Victorian Farmer Autumn 2021

AUTUMN 2021

TIME FOR AN UPGRADE Improving Victoria’s road and rail network for farmers

WATER AND WASTE

SAFETY ON FARMS

THE BOTTOM LINE

A man's journey in avocado farming led to much more

Turning the tide on accidents and deaths on farms

Guidance for getting on top of financial literacy

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Victorian Farmer PUBLISHER James Wells EDITOR Michelle Hespe ART DIRECTOR Ryan Vizcarra

From the Editor

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EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Michelle Hespe: mhespe@intermedia.com.au

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CONTRIBUTORS Annabel Mactier Brian Ahmed Charles Everist Charlie Kinross Gina Milicia Ian Lloyd Neubauer John Darcy Lucy Knight Sandra Godwin

THE INTERMEDIA GROUP

MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon Grover CEO Chris Baker FINANCE MANAGER Mina Vranistas PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper HEAD OF DIGITAL Pauline Grech HEAD OF EVENTS Beth Tobin Victorian Farmer is published for the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) (ABN: 67 079 980 304) by The Intermedia Group (ABN: 94 002 583 682) 41 Bridge Rd, Glebe NSW 2037. @2021. All rights reserved. Printed by IVE Group.

Getty Images were used throughout the magazine.

VICTORIAN FARMERS FEDERATION

CEO Jane Lovell STAKEHOLDER POLICY AND ADVOCACY MANAGER Luke Hooke STAKEHOLDER MEDIA & COMMS ADVISOR Ryan Moloney MAGAZINE WORKING GROUP Annabel Mactier Gary Beck Charles Everist

Welcome to the Autumn issue of Victorian Farmer. Despite a tough year due to conditions out of everyone’s control, this issue of your magazine is all about hope and change.

Firstly, we look at what is being done to protect farmers from the often devastating impact of animal activists when they invade a property. The government needs to step up and enact the recommendations that arose from the 2019 inquiry in order to toughen up trespass and biosecurity laws.

And what about hemp? Being so fastgrowing and versatile – textiles, flooring and building products are but a few of the end products – it’s such a lucrative industry that hasn’t been tapped into in Victoria. Hopefully our story will have some farmers taking the plunge. And the best news is, much of the farming work involved can be done with machinery that farmers already own.

Being a writer and editor, I know how tough it can be working in a field that I am not accustomed to being a part of, and working on something I am not good at. We’re talking finance and accounting here folks. It’s not something most farmers get excited about, but if you are in managament or you own your own business, it’s crucial that you master the basics, at the least. To this end, we’ve pulled together some tips from ag finance experts that should help you to bridge the knowledge gap.

Farm safety is a topic that has been at the forefront of many meetings and discussions in general across Victoria and indeed the country, and it’s great to see so

much proactive work being done. The VFF Safety team recently hit the road to meet with farmers across the country and talk about things that can be done to prevent injury and death on farms, We’ve also compiled a report in this issue that dives deep into what is being done to address this incredibly important issue, and what you can be doing right now to bring those horrible statistics down.

And in Meet a Farmer, we meet a man determined to change the face of waste water management in his region. That’s definitely something to be hopeful about.

Enjoy the read and drop us a line anytime. We love hearing from you.

Michelle Hespe

The Intermedia Group takes its corporate and social responsibilities seriously and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. We continuously strive to improve our environmental performance and to initiate additional CSR based projects and activities.

AUTUMN 2021

As part of our company policy we ensure that the products and services used in the manufacture of this magazine are sourced from environmentally responsible suppliers.

TIME FOR AN UPGRADE

Photography: Charlie Kinross

Improving Victoria’s road and rail network for farmers

WATER AND WASTE

SAFETY ON FARMS

THE BOTTOM LINE

A man's journey in avocado farming led to much more

Turning the tide on accidents and deaths on farms

Guidance for getting on top of financial literacy

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VICTORIAN FARMER

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AUTUMN 2021

This magazine has been printed on paper produced from sustainably sourced wood and pulp fibre and is accredited under PEFC chain of custody.

