abare.gov.au - National Outlook Conference 3-4 March 2009

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Day 1 – Tuesday 3 March

Royal

Bradman

Menzies

Nicholls

9.00 – 9.30am

Welcome to country

Ministerial opening address

9.45 – 11.00am

Economic overview

Chair: Michael Pascoe
EurekaReport.com.au

Phillip Glyde
ABARE
Outlook for Australia's commodity sector
Phillip Glyde
ABARE

Phillip Glyde is Executive Director of ABARE, which provides economic policy analysis and forecasts to enhance the competitiveness of Australia’s agricultural, fishing, forestry, energy and minerals industries.

Phillip’s work with the Australian Government for the past 28 years has been in natural resource management, and environment and industry issues in both the domestic and international spheres.

Phillip has a degree in Natural Resource Management with honours from the University of New England and a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University.

Andrew Burns
World Bank
World economy – the way forward
Andrew Burns
World Bank

Andrew Burns is a Lead Economist with the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group. He is Economic Advisor to the Director and task manager of the World Bank's flagship publication, Global Economic Prospects, which last year focused on technology diffusion in the developing world.

Currently Andrew is leading the team preparing the next Global Economic Prospects, which will focus on the role of commodities in developing economies. Previously he oversaw the production of the Global Economic Outlook, the World Bank's biannual world forecast published in Global Economic Prospects and Global Development Finance.

Before joining the World Bank, Mr Burns worked with the OECD where he was Head of Desk for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and France. His principal responsibilities included supervising and writing the OECD's economic surveys for these countries. He also played a lead role in the OECD's jobs study, overseeing the evaluation of labour market policies in each of the organization's 30 member countries.

Prior to joining the OECD, Mr Burns worked at the Economic Council of Canada where he wrote on labour market and macroeconomic issues. He holds degrees from the University of Manitoba and McGill University in Canada.

Alan Oster
National Australia Bank
Outlook for the Australian economy

11.00 – 11.30am

Morning tea

11.30 – 12.45pm

Farm performance:
building sustainable agriculture

Wine: opportunities
and challenges

Delivering R&D effectively

Chair: TBC
Bureau of Meteorology

Chair: Michael Pascoe
EurekaReport.com.au

Chair: Conall O'Connell
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Chair: Conall O'Connell
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Dr Conall O’Connell was appointed Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on 7 May 2007.

Prior to his appointment, Conall was Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEWR). His responsibilities in that department included overseeing policies and programs relating to natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, the marine environment and protected areas.

From 1991 until he joined DEWR in 1997, he held various positions in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he handled Australian federal-state relations, primary industries and environment policy.

He has a PhD and a Bachelor of Arts (first class honours) from the Queen’s University of Belfast.

Jammie Penm
ABARE
Australian farm performance and implications for the future
Jammie Penm
ABARE

As ABARE’s Chief Commodity Analyst, Jammie Penm’s professional expertise and achievements revolve around economic research and commodity analysis which are important to the Australian primary industries. In addition to commodity analysis and forecasting, Jammie also manages ABARE’s program of farm surveys, including both survey collection and survey data analysis.

Besides his work at ABARE, Jammie has also been involved with activity in academic institutes. Between 1998 and 2004, he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre at the University of Sydney. Currently, he is an associate PhD supervisor at the Faculty of Rural Management, Charles Sturt University and a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre of AusAsia Business Studies at James Cook University.

Jammie has a PhD in econometrics from the Australian National University and a master’s degree in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Before joining ABARE, Jammie worked at the Australian National University, the former Industries Assistance Commission and the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the United States.

Brenda Dyack
ABARE
Outlook for wine grapes
and wine
Brenda Dyack
ABARE

Brenda Dyack is an ABARE senior economist with 15 years of experience in demand analysis and natural resource economics in both Canada and Australia. Brenda has been working with ABARE’s natural resource and agriculture branches for the past year. In this role she draws on her recent water policy work with the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as well as her research estimating benefits to alternative water management options for the Murray-Darling Basin undertaken while at the CSIRO. Also relevant at this time in Australia is her research into the determinants of the demand for wine with particular emphasis on the impact of changing health information and demographics on preferences.

Throughout her career Brenda’s efforts have been directed to undertaking policy relevant research, integrating biophysical information with economic analysis and interpreting research results for policy purposes. Her experience in economic policy analysis extends from water management and wine demand to oil pricing, mineral supply, determinants of regional economic growth, agro-forestry viability and the impact of taxation and bio-security on producers. She has worked with the Allen Consulting Group, the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the Economic Council of Canada and the Research Branch of the Library of Parliament in Canada.

