A 'Fair Go' for Organic Agriculture in Australia?

Abstract

Over the recent past, increasing concerns have emerged in Australia regarding agricultural production methods that have been causing environmental damage, enhanced by extreme climatic conditions such as droughts and highly variable rainfall. This has triggered an increasing awareness of and calls for more environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. The area under organic management has tripled worldwide since the late 1990s, with Australia currently being the country with the largest area under organic management, most of which is extensive farming. This paper will discuss whether organic farming has had a 'fair go' in Australia. On the one hand, increasing demand for domestic produce is an incentive for more local production. On the other hand, for most sectors, organic farms in Australia remain smaller than large scale, export-oriented conventional enterprises, and for some organic commodities, supply remains stagnant. Conventional farms have historically received a higher level of support in the light of Australia's export potential of agricultural produce, an important contributor to the country's economic prosperity. However, support for organics, has been inconsistent, with government support being relatively low, particularly for research and development. The current regulatory system, primarily the standards, still causes some confusion among producers and consumers. Furthermore, there are still problems in providing a consistent supply of quality products, partly related to logistics and supply chain management. We conclude that for organic agriculture in Australia, the road may still be 'rockier' than for other parts of the world in achieving the full potential in production and distribution.