In the land of drought and flooding rains (and the lesser-known Dorothea Mackellar verse, the fluctuating international commodities market), there’s always plenty for the Australian agriculture sector to talk about.
But there are a few key issues leading the pack. We asked farming industry leaders what they will be focusing on as we head into 2025.
The Australian federal election
Uncertainty surrounding the 2025 federal election is the overriding concern for the National Farmers Federation (NFF), with major policies including changes to superannuation tax and the regional migration review under a cloud.
“With potential sitting weeks early next year and a federal budget ahead, we need to stay on the ball as all these issues have the potential to significantly affect farmers,” the NFF president, David Jochinke, said.
Labor’s proposed legislation to increase tax on superannuation balances over $3m was left off the list of legislation pushed through parliament in the last sitting week of the year, and Anthony Albanese is reportedly not in favour of proceeding with the change, viewing it as politically risky. The NFF has previously referred to the proposal as a “liquidity trap” for farmers, who often hold family farms in self-managed super funds.
“While we had a win … there’s always a chance the government will strike a deal if parliament sits again,” Jochinke said.
Peak cropping body GrainGrowers said its pre-election wishlist included investment in regional housing, telecommunications, biosecurity funding and grain freight strategy.
The Trump administration
GrainGrowers is also concerned about the impact of the US election result on the cost of key inputs like pesticides.
“There is potential under Trump for policies on agricultural chemicals to be influenced by key figures like Robert F Kennedy Jr who has posted publicly that he would like to ban the ‘worst agricultural chemicals’,” the GrainGrowers CEO, Shona Gawel, said. This may have flow-on effects for Australian grain producers who use herbicides such as paraquat and diquat for weed control.
“We farm under very different conditions, from a soils and climate perspective, and it’s important independent, science-based assessments are made that take this into account,” Gawel said.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority is undertaking a review of paraquat and diquat and recommended banning some uses requiring higher rates of application due to an “unacceptable risk to the environment” but found there was “no imminent risk to human health or the safety of food”. The final regulatory decision is due in May.
Though uncertainty exists over whether Trump’s potential imposition of tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico will affect us here, Meat and Livestock Australia’s market information manager, Stephen Bignell, said a record year for beef production and exports in 2024 has set the scene for solid opportunities in 2025.
“The United States has its smallest herd in 72 years, which means improved competitiveness for Australian beef in major markets like Japan, Korea and China,” he said. “With our cattle herd reaching maturity, Australia is in a position to capitalise on this global demand.”
Climate and environment regulations
Two looming regulatory concerns for primary producers – the EU deforestation regulation and Labor’s proposed “nature positive” legislation – have been pushed back, with the former delayed until 1 January 2026, and progress on the latter halted after pressure from the West Australian premier. Proposed legislation to create a federal Environmental Protection Agency may or may not come back in the new year.
But both remain firmly on the horizon, alongside the proposed mandatory reporting of scope 3 emissions. Mandatory climate-related disclosure laws passed the Australian parliament in September, and the first cohort of businesses will be required to prepare annual sustainability reports from 1 January. The first year of reporting is limited to scope 1 and 2 emissions, while scope 3 emissions – emissions which occur up and down the supply chain – will be required to be included from the second year of reporting.
The NFF is opposed to mandatory scope 3 emissions reporting, and said that if it is introduced, it should not be before 2035.
Farmers for Climate Action says while reporting on emissions is expected to be a future requirement of international trade, smaller primary producers need more time to prepare.
“Our small farm businesses aren’t equipped to report scope 3 emissions yet, so the proposed test which excludes farmers who do not have two of: 100 employees, gross assets of more than $25m and consolidated revenue of more than $50m per year is a sensible one,” Farmers for Climate Action’s CEO, Natalie Collard, said.
Collard said renewable energy developments mean farmers are on track to make $1bn from clean energy rent by 2030.
Farm-appropriate electric vehicles are also starting to come on to the market, with the BYD Shark 6 hybrid electric ute named News Corp Australia’s 2024 car of the year. “They are starting to get the range and towing capacity farmers need,” Collard said.
Growing cost of production
The GrainGrowers 2024 Annual Policy Survey identified input costs and availability as the main concerns for growers, a concern shared across commodities.
“Cost-of-production and lack of farm profitability are key issues that vegetable, potato and onion growers will face in 2025,” Michael Coote, the CEO of industry peak body Ausveg, said.
The cost-of-living crisis directly affects the vegetable industry, resulting in consumers switching to cheaper imported frozen produce. Ausveg is calling for investment in advertising to bolster homegrown vegetable consumption.
“Lifting consumption by just one serve per person per day by 2030 would result in a $3.3bn net economic benefit across the vegetable supply chain, 13,000 new jobs, and $1.3bn in healthcare savings flowing from reduced dietary-linked disease,” Coote said.
Workforce shortages
A 2024 industry sentiment report by Ausveg found 46% of growers were experiencing workforce shortages. Labour costs were reported to average 38% of a grower’s overall cost of production and reached as high as 71%.
Ausveg is calling for a range of measures to ensure vegetable growers can access the workers they need. Coote said this includes a review and streamlining of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme and the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement, as well as the retention of the 88-day regional work/specified industry requirement for working holiday visa extensions.
The NFF is also calling for $175m for farmworker accommodation to support the attraction and retention of regional staff.
