1. Copyright John Hine and Associates Pty Ltd, www.developqld.net.au. Page 1
JOHN HINE AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD
www.developqld.net.au
KEY AGRICULTURAL POLICY ISSUES FOR QLD
18 November 2014
General agriculture issues
 The main buyers of food, supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurant chains, are increasingly
looking for specific varieties of fruit, vegetables, grains and cattle so they can meet specific customer
niches. That is, commodities are on the way out.
 These large food buyers are also continuously raising their standards of quality, food safety,
environmental footprint, ethical food production etc. Schemes such as Global GAP (Good Agricultural
Practice) (http://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/) are increasingly being required. For Australia its cage
free eggs, meusling of sheep, hormone free beef, sow stall free pork etc. There is more to come.
 Environmental issues will almost certainly grow in significance, given the UN IPCC Report, the US/China
agreement etc. The sad thing about all the complaints is that, if done properly, good environmental
management is a win/win, with lower costs and higher output. An outcome of good practice is
reduced energy, fertiliser, pesticide and water usage and less soil erosion, all cost centres, as well as
increased yield.
 Farming is then increasingly moving towards being a business, not a lifestyle. Business skills are now
more important than how to grow a crop etc.
 Automation, electronics and IT applications are rapidly coming into the mainstream.
 Nations that were part of the Soviet Union now have highly productive farms, eg Russia, Ukraine and
Kazakhstan. These three nations now export more than 10M tonnes of wheat a year.
 South America is quickly becoming a world powerhouse in agriculture, with good science and large
areas of good land. A huge competitive challenge for Australia.
 Small farms of less than 5 ha in Asia are rapidly consolidating to give bigger, better managed farms,
which will be another area of competition.
 Africa has a lot of good agricultural land being underused due to political instability. At the same
time, international investors have bought two million sq km of farm land in Africa, an area approx.
equal in size to Qld. A huge area of land. They will be keen to make these investments work.
Conclusion: agriculture is getting more complex and sophisticated, moving towards products and away from
commodities, with rising consumer standards and increasing competition from the developing world.
There is then less and less room for small, independent, commodity producing farms. Unless these farmers
choose change, the banks, supply chains and time will force changes
.
General issues for Qld (and the rest of Australia)
 In general, business skills in farmers are low.
Tel: 07 3264 4568
Mob: 0432 027 744
Email: john@developqld.net.au
ABN: 67 157 769 901
74 Ballinger Crescent
Albany Creek Qld 4035

2. Copyright John Hine and Associates Pty Ltd, www.developqld.net.au. Page 2
 Too many farmers look at commodities, not high value niche products, the legacy of decades, even
generations, of single desks.
 The welcoming of the proposed 1M head a year of live animal exports to China, yet another
commodity deal, shows the lack of business understanding.
 Many farmers are older, ie over 60, with limited business skills and often barely coping. Suicide is too
often seen as the only honourable way out.
 Succession is a real issue, with many children of farmers not wanting to take over a business with
limited profitability.
 The R&D systemis geared for commodities, not products. It needs wholesale change.
 Government used to do most of the extension, but this has largely stopped. Budgets have been cut
and changing needs mean that the people with the right skills won’t work for government salaries.
Farmers now need business advice as much or more so than they need technical advice. Some
technical advice is available from farm retail outlets eg Elders and Landmark. Many farmers have not
adjusted to the need to pay for advice. Many farmers still feel that government should provide
advice.
 Many of our roads were built for the trucks and traffic volumes of the 1960s and 70s. Much of the
outback rail network was built in the 19th century to a light quality, given the huge distances to be
covered. This light quality means trains often have a limited maximum speed. Transport is thus a
crucial efficiency issue.
 There is a real expectation that government can and will ‘fix it’, especially an LNP government.
Farmers’ points raised during consultation for the Commonwealth’s Green Paper and the NFF’s
Blueprint were quite unrealistic about the level and scope of government support. There was little
said about farmers doing new things.
 There is a major dichotomy between farmers, and their associations, in NSW and WA. The mood in
NSW is for more protection and a return to single desks and in WA exactly the opposite.
 In general, the farm leadership groups seem to be in denial, or, if they understand the issues, are not
prepared to say so. Two National Party Senators actually boasted about being ‘agrarian socialists’.
 The utter failure of our agricultural policy is seen in that Singapore is a much greater force in world
agriculture than Australia, despite its agricultural production being zero. Their companies own
significant agribusiness investments internationally.