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Copyright © 2021 – The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd

Contents 4

N EWS On the road with VFF’s leadership team to visit regional branches; VFF’s Safety Team visits Victorian farmers; Kids to Ag grant applications open; Raising awareness of Amyloidosis.

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BIG ISSUE

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TRADE

Animal activists regularly invade farmers’ properties, but what is being done to protect farmers?

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Industrial hemp is a versatile, fast-growing crop offering farmers many benefits, the environment and consumers. Why hasn’t it taken off in Victoria?

BUSINESS

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Half of all Australians struggle with financial literacy.

Financial experts in the ag sector share their tips.

LOGISTICS A bumper harvest in parts of Victoria has put more strain on Victoria’s regional road and rail network.

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SAFETY REPORT

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M EET A FARMER

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EVENTS CALENDAR

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SOCIALS

Farming has featured at the top of the list of industries with the highest rate of workplace fatalities – both in Australia and Victoria. What is being done to change the stats?

Steve Marshall’s journey in avocado farming has led him to becoming a champion for recycled water usage in the Mornington Peninsula region.

Keeping you in the loop with all the events you should be attending across Victoria this year.

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Our members share some interesting, amusing and poignant moments of life on the land.

THE LAST WORD The Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) waste classification has caused mass confusion for Victorian farmers.

VFF has its say on manure and compostable waste.

Advertise here

to directly target more than

12,000

Victorian farmers Call Richard Bunting on 0424 138 806 or email richard@alicantemedia.com

AUTUMN 2021

VICTORIAN FARMER

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VFF on the road Throughout March and April the VFF’s leadership team, comprising of President Emma Germano, CEO Jane Lovell and Vice-President Danyel Cucinotta joined a host of staff visiting regional branches throughout Victoria.

At the top of the agenda were the issues of roads, rates, livability, labour shortages, riverfront camping regulations and much more.

The information discussed and highlighted at these meetings will be crucial to inform our policy direction and advocacy on the issues that matter most to you.

We would like to remind all members that as much as we value meeting in person to discuss the latest in the Victorian farming landscape, we’re only just a short phone call away.

You can contact us on 1300 882 833 to discuss how we can help you today.

The VFF would like to thank all members who made the time to meet with us to discuss the many pressing issues facing farmers throughout the state and we look forward to visiting again sometime soon.

The VFF leadership team and staff out on the road visiting regional branches.

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News Safety takes centre stage during VFF farming town visits The VFF’s Farm Safety Team has been visiting farm towns throughout Victoria over the past few months promoting the free farm safety services available to all Victorian farmers as part of the ‘Making Our Farms Safer’ initiative.

The Farm Safety Team have also been covering important safety issues such as Operator Protective Devices (OPDs) on quad bikes, WorkSafe Victoria’s advertising campaign and the recently introduced Australian Standard for livestock loading ramps.

Various other safety subjects will be covered at future briefings as well.

The team would like to thank all of you who attended and is encouraging everyone to keep an eye on the VFF’s event page on our website for upcoming briefings.

For those who missed out on these farm visits, we also offer the below services at a time that is convenient to you, at no cost: • Over the phone assistance • Help writing your farm safety plan • Assistance to hold an on-farm safety walk and talk or a meeting with a farm safety presentation • Safety system audits

Senior Farm Safety John Darcy addressing the audience during a recent farm safety briefing.

For more information, please contact Richard Versteegen: 0499 772 472, or email rversteegen@vff.org.au.

Or reach John Darcy on 0432 156 223 or jdarcy@vff.org.au

Andrew Leahy announced as new VFF Water Council Chair The VFF would like to welcome Andrew Leahy as the new VFF Water Council Chair, replacing Richard Anderson who has held the role for the past 15 years.

Andrew is experienced, passionate and understands the importance of water to farming and the agriculture industry.

He lives in Murrabit in Northern Victoria and operates a dairy farm currently milking over 600 cows and is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for farmers.

