GrainGrowers’ 2022 Federal Election Platform

Just like cost-of-living pressures for everyday Australians, grain farmers’ cost of production are also under increasing pressure. High input costs have become a dominant feature of grain farming along with supply chain delays making business planning difficult. Managing these costs helps farmers continue to operate and provide world class grains, oilseeds and pulses to Australia and the world.

GrainGrowers' election asks:

• Ensure supply of critical inputs by increasing opportunities for domestic manufacturing of fertiliser, chemical, fuel, and other components such as spare parts.
  • By designating specific funding for agriculture under the Modern Manufacturing Fund
  • Improving ‘right-to-repair’ frameworks will also help growers continue to operate, irrespective of supply chain disruptions and delays.
  • Investigate ways to improve price transparency in fertiliser markets to enable growers to better forward plan and manage price risk.
  • Provide incentives to encourage and expand local manufacturing capability of low emissions inputs in regional Australia.

While Australia produces about 3% the world’s grain, it supplies about 10% of global grain exports. With prime seasonal conditions and innovative Australian farmers, it is critical there is improved international market access so Australia can capitalise on the opportunity.

GrainGrowers election asks:

• Deliver a mutually beneficial Australia-India Agreement that improves market access for Australian grains, oilseeds, and pulses goods.
• Allocate $30 million over 2 years for industry co-invested activities that accelerate agricultural market development with significant focus on grains.
• Increase focus, prioritisation, elimination of the grains industry commercially meaningful non-tariff barriers.

Our supply chains are critical. They connect the grains we produce to customers in Australia and all over the world. They include local government roads, rail corridors and our ports. They must be efficient, cost effective and safe. While a functioning supply chain is critical for grain farmers, it helps
our communities through safer roads and consumers through more affordable end products.

GrainGrowers’ election asks:

• Overhaul Australia’s logistics system, particularly the ports, to ensure that Australia can import/export key agricultural inputs and commodities at competitive prices.
• Establish a $1.5billion fund and allocate over first term in government for:
  • First and last mile road upgrades and ongoing maintenance
  • Targeted infrastructure investment program that removes bottlenecks along grain freight routes and key ports.

• Implement and fully fund the recommendations of the 2021 RTIRC Report to ensure that Australian grain farmers and their communities can access improved connectivity through expanded mobile
  coverage and better broadband internet. This will also provide stronger minimum retail service, performance and reliability standards.

Grain farmers are after a ‘fair go’. It is critical that we have well functioning and transparent market structures that allow efficient grain trade flows without disadvantaging farmers.

GrainGrowers asks:

• Ensure fair competition and effective governance of the Australian grains industry by:
  • ACCC Market Inquiry into the grains supply chain to ensure that the grain industry’s regulation is fostering competition and ensuring market transparency to address imbalances along the supply chain
  • Introduce greater price transparency mechanisms so that all grain growers have the necessary market information to compete on
    an equal playing field.
  • Ensure the definition of primary production income is expanded to encompass all farming related activities (e.g. carbon credits and
    biodiversity payments) and associated capital gains tax treatment is fully considered.

• Guarantee the continuation of the Fuel Tax
  Credit Scheme.
• Improve growers’ ability to prepare and manage drought by developing clear processes for drought programs, streamlining applications for drought support, establishing clear drought indicators and streamlined application processes.
• Legislate the new Agricultural Visa and expand participating countries to include those that would provide the skills required for the grains industry.

Innovation has been fundamental to Australian grain farmers maintaining and
increasing productivity and improving sustainability over the past decade. It has also allowed the Australian grains industry to capitalise on the good seasonal conditions of the past two years.

GrainGrowers’ election asks:

• A reset of Australia’s biosecurity system to ensure it can respond to changing biosecurity risks to avoid costs incurred from the establishment of new weeds, pests and diseases and ensure that biosecurity hazards are managed effectively.
• Ongoing Commonwealth contribution to agricultural R&D to match the R&D levies paid by growers
• Use the sunsetting of agricultural levy legislation (programmed in 2023) to ensure agricultural industries can meet future challenges and that levy recipient bodies are responsive to the needs of levy payers.
• Ensure Agricultural Innovation Australia (AIA) delivers tangible cross sectoral R&D outcomes through adequate funding and early engagement with industry especially representative organisations.

Climate change already directly impacts Australian farm profitability. To grow the industry, the agility and skills of farmers to adapt, mitigate and innovate are crucial to reduce risks and unlock new opportunities. This needs to be underpinned by significant investment in education, technology and decision-making tools.

GrainGrowers’ election asks:

• Introduce a new Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) loan to assist farmers to undertake emissions reduction activities and introduce refundable tax offsets on equipment which reduces emissions such as equipment used in zero-tillage and controlled traffic systems.
• Improving grain farmers' climate resilience and knowledge
  • Provide $20 million over 4 years for investment in research and technology to reduce grains related emissions, particularly embedded
    emissions to support pathways to carbon neutrality or better which are economically and socially feasible for the grains sector.
  • Provide $2 million to fund a pilot education program to assist farmers’ understanding of carbon emissions, sequestration, offsets and markets.
  • Ensure that biodiversity payments are accessible for grain farmers (not just pastoralists) by incorporating grain farm specific criteria under the Carbon & Biodiversity pilot scheme and future programs and publicly reporting the number of successful projects by farm type.
  • The Climate Change Authority should review the Emission Reduction Fund’s approach to carbon credits to recognise some farmers may generate credits for use within the farm business rather than for sale on an external market.

• Provide $2 million to fast-track a tool to integrate carbon, biodiversity, soil, and environmental health data and reporting, and link to existing
  farm management software applications.