The commodity outlook and financial performance of key agricultural industries across south-east New South Wales was released at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) Wagga Regional Outlook conference last week.
A total of 110 people from across all sectors of the agricultural industry attended the event at Charles Sturt University.
ABARE’s Vince O’Donnell, who created the program and arranged the guest speakers for the regional conference, said the Regional Outlook Conference followed on from the national conference in linking what is happening on the international and national scene back into what’s happening regionally.
“It is important for people to understand that what happens internationally and nationally does have an impact on the region, to get an idea of the bigger picture,” Mr O’Donnell said.
The conference also provides a forum to discuss regional issues and talk to experts and people working within their industry.
When putting together the conference, Mr O’Donnell said they take ABARE’s forecasts and look at what issues are impacting the region. It is also an opportunity to network, hear innovative business stories, make new contacts and discuss industry trends.
ABARE’s Deputy Executive Director, Paul Morris, spoke about economic issues affecting the region and some of the challenges that lie ahead for agriculture.
Mr Morris said the good start to the season provides good prospects for cropping and pastures in the region, but farmers still faced some big challenges.
“The seasonal conditions have boosted prospects for farmers but have also created a high probability of locust damage to crops and pastures in south-eastern Australia during the spring,” he said.
“Other challenges include the decline in grain prices and, for the medium term, pressures to increase productivity while adapting to climate change.”
Mr Morris spoke during the first session titled The big picture: an economic overview, focusing on the Economic issues affecting the region. Westpac’s Carsten Pedersen spoke on the topic - A banker’s perspective on rural finances and Jim Pratley, CSU, spoke on the challenges of maintaining agriculture’s skill base.
Mr O’Donnell said one of the great features of the conference is the inclusion of speakers such as the district’s Tom Bull and Peter Morath who were part of the second session - Opportunities for agriculture. The session included Henry To, who provided ABARE’s Outlook for Agriculture; Mr Bull from Lambpro on Developing Innovative Production Systems; and Mr Morath from Gundagai Vineyards who spoke of Maintaining Focus in Difficult Times.
Mr O’Donnell said Tom and Peter were great examples of people who were really thinking about how they are operating, who see a future in agriculture and are powering forward.
Working with the environment was the third session, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s Barry Hanstrum discussing The Climate and Weather of South East NSW; David Cattanach, a producer from Darlington Point on Planning for Climate Change on Farm; and Will Fargher, National Water Commission, on Impacts of Water Trade in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.
The conference concluded with a session titled Emerging Issues in the Region. Speakers included Murray Scholz from Dunoon on Are GM crops sustainable options for weed control?; Grant Carey, Cargill, discussing Maximising production yield in a changing operating environment and Sarah White of the Bureau of Rural Sciences on Soil carbon for productivity or trading.
Email a friend