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GrowStrong 2025

The Wine Grape Council of South Australia has welcomed the expansion of the GrowStrong Program to four more grape growing regions in South Australia!

Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and the Barossa

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Prepare for the Future.

Are you a passionate grower seeking to improve your viticulture business?
​Welcome to GrowStrong. A transformative program specifically designed to fuel your business with strategic management and planning resources.

Our immersive training experiences are packed with practical tools and invaluable knowledge that will equip your viticulture business to meet the demands of grape growing for the immediate and long term future.

The pilot GrowStrong Program took place in Langhorne Creek, Riverland and the Limestone Coast. Take a look how it went here.

This program is supported by the Wine Grape Council of South Australia, through funding from the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund and the 
​Government of South Australia.

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2025 Program Outline

GrowStrong Business Fundamentals
The University of Adelaide Business School, Rural Business Support, PIRSA FaB Mentors

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia Training (varied options per region)
The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI)

All Regions to benefit from:
Well-Being & First Aid Courses
Simonit & Sirch Pruning Workshop

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Eligibility Criteria.

To qualify for this initiative, all applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Trade as a primary production business.
• Undertake all aspects of the business wholly within Australia.
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST.
• Farm in one of the 4 agricultural regions in South Australia (Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Barossa)
• Be established under the legal structure of a sole trader, trust, partnership or private company.

 

• Be commercially viable, that is the business must be able to:
  • Generate sufficient net profit under normal seasonal and market conditions after fixed and variable expenses to service borrowings;
  • Provide an adequate standard of living for members of the business;
  • Allow investment on-farm to maintain the farm's productive assets, and;
  • Financially sustainable and productive in the long term OR can demonstrate genuine potential to become a viable business (as outlined above).

Requirements of participants. ​

Affordable Grower Contribution - Unbelievable Value!
Program is worth an estimated $10,000. With 95% of the program funded by state and federal grants, you'll get a huge return on investment.

Up to two (2) applicants per business (ABN) can apply to participate with each paying the subsidised rates above.
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​Additional participants are welcome, subject to demand, and will need to pay for the full cost of the program.

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Adelaide Hills

APPLY!

McLaren Vale

APPLY!

Barossa

APPLY!

Clare Valley

APPLY!

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Contact.

All enquiries please contact Victoria.

Victoria Eichner
Project Coordinator
​[email protected]

Background Information.

Future Drought Fund – Farm Business Resilience Program 

The Future Drought Fund (FDF) is a long-term Australian Government investment fund that provides a sustainable source of funding to help Australian farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought. Funding will be invested from the FDF across Australia every year for projects to help strengthen drought resilience in Australian primary producers.
 
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) is coordinating the delivery of two Future Drought Fund programs in South Australia, including the Farm Business Resilience Program.

The Wine Grape Council South Australia (WGCSA) has successfully sought grant funding to deliver a Farm Business Resilience Program for 60 wine grape sector participants in the Riverland, Limestone Coast and Langhorne Creek regions.

Australian farmers manage uncertainty and complexity every day. However, the business of farming is becoming more challenging – as farmers face significant climate risk, including future droughts.
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The Australian Government is working with state and territory governments to give farmers the tools to manage these risks.
Through this program farmers including farm managers and employees will have access to subsidised learning and development opportunities in strategic business management, farm risk management and decision-making, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience.
Learning and development.

​This program will provide practical help to farmers to:

• upskill their strategic farm business management and planning approaches to best practice industry standards
• use data to understand their farm business’s strategic risks and improve decision making processes
• learn about innovation and diversification options, new farming practices, systems and markets
• think about succession planning and learn new ways to manage people and time.

The Program will also offer farmers:

• an assessment of their business’s performance, to identify opportunities to build resilience and help track progress
• support to develop or update farm business plans, tailored to their farms
• access to one-on-one professional advice on their plan
• practical tools and resources to take back to the farm.

Funding Information
Find details of the payment information for the Farm Business Resilience program as required under the Future Drought Fund Act 2019 below.
Download the funding information here

Factsheet
Download the factsheet here

Media Release

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Program Partners