How can we best balance the water and land use requirements for environmental, agricultural, community and hydrogen production uses?
The NFF promotes the protection of agriculture land. The long term success of the agriculture sector will be dependent on our continued access to land and water. Agriculture land is a valuable resource that all levels of government should preserve for the future prosperity of the sector and the nation.
However, the expansion of mining, onshore gas, and development of solar and wind farms has elevated tensions and consternation over recent years, threatening to compromise agricultural production. Similarly, development of hydrogen production facilities has the potential to impact agricultural land and water use.
The NFF’s Land Use Policy and Mining and Onshore Gas Policy were developed in response to these concerns. They have been provided for your consideration. Separately, the NFF has recently developed Industry Engagement Guidelines for on-farm activities which contains a set of principles for industry engagement with farmers. This has also been provided for your consideration.