This week’s annual conference and annual general meeting of the TFGA served to concentrate the mind on the state of the nation as far as Tasmanian agriculture is concerned.
For all the outward appearances of a stable, consistent, unchanging landscape, farming here is dynamic and fluid. We are undergoing a period of enormous change, fast in historical terms. The parameters that shape our landscape are constantly being updated, re-evaluated, put through new economic and environmental filters. What that means is that as a modern farmer in Tasmania you have to have an open mind; and you have to have an open attitude to change and to new ideas.
Our farmers have those attributes and that is why we are world leaders at what we do. Living on an island, we tend to be self-sufficient an innovative; living on this island, we understand the realities of being being clean, green and clever as a basic underpinning of sustainable farming business.
One of the important tasks we are working on with the support of the Tasmanian government is an overall blueprint for agriculture in the state through to 2025 and beyond. The purpose of this exercise is to paint a picture of where we should be positioning this industry in that period and then to separate it into its various elements to ensure we give ourselves the best chance of achieving that potential.
The context or background to this exercise is that, to put it in the terms of the vigneron, we have the terroir; we need an assured water supply and the supporting infrastructure.
The terroir is a temperate maritime climate, a high density of arable land, 13 per cent of Australia’s water and the most usable periods of sunshine in the critical ripening periods of summer and autumn. The assured water supply is under way with investment from the state and federal governments, and from farmers. The infrastructure is a supportive planning and regulatory regime – and that’s where our efforts need to be focussed into the future.
Against this background, we are delivering the goods. Tasmanian agriculture generates almost $2 billion a year at the farm gate, 10 per cent of overall state income. With a more vibrant private forestry sector it could be a lot more and I have vented loud and often on that.
In the last year, our farmers have shown extraordinary resilience in rebounding from the adversity of drought, floods, lost crops and uneconomic prices. We have had the best growing season for years. That has been reflected in rising sheep, wool, beef, lamb and dairy prices. The poppy and pyrethrum industries are expanding. Our cool climate wines are now rated among the best on the world.
Generically, our farmers are buoyant and they are optimistic. They are among the most confident in the nation. These are among the best of times for our industry in one of the worst of times for the state economy.
They are hard economic times. Tough budgets in the public sector have a trickle down effect in the private sector, but, hopefully, the image of the farmer, hard-working, innovative and reliable, offers some inspiration that we at least will continue to fulfil our potential to maximise food and fibre production in this new era of modern farming. In so doing, we will continue to be a prime driver of the state economy.
