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Land Use – The Old, the New, the
Problem and the Future
 David Brownhill
Grain farmer
NSW Australia
 Director –
Merrilong Pastoral
Company
 Director – Crop
Optics Aust Pty
Ltd
 Director – RAS
Foundation
Intoduction
 Merrilong Pastoral Company
 4735 hectares ( 11 700 acres) on the Liverpool Plains
 Fertile clay based soil
 The business is operated by family members with a
corporate philosophy
 Merrilong Pastoral company aims to be profitable
whilst enhancing its environment
 Our objective as a producer is to produce
Merrilong
Pastoral
Co
Merrilong Pastoral Company
 Crops grown include bread wheat, durum wheat,
chickpeas, barley, cotton, sorghum, maize, feed corn,
summer legumes and seed crops
 3100 hectares of dryland farming land
 950 hectares of pivot irrigation
 Grain Storage capacity of 13000 tonnes on farm
 Yields range from 0 to 10 tonnes per ha
 Employ five people
 Encourage participation in the local community
Australia – The lucky country
 Australia has many natural blessings
 Unique scenery
 Unique animals
 An immense land area
 Small population
 Fragile climate
 Numerous resources
 Food production on a grand scale
Or
 “The
place is a desert surrounded by a
beach inhabited by all of the mother
countries mis fits”
 John Campbell, Nuffield Scholar, Scotland ( on his
farm in 1998 )
Australian Agriculture
 For well over a generation Australia has produced far
beyond its own domestic food consumption needs
 This is a unique global situation
 Australia exports 60 % of what we produce
 We as a nation have never been Hungry
 People who are not Hungry are Happy. People who are
Hungry become unhappy very quickly
Australia – No longer riding on
the Sheep’s back
 1960
-
70% of the nations exports were Ag
 1990
-
26% of the nations exports were Ag
 2008
-
13% of the nations exports were Ag
Agriculture as % of GDP
 1955
-
Agriculture % of GDP was 16%
 1990
-
Agriculture % of GDP was 3.5%
 2009
-
Agriculture % of GDP is still 3.5%
The rules have changed
 Is food security an issue
 Do politicians understand farming
 Is dirt just dirt
 Do we pay enough for food
 Are our politicians short sighted
 Has Agriculture dropped the ball
My region – The Liverpool
Plains - NSW
 Yields 40% above the national average
 Premium soil, water and climate
 Summer and winter rainfall
 Merrilong Pastoral Company over 10 years
 Average wheat yield 5.2 tonnes per ha
 Average sorghum yield 8 tonnes per ha
 Australia has less than 6% of its land area as arable
land
 The Liverpool Plains is less than 1%
 But we have many minerals and fossil fuels
 Good land usually has plentiful resources beneath
We have a conflict
The fight
Issues
 NSW had the same minister for both Ag and mining
 Farmers own the land
 The crown owns the minerals
 The crown sells exploration licences to the mining
companies
 The mining companies need access to the land
 The government needs/wants the royalties from
resources mined or extracted
 The legislation is slanted and changed to allow access
Some examples – the conflict
 Shenhua (Chinese government controlled mining
company – largest in the world)
 Paid $300 million for the Exploration license, then
another $300 million when they start
 Have bought 20 000 hectares of land, at inflated prices
 @ $200 million purchased
 Have no consideration for the water study
 @ 500 million tonnes of coal, exported to China
 ( Profits retained by sovereign company)
BHP
 Paid $100 million for exploration license
 Bought limited farms
 Long wall mining
 Just go underneath - subsidence
 Say they wont go under the plains
 If coal is under demand and the price is right, they will
dig up Bondi beach
Coal Mining
 Selling off the farm
 Diluting the financial benefits
 Damage to aquifers
 Property rights
 Rehabilitation
 Community change and lack of infrastructure
 Labour
 But provides jobs and export income
Mining and Agriculture
Who is important
Who is spending the money
Our
Farm
Our
Farm
Coal Seam Gas
 Aquifer damage
 Legislation on the run
 Government policy for another era
 Fracking and the use of chemicals injected into the
ground
 Saline water
 Property rights
 Health issues
Ag Exports - Mineral Exports ( ABARE 2010)
200
180
160
140
120
Ag Exports
100
Minerals Exports
80
60
40
20
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Future food challenges
 Population growth
 Global, National, Local
 Climate change
 Hotter, less rain, much less soil water
 Less runoff, less irrigation
 Policy settings
 Carbon tax, water buybacks, bioenergy…
 Everything else!!!
Future food production imperative (CSIRO, 2009)
Solutions
 Zoning
 Compensation that reflects risk
 Transparancy
 Participation and involvement
 Communication
 Legislation
 Litigation
 200 years ago we thought the earth was flat
 Nuclear power was clean and risk free
 Fossil fuels were the solution and changed the world
 But we are only borrowing our environment from our
kids, so I suggest we tell them all to Frack Off until we
understand the risks, and solve the issues
Is this the future of farming?
Or is this?
Thankyou