The Australian’s 2024 Global Food Forum: Shaping Australia’s $150bn agribusiness and food sector

The Australian's Global Food Forum has heard that food and agriculture industry in Australia has plenty of growth potential if supported by government and a holistic approach is taken.

The Australian’s Global Food Forum will be held in Brisbane for the first time in its legnthly history.

Welcome to our live coverage of The Australian’s Global Food Forum for 2024 from Brisbane.

The 2024 Global Food Forum in partnership with Visy and supported by the Wall Street Journal, will dive into issues that will shape the future of Australia’s $150bn agribusiness and food sector and the new wave of investment, innovations and ag technologies revolutionising the industry.

The forum will include a keynote address Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt and feature a line-up of speakers including Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, Anna Croft, Barry Irvin, Jeff Kennett, David Harris, David Williams and Reg Weine.

Click here for today’s full program.

Updates

5:03 pm July 17, 2024

Better coordination key to agriculture future

Matt Bell

Wrapping up The Australian’s Global Food Forum in Brisbane, Bega executive chairman Barry Irvin says that better coordination is needed between state and federal governments to propel the agriculture industry.

“Inreality, we have different policies on water, estuary management and all sorts of opportunities that we might have had in this country and we can’t even get a single policy or plan because every state government has a different idea,” Mr Irvin.

“That calls for a national plan that actually looks into areas such as what resources do we have, and how we can best implement it.”

In a panel featuring Kiddler Williams managing director David Williams and Agribusiness specialist Sue Neales, the trio said that food and agriculture industry in Australia has potential for growth, but government support and a holistic approach to animal welfare and advocacy are needed. 

Further discussions around trade agreements and biosecurity measures were also important areas that needed to be looked at to safeguard the industry.

4:40 pm July 17, 2024

Varroa will wipe many beekeepers out: Beechworth

Matt Bell

Beechworth Honey Group director Jodie Goldsworthy says the war against Varroa is done and now it is about slowing the spread of the mite, adding that it is likely to cause 30 to 50 per cent of all beekeepers to go out of business.

Ms Goldsworthy has told The Australian’s Global Food Forum in Brisbane that Varroa has resulted in a big time of change for the beekeeping industry, particularly from biosecurity.

“Unfortunately, from a biosecurity perspective, our industry always knew that it was inevitable because when you fund biosecurity from the levees of a tiny little industry, and you're protecting two thirds of Australian agriculture through the pollination of bees, and it's always a pretty flawed sort of strategy,” she said.

Beechworth Honey Group director Jodie Goldsworthy. Picture: Glenn Hunt

“What we know from Varroa is that every other country in the world has learned to live with it, and we will learn to live with it.”

Varroa is a mite that causes a virus in bees and has decimated the populations around the world.

Ms Goldsworthy said that the global honey market was facing issues caused by honey adulteration, pointing to countries such as China that have seen a 14 per cent increase in beekeepers, but production numbers have soared 194 per cent.

4:29 pm July 17, 2024

Supply chain at risk without food plain

Lydia Lynch

Independent Food Distributors chief executive Richard Forbes has warned Australia’s supply chains are at risk of collapsing in a disaster without a comprehensive national food plan.

Mr Forbes told The Australian’s Global Food Forum the food industry must demand a strategy to mitigate risk in the event of war, a biosecurity threat or natural disaster.

“We need a food supply chain resilience plan because make no mistake, it's coming and we don't have a plan for it," he said.

“When Covid hit the UK, the US and Canada pumped billions of dollars into their economy to strengthen their food supply chain. What's Australia done?

“Australia has never had a national food plan. Prime Minister Gillard tried in 2013 there was a change in government and it has never happened.”

4:15 pm July 17, 2024 Highlight

Agricultural sector needs to sell itself better: goFARM

Lydia Lynch

Liam Lenaghan, the managing director of billion-dollar Australian agricultural investment company goFARM Australia, said the industry needs to do a better job of selling itself to the public.

Mr Lenaghan said Australians generally had a lack of understanding about food production and land stewardship.

“I think it's incumbent on all of us to share our stories,” he said at The Australian's Global Food Forum.

goFARM Australia managing director Liam Lenaghan at The Australian's Global Food Forum. Picture: Glenn Hunt

“We've got to tell our stories better and really link that your food comes from ‘here’ and it's grown by people that actually really care about your health and the outcome and environment.

“I don't think we're getting the cut through that we need.”

4:11 pm July 17, 2024 Highlight

Sheep export ban will cost jobs: Lambpro

Matt Bell

Lambpro chief executive Tom Bull says the live sheep export ban will hurt industry and will result in job losses across the sector as it looks to mitigate financial losses.

“Watching the ads Labor has put out in recent days gloating about how they got rid of the live export of sheep, it just hits you and it hurts,” he said.

“The biggest issue now is that we have to get rid of jobs. A lot of our work now is about getting jobs.”

