AUSTRALIAN farmers and consumers, working closely together, would have tremendous power over the supermarket duopoly and animal activists, the head of the National Farmers Federation (NFF) says.
NFF chief executive Simon Talbot told a Melbourne luncheon farmers no longer had the most prominent voice on animal welfare and agricultural sustainability.
"We have let them be dragged into the political environment, we don't own it any more, we don't have a voice," Mr Talbot told the Victorian Farmers Federation luncheon.
"If we do have a voice, it's ten goals down, in the last quarter."
He said hitting back over PETA's claims about shearing being cruel was one of the few wins the sector had recently.
But he said the NFF planned, as part of its "Listen to the Land" project, to link its members and friends of agriculture to act as a powerful lobby group
"The US Farm Bureau has 1.2 million farmers and six million friends of farmers," he said.
"Before Congress even puts pen to paper, they call in two groups; they call in the Farm Bureau and the gun lobby.
"But we are being called in to be a rubber stamp, rather than negotiate."
The NFF estimated there could be 600,000 friends of farmers, who were keen to support agriculture.
"We will get big, we will get on line and we will get the farmer voice out there.
"If we don't get an online platform by the next election, farming advocates will be extinct.
"We represent 139,000 farm businesses but our voices are very small and we don't get out there."
"With all due respect and credit, Get Up ! and Animals Australia are outstanding."
As well as fighting misinformation, a good digital platform could also protect farm incomes.
A good example in protecting farm incomes was $1 milk, he said.
"If we could actually say to (Coles CEO) John Durkan or (Woolworths CEO) Grant O'Brien, we don't like $1 milk for a whole variety of reasons, we are asking our 800,000 farm businesses and friends of farmers to not shop there this week, I know they would renegotiate."
The processors or supermarkets were not to blame.
"What I blame is the consumer, who have got complacent; they believe all food is created equal."
Mr Talbot said it was also hoped to expand the True Aussie brand, developed for the red meat industry, to other commodities.
Research, development and marketing body MLA developed True Aussie branding in partnership with Australian cattle, sheep and goat councils 12 months ago.
"We brand very poorly, we do not do ourselves any favors, in Asian markets," he told guests.
"There are 17 different brands in China, some of them may be fraudulent but you can find NZ Pure pretty quickly."
"100% NZ Pure spends one third of our total spend, but has 400 per cent better Asian consumer recognition."
Horticulture was likely to lead the growth in agricultural production and exports.
"It's a complex and tough game, but it can be our biggest agricultural export.
"All horticultural products in the world can be grown in Australia; cool climates, deserts, tropical, subtropical, savannah, can all be grown in Australia, no one else can do that.
"We need to get some state of the art, globally best practice packaging, for horticulture, we have a whole variety of airports, from which we can transport produce into Asia, on the same day it is picked."
