These grants are a practical and tailored way to protect workers and employers by supporting them through what may already be a tough financial situation," Ms Symes said.
"Industry has identified adaptation support as an important way we can help them continue doing their vital work - we're listening to that advice and considering other ways we can help businesses."
Under the program, individual grants of between $10,000 and $300,000 will support eligible businesses to meet the costs of adapting their workplaces to meet health, safety and social distancing requirements,
The grants also cover assistance to adapt to business changes imposed by the pandemic.
Adaptations may include changes to transport used to take employees to and from work to ensure physical distancing, changes to employer-supplied accommodation, or the creation of extra washrooms and other facilities.
Grants can also be used to buy machinery or appliances needed by businesses to adapt to maintaining operations during the pandemic.
Geoffrey Thompson Fruit Packing Co managing director, Garry Parker, said the Shepparton apple and pear business had been hit by coronavirus.
'We have had to implement different work procedures, with the separation of workers," Mr Parker said.
'"It's been challenging, we have had to split crews, so we don't have all the workers intermingling in rest areas, to try and minimise the chance of infection."
He said the company also had to bring in cleaning crews, to disinfect flat surfaces.
It was likely the company would look to improve staff facilities, including washroom upgrades, which would also aim to make social distancing easier.
"It's good for the local economy, any of these funds will be spent locally and assist those businesses that provide those services."
Government talks
Ms Archdeacon said the VFMA had already been in talks with government departments on how Agriculture Victoria could invest in helping farmers markets adapt in the long term.
Farmers markets in several regional cities were closed, after councils raised concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
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Other markets closed due to the age of the volunteers, running the events.
But at least three have moved online, setting up food hubs through the Open Food Network.
Ms Archdeacon said VFMA had identified five projects, which "were shovel ready and could really benefit from the scheme."
They included the Strathbogie Local food hub, as well as similar proposals for other regional towns and cities.
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Ms Archdeacon said setting up food hubs would allow farmers markets to employ more staff, and increase their accessibility, through longer opening hours and additional storage space.
"If food could be pre-ordered, stored and picked up from an approved cold storage, so much the better," Ms Archdeacon said.
"The producers could leave their food to be sold, every week, rather than having to take it back when it has lost condition, and could be wasted."
She said farmers markets were not just for small scale producers.
Larger farmers could use them to test new lines of high value, quick growing crops.
"It allows them to test whether people want to buy the lines, at a very low risk," Ms Archdeacon said.
"There are 72 times a month farmers can sell produce, at a farmers market."
Ms Archdeacon said the expansion of farmers markets was also about bringing new primary producers into the field.
"We would all like to see more people going into farming, it can be really difficult, as a small producer, to compete with the large scale systems," she said.
The VFMA saw the value in the Strathbogie Local program, and was hopeful it would allow the Euroa Farmers Market to run again.
"There is a lot of goodwill between Strathbogie and the manager of the Euroa farmers market," she said.
Project benefits
Other projects, which might benefit from the funding, were the Wangaratta Farmers Market, which had also shifted to online sales through the OFN
Wangaratta was using volunteers to collect, aggregate and pack pre-ordered produce.
"They know what they would need to do to establish that hub, through what they have learned through doing this,' she said.
"I think they would be in a really good position to take this on board.
"In some of these regional towns, there is underused space and people who could do with more work."
Bendigo was also working towards setting up a food hub, having moved onto private land, after the council stopped issuing permits, due to coronavirus fears.
Melbourne Food Hub was also using a converted shipping container, as a cool room.
Eltham Farmers Market, through Local Food Connect, was working on a proposal to set up a market garden, in the grounds of one of the local schools.
Ms Symes said the Business Adaptation grants were part of the broader $50 million Agriculture Workforce Plan, supporting regional businesses across Victoria during the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan is supporting businesses within key agriculture and food processing industries through job-matching, case management, worker relocation needs, transport and training.
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