OPPORTUNITIES abound for Australian agribusiness, despite the challenges over the past two years, according to national audit and accounting firm RSM Australia.
Those opportunities being pursued will help future-proof the industry in 2022 and beyond.
This is one of the main conclusions reached by RSM in its The 2022 State of Agribusiness in Australia report released this week on the opportunities and challenges for the sector.
Beginning this week and over coming weeks, Farm Weekly will publish edited excerpts from the report.
COVID-19 has arguably had an impact on every person, business and industry worldwide, creating many challenges.
The impacts the pandemic has had on Australia's agribusiness sector are far reaching and the full extent will take time to come to light.
Some of the more immediate challenges include the continued impact the pandemic and its associated restrictions have had on the labour market, as well as wider implications on potential export markets as a direct result of fracturing political relationships.
Agricultural producers must remain cognisant of these challenges and the steps they must take to mitigate risks and better prepare their businesses and properties for the future.
It is important to recognise the pandemic has accelerated many of the challenges the industry was already facing.
For example, between 2001 and 2016, there was an overall downward trend nationally in the agricultural labour force.
The impacts of COVID-19 on the labour force, particularly regarding access to skilled and experienced seasonal workers, have exacerbated this trend.
Seasonal workers sourced through migrant visa arrangements and working holiday visa holders, including backpackers, have long played an important role in Australia's agricultural labour force.
Where previously producers might have benefitted from backpackers that helped to pick and package produce, this isn't the only labour requirement across the industry.
Shane Kay, chief executive officer, Moora Citrus, said: "As producers increasingly adopt new technologies to help streamline farming practices, there's a growing need for skilled workers that are capable of operating machinery.
"Working holiday visa holders and backpackers that journey out to agricultural regions aren't always the most suitable workers for these positions, as they have a steep learning curve and often require specific technical knowledge," Mr Kay said.
"As a result, our reliance on skilled migrant workers is growing.
"As the Australian Government has forecast, it might take up to seven years for travel to return to pre-pandemic levels, this creates a significant challenge for the industry."
Nick Ruddenklau, farm manager, EPASCO Farms, said: "Prior to the travel restrictions, we would see many skilled seasonal workers following harvesting and shearing cycles around the world for two to three years at a time.
"(The global pandemic) has caused immense issues for producers that rely on this labour flow," Mr Ruddenklau said.
David Williams, principal of Kidder Williams and the man behind some large agribusiness acquisition deals over the years, lists shortage of skilled and unskilled labour as the single biggest issue in agricultural industries as diverse as horticulture, abattoirs, trucking and professional firms.
The second biggest issue is logistics, domestic and international - particularly for seafood bound for Asian markets - which is adding to costs, according to Mr Williams.
He also lists issues with getting agriculture visas stamped in a timely manner for trained staff ready to enter the country for pre-arranged jobs.
National Farmers' Federation president Fiona Simson has called on the Federal government to speed up the process for issuing agriculture visas announced last September and to expand the scheme to 10 partner countries.
Farmers have been battling labour shortages due to the lack of seasonal backpackers and Pacific Island workers because of the COVID-19 pandemic and state and international border closures.
Responding to challenges within the labour market is critical for the agricultural industry at large, particularly as it will take time to identify and implement appropriate solutions.
However, it is essential farmers, producers and industry bodies continue to investigate opportunities to alleviate the pressure that labour shortages place on the market.
While the current labour shortage may be exacerbated by pandemic-related restrictions, it's simply emphasising an ongoing trend that was already impacting the market.
It is also essential to recognise that, when travel resumes post-pandemic, it may not mean the labour market will follow suit.
Many businesses and trades supporting agriculture also struggle to find suitable, qualified workers to fill roles, particularly specialist and technical roles and trades.
Matt Roesner, technical director of equipment manufacturer Roesner Pty Ltd, said: "Even when it comes to the supporting labour force, there is a challenge for many farmers, growers and producers.
"Most of the agronomists that we work with are in their mid-30s or 40s and older - there aren't many in the younger age bracket," Mr Roesner said.
"This is going to have a major impact in the years to come.
