Profitability, research investment and joined-up policy emerged as key challenges for agriculture at an Agribusiness Australia event for industry leaders at NSW Parliament House yesterday.
The event, held the morning after the NSW Budget was handed down, brought together leaders from across farming, finance, research, policy and the broader agribusiness supply chain to take a critical look at what the Budget means for agriculture and regional NSW.
Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty told the room the Budget was deliberately cautious and focused on practical cost-of-living relief, though she did note there has been more than $115 million in new funding to help secure the future of the state’s $25 billion primary industries sector.
“We want farmers to do well; we want agribusinesses to do well. We want our primary industries to be as successful as possible,” Minister Moriarty said.
The Minister’s address was followed by a panel featuring Mick Veitch, Chair of AgriFutures Australia; Annabel Johnson, CEO of NSW Farmers; and Stefan Vogel, General Manager, RaboResearch Australia and New Zealand.
“Industry is looking beyond Budget line items to the settings needed to grow agriculture’s contribution to the NSW economy,” said panel facilitator and Agribusiness Australia committee member Sarah Hunter.
“The strongest message from the panel was that agriculture has the capacity to help drive the future NSW economy, but only if investment, regulation, infrastructure and research are working in the same direction.”
Asked what the signs would be, five years down the track, that industry and government got the settings right, Mr Veitch said the sector needed to be able to point to research delivering real impact on farms.
“For me, success would be that the research of today is delivering tangible on-farm impact in five years’ time,” he said.
Ms Johnson said agriculture needed to be seen as an engine room of the NSW economy, and productivity needed to be matched by profitability, warning that government policy must be better coordinated so farmers investing in value-adding or diversification were not caught by unintended tax or regulatory consequences.
The event also highlighted what the industry does not want to be discussing in five years’ time: missed opportunities, declining investment in research and development, unresolved policy contradictions, and a failure to build the workforce and capability needed on the farm. Rabobank’s Stefan Vogel added that it was time to stop negative conversation about weather patterns and was especially keen not to be talking about ‘the next El Niño’.
“We have a lot of resilience, and we’re going to get through this next El Niño very nicely, and the one after that.”
Ms Hunter wrapped up by saying that agriculture does not need short-term thinking.
“It needs clear priorities, practical investment and policy settings that recognise the complexity of modern farm businesses and the pressures across the full agribusiness supply chain.”
The breakfast was Agribusiness Australia’s first event at NSW Parliament House and was sponsored by Rabobank.
