AUSTRALIA’s agricultural exports achieved a notable milestone last year, overtaking total coal to become the country’s second most valuable commodity export after iron ore.
Farm exports grew to $39.275 billion in 2015, up from $38b the previous year, while ag’s nearest competitor, coal, continues to haemorrhage export value.
Combined coal exports, including thermal used for energy production and coking for steelmaking, fell to $37.87b, down a whopping $16.87b compared to 2009.
Iron ore, valued at $54.516b in 2015 still rules the roost, but has plummeted from $74.671b the previous year.
However, farm exports have climbed steadily on the back of increasing Asian demand, up from $35b in 2009.
NSW Farmers president, Derek Schoen, said the figures “again show the value of agriculture to the economy”.
Governments needed to prioritise infrastructure initiatives to help lift ag exports.
“Dedicated freight rail links between the major ports on the eastern seaboard are vitally important,” Mr Schoen said.
”This is a long-standing bottleneck for our economy and unnecessarily high freight costs are putting our exporters at a distinct disadvantage to our competitors.”
He said agriculture could expect to benefit from labour force opportunities as coal declined, particularly “labour in regional towns for the service sector as well”.
Westpac agribusiness general manager, Steve Hannan, shared farmers’ positive view of the sector’s medium term prospects.
Farmers were looking to increase their scale and technology investments.
Producer ownership of new technology and strategies to lift productivity had risen significantly in the past year.