"Agriculture is a specialist field, these days, agricultural producers must have someone available to assess crops and properties and make recommendations on soil type and inputs to produce the best possible output.
"Without specialists to make informed recommendations, growers will make a blanket input rate which could lead to poorer environmental outcomes."
Wessel Oosthuizen, commercial director, AFGRI Equipment Australia, said: "A significant barrier for the agricultural labour force is the isolated nature of the work.
"It can also be challenging to entice workers to relocate to isolated areas and operate branches in towns where there might only be 200 people," Mr Oosthuizen said.
"With border challenges and travel restrictions, this has been further exacerbated.
"For farmers that rely on a migrant workforce to support seeding and harvesting, among other tasks, this has been an especially difficult time.
"Where previously skilled migrant workers may have been brought into regional areas to live and work either on a temporary or permanent basis, we haven't brought anyone in over the past four years.
"In the long-term, this may lead to smaller farmers disengaging, which can have significant knock-on effects for the industry."
With high commodity prices and good seasonal conditions, a career in farming has become more attractive for those with a family farm to return to or for those favouring a career in corporate agriculture.
As a result agribusinesses like Elders, have found it increasingly difficult to recruit staff.
Elders has relied on recruiting people with agricultural backgrounds from Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa to supplement its workforce.
Elders managing director and chief executive Mark Allison said: "Universities have not been generating agricultural science (graduates) to the level required - not even close."
Mr Allison believes the longer term solution is having more facilities in rural and regional areas to attract more city people.
To counter the staff shortage, Elders has invested more into its graduate and training programs and retaining staff, he said.
A number of universities have eliminated their agricultural programs, Mr Roesner pointed out.
For the institutions that do still offer relevant courses, the available areas of study often concentrate on the technical side.
While this will continue to be critically important, especially as the role of technology increases, the basics of agricultural production cannot be forgotten.
"The industry and supporting educational institutions need to push this more and double down in offering relevant courses that support soil science or core science to help provide better agronomic support to producers longer term," Mr Roesner said.
Mr Oosthuizen said AFGRI had started a process four years ago to invest more heavily in traineeships and, following this year's January intake, had more than 100 apprentices and trainees.
"However, even with this investment, we face challenges in retaining trainees once they're qualified," he said.
"Both farms and mines face labour shortages and the agricultural industry can't compete on the same level as the mining industry when it comes to financial compensation."
Attracting and retaining suitable workers in the labour market is a major challenge facing the agricultural industry in Australia.
With access to skilled migrant workers likely to be a problem for some time, Australian agribusinesses must also consider turning their attention to a domestic labour force and invest in solutions that will help encourage a new generation of younger Australians to make the move to the country and its supporting industries.
LABOUR SHORTAGES
OVERCOMING labour shortages required innovative thinking during the past two years, RSM's national head of agribusiness, Ross Paterson, concedes in The 2022 State of Agribusiness in Australia report.
As an example Mr Paterson points to the social media recruiting campaign the CBH Group employed during the pandemic to successfully source about 2000 seasonal workers living in Perth to help through harvest.
On the push for zero carbon emissions by 2050, he acknowledges in the report that farmers are keen to be part of the solution with the proviso they do not see themselves as being the solution to other industries looking for agricultural land to be used to offset carbon emissions.
According to Matthew Beevers, director of audit and assurance at RSM, while labour shortages, access to expansionary capital and succession planning represent challenges to producers, emerging technologies to improve productivity, and crop yield demonstrated product provenance represent significant opportunities for the sector.
"Innovation in up-stream processing and product development will also contribute to enhanced value-add opportunities across the supply chain and enable further expansion into non-traditional markets for Australia's agribusinesses," Mr Beevers said.
Ashwin Pal, director of cyber security and privacy risk services at RSM, said cybersecurity and understanding of information technology (IT) was generally not an agribusiness strong point.
"I would argue that 80 to 90 per cent of small to medium businesses that make up the agribusiness sector probably don't have a good handle on this, which represents a significant population," Mr Pal said.
"But what is important is to make sure that organisations before they actually deploy these technologies, think about security as part of the deployment process."
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