NFF $100b 2030 report a deep dive into strong thought leadership

The discussion paper was prepared by KPMG for the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and launched yesterday as part of the national farm lobby’s big picture goal of generating a $100 billion industry by 2030.

Mr Turnbull said he had “no doubt” the Australian farm sector would achieve that aim and spoke passionately about the federal government’s role backing the expansion of free trade opportunities in burgeoning Asian markets for core export products like beef.

National Lead Agri-Business Robert Poole had a taste for the Prime Minister’s agricultural enthusiasm when he was interrupted to be asked a question about the new report, by the Liberal leader, during the media conference held at the Sydney Royal Show yesterday.

“Tell us, what are the sectors that you think are going to get the strongest growth - what do you estimate?” Mr Turnbull asked, in reference to the report’s aims.

Mr Poole said the meat sector’s numbers, for example, were “astronomical”, particularly because of the opening up of trade, through the China free trade agreement.

He also referred to the meat and horticulture sectors but stressed “we’ve tried to be fairly sector agnostic in the report”.

“We’ve tried to kind of design the enablers to get any sector to grow,” he said.

“Even if you look at the wool industry for the example, (they’re) enjoying quite a strong recovery at the moment, so I think all of those sectors.”

Mr Turnbull doubled down on his enthusiasm referring NFF President Fiona Simson to the Trans Pacific Partnership deal that the government recently signed in Chile which he said “opens up 10 more markets more widely to us than they have been before”.

“In particular, our tariff on our beef going to Japan now will be a fraction of what Americans are facing, about a quarter of the tariff that our competitors in the US are going to be facing,” he said.

“That’s a really big competitive advantage.

“It’s one of the ways in which, as you said, we open up the doors for Australian agriculture and then with the technology that you’re talking about, we produce more, more efficiently and take advantage.”

Mr Poole said he was “happy to be interrupted by a Prime Minister”.

He said KPMG was also “very passionate” about agriculture and had invested heavily in it and “hopefully can drive change with this report”.

“What we wanted the report to be is a challenging group of stories around what the NFF and the agricultural sector have to think about to get that goal of $100 billion,” he said.

“It’s a very ambitious goal - it’s about double in the next 12 years - so to get there is going to be hard work and you’ll need to be really organised and obviously work with the government to get there.

“Free trade is a big part of what we have talked about in the report.

“(Former Federal Trade Minister) Andrew Robb has actually written for us in the report as well.

“We wanted the report to show three things about the sector - that it’s very inclusive, so we’ve got 35 guest writers.

“It’s not about Fiona (Simson) telling us what to do or about anyone else (like) KPMG.

“We want it to be really independent and to have really strong specialists in their field, so that’s appropriate too.”

Mr Poole said KPMG also wanted the report to be very professional and show that the sector isn’t maybe what some people think it is, in terms of just farmers out there, “trudging about their paddocks”.

“It’s a very technical report, it’s a really deep dive and very strong thought leadership,” he said.

“The third thing is the very caring nature of the sector.

“The farmers love their land, they love their animals and love their people.

“They know that the responsibility…of looking after the land is a very strong responsibility and there is some very strong challenges there around sustainability.”

Mr Poole told Fairfax Media the most important priority of the discussion paper and the process now was to develop business models that reduced risk in farming and reduced the volatility of returns.

“This will build confidence to invest in the sector and lead to the flow of capital required to grow the sector,” he said.

“The examples outlined in the paper by NZ Merino’s John Brakenridge demonstrates one way that farmers can work in partnership with the customer for a win-win outcome.”

Agriculture and Water Resources Minister David Littleproud welcomed the “bold vision for a bold industry”.

“The Coalition Government is investing to grow agriculture and is supports of NFF’s ambitious vision for agriculture to become a $100 billion industry by 2030,” he said.

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy and this won’t be, but with a clear strategy in place and good policies in place, the sector will be prepared to take on the challenges ahead.

“Agriculture has always been one of the key drivers of the Australian economy and was the largest contributor to national GDP growth in 2016-17, driven by our dedicated, resolute and innovative farmers.

“We are a trading nation and our future growth in agriculture depends on opening up more markets and adapting to consumer preferences.

“The trade deals we are putting in place in Asia and across the world will be a key driver to reaching this target - 70 per cent of our agricultural production is already being exported.

“Asia is expected to be the second largest contributor to future world population growth, growing by 750 million people by 2050, so that’s a lot of mouths to feed.

“Our investments in the Inland Rail, water infrastructure, rural R&D, innovation and technology will also help drive the sector over the next decade.

“I have a real sense of optimism for the agriculture sector and the potential it has for the future.”

Telstra and the NFF also announced a new deal and there will be a series of meetings throughout the nation to gather stakeholder feedback on the report, with digital agriculture another core element of the proposal to hit a $100b industry by 2030.

Testra Chief Executive Andy Penn said technology was bringing more innovation into agriculture, whether it was drones, sensors in broad acre farms, or intelligent irrigation systems.

“Technology is touching every part of agriculture and it’s a key piece of the KPMG research, but of course telecommunications is the backbone for all of that technology and innovation,” he said.

“Telstra's telecommunications network currently covers more than 2.5 million square kilometres of land coverage.

“Whilst that’s 99.4 per cent of the population, it’s not 100 per cent and it’s not every farm.

“So we need to continue to innovate ways in which we can continue to provide that connectivity and coverage.

“That’s why we’re spending $2.2 billion over the last three years in providing coverage in regional Australia.

“It’s why we’re launching one new mobile blackspot tower every single day.

“It’s why we invest 15 per cent of our capex in two per cent of the population to provide that connectivity.

“But it’s not just about the technology benefits, it’s also actually about supporting families and supporting farmers.”

Farmers for Climate Action CEO Verity Morgan-Schmidt said the report was the start of a new dialogue into how agriculture can reach its full potential.

“As a sector, we are moving forward on balancing productivity with sustainability, and both farmers and consumers can be proud of our clean, green food production systems,” she said.

“Farmers across Australia are standing up to tackle the challenge of climate change head on; actively reducing our emissions, improving our resource use efficiency and calling on rural politicians to stand up for action on climate change and a clean energy future.’

“The Talking 2030 discussion paper opens the door to the next steps for long term sustainability including the exploration of pathways to achieve a carbon neutral farm sector by 2050 and to increase the use of renewable energy on Australian farms.”