At the recent ABARES National Outlook Conference, Executive Director Steve Hatfield- Dodds in his opening address advised that “we should recognise that achieving the best for agriculture, our rural communities and the national economy will require some tough choices.”
On current trajectory, the value of Australian agriculture is expected to reach $84 billion by 2030, but Dr Hatfield-Dodds advised we should be mindful of the substantial, and sometimes painful, reforms that have been needed to achieve the growth we have in recent decades, and that price increases accounted for 90% of that past growth.
Highlighting the need to harness innovation and promote resilience the presentation reflected the major challenges identified in the Regional NRM Strategy for the Avon River Basin. The community identified the regional challenges that needed to be tackled if we are going to achieve the vision of ’A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS A VIABLE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY AND RETAINS A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE ’.