{"id":516829,"date":"2026-03-03T22:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516829\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:12:18","slug":"australian-agriculture-hits-100b-target-four-years-early-but-production-set-to-dip-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516829\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian agriculture hits $100b target four years early but production set to dip next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The value of Australia’s farming produce is tipped to reach its “ambitious” $100 billion goal this financial year, but is expected to dip again due to turbulent trade and seasonal conditions.<\/p>\n

National Farmers Federation (NFF) president Hamish McIntryre described it as a “landmark moment for Australian agriculture”.<\/p>\n

“In 2018, we set a bold target to grow Australian agriculture into a $100 billion industry by 2030,” he said.<\/p>\n

“At the time, some thought it was ambitious, and some didn’t think we stood a chance.<\/p>\n

“But farmers wouldn’t be in this game if they weren’t up for a challenge.”<\/p>\n

The 2018\u201319 farmgate value was about $60 billion, amid worsening drought conditions.<\/p>\n

Announcing the latest figures at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) annual conference, Mr McIntyre said the past few years had not been easy.<\/p>\n

“This milestone wasn’t handed to us, but earned through droughts, fires and floods, through a pandemic and global trade disruption.”\"A<\/p>\n

Hamish McIntyre says the milestone is a “landmark moment”. (ABC News: Lydia Burton)<\/p>\n

Australia last year celebrated a record year for beef exports<\/a>, despite US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.<\/p>\n

It was also the second-largest winter crop harvest on record, with new technologies key in helping drought-hit farmers still get something in the bins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr McIntyre, who runs a family livestock and cropping operation in southern Queensland, said the goal was “never just about chasing a headline number”.<\/p>\n

“It is underpinned by farmer wellbeing, sustainability and natural capital alongside productivity and profitability,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There’s no doubt about our scientists, our engineers, and everyone involved is part of this.<\/p>\n

“Our climate’s always variable, so being able to produce gross margins from our paddocks, from our farms, no matter what’s going on with the climate, is critical and science is helping drive that.”<\/p>\n

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins thanked Australia’s farmers for their “hard work, resilience and skill”.<\/p>\n

“Being on track to exceed the industry’s $100 billion target by four years is a tremendous result for our farmers and regional communities,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Collins said diversifying trade opportunities was an ongoing focus of the federal government.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

Australian beef exports have soared despite Donald Trump’s tariffs. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n

Tougher year ahead<\/p>\n

While the $100 billion headline figure is grand, the reality amid global trade tensions <\/a>and impacts of war<\/a>, as well as trying seasonal conditions<\/a>, is that next financial year the value is expected to dip.<\/p>\n

ABARES executive director Jared Greenville said the value of the current financial year reflected higher crop export volumes and higher overall livestock and livestock product export prices.<\/p>\n

“Following the strong performance this year, we’re expecting production to ease in 2026\u201327, with below-average rainfall expected for much of southern Australia in autumn,” Dr Greenville said.<\/p>\n

“Crop prices are also expected to decline in 2026\u201327 as prices in global markets for many crops decline.”<\/p>\n

Dr Greenville predicts next year’s farmgate value to dip to about $95 billion, which is still historically high.<\/p>\n

“Challenges in market access and uncertainty over recent trade announcements will weigh on export prices for livestock,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/p>\n

ABARES says the national 2025\u201326 winter crop was the second-largest on record. (ABC Rural: Amelia Bernasconi)<\/p>\n

Mr McIntyre acknowledged the new Middle Eastern conflict would add extra complexities for the final months of this financial year.<\/p>\n

“It is critical that government and industry work closely together,” he said.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, it’ll be very hard to ship to the Middle East with what’s going on over there, so we need to be able to move these commodities to other markets.”<\/p>\n

Mr McIntyre said other threats to the ongoing growth came back to labour and housing affordability in regional areas.<\/p>\n

“We also need vibrant, healthy communities that have schools and hospitals and everything families want and need to encourage them to come back to regional Australia,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We at NFF now will consider our next goal and ambition, but today, we’re celebrating.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The value of Australia’s farming produce is tipped to reach its “ambitious” $100 billion goal this financial year,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[258260,258261,80261,64,258259,63,258258,258263,258264,80518,258262,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-516829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-100-billion-ag-sector","9":"tag-100billion","10":"tag-abares","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-au-ag100b","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australian-agriculture","15":"tag-hamish-mcintyre","16":"tag-jared-greenville","17":"tag-julie-collins","18":"tag-national-farmers-federation","19":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}