According to ABARES acting executive director, Peter Gooday, two of the big challenges Australian agriculture is facing at the moment are; climate variability and increased competition in key export markets.

“Innovation in Australian agriculture is working to address both issues,” Mr Gooday said.

On the same day the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Senator, Arthur Sinodinos, announced that $96.5 million would be invested in three new agriculture-related Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) over the next 10 years.

The new CRCs are due to begin this year and cover cooperative research centres for high performance soils, honey bee products and food agility.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the funding decision, noting the strategic importance of the new CRCs – particularly the Food Agility CRC, in which the NFF is a partner.

The NFF chief executive Tony Mahar said commercialisation and adoption of new technology is critical to boosting farm productivity.

A further $160 million has been committed by 54 partners in private business and universities — including the University of Technology Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, and Curtin University in Perth taking the Food Agility fund to $210 million over 10 years.

“The Food Agility CRC brings together a unique coalition from industry, government and academia to overcome challenges and drive digital transformation in the food and agriculture sector,” Mr Mahar said. 

“The NFF looks forward to partnering with the Food Agility CRC to maximise its impact inside the farm gate,” he said.

As consumer preferences change rapidly, the CRC aims to help producers adapt and develop food that will have good safety records, high quality, and ensure production is environmentally and socially sustainable.

ABARES acting executive director Peter Gooday said innovation had also underpinned a steady increase in wheat yields over the past decade, despite the impact of climate conditions on overall production levels.

“For example, while wheat production rises and falls with seasonal conditions, some of our recent work shows that underlying wheat yields have improved significantly since the mid-2000s when the effect of climate variation is accounted for.”

Gooday said climate adjusted wheat yields have grown from 1.8 tonnes per hectare in 2005-06, to reach 2.2 tonnes per hectare in 2014-15.

“This is important because it means that technological progress is offsetting the effects of deteriorating seasonal conditions, which will be essential if we are to remain globally competitive. However, as the technology responsible for past productivity growth in Australia becomes accessible in countries with developing agricultural industries, continued innovation would be essential,” Gooday said.

Mahar said the CRC for High Performance Soils was of significant importance.

“The CRC for High Performance Soils will help simplify the application of soil science to real-world farming systems,” Mr Mahar said.

“When cutting edge soil science is applied on-farm, we see gains in both productivity and sustainability – so bridging the gap between research and commercial practice couldn’t be more important,” he said.