Investment in Innovation and Science Good News for Farming

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed todays’ announcement of the National Innovation and Science Agenda, and urged the government to consider agribusiness when legislating proposed changes.
NFF CEO, Simon Talbot, said the announcement marked the start of an important cultural shift for the Australian economy which would have important implications for the farm sector.
“Australian agriculture has historically been a strong source of innovation, drawing on Australia’s world class public-private partnership model for agricultural research,” Mr Talbot said.
“The farm sector relies on continual innovation to maintain Australia’s strong international competitiveness.
“Agribusiness is at the beginning of an exciting growth period with surging demand for quality Australian produce in key export markets.
“The innovation developed within Australia is also considered to be world-leading and is adopted by agribusiness across the globe further reinforcing the need for continued and strong investment in this area.
“This not only includes on-farm and value chain innovation but also pioneering ideas in how agriculture can meet the demands of a changing climate.
“Bold new ideas will be required to continue to drive this leadership and to respond to the evolving demands placed on the sector in ways that continue to meet the needs of our customers while underpinning prosperity across the agricultural industries.
“Today’s announcements facilitate better commercialisation of innovative ideas and research outcomes and in an agriculture context this will mean more farm-ready technology available more quickly.”
However, NFF urged the Government to recognise the potential for start-ups within the agriculture sector.
“The agriculture industry is teeming with entrepreneurs with ideas for new products, services and business models but we need to ensure that the best and most innovative new business ventures in the agricultural sector have access to the incentives announced today.
NFF looks forward to working with the Government on implementation of the suite of innovation and science initiatives, and will provide more comment later in the week about the application of these measures in agriculture.