“Water is a big issue for our members and I am committed to continuing the fight for fair outcomes for farmers,” Mr Leahy said.

The VFF would like to acknowledge Richard Anderson’s contribution in the water space.

His continued lobbying in the interests of irrigators and stock and domestic water users was influential with successive governments, particularly through the Basin Plan negotiations and implementation.

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News

‘Kids to Ag’ grant applications open Late last year we launched the Kids to Ag project, which aims to increase primary school students’ understanding of where their food and fibre comes from, and to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture sector.

Kids to Ag offers grants up to $2,000 for primary school students to visit farms and primary production sites

across Victoria – providing students with a hands on, practical experience in agriculture.

We are currently calling on farms and primary production sites to register their interest, as well as primary schools to apply for grant funding.

Applications are open for the 2021 school year and further information is available at: vff.org.au/kidstoag

Or you can call VFF Project Coordinator Kath Dunn on 03 9207 5524, or send an email to kidstoag@vff.org.au Kids to Ag is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, through funding from the Australian Government’s Educating Kids About Agriculture initiative. See: rdafsc.com.au/educating-kids-aboutagriculture/

Helping to raise awareness of Amyloidosis

VFF member Ian Lobban sadly passed away from the rare Amyloidosis disease in 2013.

The VFF would like to remind all members of the importance of your health and ensuring regular GP checkups are maintained.

Many of you may remember Ian Lobban, who was an extremely active member of the VFF who tragically passed away in 2013 after a short battle with the rare disease of Amyloidosis.

Ian’s wife Marg and daughter Crystal have since dedicated time in raising awareness of the disease.

Further information is available at https://amyloidosis.net.au/

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What’s On

VFF Events Calendar UDV Conference, Melbourne May 27–28, 2021 For registration details: vff.org.au/events Making Our Farms Safer Farm Safety Briefing Mildura Development Corporation 3pm on May 31, 2021 Livestock and Grains Conference, Ballarat June 15–16, 2021 For registration details: vff.org.au/events Making Our Farms Safer Farm Safety Briefing Horsham Golf Club 6.30pm, June 28, 2021 Making Our Farms Safer Farm Safety Briefing Ballarat July 5, 2021 Sheepvention Rural Expo August 1–3, 2021 Visit: hamiltonshowgrounds.com.au Mallee Machinery Field Days, Speed August 4–5, 2021 Visit: mmfd.com.au Royal Melbourne Show Sept 23–Oct 3, 2021 Visit: royalshow.com.au Elmore Field Days October 5–7, 2021 Visit: elmorefielddays.com.au East Gippsland Field Days April 23–24, 2022 Visit: egfielddays.com.au Mildura Field Days May 21–22, 2022 Visit: mildurafielddays.com.au

Top to bottom: VFF on the road visiting central Victoria; Team VFF at Farm World at Lardner Park; Bumper crowds at the VFF Peninsula Branch Field Day. AUTUMN 2021

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WFI, Proud Alliance Partner of the Victorian Farmers Federation Farm Insurance. Made Locally.

At WFI, we take the time to thoroughly understand your business and how it operates.

Because when we get to know a business, we can protect everything that matters.

We’re available to discuss your insurance requirements based on your own individual needs. That’s just one of the reasons why we’re good people to know for insurance.

Farm Insurance WFI Rural Plan has been designed specifically for farms and is backed by 100 years of experience.

Choose from the following individual policies: • Farm Property Damage

• Farm Electronic Equipment

• Farm Loss of Income

• Farm Burglary and Theft

• Farm General Property • Farm Transit • Farm Legal Liability

Why not call us for a quote?

