DAN MCCRAY, HOST: Now, if you've ever lost mobile signal halfway down the paddock or wished your irrigation system could just run itself, this next one is for you. The Federal Government has opened up Round 3 of the On Farm Connectivity Program, putting another $10 million on the table for farmers wanting to go smarter with their tech. Primary producers can apply for rebates of up to 50 per cent capped at $20,000 to help pay for gear like soil and nutrient monitors, livestock tracking systems, automated watering and equipment security. So the first two rounds handed out more than $30 million to almost 3000 farmers. Now, that is across the entire country. This time, the priority is going to go to producers who missed out on the funding in previous rounds. And joining us on the phone is the Federal Minister for Communications, Anika Wells. Good morning, Minister. How are you?

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS ANIKA WELLS: Dan, great to be with you. Good job spruiking the program.

MCCRAY: Thank you. I wanted to give the facts up top because the first question I wanted to ask you, Minister, was – and now this word probably keeps you up at night, or at least you'd be mumbling it in your sleep in your role – but what does connectivity mean in the context of this program?

WELLS: This program, it's about enabling primary producers in agriculture, in forestry and fisheries to extend connectivity across their farms and to make better use of connected machinery and sensor technology. So I mean there's details on the website if people want to get into it, but the objectives for you, Dan, would be we want to extend digital connectivity and we want to enhance primary producers’ capacity to implement digital agri-business solutions, and we want to support access to new communications equipment by offsetting some of the cost.

MCCRAY: And $30 million went out in the first two rounds to a couple of thousand producers around Australia. Do we have a sense of what impact that's had? Like, are we seeing that in productivity? Are you hearing from farmers about the new stuff they've been able to get?

WELLS: The first two rounds helped more than 2900 primary production businesses, and we've made some changes based on their feedback for the third round. And, broadly, under the Better Connectivity Plan, we've awarded almost $970 million across 17 initiatives. But I think what you're talking about in this one, people have finally gotten themselves Wi-Fi connected equipment, things like remote water monitoring technology, better farm management tools, environmental monitoring equipment. People are telling us it allows them to shift from being reactive to more proactive, and that's a good thing.

MCCRAY: What's a successful application for this look like? Is it ideas for lots of multiple little things? Does it need to be one big spend?

WELLS: So, you have to have had an ABN registered for 12 months or longer. You have to have an average annual gross income between $40,000 and $4 million over three full financial years. And you have to not be a hobby farmer. So those are the criteria for who can apply here.

MCCRAY: Why is the Government investing in this, Anika? Why is it important to help farmers sort of smarten up the tech that they've got out there?

WELLS: Well, Australian farmers are among our world's best, and we've always found that they want to embrace technology to drive their business and that gives us food and fibre, and not just for Australians but countries across the world. We know that connectivity helps drive productivity. Productivity is a big priority of the Albanese Government. And so, whether that's on a farm in the Darling Downs or elsewhere, we want to do measures that help with efficiency and safety and productivity. And places like- I mean it's not quite your neck of the woods, Dan, but Cunnamulla, for instance, some farmers have installed remote water monitoring tech, which means they've told us it's made a distinct and useful difference for them. So, we just want to help with improving that kind of tech and extending connectivity where it helps, not just the farmers themselves but all of Australians.

MCCRAY: Yeah. Okay. Digital fencing is a big one at the moment as well, and I'm sure you'd know that cuts down a lot of jobs if you don't have to go out and repair your fences and that sort of thing or it can change your boundaries fairly easily. So, there is quite a bit, and it's an evolving area of farming as well, isn't it?

WELLS: It is. And like you said, it's been a really popular program. And that's why we've tried to focus in Round 3 on giving people that didn't get a go the first two rounds the opportunity this time.

MCCRAY: How do people get started? If they're just hearing about this for the first time, they didn't know about the first two rounds, where do they need to go?

WELLS: So, check our website. But if you meet those sort of three eligibility criteria that we talked about a little earlier, if you want to receive a benefit under the program, you're going to have to purchase eligible equipment via an approved supplier. That's listed on the department's website. And for absolute clarity, even though I'm the Minister for Communications, the department is the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. So that's the department I'm talking about. You need to use the list of approved suppliers. Choose one that best suits your business. And then once you've chosen the equipment you need, your approved supplier will submit the application through the Business Grants Hub. You'll then confirm your details through the application form. Once that's been approved, you will pay the discounted price to the approved supplier and receive your equipment. And after that, the approved supplier gets the rebate of up to 50 per cent, like you already mentioned.

MCCRAY: Perfect. Thank you, Minister. Now, I know you're on a really tight time schedule today, but I just wanted to quickly ask. You're in Canberra at the moment. Is that right?

WELLS: I am, yes.

MCCRAY: I believe you have your own flower festival going on in Canberra. We're two days away from the Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba. Do you have a favourite flower festival in Australia?

WELLS: Unquestionably, the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers…

MCCRAY: [Talks over] Good answer.

WELLS: …is my preferred flower festival. As a born-and-bred Queenslander, you would expect nothing else. I was happily there wearing my Brisbane 2032 hat and your mayor and councillors were extremely hospitable to the visiting delegation. And so, forever, I pledge you my troth, Carnival of Flowers.

MCCRAY: I love it. It's too easy to grow flowers in the climate down in Canberra. We got to battle all sorts of things.

WELLS: Yeah. Give us a challenge.

MCCRAY: Exactly. That's what Queenslanders do best. Thank you very much, Minister. Appreciate your time.

WELLS: Have a good morning.

MCCRAY: There you go. That's Federal Communication Minister Anika Wells talking about the On Farm Connectivity Program. Round 3 for those grants are up and open at the moment, so go see if you're eligible and maybe apply to upgrade the tech on your farm.