Conference Day Two
Wednesday 27 May 2015
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08:30 Welcome coffee
08:50 Opening remarks from the Chair
Luciano Gonzalez, Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
09:00 Keynote Presentation:
Capturing opportunities and developing commercial strategies in
agribusiness to enhance economic growth in Australia
- Examining current industry outlook and identifying opportunities and challenges for the Australian agribusiness sector
- Assessing the likely growth trajectory for Australia’s agribusiness sector
- Analysing major concerns in the sector’s ability to increase productivity
- How will the Australian agribusiness sector generate up to $1.7 trillion in exports by 2050 as per forecasts
- Key considerations for meeting the Department of Agriculture and National Farmers’ Federation aim to double production volume by 2050
Senator Richard Colbeck, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Australian Government
Overcoming infrastructure related challenges in the rapidly expanding agribusiness sector
09:30 Lessons from Canada – how Australia can improve the efficiency of its
export supply chains
- Comparing both countries’ grain yields and the potential for additional productivity growth, and understanding why Australia’s competitive position is a concern
- Assessing the outcomes of rationalisation of infrastructure within Canadian export supply chains and analysing how Australia can adopt a similar plan
- Understanding why Australia’s southern and eastern states are shifting towards a Canadian model and what the possible implications are for efficiency and risk from concentration of market power
- Analysing the advantages of industry and government supported programs in government policy, regulation and the reputation of Canadian grain industry, and understanding how Australia can benefit from similar programs
Peter White, Economist, Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC)
Chris Carter, Economist, Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC)
10:00 Case Study:
Quattro Port terminal joint venture at Port Kembla for increased utilization
of existing port access
- Assessing the results of Quattro Ports’ commitment to build infrastructure and provide an efficient pathway for Australian grain to the world
- Delivering choice, competition and better use of port land and facilities that benefit exporters
- How the open-access terminal is providing opportunities for grain export to all grain traders and exporters in the New South Wales grain market
- How will the project facilitate Quattro to handle in excess of 1.3 million tonnes of export grain per annum and also handle import cargo?
Dom Figliomeni, General Manager Commercial, NSW Ports
10:30 Morning tea
11:00 Transport and agriculture infrastructure outlook and scenario planning
- Overview of the current infrastructure servicing agriculture production and supply to markets
- Outlining major bottlenecks in transport, ports and other agricultural infrastructure leading to high costs, limiting market access and restricting future growth.
- Identifying low cost, high bang for buck opportunities in infrastructure investment and policy change
- Roads versus rail – how can both be best utilised in agricultural transport with current and future infrastructure opportunities, as well as future growth
- Identifying short to long term strategies to capitalise on the different priority opportunities
Andrew Higgins, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water
11:30 Cotton to market – positioning Australian cotton in the future world textile
market
- The outlook for Australian cotton crop and how it is placed into the world textile market at a premium, year after year
- Why is it necessary for the industry’s grower representative body to promote and market its product to the textile supply chain?
- How Cotton Australia’s relatively recent Cotton to Market strategy is responding to what the market wants now, and predicting what it might want in future
- New ground for Australian cotton – what have we done, what have we learned?
- Global challenges, what role do we play?
- The power of collaboration
- Future proofing and staying ahead of the curve
- The importance of story-telling
Brooke Summers, Project Lead - Cotton to Market, Cotton Australia
Tailored industry approaches to achieving favourable agribusiness policy and regulatory outcomes
12:00 Case Study:
How Emerald Grain is overcoming existing constraints on their market
power
- Understanding Emerald Grain’s exemption applications with the Australian Competition and
- Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the implications for all exporters
- Increasing the transparency of terms and conditions for access to bulk wheat port terminal services for all exporters and identifying what benefits this would have
- Encouraging services providers to deal with exporters in good faith and publish a port loading statement and loading procedures
- Western Australian regulation – required or not?
Murray de Jong, General Manager – Strategy & Business Development, Emerald Grain Australia
12:30 Panel Disucssion:
Engaging with government to create a better regulatory framework for the
agribusiness sector
- Assessing policies that would help drive agricultural productivity improvement
- Understanding the implications of applying the goods and services tax to the sale of fresh food as part of tax reform
- Creating policies to protect farmers from seasonal setbacks and to optimize productivity
- How can state and federal government best support the agriculture sector?
Moderator:
Luciano Gonzalez, Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
Panellists:
Theresa Craig, President, Agribusiness Association of Australia
Anna Campbell, Senior Livestock Policy Director, AgForce Queensland
Les Copeland, Professor of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney
13:15 Networking lunch
Implementing innovative strategies to ensure higher efficiency, productivity and profitability within the agribusiness sector
14:15 Case Study:
How A2 Milk is driving growth in Australian and Asian markets
- Building an innovative proposition that extracts maximum commodity value through the entire supply/value chain – how A2 Milk has identified and capitalised upon consumer preferences for the A2 protein in milk
- Engaging with primary producers and manufacturers to bring the proposition to the market and grow total category/industry value
- Working in partnership with farmers to develop a point of diference (herd development) that can add value and differentiation to the enterprise
Shareef Khan, General Manager Group Operations, The a2 Milk Company Australia
14:45 Agri-biotechnology and its role in the agri-food chain
- How biotechnology can be a solution for emerging challenges such as climate volatility and food security
- How can biotechnology benefit the environment?
- The importance of ensuring a responsible adoption of biotechnology throughout the sector
- How can biotechnology help ensure global food security by increasing production while reducing environmental damage?
Les Copeland, Professor of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney
15:15 Afternoon tea
15:45 Case Study:
How to boost food production without compromising environmental
integrity:
- Reviewing current farming and agriculture environment policies and assessing their relevance in todays market
- What is needed for agriculturists to increase production efficiency and environmental sustainability at the same time?
- Assessing innovative solutions to ensure product quality, improve animal welfare, disease resistance and reduce environmental impact
David Blackmore, Managing Director, Blackmore Wagyu
16:15 The Last Word:
Agribusiness Outlook Australia 2015 – a review of proceedings and an
outlook from the event advisory panel
- What are the key messages from the conference?
- What are the key opportunities for the Australian agriculture sector to grow domestically and internationally?
- How can Australian agribusiness position itself for success beyond 2020?
Les Copeland, Professor of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney
Luciano González, Associate Professor, The University of Sydney
16:30 Closing remarks from the Chair and drawing of lucky door prize!
16:40 Close of Day Two and close of conference