Contact your local Area Manager by calling 1300 934 934 or simply visit wfi.com.au

• Motor Vehicle • Domestic Home Cover

• Farm Machinery Breakdown WFI also offers the following rural insurance products:

Proud Partners

• Livestock Mortality • Farm Property Transit • Early Bird Crop

Insurance Australia Limited ABN 11 000 016 722 AFSL 227681 trading as WFI (WFI) issues WFI Insurance policies. This flyer doesn’t take in account your objectives, financial situation and needs. To see if a product is right for you, always consider these matters and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). You can get a copy of our PDS’ from our website at www. wfi.com.au or by calling 1300 934 934. If you purchase any WFI product, we will charge you a premium, plus any taxes and charges, based on your risk profile and circumstances. the VFF is an alliance partner of WFI and does not make any recommendations or provide an opinion about WFI’s products. If you take out a policy with WFI, the VFF receives a commission from WFI of between 5% and 10% of the value of the premium payment (excluding taxes and charges).

Big Issue

Farmers on the frontline of animal activism Findings from a 2019 inquiry into the impacts of animal activism on Victorian agriculture were handed down in February 2020, yet none of the 15 recommendations that the government committed to have been enacted to toughen up biosecurity and trespass laws.

Words: Lucy Knight

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Charities no longer Late last year the Federal Government revoked the charitable status of organisations involved in animal activism and trespass or groups that “illegally harass, intimidate and spy on farming families”.

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TELLING OUR STORY SAFEGUARDS THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE NFF chief executive officer Tony Mahar says there will always be groups of people with philosophical objections to agriculture and the work farmers do, but stressed the importance of the farm sector working together to tell positive stories about the importance of the industry.

In 2019 NFF launched a multi-million dollar crosssector campaign to tell the story of everyday Australian farmers and promote the industry to city audiences.

NFF has also partnered in a major research and development corporation project, the Community Trust in Rural Industries Program, which is being managed

by Agrifutures Australia.

The Community Trust program is a capacity-building initiative to “drive a productive and cohesive response to changes in cross-sector community trust”.

In Victoria, following the Animal Activism inquiry, the State Government formed a partnership with VFF to support transparency and counter some of the negative portrayals about farming and food production.

TThe Victorian state government provided $900,000 to the VFF to back farmers by delivering a “consumerfocused communications and engagement campaign” to increase the understanding of agriculture by the community and to help producers respond effectively to animal welfare and biosecurity issues.

VFF is in the process of designing the communications and engagement campaign.

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Farmers have had enough Evidence to a Federal Government inquiry heard there had been “a dangerous rise in activist intrusions on agricultural properties, and farmers have had enough”.

W

erribee egg producer Brian Ahmed still vividly recalls the moment his caged-egg business was broken into.

“The alarms in our sheds went off at 3am. We had no idea what was happening. We rang the police who came with their sniffer dogs. The intruders were wearing balaclavas.”

Three activists broke into the Ahmed’s egg business, threatening the biosecurity of the entire 25,000 caged-bird operation.

Vets were called and all of the chickens were tested for viruses. Their business was at a standstill for almost two weeks while they awaited results.

That was almost eight years ago, but Brian says he still worries it will happen again and fears for the safety of his family at night at the hands of activists with an anti-animal farming agenda.

To protect themselves the Ahmed family has spent more than $20,000 on 30 security cameras, alarms and surveillance plus installed a 2.5 metre mesh fence around the perimeter of their property to help keep intruders out.

“Until we get laws that act as a strong deterrent, and make farm trespass a criminal offence, these sorts of measures are our only option,” Brian said.

“I am very concerned this will all recommence if the activists don’t succeed in getting caged-farming banned – which they are trying to do at the moment.

“I don’t know if they realise, or care, that people who live and work on family farms are often living with their own families, including young children.

Someone will get hurt one day trying to protect their

Big Issue families, which is why more needs to be done to stop people breaking into and entering our farms.”

Aussie Farms attacks

Things got ugly in January 2019 when activist group, Aussie Farms, launched an online interactive map publishing the names and addresses of intensive farming operations and their owners, and invited contributions of photos and documents which triggered a spate of farm break-ins across the country over a number of months, including on a designated ‘invasion day’.

Evidence to a Federal Government inquiry heard there had been “a dangerous rise in activist intrusions on agricultural properties, and farmers have had enough”.