Brenda has a PhD in Agricultural Economics and Business from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada where she specialised in price analysis for wine and marketing with further fields in natural resource economics and environmental economics. Brenda also holds masters and honours degrees in Economics from Guelph.

Glen Weir
Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA
The national primary industries research, development and extension framework
and wine
Glen Weir
Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA

Glen Weir is the Director of Innovation Development for the South Australian Government’s Department of Primary Industries and Resources.

He is involved in the National Primary Industries Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) Framework which aims to achieve a more efficient and effective RD&E system through research capability creating a larger critical mass and being less fragmented across the nation. His particular interest is the review of wine sector RD&E.

Glen has a background in economic policy and legislative development in the South Australian Government and a background in financial management and competition regulation in the Australian Government and holds tertiary qualifications in accountancy and economics.

Peter Kenny
Expert Social Panel
Changing perspectives
on dryness

Jim Caddy
CCW Co-operative
Growing grapes in a drier, competitive climate

Keith Perrett
Producer, NSW
End user perspective

David Brownhill
Producer, NSW
Planning for success
David Brownhill
Producer, NSW

David Brownhill jointly manages the Merrilong Pastoral Company, comprising five properties covering 4735 hectares, which focus on dryland and irrigated grain production. His key interests are no-till farming, controlled traffic farming systems and high value crops.

David is also a founding director of a grower group of 24 farms, AMPS Commercial Pty Ltd, which is committed to information dissemination, structured farming and returning profits to research. He is a director of Crop Optics Australia, which imports innovative farming equipment from the US, most notably the Weedseeker, which is radically changing no-till spraying practices in Australia.

In 1995 David co-developed the Ground Hound Zero till planter, which enabled crops to be planted in heavy residues from previous crops, an innovation led to his receiving a Nuffield Scholarship in 1998 to study spraying technology and business management.

David completed a Bachelor of Applied Science - Agriculture degree at Hawkesbury Ag College and graduated with awards in leadership and sportsmanship.

James Lovell
Fosters Group
Challenges abroad for Australia wine exporters

Michael Robinson
Land & Water Australia
Climate change research
strategy for primary industries

SESSION SPONSOR – Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

12.45 – 2.00pm

Lunch

2.00 – 3.30pm

Grains: a changing environment

Horticulture: facing
the challenges

Dairy: milking the market

Chair: Peter Reading
Grains Research and Development Corporation

Chair: John Webster
Horticulture Australia

Chair: Leigh Radford
ABC Rural

Leigh Radford
ABC Rural

Leigh Radford is the current National Editor of ABC Rural and joined the ABC as Rural Reporter in Melbourne in February 1988. He has worked at ABC regional stations in Horsham, Sale and Port Pirie and was the Executive Producer of ABC Rural programs in South Australia from 1997 until 2005.

Up until January 2005, Leigh had been the voice of the Country Hour in South Australia since the early 1990s and has broadcast programs from literally right across the state and into the outback.

Leigh is a multi-award winning broadcaster, with a number of Dalgety Awards for Excellence in Rural Journalism, including the national award winner in 1992; several Landcare awards, and was the inaugural winner of the Telstra Rural Journalist of the year award in 1996. His background is in environmental sciences and he has an Honours degree in Biogeography.

Leigh is passionate about the people and issues of rural Australia and has a great love of the environment.

Leanne Lawrance
ABARE
Outlook for grains
Leanne Lawrance
ABARE

Leanne Lawrance is a Commodity Analyst with ABARE and is currently acting co-manager of the agricultural commodity analysis section and has worked in the commodity forecasting group since joining ABARE in early 2004.

Leanne is involved in ABARE’s grains industry analysis and instrumental in producing ABARE’s Australian crop report and the quarterly Australian commodities publications.

Leanne has a Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of New England, Armidale.

TBC
Future focus – horticulture industry facing the challenges to 2020

John Hogan
ABARE
Outlook for dairy
John Hogan
ABARE

John Hogan is currently acting General Manager of ABARE’s Agriculture and Trade Branch, with responsibility for research and commodity forecasting related to domestic and international agriculture.

He has more than 30 years’ experience in conducting and managing commodity analysis, forecasting and economic research in ABARE and the former Bureau of Agricultural Economics. This has covered a range of agricultural industries such as dairy, beef, sheep meat, pigs, poultry and crops.

