Report reveals Growing Our Future strategy

NSW Farmers and NAB have partnered to develop strategies that will grow the state’s agriculture sector to $30 billion in farmgate output by 2030. 

The Growing our Future report follows a roundtable of public and private sector stakeholders weighing in on the 30 by 30 goal in what NSW Farmers’ CEO Pete Arkle said was a successful meeting of ideas. 

“Agriculture will be a growing sector as our population grows, so we need to ensure NSW is in prime position to meet that growing demand,” Mr Arkle said.

“We want to be smart about how we do things, and that means being prepared for climate change and fending off biosecurity threats, but also investing in research and development to unlock greater opportunities.

“Our 30 by 30 goal means NSW will need to lift its share of the national farmgate value and almost double its annual growth rate to 7 per cent year-on-year, and that’s ambitious, but with key enablers we know we can achieve growth and secure a good footing on 30 by 30.”

Mr Arkle said the roundtable provided a scope for 30 by 30 discussions in the context of the coming decade.

“Farming is characteristically unpredictable, but our roundtable participants have generally agreed that climatic variability, carbon markets, value-adding and trade will influence the sector’s growth journey over the next eight years,” Mr Arkle said.

“From a banking perspective, lending decisions will increasingly be informed by a new way of investing known as ESG, and national commitments to carbon reduction at the recent Glasgow COP26 summit may fast-track this evolution.”

The report identifies value-adding as a key growth opportunity for agriculture and regional communities, and cites the example of biorefinery methods to convert low value material into animal feed, fuels, fibre and chemicals – with significant benefits for job creation and revenue.

“In the wake of COVID-19 and its impact on supply chains, we’re hyper aware of onshore processing opportunities and the need to localise value-adding,” Mr Arkle said.

“The burgeoning and relatively unestablished alternative protein sector presents a significant opportunity to invest in automation and technology to process raw products.”

Mr Arkle said the 30 by 30 goal was equally about recognising threats and identifying opportunity areas.

“Climate change is a key threat and farmers need to be supported in meeting the demands of climatic variation,” Mr Arkle said.

“Biosecurity must also be an elevated focus over the decade; a pest or disease outbreak would be fatal to the 30 by 30 goal.”

Date: Thursday, November 19, 2021