Compounding the matter were the low fines being handed down to those caught trespassing on farms – for example, a Victorian judge imposed a $1 fine for activists who stole a goat in Gippsland, while in Queensland, a second-time offender who broke into a piggery on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland was fined just $200.

Also in Queensland, the court fined an activist $150 and imposed no criminal record for her part in a 100-person raid on a piggery at Beerburrum.

The Federal Government strengthened its criminal code of conduct laws which made it an offence to use a carriage service, such as the internet, to disclose personal information to incite trespass on agricultural land, with punishment including possible jail time.

Late last year the Federal Government also revoked the charitable status of organisations involved in animal activism and trespass or groups that “illegally harass, intimidate and spy on farming families”.

The changes were designed to significantly inhibit the revenue streams of any activist group which targets Australian farmers as they will no longer be able to claim tax-free status for their fundraising efforts.

“Activist thugs who take the law into their own hands will now find it more difficult to fund their illegal operations, and that is a good thing for Australian farmers and their families,” Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, said last year when announcing the changes.

But the responsibility for most trespassing and biosecurity arrangements sits with state jurisdictions, and responses to the 2019 incidents have varied greatly from state to state.

Implementing recommendations Victorian farmers are still anxiously awaiting the Victorian Government’s implementation of recommendations from a high-profile 2019 inquiry into the impact of animal activism on Victorian agriculture.

The inquiry made 15 recommendations to help safeguard agricultural businesses in a report handed down in February last year, however 12 months on, not one of these recommendations has been fully implemented or legislated.

Victorian Farmers’ Federation president, Emma

Photo by Gina Milicia

VFF Vice President Danyel Cucinotta at her farm, LT's Egg Farm & Country Produce located in Werribee South.

“As farmers, we want to continue to be able to produce the best food and fibre for all consumers, whilst implementing the best practice animal welfare standards. The health and wellbeing of our animals is incredibly important to us.”

DANYEL CUCINOTTA – VFF VICE-PRESIDENT

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Germano, said “If trespassers walked onto the property of any businesses in Melbourne, chances are they’d be promptly removed.

“So why should a farm be any different? And for many, the farm is also is where our homes are, and they should be treated as exactly that. There’s a real double standard at play that needs to be fixed now.”

It’s believed COVID-19 has delayed the implementation of the recommendations because of the difficulty in engaging stakeholders during lockdown periods last year.

A spokesperson from the Agriculture Victoria department said the Victorian Government had committed to implementing “all but one” of the 15 recommendations from the inquiry.

They said farmers and agricultural businesses should be able to work “without fear of being targeted by illegal activities that may put farming families, biosecurity and animals at risk”.

It’s understood there has been some progress on changes to legislation which would create offences for trespassing which do not comply with existing biosecurity management plans on farms. Those changes will also include on-the-spot fines for trespassers, and will be consulted on later this year.

An ongoing challenge

Work is also well underway to reform the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 in response to four of the inquiry’s recommendations, with a legislative review now taking place to develop contemporary and streamlined laws to ensure the welfare of animals.

Brian Ahmed said given the financial and emotional cost of farm invasions, fines must be significantly increased instead of the current “slap on the wrist” approach taken by the courts, he added.

National Farmers Federation chief executive officer, Tony Mahar, said the combined efforts of farm groups had made some impact in helping reduce the frequency of animal activism.

But he stressed while the issue had ‘quietened down’ it was not one that was going to go away.

Tony said animal activism would remain an ongoing challenge because the groups involved were “committed to their cause”.

“They have demonstrated that they can find loopholes in legislation or regulation,” Tony said. “The government has recognised those and tried to close those loopholes and address any gaps but it’s going to be an ongoing task – as an industry we have to make sure we uphold the right of people to conduct lawful, valuable activities like farming and agriculture.”

Tony said those activities cannot be compromised by people’s philosophical or radicalised views on things.

“Farmers are concerned and conscious of the impact of farm invasion and people taking the law into their own hands,” Tony said.

