IN 2013 – despite reassurances from the then Premier Barry O’Farrell – Department of Primary Industries was a key part of government’s plan to cut expenditure.
The message from government was the formation of Local Land Services was a separate issue to those cuts, and was needed to streamline the delivery of agricultural extension services.
In reality, it has been part of a continuation of a trend to cut agricultural services and infrastructure, highlighted most recently by the declining agricultural expenditure to the tune of $200 million across three years – a tad more than the $30m O’Farrell had told then Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson she had to find.
These big declines in funding for ag services underline the concerns of farmers, who at the introduction of LLS raised fears about funding security.
Since then, cuts to the Soil Conservation Service have also hit the radar.
It seems a lot of Coalition budget savings are coming from agriculture spending – spending which could otherwise help agriculture be more productive.
LLS struggles to deliver an effective extension service with current staffing levels. With the new biodiversity legislation being developed, it appears the structure will only have more work to do around native vegetation, but no commitment has been made around resourcing this function.
The reluctance of government to release clear detail on issues such as this, along with the Soil Conservation Service and the sale of TSRs isn’t a good look.
It sends a message that landholders aren’t going to like what the government has brewing.
Given the overall cuts to agricultural resourcing, it seems farmers’ fears that all these services are gradually being “streamlined” to a point of ineffectiveness are justified.
Agriculture needs a well-funded focus on productivity at a grass roots level. Government just doesn’t seem to be interested in delivering on that front.
Any claims that farmers aren’t using these services can only be put down to how ineffective they’ve become from government cuts.
The DPI, after all, lost a lot of valuable skill from its ranks during its recent restructure.
Agriculture in NSW needs to be taken seriously – one would currently question whether Mike Baird understands this.
