Funding opportunities for research and innovation to benefit rural industries

AgriFutures Australia is one of 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) that service the Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) needs of Australian rural industries.

AgriFutures Australia has a unique role among the RDCs. AgriFutures provides funding to organisations to conduct RD&E on behalf of rural industries that pay levies to the Australian Government, but do not have their own dedicated RDC:

• chicken meat
• rice
• honeybee and pollination
• ginger
• tea tree oil
• pasture seeds
• export fodder
• thoroughbred horses
• kangaroo
• buffalo
• deer
• goat fibre
• ratite.

Funding is also available to help establish, scale and grow emerging rural industries – that is, those that are not required to pay primary industry levies and charges to fund R&D. Each year Agrifutures Australia identifies different “target industries” for investment through their Emerging Industries Program.

Check if you can apply

To be eligible to apply for an Open Call for research, you must:

• be conducting research which is of direct benefit to the specified Australian rural industry
• comply with all reporting requirements
• agree to disseminate valuable project intellectual property and project material in accordance with the research proposal.

To submit a funding enquiry when Open Calls are closed, your enquiry must:

• align with the current AgriFutures Australia Research and Innovation Strategic Plan (2022-2027)
• match AgriFutures Australia’s RD&E priorities for the year(s) for which the proposal is being submitted, found in their Annual Reports and Annual Operational Plans
• aligns with:
  • one of their 16 overarching strategic priorities in the Strategic Plan (linked above)
  • current research priorities for a levied industry or an emerging industry, as outlined in their respective five-year industry RD&E plans
• accounts for any similar research projects (current or completed) and any pre-existing publications.