Not-for-profit industry body, Australian Organic, is now a member of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), the national peak organisation representing farmers and agriculture across Australia.
With Australia’s political, social and natural landscapes constantly changing, the NFF, one of Australia’s foremost and respected advocacy organisations, is committed to ensuring modern farming is not only viable and sustainable but continues its vital and growing contribution to the nation.
“We are excited to become an associate member of the National Farmers Federation and are looking forward to representing the broader organic industry and becoming more involved with the NFF over the coming years,” said Australian Organic general manager Niki Ford.
Ford said to make the most of the opportunities before it, the organic sector needed a strong voice in Canberra. “Australian Organic’s membership of NFF will ensure our sector’s interests are drawn to the attention of our federal politicians and our needs considered in government decisions.”
The 2018 Market Report, compiled by Australian Organic, reveals that currently the area of land under certified organic management in Australia is 35million hectares – more than half of all certified land area on the earth. There are an estimated 1,998 certified organic primary producers in Australia including farmers, graziers, apiarists and wild harvesters.
Vegetable production dominates in the fruit, vegetable and nut sector, with three quarters of the sector value, beef dominates in the meat sector with 87 per cent of value and lamb comprises the bulk of the remaining 13% in addition to organic pork, goat and aquaculture. Poultry products are fairly evenly weighted between eggs and poultry meat in terms of value.
Australian Organic Limited joins NFF’s 30-strong member group, who have a shared vision for agriculture to be a $100 billion industry by 2030, up from today’s $60 billion. NFF President Fiona Simson said the issues organic farmers faced were common to many farmers and it made sense for their interests to be well represented in NFF’s policy and advocacy efforts.
“As Australian farming’s peak representative body, it is our role to represent all farmers,” she said. “Having Australia Organic join the NFF, means we can get a more informed understanding of the challenges and opportunities before organic farmers and, as a result, be better able to advocate in the interests of all farmers.”
Since its inception in 1979, the NFF has earned a reputation as a leader in the identification, development and achievement of policy outcomes – championing issues affecting farmers and dedicated to the advancement of agriculture.
The NFF is dedicated to proactively generating greater understanding and better-informed awareness of farming’s modern role, contribution and value to the entire community.
One of the keys to the NFF’s success has been its commitment to presenting innovative and forward-looking solutions to the issues affecting agriculture, striving to meet current and emerging challenges, and advancing Australia’s vital agricultural production base.
Australian Organic (formerly Biological Farmers of Australia or BFA) has always been a major force in ensuring that organic standards in Australia remain in the hands of the supply chain. The BFA moved on to develop an organic certification program to independently verify that farmers and processors were producing in accord with those standards. The organisation’s Australian Certified Organic Bud logo is the oldest organic certification mark in the country which ensures integrity of organic products for consumers.