DESPITE agriculture contributing close to $60 billion to Australia's economy last year and being second only to iron ore in exports, the industry does not get enough focus from federal or State governments, according to National Farmers' Federation (NFF) president Fiona Simson.
Speaking at the WAFarmers annual conference in Perth last week, Ms Simson said the industry "had become part of the furniture" despite its contribution to the country's bottom line.
"People seem amazed that it is agriculture that it is making a huge contribution to Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) and it is agriculture that is turning this country's accounts around," she said.
"When you take the supply chain into account as well, we have consistency been contributing to GDP despite droughts, fires, floods and the ups and downs of the market.
"The industry has consistently been a strong performer but does seem to get overlooked by some of the sexier industries that come along from time to time."
Ms Simson said the agriculture industry committed $52.6b nationally in 2014-15 and is expected to produce about $60b worth of commodities in 2016-17.
In 2014-15, WA produced $7.93b of commodities - cereal made up 47 per cent, followed by meat and livestock at 19.1pc.
Nationally "the stars are aligning" for the industry which is predicted to deliver $100b by 2030, she said.
"Agriculture, we think, is Australia's fastest growing sector - this year if we're at $60b, and the trend has been up, then $100b by 2030 is very achievable," Ms Simson said.
"If you have a look at the range of commodities that are represented in ag, you can see where we think some of the potential is and horticulture, beef and grains are absolutely at the top of that.
"Nuts, particularly almonds and macadamias, have been huge performers in the past couple of years, with exported nuts topping $1b this year and making up more than 50pc of our horticultural exports."
To drive growth, Ms Simson said the industry needed to ensure it attracted the right talent, flexible capital sources, productivity through research and development, premium branding and digital connectivity.
"The federal government is broke and I've been hearing similar tales of what is happening in the west but we have a lot of investors knocking on our door - how can we unlock some of that capital and use it for infrastructure such as better roads, rail and inland ports?"
Ms Simson said a lack of a definable Australian brand could be a sticking point overseas.
"WA went to China and had a brand, Tasmania is big on its brand such as King Island, commodities tend to have their own brands as well, so when you go to overseas markets we haven't got a clear, identifiable brand, such as the Pure NZ brand, which has been hugely successful in branding its football team through to its food."
She said the NFF's key focus this year will include bolstering investment into the industry, trade and non-tariff measures and telecommunications.
"The reality is that ag isn't even considered in government planning and policy decisions, hence a lot of good ag land has had urban development on it and has had extracting industries as well,'' she said.
"The industry needs to be actively considered by government in any decision-making processes about land use and regional development.
"There's a lot of opportunities for agriculture but it needs certainty and if it is going to have certainty it needs to be considered - not just the national resource function of the land but its income and job generating capacity."
