MORE than 100 advisory and development officers are expected to oversee the state’s new Local Land Services (LLS), which will deliver agricultural services in a new one-stop-shop style from January 2014.
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As part of the amalgamation reforms, 10 new cropping research and development positions will be created at North West towns including Tamworth and Narrabri.
New post-doctoral positions will also be created at Tamworth and Narrabri in partnership with rural research and development corporations.
They are just some of the appointments and announcements made in the lead-up to the new LLS model, which Agriculture Minister Katrina Hodgkinson recently outlined for the year ahead.
Ms Hodgkinson said to meet the demands on agriculture and natural resources, they needed to change the way they did things.
“Local Land Services is part of the change for NSW farmers and landowners that I am determined to deliver,” she said.
The minister said the LLS issue was bigger than amalgamating existing services; it was a complete re-think of how the government supported farming communities to be productive and progressive.
“Local Land Services will break down the silos between government departments and rebuild frontline advisory services to be more flexible, accountable and responsive to community-level control,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
About 50 Local Land Services advisory officers will specialise in areas including crops, pastures, livestock, grazing and irrigation.
About 50 more Department of Primary Industries (DPI) development officers will specialise in agronomy, livestock, horticulture, irrigation, soils and climate.
Farmers and landowners will have access to the independent agricultural advice from LLS advisory officers as well as the DPI development officers.
LLS, in partnership with the DPI, will deliver locally-relevant research results to farmers and local communities.
