Stability key for life on the land

The state’s farmers are cautiously optimistic going into the New Year, says Roger Hanson

THIS has been a good year overall for Tasmania’s farmers, but the vagaries of seasonal weather extremes and possible political changes in the air keep the sector cautious.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said confidence in the sector was good at the momen.

Mr Johnston, who has a mixed operation on a 640ha property at Meander in the state’s North-West, has about 2000 prime lambs, breeding lambs, and a dairy farm along with dairy agistment. The farm grows commercial potatoes, hazelnuts and planting of industrial hemp.

“Overall it’s been a good year with farmers showing their resilience with confidence solid in the agricultural sector,” Mr Johnston said.

“Tasmania is going along pretty well, but we need to keep stable government both at federal and state level.

“We are looking forward to the next 12 months. With the state election we don’t want a hung Parliament. It will be better to have a stable majority government.”

Mr Johnston said the TFGA would release its policy platform for the election in the New Year.

“We will not be seeking bigticket items, but rather a commitment to undertake genuine reform to underpin agriculture in the state,” he said.

“The truth is, good policy does not require millions of dollars applied to it but rather an understanding of what needs to be done to achieve a positive outcome.

“Too often political parties think making large financial commitments in an election campaign is a substitute for good policy and reform.”

Mr Johnston said farmers would approach the turn of the year fresh and ready to tackle whatever the New Year offers up.

Some of the key issues affecting the sector include: Edith Creek dairy plant IT’S been an emotional rollercoaster at a milk factory in the far North-West. Murray Goulburn announced in May it would close UHT milk plant at Edith Creek. The announcement sent the 120 employees and the Circular Head community into shock. In late November MG announced it had sold Edith Creek to Thai company Dutch Mill (Australia) and the plant is expected to back in operation by the middle of 2018, re-employing some of the staff.

Dairy comeback AFTER one of the toughest seasons in years, the national dairy industry is recovering. A report from Dairy Australia said despite the price volatility that hit the 2016-2017 season, farmers in export-focused Tasmania coped fairly well. Both Fonterra and Murray Goulburn announced increases in farmgate milk prices.

Record wool prices JUST before Christmas the wool market smashed through the elusive 1700c/kg mark, finishing 2017 on 1760c/kg. This was a jump of 61c/kg on the previous record. Australian Wool Innovation’s market report described “uncertainty regarding the availability for some wool types in the new year” as one of the drivers of demand. National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia executive director Chris Wilcox said he had “never seen such a sustained upward run in prices” in 25 years.

Beef and lamb prices LAMB and cattle prices provided good returns for livestock producers. A solid market for prime lambs led to keen demand for most breeds in ram sales. Demand for Tasmania’s high quality grassfed beef continues.

Drought in the South RAIN finally came in early December for the Central Highlands, Midlands and parched East Coast. Some places got more rain in a couple of days than they did for months. Cranbrook hadn’t had rain since May. In winter the area only got 25mm, but when the rain it came with a vengeance — dropping 70mm in a couple of days.

JBS shuts lamb processing JBS Australia’s sheep processing plant at the Longford abattoir has been closed since February. Almost 90 workers were stood down for a longer-term closure in April, which the company said was because of a shortage of livestock. In September JBS announced it was closing the plant indefinitely, costing another 40 jobs.

Blueberry rust TASMANIA’S disease-free status was disrupted with the arrival of the fungal disease in 2014. It poses a serious threat to the thriving industry. Tasmania has 80 registered blueberry growers and an industry worth about $30 million. The sector is eagerly awaiting the outcome of a Legislative Council inquiry, expected early next year, which is looking at the handling of outbreaks of the disease.

Industrial hemp TASMANIAN growers celebrated in May when the health ministers’ forum finally endorsed the Food Standards Australia New Zealand recommendation to allow hemp to be legally designated as a food for human consumption in Australia. Industrial hemp is not a drug. This season about 450ha of hemp has been sown in Tasmania with the crop having real potential to be a valuable extra revenue stream for farmers.

Medicinal cannabis AUSCANN, a business partner of poppy giant Tasmanian Alkaloids, gained a licence in July to grow cannabis to produce painrelieving drugs. The company was granted a licence to manufacture medicinal cannabis at its Westbury plant.

Future of agricultural shows SERIOUS questions about the future of Tasmania’s agricultural shows. It’s curtains for the Royal Launceston Show, which has been running for 144 years, unlikely to continue because of high costs and dwindling crowd numbers. In October came the shock decision to cancel the Devonport Show.

Interest rates down FARMING enterprises have been helped with continuation of lower interest rates.