11 August 2015
Speaking to The Australian, Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has urged farmers to turn their best friends and most bitter rivals into business partners by banding together to form more local agricultural co-operatives.
In the piece, Minister Joyce indicates the only way for farmers to have more power and extract higher prices from major supermarkets, foreign processors and multinational exporters was to own and control more of the food supply chain themselves.
Mentioning the success of BCCM members like CBH Group and Devondale Murray Goulburn, the minister stated “…the simple principle that the further you can reach down the path to the consumer, the greater the returns … it’s better for the farmer and local community and a co-operative is unambiguously Australian-owned.”
The article also discusses the story of the newly-formed Oz Group co-operative near Coffs Harbour, who developed from a four local farmers joining forces to now amounting to 97 member farmers with a turnover of $50 million.
In early July, the minister launched the government’s White Paper on Agricultural Competitiveness which announced $13.8 million funding for a two-year pilot programme to provide farmers with knowledge and materials on co-operatives, collective bargaining and innovative business models.
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