NFF outlines six key areas to unlock productivity gains at ag roundtable 

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is proud to be representing Australian farmers in the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s “Unlocking Productivity in Australian Agriculture” roundtable in Brisbane today, ahead of the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable later this month. 

This sector-specific roundtable brings together around 50 representatives from across the agricultural supply chain to identify key opportunities for lifting productivity in the sector. The outcomes will directly inform the broader national productivity discussion at the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable from August 19–21. 

NFF President David Jochinke said the roundtable was a vital opportunity to ensure agriculture was recognised as a key driver of Australia’s economic future. 

“Farmers are ready to be part of the productivity solution. We welcome the Government’s focus on reform and are pleased to see a dedicated agricultural roundtable,” Mr Jochinke said. 

The NFF’s member driven advocacy has outlined six key areas where targeted reform could unlock significant productivity gains: 

• Taxation: Ensuring taxation arrangements support the growth and resilience of modern agricultural businesses, encourage productivity-enhancing investments by expanding – and making permanent – the Instant Asset Write-Off, and maintaining the taxation treatment of trusts and superannuation. 

• Competition: Extending unfair trading protections to small businesses, implementing ACCC supermarket inquiry recommendations, and securing a long-overdue right to repair for agricultural machinery. 

• Research & Development: Boosting public investment in high-return R&D, streamlining AgVet chemical regulation, and supporting innovation from lab to paddock. 

• Trade: Enhancing market access in Southeast Asia, pursuing FTAs with the Gulf Cooperation Council, EU and India, and tackling trade-inhibiting non-tariff barriers. 

• Infrastructure: Reinstating the Roads of Strategic Importance program, reforming the National Performance Based Standards scheme to improve approval processes, and upgrading critical rail freight corridors. 

• Reduce red tape: Driving a national deregulation agenda through evidence-based review of the cumulative burden of federal, state and territory regulation, and simplifying industrial relations laws. 

Mr Jochinke said these reforms were not just about boosting farm productivity, they’re about strengthening the national economy. 

“Agriculture contributes around $90 billion to the economy and supports 275,000 jobs. But it’s more than numbers – agriculture is the backbone of regional Australia and it’s the sector all Australians rely on every single day,” he said. 

The NFF will also participate in the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable, where it will advocate for the sector in the session on international risks, opportunities and trade. 

The NFF’s 2030 Roadmap sets an ambitious target to grow farmgate output to $100 billion by the end of the decade. Unlocking productivity is key to achieving that goal.