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NT farmers push for increased exports to Indonesia

Northern Territory farmers are keen to close the export gap between cattle and horticulture products, especially in the Indonesian market.

Last year the state exported $230 million worth of cattle, but only $6 million worth of horticulture products, ABC Rural reports.

The Northern Territory Farmers Association (NTFA) has recommended more be done to tap into the Indonesian market, in its submission to the federal government’s Northern Australia Development White Paper.

Chief executive of the NTFA, Gran Fenton said Australia needs to shift its focus into commodities that Indonesia wants, like soybeans, sugar, cotton and peanuts.

"They import an enormous amount of soybeans from the US and Brazil, [so] that's the kind of stuff we need to be connecting to,” Fenton said.

"The key for us here is what is the crop and what's the markets telling us? Where can you make a dollar? Our focus is about identifying the key markets and economics and they're the key drivers in terms of growing produce in the North."

Export opportunities will be one of the key topics at the upcoming Northern Australia Food Futures Conference, which will be held in Darwin on 4 and 5 November. 

 

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