National Farmers’ Federation is embarking on a new initiative that holds itself to account for the future of agriculture, and putting the onus on government to boot.
NFF’s new Roadmap is the peak body’s plan for the industry into the next decade, with a comprehensive list of aims, including making at least 50 per cent of of Australia's farm energy renewable by 2030, and doubling the number of tertiary and vocational agriculture graduates in the same time.
NFF launched the Roadmap at its national congress in Canberra today.
The key difference in this initiative compared to most industry wishlists is NFF has committed to hold itself to account with an annual public report of progress towards the goals it has set and metrics to measure against.
“We want government to work with us towards the Roadmap goals and develop a strategic plan that will transgress elections, be bipartisan and even encompass all the different government departments that are involved in any way with agriculture,” said NFF president Fiona Simson.
“It’s important to note that are metrics in this report that are measurable.
“It won’t be a document that sits on the shelf, we’ll be looking at along the way to 2030.
The Roadmap was written after a 6 month consultation with more than 380 farmers around the country and industry experts. NFF’s member organisations endorsed the initiative and contributed as well.
NFF identified five ‘pillars’ that its goal of growing the farm sector to $100 billion annual value by 2030: Customers and the Value Chain; Growing Sustainably; Unlocking Innovation; Capable People, Vibrant Communities and; Capital and Risk Management.
So how does the Roadmap work?
Take the goal to grow sustainable. it says farmers will need a national framework to help them embrace sustainable methods that drives productivity and profitability, while recognising and rewarding environmental stewardship.
The Roadmap then lists required actions – establishing a government-backed environmental stewardship fund, a sustainability framework and a ‘green loan' commercial bank that rewards sustainable farming practices.
The impacts of this will be investment in a conservation tax instrument; biophysical asset management will balance production with conservation; farmers will get paid for environmental contributions and; there’ll be an active market for private investment in on-farm stewardship.
And how will NFF gauge its success? Ultimately, the Roadmap says, it will judge a win as the farm sector enjoying a net benefit for ecosystem services that is equal to 5 per cent of total farm revenue.
Ms Simson said the plan would be an independent reference point to get industry, government and farmers pulling in the same direction.
“Agriculture has been forced onto the back foot on a range of issues. That’s not best way to a strong and sustainable industry, and that’s why we want to change from being reactive to proactive.
“We want this to sit outside the political cycle and changing governments.”
The Roadmap also includes a list of aspirations which sit outside the measurable metric framework, such as an ag visa and a binding agreement between federal, state and local governments that define the agricultural value chain priorities for a region, and commit all tiers of government to policies and investments which support those priorities.