“These activists are people that are committed to their philosophy, if that’s what it is, and in response the ag sector will continue to have to come together and show strength and take the measures that are required to reduce invasions and the impact of these people taking the law into their own hands.”

Tony acknowledges the efforts of each state in

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The right to work risk-free Animal activists protesting the consumption of animals.

A spokesperson for Agriculture Victoria said farmers and agricultural businesses should be able to work “without fear of being targeted by illegal activities that may put farming families, biosecurity and animals at risk”.

QUICK LINKS • Read the report from the Victorian inquiry into the impact of animal activism on Victorian agriculture parliament.vic.gov.au/eic-lc/article/4205 • Telling our story nff.org.au/telling-our-story • Community Trust program agrifutures.com.au/national-rural-issues/community-trust

Big Issue “If trespassers walked onto the property of any business in Melbourne, chances are they'd be promptly removed.

So why should a farm be any different? And for many, the farm is also where our homes are, and they should be treated as exactly that.”

EMMA GERMANO - VICTORIAN FARMERS FEDERATION PRESIDENT

VFF Vice President Danyel Cucinotta with egg producer Brian Ahmed. “Someone will get hurt one day trying to protect their families, which is why more needs to be done to stop people breaking into and entering our farms,” he says.

taking action against activists but called for “a more unform approach” across the country “to make sure that no one state is more overly exposed than another”.

He said the concerning element in all of this was that even some years after a farmer is violated by an activist attack, they can still feel the impacts. “I think it’s always in the back of their minds,” he said.

“These are people’s workplaces but more often than not, it’s their homes.

“We shouldn’t have to fear someone coming into our homes. We should feel safe in our workplaces and definitely in our homes.”

Danyel Cucinotta (VFF Vice-President, pcitured below) concludes: “As farmers, we want to continue to be able to produce the best food and fibre for all consumers, whilst implementing the best practice animal welfare standards. The health and wellbeing of our animals is incredibly important to us.”

Photo by Gina Milicia

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The time for hemp Industrial hemp is a versatile fast-growing crop offering many benefits for farmers, the environment and consumers.

So why has production not taken off in Victoria?

Words: Sandra Godwin

Hemp’s high potential In 2018, AgriFutures Australia predicted that hemp seed has ‘high potential’ to develop into a successful industry worth $10 million or more within five years.

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Trade

I

f you ask hemp advocates, it boils down to a combination of a lack of unity and a variation on the age-old argument: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Without demand from reliable markets, farmers won’t grow hemp crops and without committed farmers growing the crops at sufficient scale, markets won’t offer contracts. And then there’s the question of adequate processing capacity that slots squarely in between the two.

Victoria was the second Australian state to legalise production of low-THC industrial hemp in 1998, with strict licensing and biosecurity requirements.

But it wasn’t until the sale and consumption of edible hemp products for humans was approved in 2017 that the sector was recognised as having the potential to become more than a cottage industry.

In 2018, AgriFutures Australia identified hemp seed as having ‘high potential’ to develop into a commercially successful industry worth $10 million or more within five years. It is funding a two-year project to develop a national research, development and extension plan for the industry, and investigating the potential for grazing of hemp by livestock in Tasmania and Western Australia.

Opportunities and challenges

The Victorian Government set up an Industrial Hemp Taskforce in 2019 to explore opportunities and challenges for the industry and examine how the government could support its development and growth. It also is looking at whether regulation of industrial hemp belongs in legislation that deals with drugs and poisons.

The taskforce released an interim report in 2020 which recommended changing regulations to make it easier for Victorian farmers to grow hemp.

According to the report, an estimated 200ha of industrial hemp was planted in Victoria in the 201920 growing season, slightly more than the previous year, but only one-third of the 600 hectares produced in 2017-18. The reduction in plantings was attributed to low water availability.

Most of the hemp is cultivated to produce seed for food purposes and to sell to other growers.

Agriculture Victoria has issued 60 licenses – compared to 13 in 2016 – to produce hemp for food and fibre, and there are three Victorian processors that de-hull hemp seed for food or crush it to produce hemp seed oil.

