WEEKLY BULLETIN

QFF SEES PIPES CONCESSIONAL LOANS IMPORTANT

Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) are currently conducting a review of the Primary Industries Productivity Enhancement Scheme (PIPES) which provides loans to farmers on concessional interest rate and terms conditions. The discussion paper released by the Department last month identified that 826 loans of $170 million had been made by QRAA in the past five years. The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has made a submission to the review concluding this is sound evidence that PIPES delivers considerable benefits to regional Queensland by providing finance to farmers who may otherwise not be able to secure loans in a timely fashion. The QFF submission recommends that PIPES be continued and streamlined to offer concessional loans to eligible Queensland farm families and agribusinesses in a manner consistent with and supportive of national programs designed to improve farm and sector performance. QFF also recommends that loan caps be increased to at least $1 million and that this form of concessional finance be more broadly publicised by QPIF and QRAA. The QFF submission can be viewed on our website at www.qff.org.au.au

QLD RURAL SKILLS & DEMAND REPORT 2010-2011

Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries has released the Queensland rural skills and training demand report for September 2009 which aims to assist the Department of Education tailor vocational training packages for the 2010-2011 year. The report identifies that a greater effort is required to “sell” the benefits of training to all involved in the sector and to build a training culture that can meet the needs of workers and industry into the future. The report also identifies 16 key skilling priorities, many of which focus on communications and flexibility in building skills and capabilities. Feedback is welcome either to Peter Perkins or direct to the author Di Edelman on 3239 3252. For more information, click here.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFCG) have last week released a State of the Industry report which highlights the importance of the industry to the Australian economy. The industry covers fresh and processed food, beverages and groceries and does not include unprocessed food and fibre commodities. Some important facts highlighted in the report include:
• Total turnover in 2006-07 of $100 billion which is 28 per cent of total national turnover and comparable in size to the mining industry and six times the size of the automotive industry. Food processing contributes $80 billion of total industry turnover, grocery manufacturing $14 billion and fresh produce (fruit, vegetables and eggs) $6 billion.
• 315,000 people are employed in the industry or three per cent of total Australian employment. Half of the employed in the industry are in rural and regional Australia.
• Total value add for the industry in 2006-07 was $27 billion which was well behind the mining industry (just over $70 billion) and housing and construction (just over $60 billion).
• The industry accounted for 9.1 per cent of Australia’s total international trade and was valued at $49 billion in 2008-09. The industry is export focussed but imports have risen by 40 per cent over the past five years significantly eroding the trade surplus of the industry.
Analysis conducted for the preparation of the report looked at the impact of a 20 per cent reduction in industry production to assess the linkages of the various sector outputs to the performance of the Australian economy as a whole. This analysis found that a reduction of this nature would lead to a loss of 100,000 jobs and a 6.4 per cent increase in the CPI.
While this report does not take into account the value of unprocessed food and fibre including such commodities as milk, cotton, grains, meat and sugar, it highlights the importance of continued production of these commodities for this industry and the concerning trend of increasing imports of processed food, beverages and groceries over the past five years. Governments must ensure that reforms that affect rural production do not undermine the competitiveness of the domestic processing industry and the important role it plays in the economy of rural and regional Australia.

TEACHERS RECEIVE TIMELY LESSON IN AGRICULTURE

Teachers from throughout Queensland have gone back to the classroom to learn about the crucial role agriculture plays in our lives. Twenty-seven teachers last week attended a two-day workshop that looked at ways of raising awareness amongst students about agriculture and its career opportunities. The event was sponsored by Primary Industries Week.
Day one included tours of QPIF’s Hamilton Research labs to see how we are improving food through science and technology, followed by a visit to Australian Country Choice to hear from a variety of professionals employed from paddock to plate. Day two gave the teachers an opportunity to tour Brisbane Markets at Rocklea to discuss distribution, food safety and marketing, and then finishing up with a presentation by Rabobank on finance and risk management services for agribusiness. AgAware President and AgForce School Liaison Officer Beth Welden said a common misconception is that careers in agriculture are just about working in a field with crops and animals. The workshop was supported by the Queensland Government’s Gateway Schools to Agribusiness initiative which seeks to provide students with pathways into agricultural industries. For more information on Gateway Schools to Agribusiness click here.

MEMBER NEWS

GROWCOM CALLS CONSIDERATION ON IMPACT OF PROPOSED MINES

Peak horticulture organisation Growcom has last week called for governments to be mindful of allowing mining developments in horticultural regions because of the risk to the supply of good quality ground water for food production. Chief Advocate Rachel Mackenzie said that Queensland horticulture was significantly dependent on aquifers for irrigation in the major horticultural regions of southern Queensland and proposed projects such as the coal mine at Felton could jeopardise this water supply for food production. Moreover, business uncertainty because of proposals such as these hindered further investment in expanding food production which the nation would need in the years ahead. In a submission to the Senate Inquiry into the impacts of mining in the Murray Darling Basin, Growcom noted that good quality agricultural land comprised less than five per cent of Australia’s total land mass and that Australian’s national population is expected to reach 35 million by 2049.

OTHER NEWS

CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS

The Churchill Trust has advised that it is now taking applications for the 2010 round of overseas study fellowships. These fellowships provide about $25,000 to cover overseas travel and living expenses for Australian citizens who are passionate about their work and would benefit in conducting some study/research overseas and then bringing their findings back to Australia for sharing and applying to benefit Australia. There are some specialist Agriculture fellowships so click here for details. Applications close February 2010.

FARM FACTS 2009-10

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) last week released the updated Farm Facts 2009-10 – replacing the version issued in September. It is a compendium of useful and authoritative facts and figures on Australian agriculture, based on fully sourced and attributed data in easily digestible grabs. Farm Facts is designed as a fast reference to top-of-mind national and state-by-state facts on farm production and its importance economically and environmentally, as well as a reference for drilling down to specific figures on Australia’s leading agricultural commodities. The updated publication is also available from the NFF website by clicking here.

HELPING FARMERS MEET THE CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE

As part of its inquiry into Australian farmers and climate change, the Primary Industries and Resources Committee have heard from representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), and the Department of Climate Change (DCC) at a public hearing. In their joint submission to the inquiry (Submission no. 70) DAFF and DCC stressed that managing the risks these changes will pose to the agricultural sector will require strategic business planning. Planning will be necessary at the individual farm level, as well as at regional and industry-wide scale, because it is highly likely that transformational change will be necessary in some regions and across some industries. The DAFF and DCC submission also notes the importance of improving knowledge provided to farmers to help them meet the coming challenges. A webcast of the inquiry is available by clicking here

NFF WORKPLACE RELATIONS SEMINARS

THE National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), with support from the Australian Government, is holding another four free seminars in Queensland between 9-12 November 2009 to explain changes to federal workplace relations laws.
The seminars will cover the new National Employment Standards, unfair dismissal laws, modern awards and enterprise agreements.
A schedule of the seminars in Queensland follows:
• Emerald Agricultural College, Tuesday 10th Nov, 12pm – 2.30pm
• Rockhampton, CSIRO JM Rendel Laboratory, Wednesday 11th Nov, 11am – 1.30pm
• Brisbane, Park Regis North Quay, Thursday 12th Nov, 10am – 12.30pm
To register, call the NFF on (02) 6273 3855. More details, including an information booklet and fact sheet, are available online at: www.nff.org.au