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Modern Farmers 2010 National Congress Responding and adapting to change

Congress Program

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has great pleasure in announcing the full Program for its second annual National Congress in Melbourne over 5-7 September 2010.

Session 1: Congress Opening


The Registration and Information Brochure can be downloaded below.

9:00-10:30am - Monday 6 September 2010

The Australian farm sector is in a constant a state of flux. It has contracted 30% in as many years, mirroring many sectors of the national economy.

At the same time, farmers have diversified to manage risk, adopted new technologies to enhance production, responded to consumer demands on standards and proactively manage environmental impacts... all while enduring 10 years of relentless drought.

What does the future hold in store?

  • Congress welcome – Mr David Crombie, President, National Farmers’ Federation
  • Congress opening – The Hon Tony Burke MP, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and Minister for Population
  • Keynote address: the changing face of farming – Mr Bernard Salt, KPMG Partner, futurist and advisor on consumer, cultural and demographic trends

Questions from the floor

Session 2: Great Debate – Priorities for Agriculture

11:00am-12:30am - Monday 6 September 2010

Whoever wins at the federal election on 21 August, we invite key political leaders to canvass and debate their vision and priorities for Australian agriculture and its future.

Their respective titles may change, but are our politicians headed in the right direction? You be the judge.

  • Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – The Hon Tony Burke MP
  • Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – The Hon John Cobb MP
  • Deputy Leader and Climate Spokesperson for the Australian Greens – Senator Christine Milne

Questions from the floor

Session 3: New Wave Consumerism

1:30-3:00pm - Monday 6 September 2010

Emerging trends see consumers – both in Australia and overseas – invested in the production values of the food and fibre they buy.

Are these expectations realistic? If so, they will increasingly have implications for what and how farmers farm, as well as ‘paddock to plate’ supply chains.

  • Tomorrow’s consumers today – Mr Nick Stace, CEO, CHOICE
  • Retail response to new demands – Mr John Durkan, Merchandise Director, Coles
  • Farmers at the cutting-edge – Ms Felicity Robson, Corporate Marketing, OneHarvest

Questions from the floor

Session 4: On-Farm Climate Action

3:30-5:00pm - Monday 6 September 2010

Farmers and the broader community have heard ad nauseam about the potential ramifications of climate change and that agriculture is part of the solution, but what practical action can farmers take on-farm to make a difference?

Our farmers, already leaders in sustainable food and fibre production, are willing to do more but what and how?

  • Carbon offsets – fact, fiction or in any way practical? – Dr Megan Clark, CEO, CSIRO
  • Livestock: practical abatement and mitigation – Dr Heather Burrow, CEO, Beef CRC
  • Cropping: practical natural resource management – Mr Bruce Watson, Nuffield Scholar and Parkes (NSW) farmer

Questions from the floor

Session 5: Water in the Murray-Darling Basin

9:00-10:30am - Tuesday 7 September 2010

While ‘more crop for your drop’ is the catchcry of Australia’s farmers, weighing up environmental water use with food and fibre production to meet growing human consumption needs is a contentious high-wire act.

With the Murray-Darling Basin Plan imminent, will the next federal government get the balance right?

  • Chair of the NFF Water Taskforce and Commissioner of the National Water Commission – Mr Laurie Arthur
  • CEO, Murray-Darling Basin Authority – Mr Rob Freeman
  • Independent Senator for South Australia – Senator Nick Xenophon

Questions from the floor

Session 6: Feeding Ourselves and the World

11:00am-12:30pm - Tuesday 7 September 2010

Come the year 2050 Australia is projected to be home to 36 million people. Globally, the population will be nine billion.

As if declining arable lands, droughts, changing diets, biofuels and climate change are not threatening enough, this population explosion will put even greater pressure on our ability to meet the need for food and fibre.

  • Future food trends – Mr Askin Morrison, Partner, Bain and Company
  • Australia’s place in the world – Mr Andrew Hewett, Executive Director, Oxfam Australia
  • More crop per drop – Mr Igal Aisenberg, Global CEO, Netafim

Questions from the floor

Session 7: Breaking the Shackles

1:30-3:00pm - Tuesday 7 September 2010

Impediments to Australian farmers meeting the burgeoning need for food and fibre are not limited to production issues.

Across the economy, especially in regional areas, inadequate infrastructure, research and development, and population constraints conspire to thwart progress.

Is there a serious will to address these obstacles?

  • Infrastructure: the missing nuts and bolts – Mr Michael Deegan, Infrastructure Coordinator, Infrastructure Australia
  • The gaps in agricultural R&D – Mr Keith Perrett, Deputy Chair of the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations
  • Population: people power in regional Australia – Ms Jodie Goldsworthy, Director of Beechworth Honey

Questions from the floor

Session 8: Property Rights

3:30-5:00pm - Tuesday 7 September 2010

What are property rights, really? People think they know, but the High Court of Australia is ruling on what constitutes land and water property entitlements.

So, what does it mean in terms of the challenges for farm production – especially as mining and agriculture and the environment clash in a three-way slice of these scarce resources?

Can they all co-exist?

  • Land and water rights and the law – Prof George Williams, Professor of Law, University of New South Wales
  • Mining and agriculture – Mr Mitch Hooke, Chief Executive, Minerals Council of Australia
  • The environment and agriculture – Dr Don Henry, Executive Director, Australian Conservation Foundation

Questions from the floor

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