Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities

Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities gives farmers the opportunity to support their communities by nominating a local not-for-profit organisation for one of thirty $5,000 grants on offer.

The program, presented by the Bayer Fund in partnership with the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), aims to support local communities in cotton growing regions by providing a total of $150,000 in grants per year.

Cotton farmers who wish to nominate a not-for-profit organisation to receive a grant must be located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed below:

Queensland:

• Darling Downs
• Central Highlands
• St George
• Dawson Valley
• Dirranbandi
• Macintyre Valley

New South Wales and Victoria:

• Lower Namoi
• Gwydir Valley
• Macquarie
• Southern Valleys (Lachlan/Murrumbidgee)
• Upper Namoi
• Mungindi Water Users
• Walgett
• Darling River Food and Fibre (Bourke)

Northern Australia:

• Northern Australia, north of latitude 21.15 degrees south

Thanks to the generous support of the Bayer Fund, the Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities program is supporting cotton-growing communities with grants totalling $150,000 in 2020.

Nominated projects to be delivered by not-for-profit community groups must:

• Have a charitable purpose (i.e., address a need in the community and not benefit an individual);
• Demonstrate clear community support;
• Have a good prospect of longer-term viability and impact;
• Involve partnerships or leverage financial and/or in-kind contributions;
• Be differentiated from projects already in existence;
• Be supported by viable project management arrangements (and a financially sound organisation);
• Offer value for money;
• Demonstrate innovation.

There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.

• Projects that benefit an individual, rather than a community;
• The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
• Scholarships or endowments;
• Projects outside of the 15 eligible Cotton Grower Association areas;
• Underwriting deficits;
• Religious, politically partisan, or similar groups.

To submit a nomination, you must meet the following criteria:

Cotton Farmers aged over 18 years and actively engaged in farming cotton in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas in Qld, NSW, Vic and Northern Australia and have held a Technology User Agreement (TUA) with Bayer in any of the past 4 seasons may nominate a community project.

An eligible not-for-profit organisation is one which:

• Supports projects and activities that offer clear public benefit for communities in rural, regional and remote locations in Australia;
• Contributes to rural and regional renewal, regeneration and development in Australia in social, economic, environmental, health, education, or cultural areas; and
• Is located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed above.

Not eligible to participate:

Community groups themselves are not eligible to apply – they must be nominated by a cotton farmer.

FRRR, as the Program administrator, is not an eligible Organisation for this Program. Additionally, the following individuals and the persons with whom they are domiciled are not eligible to enter or participate in this Program:

(i) officers, directors, and employees of the Bayer Fund, or of any of its representatives or advertising/promotion agencies;
(ii) officers, directors and employees of Monsanto Australia/Monsanto Company/Bayer Australia, or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates;
(iii) officers, directors and employees of any Bayer Technology Service Providers;
(iv) officers, directors and employees of FRRR, or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates; and
(v) spouses or immediate family members of any of the officers, directors or employees listed in (i) through (iv) above.

FRRR retains absolute discretion in determining the eligibility of the farmer and the nominated Organisation.

An eligible not-for-profit organisation is one which:

• Supports projects and activities that offer clear public benefit for communities in rural, regional and remote locations in
  Australia;
• Contributes to rural and regional renewal, regeneration and development in Australia in social, economic,
  environmental, health, education, or cultural areas; and
• Is located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed above.

Not eligible to participate:

Community groups themselves are not eligible to apply – they must be nominated by a cotton farmer.