John was responsible for managing ABARE’s minerals and energy commodity analysis work from 1990 to 2002, covering all of the major commodities such as aluminium, base metals, gold, coal, oil and gas, iron and steel, nickel, titanium minerals and coal. He has considerable involvement in range of ABARE's regular publications such as Australian commodities, Australian crop report and Australian food statistics, which cover the main statistics for these industries and provide commodity outlooks and overviews on the contribution of the agricultural sector to the Australian economy.

Over the past year John has also been heavily involved in redeveloping ABARE's corporate database which is used extensively for ABARE's regular publications.

Mike Chaseling
Emerald Group
Coping in the
deregulated market

Brent Borrell
Centre for International Economics
Industry outlook and analysis

Tassos Haniotis
European Commission
Future directions in EU dairy policy and the implications for EU dairy exports

TBC
Grains production prospects
in Russia and Ukraine

Panel members
Industry Leadership Group
Importance of future focus to the industry

Mike Ginnivan
Dairy Australia
The future direction and issues for Australia's dairy industry

SESSION SPONSOR – Grains Research & Development Corporation

3.30 – 4.00pm

Afternoon tea

4.00 – 5.30pm

Water future: supply and reform

Agriculture's entry
into emissions trading

Biosecurity

New and emerging industries

Chair: Ken Matthews
National Water Commission

Chair: Martin Parkinson
Department of Climate Change

Chair: Rob Delane
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service

Peter Gooday
ABARE
The economic impacts of reduced water availability
Peter Gooday
ABARE

Peter Gooday is responsible for leading ABARE’s research on productivity, water and fisheries. ABARE’s work in this area is focused on providing analysis and policy advice across the areas of water reform, fisheries management, and agricultural productivity growth.

Peter has been involved in a broad range of research and analysis, including: fisheries management, policy and trade; water market reform; economic issues associated with native forestry; meeting environmental objectives cost effectively as well issues affecting international and domestic mineral industries and commodity analysis.

He has a Degree in Economics with honours from the Australian National University.

Melanie Ford
ABARE
Agriculture: moving towards emissions trading
Melanie Ford
ABARE

Melanie Ford is the manager of the Climate Change Section in the Climate Change and Environment Branch of ABARE.

Melanie is responsible for managing economic research and analysis on domestic and international climate change and energy issues using ABARE’s Global Trade and Environment Model (GTEM) and the Global Integrated Assessment Model (GIAM).

She has published a number of research reports, conference papers and journal articles on climate change impacts, climate change response policies and integrated assessment modelling.

Melanie has a Degree in Agricultural Economics with first class honours from the University of Sydney.

Mark Burgman
Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis
Disease incursion under climate change
Mark Burgman
Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis

Mark A Burgman is Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis, the Adrienne Clarke Chair of Botany at the University of Melbourne and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

He works on ecological modelling and biosecurity risk analysis. Mark’s research has included models in a range of settings including invasive species management, surveillance, fisheries, forestry, irrigation, electrical power utilities, mining, and national park planning. Mark worked as a consultant ecologist and research scientist in Australia, the United States and Switzerland during the 1980s before joining the University of Melbourne in 1990.

He holds a PhD from the State University of New York and received a bachelors’ degree from the University of New South Wales. He has published six books and more than 150 research papers in peer reviewed journals.

Roslyn Prinsley
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
Success factors for new and emerging rural industries

Tom Vanderbyl
SunWater
The Queensland experience with capacity sharing
Tom Vanderbyl
SunWater

Mr Tom Vanderbyl is Manager Corporate Strategy for SunWater Limited. Over the past decade, he has taken a leading role within Queensland in the planning and delivery of water reforms relating to the sustainable allocation of water, establishing tradeable water entitlements and providing water for the environment.

Mr Vanderbyl has also been instrumental in working with water users, government agencies and the water industry to develop climate variability and change adaptation strategies including new water information and forecasting tools as well as innovative water sharing, trading and water accounting arrangements such as continuous sharing.

He is an active participant in national water reform processes and enjoys providing a water industry practitioner’s perspective as a member of the National Water Accounting Development Committee and the Australian Water Resource Information System Steering Committee. He maintains a keen interest in promoting research, development and innovation initiatives which relate to improving the sustainability and productivity of the water industry and is actively involved in the Irrigation Futures, E-Water and Cotton Cooperative Research Centres as well as being a member of the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation (NPSI) Program Management Committee.

