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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-13 Daily Xml
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GRAIN HARVEST

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (14:29): Harvest is well underway in South Australia. We have made many speeches about the season during the year. About 50 per cent of the state is now well into the barley harvest and 20 per cent of it is now into the wheat harvest. There has been quite a lot of disappointment, especially in the marginal areas, and the member for Hammond would have as many stories to tell as I—and I note the minister is present in the chamber.

In the Mid North, an area that I am very cognisant of and my knowledge is very fresh, the barley, though yielding surprisingly well, is of very poor quality—very poor indeed—with most of it being feed 3 or feed 4. Feed 4, to many areas, is almost unmarketable. Some was even worse and is not deliverable. Yields of 12 bags to the acre of feed 4 barley was quite common, providing the crop was sown early with minimal or no weed competition.

Those farmers who went to the extra effort and cost to spray out their summer weeds, were certainly rewarded this year. The crops that are yielding 12 to 15 bags to the acre on 7½ inches of rain are remarkable. It speaks volumes for modern farming techniques and to the expertise and diligence of our farmers, particularly our younger farmers, which is very encouraging. It gives an older fellow like me goosebumps to think about it, because sometimes we do not give these young fellows much credit.

Wheat on many farms, not all of them, was also quite remarkable, again especially for the early sown crops. We have seen some unbelievable results, up to 15 bags, and some of it hard 1 quality, which is the best quality, again on 7½ inches of rain, but it was very important that they were sown early. Those in the Mid North who sowed after the third or fourth week in May will not be so lucky, in fact there is a stark difference, a huge difference. The early crops seemed to be able to exist on their own sap without the rain, they used their own growth early in the year to set and grow the seed, but those crops that were not that far matured did not do that—they died.

The prices are disappointing. For feed 1, as I have just been discussing with the member for Hammond, today's price is $180 per tonne. That is barely the cost of production. When we are looking at low yields and the cost of farming today, it is a very sad result indeed. The single desk issue is causing problems. ABB, which is now fully deregulated—some silos are not opening—does not have to take grain of low quality any more. Under the single desk it had to take grain, but it does not any more, and it is being fussy, and you really cannot blame it, in a fully commercial operating grain trader.

We have lost flexibility as growers, particularly with the selling operations which we had with the Australian Wheat Board. We used to have many categories under which we could market our grain and ways we could be paid, but they are now all but gone, it is down to a basic thing. It is sad to see AWB's demise, because, with the loss of single desk, it can no longer offer a guaranteed amount of a certain quality to our overseas markets as it does not know how much it has for sale until it is actually delivered.

When I was in Canada a few weeks ago, and I know the minister was there too, I met the CEO of the Canadian Wheat Board (an Australian) and they are already picking off some of our long-time key markets. The worst thing about losing the single desk is that you are now trading against a country that still has it. The impact means lower prices for Australian farmers, and we are certainly getting that.

Under the previous AWB and ABB single desk regimes there were the pools, and those farmers who did not know what to do put it in the pool, and you can bet your boots that nine years out of 10 they did okay. Canada also has more than one farmer political lobby group. The competition between the groups brings good service and results, and especially accountability to them. Is there a lesson here for us?

It has generally been a very difficult year for most South Australian farmers, and those in the marginal areas are in a very dire position, as the minister would know. Families are really up against it now, and there will be forced sales and properties coming on the market shortly, and some already are. I hope that we can bring in a new type of assistance for farmers, again looking at the Canadian model of farm protection insurance that they are using very effectively in lieu of the exceptional circumstances assistance funding that we currently use. It is working well. Farmers contribute, as do both federal and state governments, to help farmers. I think we have to look at it and try to help them.

Time expired.

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