Queensland agriculture’s industry led Best Management Practice (BMP) programs have and continue to deliver real on ground results, improving on farm profitability, productivity, environmental stewardship and social licence. The BMP programs remain the key driver in delivering tangible and long term results around the principle of up-to-date triple bottom line accounting.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) industry members have embraced BMP frameworks that deliver sector leading advice and engagement for their farmer members. To date our members have established and grown their industry-specific BMPs: Cotton Australia (myBMP), CANEGROWERS (SmartCane), Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation (DairySAT), Nursery and Garden Industry Queensland (BioSecure HACCP) and Growcom (Hort360). Each of these programs continue to change and innovate to meet legislative, social, scientific and technological developments.
In protecting the Great Barrier Reef, the agriculture sector continues to improve and adopt BMPs that minimise losses of soil, fertiliser and pesticides from farms and improve water quality entering the Reef. Through our work managing the Reef Alliance – consisting of industry, Natural Resource Management groups and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – QFF sees industry BMPs as central to delivering the type of change and reform consistent with government and community expectations.
BMP programs such as the award winning Nursery and Garden BioSecure HACCP program and Growcom’s Hort360 have their foundations in delivering on farm biosecurity and market access ready production systems. As the biosecurity reform process moves into the new era of shared responsibility, existing industry BMP frameworks are the logical vehicle to efficiently and economically share responsibility.
The future and legacy of BMPs in Queensland are contingent on government support and acknowledging their importance in developing fully costed industry support programs. QFF will continue to work closely with its industry members and government to ensure the positive work of BMPs continues to be promoted and triple bottom line outcomes are achieved.