AGRICULTURE-related complaints and enquiries to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) jumped 15 per cent in the second half of 2016 compared to in the first half.
A six-monthly ACCC Small Business In Focus report released Monday indicated it received 64 enquiries and 185 complaints July-December about agriculture-related business practises.
That compared to 75 enquiries and 137 agriculture related-complaints in the January-June period.
The ACCC said "concerns about potential misleading conduct or false representations made by business operators featured prominently" in contacts about small business.
Misleading conduct and false representation comprised 81 of the agriculture-related complaints received in the second half of the year, the ACCC said.
In the first six months it received 62 comparable complaints.
The ACCC's agriculture unit was created in October 2015 but separate statistics on agriculture-related contacts have only been kept since January last year.
Consumer complaints about agriculture-related guarantees jumped from seven in the first six months to 19 in the past six months, while complaints about unconscionable conduct dropped from eight to six.
Complaints about misuse of market power increased from four to nine, complaints of exclusive dealing increased from three to five and complaints about "other competition issues" eased from nine to eight.
Agriculture-related complaints concerning consumer law breaches jumped from three to nine.
By comparison, complaints about misleading conduct and false representation by non-agriculture small business July-December totalled 735 and appeared on track to match 1435 for the full 2015-16 financial year.
In the report the ACCC pointed out in the past six months it had started an investigation into the competitiveness of prices, trading practices and the supply chain in the Australian dairy industry.
It had also released an interim report into its Cattle and Beef Market Study which focuses on concerns about competition, transparency, fair trading and market structures in that industry.
The Federal government is considering recommendations from its Horticulture Code review, with a decision expected before April when the current code ends, the ACCC said.
It also pointed out that in the past six months unfair contract terms laws have been applied to small business and legislation introduced to amend misuse of market power provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act.
"In the past six months we've seen a significant increase in the number of contacts being raised in the agriculture sector," the ACCC said.
"We're keen to hear from farmers with competition and fair trading issues," it said.
Information is available at www.accc.gov.au/agriculture or the small business helpline, 1300 302 021.