Mr Vanderbyl recently worked with the Australian Government Department of Environment, Water Heritage and the Arts to provide expert advice and recommendations to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources in relation to the development and implementation of a national Water Entitlement Trading Framework for China.

Jenny O'Sullivan
Producer, Vic
Carbon pollution reduction efforts - innovative farm practices

Roger Beale
Quarantine and Biosecurity Review
Findings and implications
of the Review

Paul Miller
Australian Olive Association Pressing the fresh: Australia's growing olive industry

Bill Young
CSIRO
Nature of environmental demands for water

Ross Garnaut
University of Melbourne
Impacts of climate change
and the emissions trading scheme on agriculture

John Crosby
Quarantine and Exports Advisory Council
Import risks under climate change: future challenges for farmers and policy makers

Grahame Webb
Wildlife Management International
The emerging Australian crocodile industry

Rob Freeman
Murray-Darling Basin Authority
Towards a new Basin plan

Sibylla Hess-Buschmann
Australian Rainforest Products
Growing native: Australia's budding native food industry

SESSION SPONSOR – Murray-Darling Basin Authority

SESSION SPONSOR – Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

6.30pm for 7.30pm

Conference dinner – National Convention Centre

Day 2 – Wednesday 4 March

Royal

Bradman

Menzies

Nicholls

9.00 – 9.30am

Ministerial address

9.45 – 11.00am

Global trade relationships

Competition for
labour resources

Forestry: a carbon locker?

Chair: Ric Sinclair
Forest and Wood Products Australia
Chair: Ric Sinclair
Forest and Wood Products Australia

Ric Sinclair was appointed Managing Director of Forest and Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA) in June 2008.

FWPA is owned by the industry and has a mandate for delivering R&D, generic promotion and other services to support a sustainable and internationally competitive forest and wood products industry.

Prior to joining FWPA, Ric had senior management experience in corporate strategy, marketing and finance across a range of sectors, including work with Origin Energy, Amcor, PaperlinX, KH Foods and Chiquita Brands.

Ric has a forestry degree from Australian National University and a MBA from the University of British Columbia (Canada).

Terry Sheales
ABARE
Future directions for
Australian agricultural exports
Terry Sheales
ABARE

Dr Terry Sheales is ABARE’s Deputy Executive Director with responsibility for management of its research program. He has wide knowledge of the agricultural and resources sectors.

Terry has previously been responsible for ABARE’s commodity market analysis and forecasts, working on domestic and international marketing and trade policy issues affecting Australia’s commodity industries.

In 2005, he headed up the secretariat which produced the ministerial commissioned Corish Report on agriculture and food policy for the next generation.
Terry holds a PhD and masters degree from Cornell University in the United States, where he specialised in industry policy and marketing research. He also holds an honours degree in agricultural economics from the University of New England, Armidale.

Ivan Neville
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Emerging trends in
Australian labour markets

Helal Ahammad
ABARE
Opportunities for Australian forestry under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Helal Ahammad
ABARE

Dr Helal Ahammad is responsible for ABARE’s research program on Climate Change and Environment.

Helal joined ABARE in 2001, prior to which he held research and teaching positions at the Australian National University, the University of Western Australia and Rajshahi University.

Over the past decade and a half, he has specialised in analysing issues in the economics of climate change, international trade, resources economics, as well as in the applications of computable general equilibrium models. He has published in international refereed journals including Economic Modelling, Agricultural Economics, Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies and Resources Policy.

His current research focus includes climate change impacts analysis, climate change response policies, and land-use change modelling in an economy-wide framework.

Helal earned masters and PhD degrees in Economics from the Australian National University.

Pascal Lamy (TBC)
WTO
Where to for the WTO?

Arthur Blewitt
Agri-Food Industry Skills Council
Capacity building in Australian agriculture: addressing the challenges

Budy Resosudarmo
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The economics of deforestation in Indonesia
Budy Resosudarmo
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies

Budy P Resosudarmo is a Fellow at the Economics Division of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University (ANU).

His research interests include determining the economy-wide impact of environmental policies, analysing the impact of fiscal decentralisation on regional economies and understanding the impact of corruption and illegal activities on the economy and on natural resource endowment.

Before joining the ANU, he was a lecturer at the Graduate Program in Economics, University of Indonesia, as well as a researcher at the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology.

