THE hurt and pain of northern beef producers watching generations of assets being eroded by the perfect storm of drought, oversupply and poor prices is driving some of Australia’s most enquiring minds after leaving Longreach last week, determined to find long-term solutions to the ogre of non-viability.
Longreach grazier and Nuffield scholar James Walker organised a CEO outback business summit to look at the critical issues preventing agriculture in Australia from getting ahead, and walked away from the two days confident he had shared ownership of the future of rural Australia with big business.
The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, a keeping place for rural Australia’s icons, hosted the main event, packing 100 participants into its theatrette and livestreaming proceedings to another 120 via the internet.
“People saw yesterday that the skill and knowledge base of rural Australia has the potential to be wiped out by this situation,” James said.
“We need to pay people the honour of realising how significant they are in sustainable food production – their production literacy can’t be replaced.”
It was a message rammed home by Hughenden grazier Rob Atkinson who told the audience from around Australia that he was an example of those “living the drought”.
“I’m 52 and this is the toughest time in my life,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many strong resilient men struggle to handle this.
“I’m seeing shops closing, vacant houses – our communities are living it with us.”
He said it “churned in his gut” to read that beef producers in the US were receiving record beef prices of $3.50/kg through their own drought and diesel prices of 80c/l.
“If we can’t get somewhere near those numbers, we’re in trouble.”
In addition to the summit, James has instigated a competition to challenge people to look at a fictitious but representative grazing business and suggest answers to the equity problems facing so many.
Ideas thrown up by summit participants included selling the property and leasing part of it back, developing brands and niche markets, building up financial management skills, and looking for external funding from foreign sources.
“One of the main things we talked about was building up long-term resilience,” James said.
“All the CEOs that were there have since splintered off to their own areas of expertise to see how they can add value to the summit.”
It will be a case of “watch this space” as possible solutions get added to the competition box.
The Kidworth competition is available at agrihive.com and closes on November 1, with over $30,000 in prizes on offer.
Sally Cripps
Journalist
Journalist
