2016-06-07 - P&E Agenda - Item 5, Attachment 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land Study

Further detail on national social trends for the agricultural sector are provided in Appendix D of
this report.
3.6        Networks
A major development since the 1995 planning study has been the ability for farmers or prospective
farmers to access information on essentially any plant or animal including necessary growing
conditions, trouble shooting and potential markets very quickly through the internet and there is no
shortage of government and private research sites on agriculture, specific to Queensland or at
least Australian conditions. The internet also provides the most accessible platform for linking
suppliers with markets and educating consumers about local products.

Country Noosa, established in 2014 is a community group aimed at promoting agriculture,
horticulture and other rural enterprises in the Noosa Shire and its surroundings. It runs workshops
and field days and connects interested people. One of the services it is offering is connecting
landholders with people wanting access to land for such purposes as agistment and crop growing.
Noosa & District Landcare, established in 1991, is another well-established organisation committed
to achieving long term environmental outcomes through improved land management practices and
assistance with land restoration.

Both Gympie and Sunshine Coast Regional Councils support showcasing networks of regional
produce including directories of local food producers/growers. Gympie Gold Regional Produce has
an interactive regional food trail map detailing produce and visitor experiences available. Seasons
of the Sun directory includes a few producers within Noosa Shire but generally secondary
producers rather than farmers. Additionally, Local Harvest: The Sunshine Coast Regional Food
Directory is a private directory of producers and growers and includes listings from within Noosa
Shire.

Noosa Farmers Market website includes a directory of traders and Noosa Food Etrail provides
suggestions for discovering local produce while exploring the region, however only a small portion
are agricultural businesses from within Noosa Shire.


3.7        Opportunities and Constraints for Agriculture
3.7.1      Climatic Considerations
Noosa has a subtropical climate highly suitable for agriculture. It has warm to hot, humid summers
with mild winters. Frosts are particularly rare. Rainfall is relatively plentiful and can be received in
all months of the year but peaks between mid-summer and early autumn. On occasion severe
storm events occur with localised flooding.

Given these characteristics much of Noosa’s hinterland is suitable for grazing pastures and parts of
it are also suitable for horticulture. In particular the landscape and conditions are suitable for
subtropical fruits and there is opportunity to target harvest windows earlier or later than peak
supplies from northern areas. Similarly, low chill stone fruit could be produced out of season to
more traditional growing districts to the south.

In 2010 Sunshine Coast Regional Council released a Strategy containing climate change
predictions for the region6. In broad terms this predicted the following between now and the year
2100:

          Fewer cold days and more hot days with associated shifts in annual and seasonal means
           and extremes;
          A decline in average annual rainfall volumes;

6
    Sunshine Coast Climate Change and Peak Oil Strategy 2010-2020, Chapter 2.
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