Budy has published papers in scientific journals such as Economic Record, Ecological Economics and Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies. He edited the book resulted from the 2004 Indonesia Update conference, The Politics and Economics of Indonesia’s Natural Resources.

Budy received his PhD in Development Economics from Cornell University.

Michel Barnier (TBC)
Minister of Agriculture, France
EU farm policies

Vivek Tulpulé
Rio Tinto
Labour and skills shortages
in the global mining industry
Vivek Tulpulé
Rio Tinto

In 2005, Vivek became Head of Economics and Chief Economist for Rio Tinto the global mining company. He began his career as an economist in the Australian Public Service with roles in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Environment and Heritage, and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) where he was Deputy Executive Director from 2003-2005.

In his role at Rio Tinto he is responsible for assessing the economic environment in which the company operates. This includes the global macro economy, commodity demand, supply and prices and the implications of global shifts such as climate change.

Vivek has degrees from the Australian National University and an MBA from the Melbourne Business School.

Nick O’Brien
New Forests
How the changing policy environment will affect the Australian forestry industry

11.00 – 11.30am

Morning tea

11.30 – 12.45pm

Food security and trade

Meat: what's at stake

Wool: demanding times

Farming in the dry

Chair: Stephen Hunter
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Stephen Hunter
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Stephen Hunter is a Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). He has oversight of the department’s sustainable resource management, agricultural productivity and trade and market access responsibilities. Since joining DAFF in 2006, Stephen has also held the positions of Executive Director of the Bureau of Rural Sciences and of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.

He joined the public service in 1983 and has worked in the areas of natural resource management, conservation and regional development as well as disability, housing, community development and disaster recovery.

Stephen also spent more than 10 years involved in the administration of the Australian Capital Territory, before and after self-government, prior to which he had tentative careers in the mining industry, photo-journalism and music.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the Australian National University in political science and sociology.

Chair: David Crombie
National Farmers' Federation
David Crombie
National Farmers' Federation

David Crombie was elected President of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) in June 2006.

David brings more than 30 years commercial and representational experience in agriculture to his role as President.

Early in his career, he joined Sir William Gunn (now GRM International), managing agricultural projects across northern Australia. Under his leadership, GRM expanded to include breeding properties, irrigation farms, feed mills, live export and meat supply chains supported by feedlots internationally. GRM also managed beef breeding properties for independent investors in Australia.

Between 1995 and 2000, David served on the Board of Grainco Australia until its amalgamation with Graincorp. He then joined the board of the Meat Industry Council and served as inaugural Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Meat Standards Australia.He later joined the board of the newly established Meat and Livestock Australia, serving as Chairman from 1998 to 2005.

David also holds the following positions: Director GRM and Rosewood (NT Beef); Deputy Chairman, FKP (listed development company); and President, Queensland Rugby Union and operates family properties, breeding and finishing cattle, as well as growing crops in southern Queensland.

Chair: Roberta Brazil
Land & Water Australia

Ken Ash
OECD
Outlook for world food prices and food security
Ken Ash
OECD

Prior to becoming OECD Director of Trade and Agriculture in December 2008, Ken Ash had served as Deputy Director since 1999. Ken played a leading role in the merger of the former Trade and Agriculture directorates in 2006, serving to reinvigorate the key policy contributions of the OECD in the areas of trade, agriculture and fisheries.

Ken currently leads OECD efforts to develop and communicate evidence-based advice to governments, with the aim at helping them improve the domestic and international performance of their policies in the areas of trade, agriculture and fisheries.

Prior to joining the OECD, Ken had 20 years of extensive experience in the Government of Canada where he held several senior positions in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. As Director General, Economic and Policy Analysis, from 1995-1999, he provided strategic policy guidance on key agriculture and trade policy issues and on government-wide policy and organizational reforms.

Ken, a Canadian national, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an MBA (International Business and Resource Management).

Sally Fletcher
ABARE
Outlook for meat
Sally Fletcher
ABARE

Sally Fletcher is a commodity analyst in the Agriculture and Trade branch of ABARE and is responsible for beef and veal, pig meat and poultry economic analysis. Since joining ABARE as a graduate in 2007, Sally has been analysing markets and developing forecasts for the meat sector which are included in ABARE’s quarterly Australian Commodities publication.