 Most of the large scale initiatives seemto be coming from outside traditional agriculture eg Gina
Reinhart’s Wide Bay dairy project, Andrew Forests AustraliaSinoHundredYearAgricultural andFoodSafety
Partnership(ASA 100),Pratt’sAustralia-Israel-Indiafoodsecurityprojectand KeithDelacey’sbeef andsugar
proposal forFar North Qld.
Specific issues for Qld
 Qldis losingitscompetitivenessinwintervegetablesdue toglasshouse cultivationinsouthernStates.
 Many beef propertiesinnorthernQldseemtobe inreal trouble astheywere impactedbythe ban on live
exportsandby longdrought.
 The Qld sugar industryisintotal disarray,re the issue of cane producersor millsowningthe sugarincane sold
to a mill. The legal situationseemsclearthatthe mill ownsthe sugar. The foreignmill ownershipisatragedy,
especiallynowthatvalue addingislikelytobe a real opportunitynow thatthe technologytofractionate
cellulose(inthe bagasse) seemstohave beenresolved. Thismeansbagasse,andotherwoodyplantmaterial,
can be easilyturnedintoglucose,whichcanbe fermentedtomake almostany organicchemical required.
 The Qld Agriculture Deptisstill largelyincommoditymodeandhasan unsure role.
 The debate abouthighelectricitypricesisstillaboutgovernmenthelp,notenergyefficiencyandrenewables.
 Some groupseg GrowComare promotingbusinessskillsdevelopment.
 The proposal for a tax/debtswapbysome beef producers inNorthQldseemsdeadinthe water
 There are still callsforan‘agricultural bank’togive low interestloans.
 The foodR&D labat CoopersPlainsissomewhatunderuseddue tohighpricescharged.

3. Copyright John Hine and Associates Pty Ltd, www.developqld.net.au. Page 3
An agricultural strategy for Qld
 Create a climate forchange,by speeches,newspaperarticles,conferencesetcandpreparingcase studiesof
farmerswhoare usingsuccessful applicationsof bestpractice. This will be slow anddifficultandwill be the
mostdifficultchallenge. However,likelytobe the mostsuccessful.
 Developawide rangingprogramof small businesscoursesforfarmersavailable viaarange of deliverytoolsand
promote the needforthese.
 DevelopcoursesinfarmITfor small farmersandpromote the uptake of these. (Dependsof course on
broadbandavailability,increasinglyakeyissue).
 Make sure that the legal situationforcooperativesisnational andallowsnon-farmerstobe members,to get
capital and managementskills.
 Prepare case studiesonsuccessful cooperativesandmarketingcompanies. Promulgate these. Involve the
BusinessCouncil forCo-operativesandMutualsinthisprogram.
 Investigate the legalandfinancial situationof smallerfarmsmergingtoformacompany owningthe largerland
block. The original ownerstobecome shareholdersinthe largerfarm, whichwouldbe professionallymanaged.
Thiswouldallowthe formationof largerfarmswithoutthe needforhighdebtfinance. Thiswouldalsoallow
olderfarmerstoretire gracefully,andkeepthe farmhouse.
 Promote the conceptof incorporatedappliedRD&Egroupssimilartothe BirchipCroppingGroup.
 Make sure that sound commercialisationplansare inplace foranyfundedR&Dprojects. For example;
o The $3M giventothe QUT for farm roboticsshouldprobablyhave beengiventoanengineering
company,or a newcompanywhichisa consortiumof engineeringcompanies. UniversitiesandCSIRO
do nothave a goodhistoryof developingtechnology,egthe FutureTechproject,a$40M CSIRO project
some 20 yearsago to developanautomatedabattoir,acomplete failure.
o A QAFFIprojecttodevelopavitaminA richsweetcorn variety,despite the limitedsweetcorngrownin
Qld. Much of the sweetcorneatenhere iscannedor frozenfromNSWor cannedfrom NZ.
 Look to buildconsortiaof farmgroupsto considerinvestinginagriculture overseas.
 Work withthe consultingsectortobuild the exportof farmservicestodevelopingnations.
 See howCommonwealthprogramssuchas the EntrepreneursInfrastructure Programcanbe extendedto
farmers.
 Assistthe farmsector to tapinto the newCommonwealthtrainingprograms.
 Look to developnewlinksbetweenschoolsandTAFEcolleges inagriculture andfoodprocessing.
 Examine energycooperativesasusedinthe USA forethanol production,solarandwindenergyetc.