Compulsory Blog Post 2

Compulsory Blog Post 2:

Are agricultural innovation, efficiency gains and intensification important for our quality of life?

In our classes we separated into different groups and discussed the following issues facing Australian farmers.

 1: Why agricultural innovation, efficiency gains and intensification are important for our quality of  life.

One discussion group recommended that farmers utilise new technology.

Such technology could involve:

a)      GPS Technology: This would allow farmers to plant fertilise or spray exactly where required.

b)      Telemetry systems: This would allow farmers to remotely control watering systems and even allow individual animals to receive their exact food requirements at a certain time.

c)       Hormone Growth Promotants: (HGPS) These chemicals would increase growth and size which would in turn increase productivity and financial returns.

2 .Give students an insight into the challenges that farmers face to produce affordable, nutritious, ethically produced food and fibre that provides a reasonable return for them.

Cattle farmer, Kylie Stretton made the following statement:

‘Australia is very lucky that lots of us have never known extremely hard times or poverty, so we really take our food for granted. I think that supermarkets selling fresh food at cheap prices make people value it less. And if they value our beautiful fresh food less and take it for granted, then they take for granted the people that produce it.’

The groups discussed Mrs Stretton statement and the following key thoughts were the results:

a)      Lack of support and understanding of farming from the wider community.  For example, consumers want to pay $1 a litre for milk when the farmers can’t survive on such a small profit margin. While $1 per litre milk may seem like a great deal to most consumers, milk being sold for so little is causing great harm to the nation’s dairy farmers. Because of milk price wars, many Australian farmers are only receiving 11 cents per litre for their milk. If this injustice continues to happen, Australia will not have any dairy farmers left. We will be forced to import milk from overseas.

b)      Lack of new innovations in the farming industry, as farmers are bound by expensive testing procedures and regulations which make the introduction of new practises are lengthy and costly.

c)       There is a massive shortage of the next generation of farmers.

d)      Challenges from urban interfaces with new subdivisions taking over farmland.

e)      Isolation in rural areas with no incentives for new farmers to move so far from urban areas.

Thus, the challenge for future generations is to produce more food from less land or to increase the value of the goods they produce.

3. Ethical food production that is good for people, animals and the planet.

Our discussion groups looked at the idea of- “Being Eco-Friendly- what does that mean in today’s society?”

 Being eco-friendly allows producers to mark their products with eco-friendly labels, which in turn enables consumers to be more aware and conscious of what they are buying, even if the product ultimately costs them more money. This can give the producer an edge over their competition, particularly in the age of global warming and the trendy notion of ‘going green’.  As education and awareness increases, consumers are becoming more conscious of animal rights and welfare, and health and environmental issues. If agricultural practises and products are more and more ‘eco-friendly’, long term sustainability will become a reality.

A dwarf (short) variety of wheat was developed that was high yielding and had good disease resistance. This meant that in one unit area there was more wheat being produced. This links in with efficiency, as it takes less land to produce a greater volume of wheat. Efficiency gains can also relate to efficiencies in production. Agriculture can be labour intensive (require lots of people), this can be expensive especially when labour is expensive, as it is in Australia. Automation of process with machinery can help in these efficiencies. In conclusion, the "green revolution" was an outstanding agricultural breeding innovation.

As the population grows and there is less fertile land to farm on agricultural inefficiencies, or another "green revolution" will be important in ensuring food safety, and a quality standard of living.

4. Scenario: Feedback from Year 8 and Year 10 Students

The following scenario was discussed by year 8 and 10 students.

‘What opportunities and threats do Bill and Bess face to realise their dream while continuing to feed 600+ people? ‘     

OPPORTUNITIES

·         Learning new, innovative farming practises

·         Increased profit possibilities to further develop their farm

·         Growth potential and more exposure

·         Being able to export animals/ plants more easily- highway next door!

·         Easier access to infrastructure - closer to large urban centers

THREATS

·         Environmental regulations + restrictions whilst trying new farming practises

·         Pollution from developing  infrastructure , detrimental to crops e.g. Highways

·         Housing development, affecting animals through big construction- noise. Still births and breeding + productivity problems for animals- especially sheep and goats

·         Time of unproductivity due to upgrading farming practises and rezoning land.

·         Increase of pests + domesticated/wild animals from houses invading  the farm, ruining crops and harming farm animals

Bill and Bess face many opportunities and threats that they will have to overcome in their situation. In order to realise their dream, whilst continuing to feed 600+ people, they will have to overcome several potential political, social and environmental problems. We would first suggest to Bill and Bess to appeal to the department of main roads to reconsider and re-evaluate the construction of this new highway on Bill and Bess’ land.  While the public may see this new highway as a great new opportunity for the economy, for transportation and for a better quality of life, the implications of destroying Y amount of land will be forever impact agricultural innovation and intensification for the entire world.

If Y amount of land is destroyed, Bill and Bess’ remaining farm land may become contaminated with oil, gases and rubbish. This could also cause problems with food/fibre production as Bill and Bess will have less land to farm on – meaning less food is produced. There may not be enough food produced to feed x amount of the population.

The second issue Bill and Bess are facing is whether to sell their remaining farm land for housing development. The strengths of this proposition for Bill and Bess include an easy and well-funded retirement, more high density houses being available to Australia’s population, and knowing their future is secure and they will not have to face financial uncertainty ever again.

The weaknesses of this proposition to sell x amount of land for housing development include a lack of understanding between Bill and Bess (our Australian farmers) and the rest of the population. While many people identify and understand that without farmers we would struggle to survive as they provide so many of our basic human needs, there is a huge lack of understanding between farmers and the rest of the population. This situation tells us that there already is a lack of understanding between:

1.      The department of main roads

2.      Housing development companies

3.      The general Australian population

5. Focus Questions: How can Bill and Bess continue farming and maintain a succession plan for their family of 1.8 children and allow their daughter to continue to run the business when they retire?

Year 10 brainstorming results were as follows:

Bill and Bess should-

a)       Use single shire mating groups assessed using single shire performance records and artificial insemination to secure and appraise the best genetics available. They will have a more efficient flock causing them to produce more products with less land.

b)       Maintain 90% ground cover using 50% perennial grass both native and exotic and 30% legumes. This increases land productivity. They should plant trees on the property because it will encourage native revegetation, which will in turn, overcome salinity and help the pastures to reach the full production potential as well as producing shade for their stock and decreasing their carbon footprint.

c)        Conduct regular soil testing to identify and address deficiencies by looking at regulating the soil. This will increase the quality of their wool.

d)      Regularly rotate sheep on their property around different grazing pastures, to avoid soil compaction and over-grazing.

e)      Invest in new technologies to increase agriculture innovation and productivity, such as GPS technology, NBN, etc.

f)       Become partners with their neighbours to ensure that their land is protected for future generations, to ensure sustainability of Australian produced agricultural products.

g)      Educate their neighbours and have a partnership to provide each other with mutual respect and possibly produce.

h)      For any industry to remain viable there must be continuous innovation and efficiency.  

Communities will face the problem of not just having enough food for a growing population, but there not being enough arable (land to successfully grow produce on) land. With urban sprawl areas close to the city that are being farmed and are being compromised. It makes more financial sense to develop the land than farm, looking at the inputs and outputs alone. 

(Many thanks go to Miss Joanne Young for her assistance in this blog entry)

We love our Aussie Farmers!