Hort360 Great Barrier Reef

Assisting growers to address environmental impacts and agricultural runoff from farmland entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. 

Learn more about the project

  • The Hort360 Great Barrier Reef project assists horticultural growers to address priority actions required to achieve best management practices across the Great Barrier Reef catchments – from Cape York down to the southern Burnett-Mary regions.

    The project provides an opportunity for growers to self-assess and/or work with a facilitator, to identify current on-farm practices and demonstrate improvements to management of nutrient, pesticide, sediment and run-off.

    In addition, the project provides a pathway for horticultural growers to achieve environmental certification as a best practice producer in three key areas: sustainability, productivity, and farm efficiency

    Key outputs of the project include:

    • One-on-one extension services to assist growers to undertake Hort360 and improve sediment, nutrient and pesticide management practices.

    • Provision of technical resources, such as fact sheets, case studies, workbooks and farm maps – to support growers in their on-farm improvements.

    • Workshops, field days and other extension activities, connecting growers and stakeholders with the best technical expertise in the field.

    • Hort360 Reef Certification

  • Horticultural growers within the six Reef regions in the Great Barrier Reef catchment—Cape York, Wet Tropics, Burdekin, Mackay Whitsunday, Fitzroy and Burnett Mary.

  • Hort360 is the best management practice (BMP) platform for Australian horticulture.

    It is a benchmarking and risk assessment tool designed to give growers a 360-degree view of their farm business operations.

  • The Hort360 Great Barrier Reef project ends in June 2026.

Hort360 Reef Certification

Hort360 GBR Best Practice Fund

  • The Hort360 GBR Best Practice Fund (The Fund) provides a 50% grant, up to $30,000 (ex GST and capped for the life of The Fund) to support on-farm practices that reduce sediment and nutrients entering local waterways and flowing to the Great Barrier Reef.

    Funding will be directed to horticultural growers who are seeking to address:

    • Priority 1 – Sediment management practices

    • Priority 2 – Nutrient management practices.

    Eligible activities include improvements to / installation of:

    • Treatment train systems

    • Drain stabilisation

    • Sediment traps

    • Improved ground cover

    • Inter-row and canopy management

    • Soil testing

    • Nutrient bioreactors.

    The Fund will commence in mid-2024 with funding distributed across multiple rounds to approved applicants until available monies are exhausted.

    Eligibility Criteria:

    • Farming enterprise must be in Queensland and be within the identified regions / commodity.

    • Applicant must provide ABN number applicable to the farm enterprise.

    • Must agree to the Project Agreement.

  • Horticultural growers within the following sub-catchments:

    • Burdekin

    • Burnett

    • Herbert

    • Fitzroy

    • Mary

    And Reef Certified Growers regardless of sub-catchment.

    1. Complete the application form and send with supporting documents to your regional Hort360 GBR Facilitator (contact details below).

    2. The Technical Assessment Group (TAG) will assess the application.

    3. If the application is approved, an approval letter/agreement will be sent to the applicant and the purchase/works can then proceed.

    4. Once the works are implemented a site visit will be conducted and relevant invoices will be viewed and approved.

    5. Upon approval of invoices, the grant will be paid.

Special deal for Reef Certified growers

  • 25% discount on a 12 month subscription. This would be $360 per device with a minimum of 10 devices.

  • Unlimited access to the RapidAIM mobile app which provides:

    • real-time detections and alerts

    • trends over time and historical data

    • five additional accounts for farm managers and agronomists.

  • Priority access and special pricing to new products

  • 60-day money back guarantee (applies to all subscribers but will be honoured under this discounted agreement).

Contact the project team

Hort360 Great Barrier Reef is funded through the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.