AGRI-tech and the global supply chain got a mention at the 2017 Asia-Pacific Regional Conference at the Crown Convention Centre in Perth last week.
The session, held concurrently with three other sessions, avoided much of the spotlight even though it attracted guest speakers such as CBH Group manager of transformation and technology Mat Regan, CSBP general manager chemicals, energy and fertiliser Charlie Perkins, Bayer Australia head of public and government affairs Richard Dickmann, BayWa chief digital officer Jorg Migende and BASF Australia chairman and managing director David Hawkins.
They discussed a range of topics including markets, improved technology, on-farm adoption of the technologies, connectivity, traceability and the increasing demand for high quality and affordable food to meet the needs of a growing world population.
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner agribusiness and food Greg Quinn moderated the discussion, which while highly valuable in terms of information and vision of the sector’s future, only attracted about 60 people.
More than 1000 people had registered for the three-day conference which was co-organised by the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and saw political and business heavyweights from Germany, Singapore and Australia among others come together for discussions about issues affecting the region.
In his opening address to the agri-tech session, Mr Quinn said Australian agriculture industry fed 80 million people, contributed $56 billion to the economy, employed 1.6 million people and was the largest contributor to economic growth in the country, as well as the fastest growing sector in the economy.
He said population growth and climate change were placing new demands on the food production system and the industry needed “novel solutions and critical infrastructure to adopt the technologies” that would assist in finding solutions to the issues.
Mr Quinn said the future of farming was “producing more with less” - and seeing more scrutiny about on farm practices from consumers.
As the discussion progressed it was mentioned that the consumer and the farmer were becoming closer as people wanted more information about where their food was produced and the processes involved.
Mr Migende, the only German on the panel, said “there is a big opportunity for Australia and New Zealand to promote produce in Germany”.
“The German people are having an emotional discussion about where they get their food from and the carbon footprint that is attached to food sourced locally and internationally,” Mr Migende said.
“It is less harmful to the environment to import from Australia than for 100 people to travel to the next town to buy from a local producer.”
He said the industry needed to work as “frienemies” – meaning while remaining competitive in the market, businesses could also find ways to work together to resolve issues, because some were more expert in areas that others were not.
Mr Quinn said based on the market there was a huge demand for the “safe Australian label” in Asia and globally which was something that Australia should continue to strive for and promote.
Mr Dickmann said Australia was an innovative country that was ideal for the adoption of robotic technologies to solve the labour shortage in the agricultural sector, as well as increase production to feed a growing population.
“The happiest farmers are those growing chickpeas for India,” Mr Dickmann said.
He said those farmers had found a product that was in demand and profitable.
Mr Hawkins said the implementation of technologies on farm was tough and there had been “hard-won work done at the user interface” to bring about the changes already on farm.
Mr Perkins said “farmers were asking for the ability to store, manage and interact with the data” better to make use of time and increase their profitability.
Mr Regan said WA had already gone through the reduction of labour on farm issues, which could be seen by the population of regional areas and he could see the day coming when one driver could operate three to four tractors through remote technologies.
He said in terms of adopting new technologies “on-farm logistics were quite difficult” and there needed to be improved telecommunication services to drive the “connectivity” ability.
“In three years’ time we are going to wish that we had developed that,” Mr Regan said.
He said industry had a role to play in the improved internet and satellite technologies and it shouldn’t be left up to government to develop.
Mr Regan said high-speed internet and access to it in rural areas was a growing problem for farmers.
He said CBH was looking at technologies mostly around crop prediction to assist its members.
Mr Dickmann said there needed to be better laws about data privacy and clear international rules to protect private or business information.
Regional security was also a hot topic at the conference – with the need for Australia to remain engaged with regional partners to maintain stability and free trade – for all to prosper under a “global rules based system”, said Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.
Ms Bishop said the possible affect of the disruption to free trade through the South China Sea and the shift of economic power from the United States to China and India in the future, presented opportunities and issues that stable democracies needed to work together on for the benefit of all.
US President Donald Trump’s exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was highlighted as a concern for the region’s future economic growth and development - with all signatories to the TPP needing to remain engaged with the US in order to draw it back in to accomplish the TPP’s purpose.