Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Tasmanian farmers are still the most confident and optimistic in the country according the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey released today.
The latest survey, which was taken before devastating floods in Queensland and NSW, showed that Tasmanian and Queensland reported the highest levels of confidence just ahead of NSW, and were the only states to report improvements in the quarter.
High livestock prices were shown to be behind Tasmanian producers recording strong levels of optimism, with 40 per cent expecting agribusiness conditions to improve over the year ahead, while 51 per cent expect the currently good business settings to continue.
Rabobank Australia CEO Peter Knoblanche said consistently-high commodity prices over the past three years had put the nation’s farmers in a very strong position, even in the face of some immensely-challenging seasonal conditions and natural disasters in some regions.
“Australian farm businesses are overwhelmingly optimistic about the long-term fundamentals underpinning agriculture,” he said.
“Low interest rates and continued strength in our markets are helping farmers create opportunities for growth and expansion which is driving greater productivity across the sector,” Mr Knoblanche said.
The gross farm gate value of agricultural production in Tasmania has also exceeded $2 billion for the first time, growing by 13 per cent to $2.15 billion as shown in Tasmania’s 2019-2020 Agri-Food Scorecard.
We are investing in Tasmanian agriculture and delivering one of the most comprehensive and visionary agricultural plans in the State’s history to accelerate the industry and support growth and productivity.
The Tasmanian Government is backing our farmers and we are firmly on track towards our goal to sustainably grow the farm gate value of Tasmanian agriculture to $10 billion by 2050.
