WHILE not directly impacted by a potential incursion of foot and mouth disease (FMD) the Australian grains industry says any upset to the nation's livestock industry would have flow-on negatives for grain producers.
"In many areas our grain producers focus very heavily on the domestic market," said Grain Growers chairman Brett Hosking.
"If the worst case scenario happened and FMD did get hold and our meat exports were cut accordingly it would significantly lessen demand from the livestock industry for our grain," Mr Hosking said.
"It's why we at Grain Growers are very supportive of all biosecurity measures for not only FMD but for all the exotic pests and diseases that can cause such destruction to our agriculture sector.
"The news that FMD is just to our north in Indonesia comes as a bit of a wake up call that we really need to take these biosecurity matters very seriously."
Mr Hosking said east coast producers in particular had become increasingly focused on servicing the domestic market in recent years.
"We've seen seasons such as the recent droughts where virtually all the grain produced on the east coast ends up in the domestic market."
"That has swung back to a more normal percentage as the grass-fed guys have had better seasons but every season a very large chunk of the grain produced ends up going to the domestic market and the majority of that domestic demand is from the beef and sheep sectors that would be impacted by FMD.
The importance of the domestic market was backed up by data from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) that found that annual apparent domestic use was 8.7 million tonnes of wheat and 3.3m tonnes for barley.
Long-term average production for wheat is around 25 million tonnes and barley around 9m tonnes.
Commonwealth Bank commodity analyst Tobin Gorey said croppers would be impacted if the beef and sheep sectors contracted.
"There are other livestock industries, such as poultry, but beef and sheep are huge users of grain domestically," Mr Gorey said.
"We've seen a real evolution in parts of the east coast freight advantaged to those big feedlots the focus has shifted from grain exports to servicing that domestic demand.
"This is reflected in crop choices, growing more feed wheat and feed barley so there would definitely need to be change if that demand was to drop."
At this stage biosecurity experts are alert to the risk of FMD being unwittingly brought into the country but are confident it can be kept out.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
