NSW Senator and Deputy Senate Leader of the Nationals Fiona Nash writes:
Tuesday June 23 marked the first anniversary of the end of the single desk wheat exporting marketing system and the first troubled year for growers under the new arrangements.
Approximately 30 disgruntled Wheat Growers and their families attended Parliament House in Canberra in a rally to register their protest on the anniversary of the axing of the single desk.
The Rudd Labor Government promised a major economic reform when it passed the Wheat Export Marketing Bill 2008 but has delivered uncertainty, increased risk and supply chain dysfunction.
The NSW Nationals at their conference at Wagga Wagga this month voted to support the return of the single desk export wheat marketing arrangements. Growers would prefer to have market stability, price security to combat drought and provide leadership to address industry issues and prepare for the future.
The abolition of the single desk has forced growers into a risky and precarious marketing system where they lack the capital, credit and confidence of the national pool hedging offered by the single desk.
As a receiver of last resort the national pool meant growers were sure their wheat would be accepted and sold to best advantage. Now, individual growers lacking time and skills are pool managers, holding their own pool of wheat. Many are storing wheat on their farm while hoping for the best price but no one except the grower knows how much wheat is held.
Senator Fiona Nash with Wheat Growers rallying on the lawns of Parliament house.
With this year’s crop in the ground growers are under pressure from traders and banks to sell what they are storing and to sell at lower prices. With good rains growers are in the invidious position of looking at better growing conditions but with less ability to sell their crop at the best possible price.
There have been reports of wheat being wrongly graded by traders, putting at risk Australia’s longstanding reliability as a wheat grower and supplier of premium grain. Bottlenecks at some ports have disrupted sales and shipments as well and driven away long-term customers.
Against this backdrop, the Rudd Labor Government is insisting on the introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme which the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics has said will see agricultural producers face increased input costs associated with the use of electricity, fuels and freight and may face lower farm-gate prices for their goods from downstream processors.
These will have implications for the economic value of farm production.
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