RURAL research is in for a hammering in next week's Federal Budget, with Government sources revealing one major research corporation will lose significant funding, while another will be shut down altogether.
The Government has been putting the word out for weeks that next week's budget is going to be a tough one, with forecasts the budget deficit announced next Tuesday night could be as big as $68 billion – compared to a the $22.3 billion forecast last year.
A Government spokesman told FarmOnline this week that the budget for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) will be slashed by about $3 million, while Land and Water Australia will be closed down by the end of the year.
RIRDC conducts research and development into new and highly specialised industries as well as national rural affairs. It also organises the high-profile Rural Women's Award.
Land and Water Australia, which researches and helps farmers apply sustainable land and water management, will receive less than half of last year's allocated funding and measures are now in place to steadily wind up the organisation by December.
It's not expected that there will be any other cuts to research and development corporations in this year's budget.
However, it seems the media had been contacted before staff at the agencies concerned, and board members have been ordered not to approach the media until after Budget night.
The spokesman said the cuts at the RIRDC were in "the context of a tough budget" and the difficult economic environment where the Government was still looking at how it met all its priorities and commitments.
They said "tough decisions had to be made".
It's understood that the Government has asked RIRDC to ensure its savings and funding cutbacks don't affect research and work being financed by levy-paying industries.
The Government wants the savings to be made through cuts in administration and "lower priority activities".
Staff from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will be asked to work closely with Land and Water Australia to look at existing research contracts to determine what needs to be completed and what work has priority.
The spokesman said the closure of the agency was not an easy decision, but it was hoped much of its work could be picked up by the department.
They said DAFF hoped to maximise the chance of many programs affected by these cuts still being delivered to "minimise any disruption to research".
Some fear Land and Water Australia may have been an easy target for the Government because it does not have farmer levy payers, although it does much of its work in collaboration with other commodity and industry-focused research and development corporations.
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