National Agriculture Day (on Friday, November 18) won’t mean a lot to the many Australians who take for granted what the regions produce.
The population migration to cities rather than regions continues.
It was, however, a timely moment to point out that the sector had a gross value of production of a whopping $85 billion in the last financial year, an industry record.
Australia doesn’t ride on the sheep’s back anymore but agriculture remains a cornerstone industry to our economy.
Part of the story has been better farming conditions around the country. To be sure, natural disasters continue to cause issues for some regions, but on the whole the droughts of recent years have been replaced by bumper crops.
It is important to remember that Australian agriculture touches more industries than you might naturally think of.
As people sit back on an afternoon enjoying a cold beer, they might want to reflect on the $500 million worth of barley and hops the Australian brewing industry sources from Australian farms. That’s just one example.
As National Farmers Federation CEO Tony Mahar said: National Agriculture Day is a great opportunity to celebrate just how important Aussie farmers are for our beer industry.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt delivered a speech to the Queensland Rural Press Club on Friday, highlighting that point.
“Our barley producers deserve a massive shout-out,” Watt said.
“The beer industry supports a huge number of jobs, including in the agriculture sector, and without their hard work, we wouldn’t have beer, so it’s great to see them get some recognition this National Ag Day.
“Some of our grain growers have been hit hard by natural disasters lately, so it’s fantastic our beer industry is backing them by buying local.”
Watt also pointed out that while the agriculture sector is humming along very nicely, there are threats on the horizon.
These include the trade relationship with China, which may have received a boost at the G20 with the meeting between Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Rising interest rates coupled with rising inflation will put pressure on farmers with mortgages on their property and equipment.
And we have seen a number of biosecurity risks in recent times, such as the threats of foot-and-mouth disease.
Watt used his speech to spruik the $134 million in the budget that will go towards bolstering Australia’s biosecurity system.
The politics of Australian agriculture are also interesting.
Once upon a time the Nationals was the natural party of agriculture but that has changed in recent years.
With organisations such as the NFF warmly embracing climate change action, it has become more removed from the Nationals than ever before. The sense some rural constituencies have is that the Nationals are these days more a party for mining communities than farming communities.
New Nationals leader David Littleproud attempted to rhetorically reject this reality in a media release in support of National Agriculture Day: “The Nationals will always back our farmers and we will always fight for our agriculture industry.”
Labor is desperate to prove its worth to regional and rural Australia, especially in Queensland where it hopes to pick up seats it failed to win at the election six months ago.
Part of Minister Watt’s pitch at the Rural Press Club in Queensland was pointing out his local credentials and those of his Treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
While much of the political contest in Canberra focuses on city-based issues, National Agriculture Day, of all days, is a chance to reflect on what’s happening in rural communities, and the political challenges that might follow.
Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics and public policy at The University of Western Australia and Griffith University.
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