Catching up with Kerry Battersby

Your role at QFF – what is it and what does it involve?

At QFF, my role is to manage projects that assist farmers to recover from natural disaster events and better prepare for the next event. We have a team of three project officers and together we operate a range of projects including the Managing the Financial Impact of Weather Risks or crop insurance project, the Family Farm Business Resilience Program; and the Industry Flood Recovery & Resilience program.  The projects have a common theme of increased preparation and embedding business continuity management into farm systems. Projects are funded through the Australian Government and the Queensland Government.

Your passion and greatest strengths in your work with QFF

QFF is highly regarded as the united voice of agriculture in Queensland. We are a member-based organisation representing the interests of peak agriculture industry organisations (both state and national). Through our members, QFF represents more than 13,000 primary producers across the cotton, cane, horticulture, dairy, nursery and garden, poultry, pork, and intensive animal industries. We have a great team at QFF and are continuing to grow. The team’s skills encompass a wide range of QFF’s and our members priorities, from water security and energy issues, to workforce, skills and training and our risk and resilience work. My passion is creating innovative programs that deliver results on the ground for farmers to improve recovery times from floods, cyclones, bushfires or hail storms. I have worked in the disaster recovery area since 2015 and out of the chaos could see resilience-in-action as farmers developed their own innovative solutions to a crisis. That’s when we can encourage self-reliance practices and ensure continuous improvement in farm emergency management.

How do you and your QFF colleagues work with farmers and the community?

QFF engages in a broad range of economic, social, environmental, and regional issues through advocacy, policy development, and project activity. We work with the government of the day on behalf of industry, farmers, and the community to provide powerful representation and contribution to the policy direction, sustainability, and future growth of Queensland’s agriculture sector. Our direct links to farmers and agribusinesses are through our peak body members, and through this engagement, we work closely with regional communities to ensure better outcomes for all.

QFF’s partnership with SQNNSW Drought Innovation Hub

QFF is a Network Partner of the SQNNSW Drought Hub and represents members on the Hub Steering Committee. It is a relationship we value because of the common cause of embedding best practices in agriculture and bringing together local communities to share experiences, debate their differences and encourage innovation. QFF is committed to building a strong future for the Queensland agriculture sector and it is through collaborative work with organisations such as the SQNNSW Drought Hub that we are able to achieve this. 

Learn more about Queensland Farmers' Federation.