Government agricultural departments: a new future or bastions of the past?

More than a century ago Australia's survival depended on providing a continuous source of food and fibre to feed and clothe its growing population, and to develop a cash flow for the colonies. Each colony established its own "Department of Agriculture" (or equivalent) to develop and implement innovative scientific technology so that a reliable supply of food and fibre was available through drought, floods, fire, war, disease and whatever else the colonists were faced with.

Consequently, the traditional the role of Agricultural Departments was to apply the best possible science to agriculture. Government support for this role, and active subsidisation of farming (pdf, 218kb), remained unchallenged for most of the 20th century.

Changes have swept through Australia's rural communities over the last decade. These changes have impacted significantly on the role of Agricultural Departments which have gone through numerous adjustments in an attempt to come to grips with these changes.

Instead of being entirely focussed within the primary industries production sector, today's Agricultural Departments are required to meet the broader needs of rural communities. Many of these needs are completely outside the primary production sector. To be perceived as successful, today's Agricultural Departments must create benefits at the economic, ecological and social (i.e. triple-bottom line) levels.

So what's caused this shift?

First, although the value of Australian primary industries production has grown, the total value of food and fibre industries has grown faster because of strong growth of the post-farm gate processing sector that adds value to the raw farm-gate product.

Second, rural communities, in terms of the total number of people living there, have decreased in size and have diversified their sources of economic well-being to a greater extent than in the past. In the past a large number of people lived in rural communities. For example, 100 years ago, about 25 per cent of Australia's white population were employed in agricultural and pastoral industries which contributed to about half the GDP.

Today, rural populations are less dependent on the food-and-fibre sector and more dependent on industries such as tourism. Even within the food-and-fibre sector rural communities are more dependent on processing and value adding of primary production, as opposed to primary production itself. Today, five per cent of Australians are employed in primary industries production which produces less than three per cent of the Australia's GDP (pdf, 218Kb).

These trends of the past few decades suggest that rural communities will, in general, comprise fewer people, fewer towns, be more involved in food and fibre processing and value-adding of food and fibre and even more dependent on industries outside the food and fibre sector.

Third, primary industries have a poor image among some members of the general public particularly in urban communities. Consequently there's been increasing community concern about issues arising from food and fibre production and land management, animal welfare and food safety.

Finally, National Competition Policy and the increasing shift from government-supported "agri-socialism" means it is no longer politically acceptable to use public monies to assist individual landowners - in Australia anyway!

How have these changes affected Agricultural Departments?

In the past their role was narrow and straight-forward focussing almost exclusively on primary production. Their role was to protect the States from pests and diseases, improve productivity and expand the production of primary industries. At that time, core services included providing one-on-one advice to primary producers while visiting their properties. Some work might have been performed outside the production sector, for example butcher shop and slaughterhouse inspections. But there were very few, if any, responsibilities in terms of rural communities' sustainability.

Today, rural communities are still dependent on primary industries production, but not as dependent as they were in the past. Consequently the role of most Agricultural Departments is broader and more strongly focuses on growing value chains in the food-and-fibre sector. This enhanced role also includes a direct focus on developing rural communities through, for example, enhancing those communities' capacity to achieve developmental goals that may further reduce their dependence on primary industries.

Another trend is that non-government agricultural consultants have taken on most of the one-on-one interaction activities with primary producers previously performed by the government. Most Agricultural Departments have retained an interest in this area, but mainly via a commercial third-party group of local business entrepreneurs.

Today, Agricultural Departments also must respond to broader community concerns about the environment by focusing on technologies, processes and legislation that enhance ecological sustainability and animal welfare.

Another increasing role is that of the "honest broker". As consumers are now challenging and demanding changes to traditional agricultural practices, Agricultural Departments have a critical role in linking producers with the broader community. This includes providing independent and impartial information and advice in contentious issues and debates such as genetic manipulation of commercial plants and animals, organic farming and irradiation of foods.

With regard to the future, complex new technologies, threats and ambitions could result in any of many different futures for the world and for Australia. In fact, if history is a guide, our ability to predict the future is relatively poor. The future will be comprised of many unplanned outcomes, along with some outcomes that are expected. Consequently, the future will contain a significant element of surprise. Despite this, individuals, communities, organizations and governments still need to prepare for the future.

A plausible future scenario is one where rural communities are even less dependent on primary industries production and more involved in food and fibre processing and value adding; where the number of private agricultural consultants grows and where small rural towns continue to decline and larger ones continue to grow or are cannibalised by the urban sprawl.

Within this scenario the success of Agricultural Departments may be judged quite differently from the past or even today. Rather than having the primary role of ensuring food supplies for a nation, Agricultural Departments of the future may be judged in terms of their ability to sustain food security; to restore, maintain, grow or facilitate change in communities, including helping them to decouple from their reliance on agriculture; to innovate with an eye to the future; to offer hope and confidence for young people and farming families to stay on the land; to resolve complex conflicts arising from environmental, economic, food safety and rural decline issues; or to assist some communities to disappear from their current location and to re-emerge as part of a build-up of strategically located larger rural centres.

Alternatively, we might ask - is there a future role for "Departments of Agriculture"?