In addition to her commodity forecasting work, Sally has undertaken economic research on a range of topics including the beef market in Japan and the value of the Australian red meat industry. In 2008, she participated in the Cattle Council rural awareness tour which provided insights into a number of challenges being faced by the industry, particularly in northern Australia.

Sally has a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics (First Class Honours) from Sydney University.

Caroline Gunning-Trant
ABARE
Outlook for wool
Caroline Gunning-Trant
ABARE

Caroline Gunning-Trant is an experienced economic researcher and commodity analyst, and a relatively new arrival to Australia. Previously with the federal department of agriculture in Canada, where she worked as an economist, she came to ABARE after finishing her doctorate.

The focus of her recent work has been on the Australian wool industry and agricultural trade issues. In particular, she has been serving as the principal wool analyst for ABARE’s quarterly wool forecast. She has also investigated the Australian livestock trade, the dairy import quota regime and the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.

Caroline has a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis, is a Master of Science in Agricultural and Business Economics, University of Guelph, Canada, and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), Queen’s University, Canada.

Ian McClelland
Birchip Cropping Group
The producers' perspective

TJ Higgins
CSIRO
Biotechnology in food
security

Scott Hansen
Meat and Livestock Australia
Prospects for live exports
Scott Hansen
Meat and Livestock Australia

Mr Scott Hansen spent his youth growing up on a Queensland property which instilled in him a strong bond with the land and the agricultural industry.

Mr Hansen’s career has kept him close to his rural origins. His degree in Rural Science from the University of New England, and previous roles as executive director of the Victorian Farmers Federation and of the Sheepmeats Council of Australia, give him an ideal perspective on both producer and industry interests.

His time with the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment as Principal Policy Officer for Livestock has also ensured a strong understanding of public policy, especially as it relates to the cattle and sheep industries.

Having joined MLA in 2004, Scott assumed responsibility for Meat and Livestock Australia’s investment in livestock export programs in 2007.

Robert Langtry
Australian Wool Innovation
Marketing and innovation

Ken Moore
Land & Water Australia
Social implications

Joachim von Braun
International Food Policy Research Institute, USA
Food price rises and the implications for food consumption, production
and trade
Joachim von Braun
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Dr Joachim von Braun is the Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). In this role, Dr von Braun guides the institute’s research on production, market, and nutrition policy and strategy toward solutions for ending hunger and malnutrition. With about 270 staff members, one-third of whom are based in developing regions, the IFPRI is the world’s premier research center on food and agriculture policy research.

Before joining the IFPRI in 2002, he served as Director of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn, Germany, and was Professor at the Institute for Agricultural Policy and Applied Economics, University of Bonn. He has a doctoral degree in agricultural economics, from the University of Gottingen, Germany.

Dr von Braun has conducted economic research at global and regional levels and in Egypt, Sub Sahara Africa, China, and Russia. He has published extensively, chiefly on the topics of economic policy, agriculture change, science and technology and on policy issues relating to trade, hunger, health, and nutrition. He was President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in 2000-2003, is member of Academies in Germany and China, Fellow of AAAS, and serves numerous scientific societies, international organizations, and advisory councils/boards around the world.

Tony Buckley
MyButcher
The challenge of the value chain
Tony Buckley
MyButcher

Tony Buckley is the Managing Director of mybutcher and Flavourit.

He has more than 30 years experience in the meat industry, owning retail butcher stores, developing new business and in national sales and training.

In 1999 Tony commenced the retail operation of his business “mybutcher” and branched out to food service supply within 12 months. In 2004 Tony sold the retail arm to focus entirely on food service which now supplies more than 100 hotels, restaurants, cafes and sporting clubs in Adelaide, regional South Australia and Northern Territory, and employs 30 people.

2008 also saw the creation of Flavourit – a food ingredient distributor which wholesales to butchers, supermarkets and other food establishments and mybutcher’s own brand, Loukoumi, (beef, lamb and chicken) which offers a guarantee in eating quality.

In 2009, MYB International will commence trading and distributing meat products into the South Pacific region.

Michael Jackson
International Wool Textile Organisation
International markets in the future
Michael Jackson
International Wool Textile Organisation

Michael Jackson is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), which is an international body representing the interests of the world’s wool textile trade and industry.

On behalf of the industry and its members, IWTO standardise trading instruments; facilitates marketing; lobbies to protect the interests of wool industry; and provides a network to the industry worldwide.

He has been with the Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd since 1987 and became the Managing Director in 2001.

