Australian farmers are the most productive, innovative and resilient agricultural producers on the planet. They’ve had to be. With one of the harshest climates, poor soil types and distance from export markets, our agriculture sector is producing first-class food and fibre for the world. In 2019, its gross value to the Australian economy was $60 billion.
And its future is positive. Opportunities abound with the expansion of trade access to markets in north and south-east Asia through the signing of a plethora of free trade agreements, along with the prospect of improved access to the 450 million high-value consumers in the European Union and Great Britain.
The committee heard that productivity improvements, either through adaptation of international technologies in machinery management, new GM techniques and chemical formulations or through home-grown R&D in the fields of plant breeding, agronomy and animal health, will continue to drive increased output and profits.
Evidence also suggested that access to capital to fund adoption and expansion to achieve scale will be critical to growth in the sector. Agricultural land prices have remained strong during the recent east coast drought, underpinning confidence of both banks and investors. It is important to note the Australian superannuation industry, which manages over $3tn, invests only around 0.2% of those funds in agricultural investments.
But there are many challenges facing the sector. The committee took evidence that maintaining Australia’s strict biosecurity protocols to protect our producers from pests and diseases is of primary concern to our farmers.
Evidence was also given that well-funded and professionally run activist organisations continue to cause uncertainty and heartache to the farming community, particularly for livestock producers. The irrational opposition to GM plant technology has largely failed with almost universal access across Australia, but that opposition has delayed adoption of the technology for up to 15 years in some states.
The development of the Glyphosate (Roundup) molecule has revolutionised agriculture by enabling minimum tillage cropping, delivering enormous environmental benefits and lifting billions of people out of food poverty. This technology is now under threat. It is vital that Australian farmers continue to have access to the latest chemicals that not only increase production and reduce costs, but often reduce environmental impacts compared to current methods.
Climate variability has always been a challenge for Australian farmers. Evidence gathered suggested governments can assist in the management of this variability by continuing to offer financial tools such as income averaging, Farm Management Deposits and providing disaster relief where applicable.
From the evidence the committee gathered during the course of this inquiry, there is no doubt that Australian farmers, with appropriate policy settings, will continue to expand production and output and will contribute $100bn to the national economy in a sustainable and viable manner in 2030 and beyond.