The issues
Australian farmers are dedicated to a sustainable and secure food supply for the nation but they face significant variability due to global warming, volatility of commodity price indices and water availability. Higher temperatures and lower winter rainfall has meant a decrease in annual rainfall, reducing farm profit margins by 23%, or around $29,200 per farm in 2023.
Farmers are struggling to blend the old farming ways of the 1950’s with more modern and more sustainable ways to farm. (Hughes & Gooday 2021).
Cropping farmers are directly impacted by recurring droughts, reduced production, and revenue. Livestock farmers can offset drought impacts in the short-term by selling and destocking (see Hughes et al. 2019) but it is still a struggle to remain financially viable.
Foreign ownership of Australia’s irrigation water increased by over 11.3% and foreign companies now own 4775 gigalitres. This is more water than the Dartmouth Dam holds which supplies the Murray-Darling Basin. More water entitlements would likely raise water prices for farmers and other consumers. Foreign owners could use over-extraction for short-term profits, impacting sustainability and the environment. Australia could potentially lose control over future water management decisions impacting food security.
Changes to global supplies that support domestic avenues, wars in other countries and macroeconomic issues such as inflation are impacting the sector.
As market concentration has increased in Australia, farmers have had fewer places to buy inputs and fewer places to sell their products. Businesses are taking advantage of this with higher input prices, lower output prices, increased compliance costs, shifting the risk burden to farm businesses, and increasing uncertainty for farmers. NFF
Our plan
- Research and implement working models that benefit food and production
- Review biosecurity policies and regulations to address current and emerging threats
- Increase our skilled workforce to support current and future needs
- Include agriculture as a curriculum subject in all secondary schools and long-term support to education and training providers.
- Invest in research, technology and strategies for sustainable farm production.
- Redefine drought zones and provide support and resources to strengthen resilience
- Overhaul legislative barriers to capitalising on emerging technologies and a funding avenue for adaptation to and mitigation of climate risk.
- Review regulations governing water allocation and ownership by foreign entities
- Implement the Productivity Commission’s recommendations for right to repair
The evidence
Agriculture consumes 75% of total available water within Australia. As of December 2021, farmers used 7.8 million litres of water to support the longevity of crops and pastures (ABS) and of this, 1.9 million hectares of agriculture land was used for irrigation (28%).
Australian farmers play a crucial role in ensuring our food security. Managing 55% or 426 million hectares of Australia’s land, they are both producers and stewards of our country.
Agriculture stands as the bedrock of Australians society, with the sustainability of our food security impacting all Australians.
During 2022-23, Australian farmers produce 29.9 million beef cattle, 2.1 million dairy cattle, 79 million sheep, 700 million chickens (for domestic consumption).
In 2022-23, horticulture produced 1.3 million tonnes of wine grapes, 3.6 million tonnes of vegetables and 2.7 million tonnes of fruit, generating a local value exceeding $13 billion. The production of broadacre crops included 41.2 million tonnes of wheat, 8.9 million tonnes of canola and 32.6 million tonnes of sugarcane sold generating a local value exceeding $21 billion.
As of June 2023, the gross value of agricultural, fisheries and forestry production had increased in Australia by 51% to $94.3 billion.
By September 2024, red meat consumption had increased by 0.8% and chicken meat production by 0.9% (ABS). By December, farmgate earnings totalled close to $85 billion and continued to support rural and regional economies throughout Australia. See (Figure 4)*.
Our commitment is to:
- Continue to assess the social, economic and environmental impact on our domestic agriculture farm industry, particularly considering the long-term effects of climate change if the threat is disregarded, and the right to access water is compromised.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the terms and conditions of water usage, emphasising how these aspects might influence the future of food security in Australia.
- Delve into the existing guidelines concerning the Foreign Investment Review board to ensure they are in harmony with Australia’s national interests. Our approach includes scrutinizing the approval and screening procedures to guarantee compliance with the law.
- We are committed to upholding all disclosure requirements in alignment with Australia’s legal framework. This initiative is vital for safeguarding the integrity of our agriculture sector and ensuring sustainable practices for the future benefit of our nation.
- We will continue to support the bargaining power of producers within our domestic and export supply chain. Our focus is to continue to regulate the monitoring of our domestic supply chain to ensure that regulatory compliance is upheld, and codes of conduct are abided by. This includes supporting the National Farmers Federation (NFF) who continue to advocate for the importance of reform of competition laws within Australia and the opportunity to improve access for smaller Victorian farm businesses seeking to access commercial avenues to small-scale abattoirs across the domestic supply chain.
- We will review the Australian chemical regulator to ensure that compliance is met. This is crucial for reducing the negative impact of invasive pests and diseases on crop yields and future trade deals. The compliance system also aids in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and this endeavour ensures Australia’s competitiveness in the global market.
- Supporting the farming industry’s right to repair their own equipment is crucial. We aim to review the current right-to-repair law and management practices to implement broader reforms. This will enable farmers to choose their preferred local repairer for machinery repairs, rather than being obligated to use an authorised dealer.

Figure 5: Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2024 – DAFF
(Figure 14) – Effect of recent (2001 to 2020) seasonal conditions on farm profit
https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/climate-change-impacts-and-adaptation
Hughes, N, Galeano, D, Hatfield-Dodds, S, 2019, The effects of drought and climate variability on Australian farms, ABARES insights.
https://daff.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/1034083/0
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/australian-agriculture-livestock/2022-23
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/australian-agriculture-horticulture/2022-23
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/water-use-australian-farms/2020-21