Five North East Victoria projects are among 84 projects that will receive funding totalling $6.848 million under Round 4 of the Australian Government's Smart Farms Small Grants Program. 

In announcing the grants, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, David Littleproud, said the focus was on supporting Australian farmers to adopt innovative practices that increase farm productivity, profitability and protection of natural resources.

The five North East Victoria projects are:

• AgBiz Assist Limited - $80,000 to support winegrape growers and winemakers recovering from the impacts of the 2019-20 bushfires where $140 million of crop was lost due to the effects of smoke. A series of workshops, supporting material and resilience frameworks will support 70 plus growers and wine makers in 5 geographic regions in north east Victoria.
• Burgoigee Creek Landcare Group - $99,500 for the Climate Smart Farming for the Future project, aiming to respond to local agricultural producer identified priorities, enabling local action on a catchment basis.
• Landcare Victoria Inc - $63,655 for the Do it with Dung, from the Mitta 2 Murray project, establishing and distributing 2 spring active dung beetle species across the region.
• Ovens Landcare Network Inc - $79,600 for the Building the capacity across the Ovens Landcare Network to plan and implement sustainable on-ground solutions by developing Property Management Plans with professional support.
• Wodonga Urban Landcare Network - $95,800 for the Growing Healthy Hectares North East program, providing education in best practice land management aimed at often new owners of small, lifestyle and hobby land holdings, linking them with local resources, concepts and tools to recognise, protect and improve the condition of the natural resources they manage.

Further information about Round 4, including a list of all successful projects can be found on the department's website.