Lambpro's Tom Bull speaks at The Australian's Global Food Forum. Picture: Glenn Hunt

Lambpro is a supplier of terminal and maternal lamb genetics to many of Australia’s top lamb producers. Mr Bull said at The Australian’s Global Food Forum that it needed to find labour efficiencies in its business.

“There’s so much in areas such as technology that we can use, but it's also about how we free up that time and free up that cost,” he said.

The federal government's laws to ban Australia's live sheep trade have passed parliament, and will see trade cease by May 2028.

3:16 pm July 17, 2024 Highlight

Regional taxation key to driving growth: Edwards

Lydia Lynch

The head of one of Australia’s largest agricultural investment groups says too many people are living in cities along the country’s east coast.

AAM Investment Group managing director and founder Garry Edwards said the federal government must offer generous tax incentives to encourage more people to move to northern Australia and boost development.

“There does need to be investment and quite bluntly we have to accept that way too much of our population lives on the eastern seaboard,” he said.

AAM Investment Group founder Garry Edwards speaks at The Australian's Global Food Forum. Picture: Glenn Hunt

“We need to confront issues that no one wants to talk about, like regional taxation. You start offering tax benefits, people will go and live there.

“You start having people living in the regional locations where the resources are, which northern Australia is full of, then you take the pressure off all this urban infrastructure that's struggling so much, and you put people in regions and get economic activity.”

3:04 pm July 17, 2024

Northern Australia potential is unlimited: AAM

Matt Bell

AAM Investment Group founder and Cattle Australia chair Garry Edwards says the potential for Northern Australia is ‘unlimited’.

“Northern Australia has a tremendous amount of fat cattle, growing exceptionally well, we’ve had an incredible wet season and there's a lot of positivity up in the north,” Mr Edwards told The Australian’s Global Food Forum in a discussion about developing Northern Australia.

“The investment in the assets and the stations up there over the past 15 to 20 years has been quite remarkable.”

Mr Edwards said that there was not a single person that he has taken to the northern parts of Australia that isn’t left speechless after.

“There’s not been one person I’ve taken that doesn’t leave and go wow, the potential here is unbelievable and the people here are unbelievable,” he said.

"Every time you go (to Northern Australia), you can't help but not be inspired."

2:59 pm July 17, 2024

Agriculture is smallest industry we're invested in: NAIF

Lydia Lynch

The head of the $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund says agriculture is the smallest industry the Commonwealth fund has invested in since it was established in 2016.

NAIF chair Tracey Hayes, the former head of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, said the agriculture industry made up just $160m of project value.

“It is difficult to say exactly why,” she told The Australian's Global Food Forum.

“This is a proponent led process that we go through but in saying that, NAIF has been very focussed, particularly of being more outward facing.”

She said NAIF encouraged proponents to come forward with ideas.

“Crowding is also a big feature for us, and we actually see that as a measure of success if we're crowded out of the project as a result of commercial financiers.”

2:41 pm July 17, 2024

Asia looking to Australia to offset food shortage: Williams

Eli Greenblat

Kidder Williams boss David Williams says many countries in Asia such as Singapore are “running out of food” and are looking to invest further in Australia to grow food products and export them to their home countries.

“That trend is happening and happening right now but it will give the government some consternation,” Mr Williams said as these offshore investors seek to take the food out of Australia and back into their home markets.

He said it was wrong for us to now “point the finger” at some countries in our near north about there treatment of animals given it was where Australia was decades ago in terms of its own meatworks and butchering.

Turning to the live export trade of sheep and cattle, he said Australia was now “light years ahead” of some poorer southeast Asian nations where animal welfare is less a priority and we could bring in and teach regional abattoir workers how to properly and humanely treat animals.

But he warned if Australia put the brakes on the export of live animals it could see Australia lose the valuable export industry as other countries displace us and continue to export live sheep or cattle to the region.

2:34 pm July 17, 2024

Meat producers struggling in tough environment: Williams

Eli Greenblat

Kidder Williams boss David Williams tells The Australian's Global Food Forum the agriculture sector is “patchy” with meat producers struggling and many seafood growers also facing a challenging pricing environment.

Mr Williams said the food service sector was “stuffed” and likely down as much as 18 per cent which was flowing through to vastly lower demand for the horticulture sector.

Speaking at the Global Food Forum Mr Williams, whose Kidder Williams merchant bank advises many agri players on deals and has also overseen a number of acquisitions, said the issue of food security had been spoken about for ten years and has attracted a lot of investment to Australia, especially out of international pension funds.

Kidder Williams boss David Williams says meat producers are struggling. Picture: Glenn Hunt

“There is money coming from all over the place and a lot of it has been going into land,” Mr Williams said.

“Now it is diversifying even more and going into processing, which is great.”

Mr Williams added that the flow of money into land has “been good for property prices” but the “farmers next door are disappearing” who typically would have bought up land but are now being displaced by offshore professional investors.