Executive Director ABARE Australia’s agriculture sector has a proud history, with a record of contributing significantly to the performance of the economy since European settlement. Today, the sector remains a critical element of the Australian economy, especially in terms of export performance. It is one of the mainstays of rural and regional economies and provides direct and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of people around the country.

Agricultural industries have been resilient in the face of increasing competition in both domestic and export markets. The sector continues to find strategies to deal with the vagaries of an uncertain climate, volatile prices and export markets frequently distorted by protection and support measures in competing nations.

Australia’s agriculture sector has been through significant adjustment over the years, marked by consolidation of farm enterprises. Producers have a demonstrated capacity to reallocate resources to maximise benefits from emerging market opportunities while at the same time achieving impressive productivity growth that often more than offsets adverse movements in their terms of trade.

Some of the emerging challenges affecting the performance of agriculture in Australia are identified in this report. The sector’s future competitiveness, profitability and sustainability will be determined largely by the effectiveness with which it responds to these challenges.

Paul Reynolds

ADG/Group Director – MAF Policy MAF Agriculture and forestry are vital to New Zealand’s economy. These sectors are at the heart of New Zealand’s earning power, outperforming all other sectors of the economy and dominating investment in research and development. New Zealand has built and maintained economic prosperity on the back of its pastoral industries. The agriculture and horticulture sectors alone account for over 50 per cent of total merchandise export earnings, and together with forestry contribute over 60 per cent.

The New Zealand economy currently operates in an open and stable monetary and fiscal environment, with the pastoral sector responding to clear market signals. Despite the elimination of support mechanisms during the reforms of the 1980s, agricultural industries command a significant and prominent place in the New Zealand economy. Agriculture contributes a large percentage of the country’s gross domestic product. New Zealand exports a large proportion of total agricultural production and the dairy industry has maintained its position as the largest agriculture industry by value.

With our compelling interest in a fair and rules based system of international trade for all, New Zealand’s top trade priority is trade liberalisation and facilitation in a multilateral and bilateral context. Sustainable development is also increasingly important and is reflected in New Zealand’s involvement in the negotiation of multilateral environmental agreements. The primary sector, and its sustainable growth, is essential for the improvement of New Zealand’s productivity, economic health and income per person.