THERE has never been a better time to be in agriculture and it is set to continue, according to New South Wales agriculture minister Dugald Saunders.
NSW Farmers hosted Mr Saunders in a webinar discussing the future of agriculture ahead of the $30 billion by 2030 target for the NSW sector.
"Despite a really challenging few years with the drought, the fire, the floods, the COVID, the mouse plague what is remarkable is that when you look at the gross market product - almost $21 billion in the last financial year, this sector has never looked better and I think we can continue to build on that," he said.
Mr Saunders said his key focus areas currently are to help growers in flood affected regions and biosecurity.
Answering questions from farmers about what actions the government is taking to enhance biosecurity he said NSW is best placed to lead production into MRNA research.
"That's what the future looks like - it's trying to develop things ahead of time that will combat a disease coming into the country," he said.
"The main plan is around prevention and there has been an absolute gearing up around all of those compliance checks and all those things on borders.
At the same time there does need to be a modern application of science and that is through updated vaccines and that's what I'm pushing for as quickly as possible."
Addressing current issues raised by farmers, Mr Saunders was firm on his stance supporting the coal seam gas project approved in the Pilliga but said other projects would be looked at on a case by case basis.
"Right now we're facing a shortage of power to keep people warm and gas is one of those providers of electricity to provide warmth," he said.
"The supply of coal seam gas is one of those that will continue to upset people... there's been no problem with the way Santos has conducted itself in recent years over all the pilot wells that have been done."
Mr Saunders said the science was clear on safety for aquifers with rock encasement protecting water from gas.
Looking to the future of agriculture Mr Saunders discussed how to help future farmers make a path in the industry, which he said is of high importance.
"I'm hoping we can have more VET type courses so you can do a cert II or III while you're still at school and have that direct pathway into a career and continue doing training which is far easier to be doing online while you're working in the industry rather than take time off and do it necessarily at a location staying on campus," he said.
"Agriculture in the next five years will be completely evolving around ag tech and the exciting careers in ag - we don't even know what some of them will be in the next ten years."
Mr Saunders also answered questions from farmers discussing everything from the concerns over Local Land Services to oyster farming, the role of the NSW agriculture commissioner and timber harvesting on private land.
Alexandra Bernard
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
