Farm ownership Australia: Family owners to fore

WHILE corporate agriculture and foreign investment will “come and go” family farms remain the cornerstone of Australian agriculture.

WHILE corporate agriculture and foreign investment will “come and go” family farms remain the cornerstone of Australian agriculture.

That’s according to federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, who believes “the most efficient and productive farm is the family farm”.

“I see (family farming) as the future,” Mr Littleproud told The Weekly Times. “You are at the grassroots, you are there when the decisions need to be made.”

Mr Littleproud was a former agribusiness banker in southern Queensland prior to entering politics in 2016 — he was appointed Agriculture Minister last December — and said the economics of family farming made sense.

“You can see one paddock against another paddock from corporate to family and you can see the difference in yield because when the (crops) need to be planted or there’s branding to be done, or whatever has to happen, the family farm makes the decision,” he said.

“They don’t go and play sport that day, they go and get the job done because it is their business, it’s their livelihood, it’s their life.

“Corporates don’t have that commitment so I still believe the family farm will be the core of (the future of agriculture). There will be less of them but they will be bigger.”

Mr Littleproud said while he welcomed foreign investment it needed to be “in the right balance”. He defended the Government’s stance on foreign investment despite criticism from some sectors of the industry it is too tough and potentially driving away offshore capital.

“I don’t think we’ve seen to any great extent that we’ve had any issues with it.

“The Treasurer on a number occasions has knocked back some foreign investment, but we continually see foreign investment continue to happen in the agriculture sector, and that is welcome.

“Those foreign investors that do come, as long as they pay their fair share of tax, and we get it in the national interest, we’ve done the right thing as a government.

“It is an emotive issue, and I get that ... but you’ve got to work with facts and you’ve got to be calm and decisive about your decisions.”

RELATED COVERAGE

WHO OWNS AUSTRALIA’S FARMS?

Mr Littleproud said the future of all agriculture sectors was bright due to free-trade agreements negotiated with Australia’s major trade partners in recent years.

“The reality is whether it’s broadacre or in protein, the foundations that we put ... mean that any investment with agriculture is a good one,” he said. “You can even overlay that into horticulture now.”

CBRE Agribusiness boss Danny Thomas said there was no threat to family farming from the current wave of corporate and foreign investment in Australian agriculture, “(It) is here to stay and will always have an important role in agriculture”. “Institutions are looking for very large-scale assets that generational investors – large families – have put together over time,” he said.