Decade of challenge highlights strength of Qld farmers

THIS will be my final column for the Queensland Country Life as Queensland Farmers’ Federation president as, after 10 years in the role, I will be retiring from the presidency next week.
I have always tried to focus on the future rather than the past, although in looking back I am pleased to say that rural industries in Queensland have been strong in the face of major challenges. It hasn’t been an easy 10 years. Much of it has been occupied by a relentless drought which placed severe financial and emotional stress on many farmers and also stretched the resources of farm organisations.
Proving how variable the Queensland climate is, more recent years have been punctuated by some of our wettest on record, and in that time we have had two major destructive cyclones and record floods.
In my role I have visited many farmers when they are grappling with the consequences of these disasters, which in recent times included the Anderson family at Theodore and the Judd family at Millmerran, among several others.
Both of these, like so many across Queensland, suffered severe damage, but are working determinedly to get their businesses and farms back on track. It is that resilience that is one of the greatest strengths of rural industries in this State and something I admire.
The weather hasn’t been the only challenge. Complicating matters, weather extremes of either kind have now been hijacked to represent climate change and carbon pollution, both of which have become political footballs.
There is no doubt we need to reduce emissions, but we also need to bear in mind that our emissions are less than 1.4 percent of the problem on the world scale, and that Queensland has a naturally variable climate.
Farmers are also confronted with the major supermarket duopoly that has expanded into fuel, liquor, insurance, and even more new products.
The supermarkets’ market share and power has put huge pressure on farmers on several fronts, including low prices and unrealistic production systems.
Farmers aren’t necessarily saying that consumers need to pay more, but that the major supermarkets need to ensure that primary production value chains continue to be viable.
It is a vexing issue for governments, which I encourage to look beyond the short-term politics of immediate grocery prices, to the longer term implications of having profitable farmers and value chains.
On that front, I am pleased that finally the State and Federal governments have embarked on food policies, even I would have wished for it to have arrived closer to 2001 rather than in 2011.
If these food policies are implemented properly and if they are referable for other government decisions, then that could improve the overall outlook for many farmers and simplify the challenges they come up against.
I am extremely proud of QFF as an organisation and the progress it has made over the last 19 years in all of these policy areas, and other major areas such as water policy, Reef regulations, and vegetation management.
When I sat at the table when QFF was formed in 1992, we wanted to form an organisation that could formally represent the common areas of interests of different commodities.
QFF continues to do that today, which is in itself is one of its major achievements. The structure is different and so is the farming landscape – at the beginning our membership included tobacco and navy bean grower associations – but the principals and strength of the organisation remain the same.
Our greatest assets are our members, their staff, and the staff of QFF.
Water policy has been an issue of utmost importance to the organisation and one that has drawn our members together. In that regard, we have been lucky to have Ian Johnson working on policy in that role, and for such a long period. Likewise, I have been very fortunate to have dedicated and professional staff both past and current.
I conclude by thanking those who take the time to read my column each week, and to say that I am confident and pleased to be leaving QFF in very capable hands.