Michael has a Bachelor of Science in Wool Technology (first class honours) Degree from the University of New South Wales and Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management at the University of Queensland.

Peter McIntosh
CSIRO
Changes to seasonality

SESSION SPONSOR – Land & Water Australia

12.45 – 2.00pm

Lunch

2.00 – 3.30pm

Productivity growth:
the answer to challenges?

Improving returns on NRM investment

Irrigated agriculture: reduced water availability

Chair: Peter O’Brien
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

Chair: Ian Thompson
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Chair: Ian Thompson
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Ian Thompson is Executive Manager, Sustainable Resource Management in the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

He is the joint head of the Australian Government Land and Coasts team which is responsible, with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, for delivering the Caring for our Country program. He is also responsible for domestic fisheries and aquaculture in DAFF.

Ian has previously worked on plant industry policy, field crop issues, plant health, native title, drought management, water reform, rural adjustment, rural leadership and rural research issues.

Ian has a Bachelor of Natural Resources degree from the University of New England.

Chair: Mary Harwood
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Don Gunasekera
ABARE
Drivers of productivity
growth in agriculture

Don Gunasekera
ABARE

As Chief Economist, Dr Don Gunasekera leads ABARE's applied research effort in fields as diverse as trade analysis, productivity in the farm sector, biosecurity, natural resource management as well as minerals and energy related economic issues.

More recently, Don led ABARE’s climate change modeling work for the Garnaut Climate Change Review.

Dr Gunasekera has published on a wide range of topics including international agricultural trade, economic impact of pandemic flu, economics of policies adopted to address climate change, economic value of weather information and APEC energy issues.

Prior to joining ABARE in 2005, Don worked in the National Competition Council, Productivity Commission, Department of Environment and Heritage and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

He has a PhD in Economics from the Australian National University and has completed the Senior Managers in Government Program at Harvard University.

Santhi Wicks
ABARE
Prioritising NRM investments at different scales

Santhi Wicks
ABARE

Dr Santhi Wicks is a senior research economist with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), specialising in environment and natural resource economics. She has recently returned to Australia after completing her doctorate in the United States, focusing on the capital asset value of improving soil quality.

Santhi’s recent research includes projects on the economics of investment to improve the state of Australia’s environment and its natural resources. Her current interests include exploring factors which drive landholders’ management decisions and implications for resource use, and the role of public policy in promoting efficient and effective investment in NRM.

Santhi has a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis, United States and a Bachelor of Agricultural and Resource Economics (first class honours) from the University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

Dale Ashton
ABARE
Performance of irrigation farms in the Murray-Darling Basin

Dale Ashton
ABARE

Dale Ashton joined ABARE in 1993 and has worked on a wide range of economic research projects covering most agricultural industries in Australia. At present he is involved with researching industry and policy issues affecting irrigators in the Murray-Darling Basin using ABARE farm survey data. This work includes analysis of adjustment pressures facing irrigators within the Basin, on-farm investment in irrigation infrastructure and new technologies, water use and productivity, and water trading.

Dale holds a bachelor degree in social sciences from the University of Canberra, and a graduate diploma in agricultural economics from the University of New England.

Bernard Wonder
Productivity Commission
Beyond the farm-gate

David Pannell
University of Western Australia
Making the most of ‘Caring for our Country’
David Pannell
University of Western Australia

Dr David Pannell is Professor in the School of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Western Australia, Director of the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy, and a Federation Fellow of the Australian Research Council.

He has been a prominent commentator on environmental policy within Australia, arguing for policies that better reflect scientific, economic and social realities. He was President of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society in 2000, a member of the Western Australian Government’s Salinity Taskforce in 2001, and a director on the Board of Land and Water Australia 2002-05.

His research includes the economics of land and water conservation; environmental policy; farmer adoption of land conservation practices; risk management; policy evaluation; and economics of farming systems. In these areas and others he has published five books and 130 journal articles and book chapters. Dr Pannell’s research has been recognised with awards from the USA, Australia, Canada and the UK, including the WE Wood Award for excellence in salinity research and development in 2004.

Andrew Chesworth
Producer, NSW
Managing low water allocations and the role of water trading

Keith Fuglie
USDA
US productivity growth and
an international comparison

Brendan Wintle
University of Melbourne
Demonstrating return on 'Caring for our Country'

Laurie Arthur
Producer, NSW
Farming options with scarce water

Conference end

National Outlook conference 3-4 March 2009
www.abare.gov.au/outlook