Whole hemp seeds contain about 45 per cent oil, 35 per cent protein, 10 per cent carbohydrates and 10 per cent dietary fibre, as well as nine amino acids and the essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6.

The first legal Victorian hemp seed crops were harvested in January 2018. At the time, Western Districts farmer Simon Allen told Stock & Land the Finola crop he grew under contract for Geelongbased company, Australian Primary Hemp, had fitted in well with his rotation.

“Hemp has been a great crop to grow; its short cropping cycle has made it easy to integrate into my current cropping program,” Simon said.

Last year Murray River Organics produced what was thought to be the nation’s biggest organic hemp seed crop at its 32ha trial site at Nangiloc.

Utilising current farm machinery, and timber

Australian Primary Hemp is partnering with the SuniTAFE SMART Farm near Mildura to run variety trials over several years.

Most varieties are imported from Canada or Europe and are more suited to higher rainfall areas and longer days, although they can be successfully grown under irrigation. Under optimum conditions, crops can be ready for harvest in 90-120 days.

Shorter varieties are favoured for seed production, while tall varieties that put their energy into biomass are preferred for fibre. Several varieties, such as HanNe from China, can be grown for both seed and fibre.

At the Cardross SMART Farm, an area of Carina currant vines was cleared, overhead sprinklers installed, and three hemp varieties sown two weeks apart using a fertiliser spreader and a cover crop seeder: 0.25ha was sown to CFX at 40kg/ha in midNovember 2020, 0.25ha sown to CFS at 20kg/ha in late November and 0.5ha sown to Finola at 10kg/ha in mid-December.

SMART Farm manager Warren Lloyd says the first harvest in March delivered mixed results.

“It demonstrated my lack of knowledge in growing hemp,” he laughs wryly. “We were trying to show what you can do using equipment that the majority of farmers would have. We had a battle with weeds in two of the blocks, so we need to go back to the drawing board on how we manage them.”

Frontier Farming Services harvested the hemp seed using a small plot grain header and it was dried on fruit drying trays. The leftover stalk and other residue will probably be ploughed back into the soil in winter.

Warren says the hemp trial drew a lot of attention – more than anything else grown at the SMART Farm.

“Locally, a lot of farmers are looking for a crop that is pretty well mechanised; that gives some sort of return, particularly with what’s gone on with labour shortages in the last 12 months and the forecast going forward for labour,” he says.

“You’ve got some big table grape growers who may decide to take out 1000 acres of vines and replace them with something like hemp that’s mechanised and can give a return.” iHemp Victoria president Darren Christie, who is chief executive of the Australian Hemp Manufacturing Company, says the focus on hemp for food ignores the even bigger opportunity presented by hemp fibre as a replacement for timber in a wide range of purposes, including building materials like particle board and hempcrete, flooring, insulation, paper and biodegradable alternatives to plastic packaging.

VicForests is winding back logging allocations from 2024 and all native timber logging will cease by 2030.

“We’re running short of timber as we speak,” Darren says. “We need government investment to AUTUMN 2021

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GLOSSARY Bast: The long outer fibre of the hemp plant which is ideal for producing rope, canvas, textiles and carpets.

CBD: Cannabidiol is an ingredient in hemp which does not have the psychoactive effects of THC. CBD oil has Therapeutic Goods Administration approval to be prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain and seizures.

Cola: A cluster of buds that grow tightly together, with the main cola forming at the very top of the plant.

Decortication: The mechanical process of removing the tough woody interior (the hurd material), from the softer, fibrous exterior of the stalk (bast).

Hemp: Otherwise known as Cannabis Sativa L, hemp is one of the earliest domesticated plants in the world.

A multi-purpose plant, it has strong fibres and has been used to make cloth, paper, food, fibre and medicine for thousands of years. The plant produces more than 700 active compounds, including cannabinoids, terpenes and phenols.

Hempcrete: Made by mixing hemp hurd, lime, and water.

It is lightweight and not as dense or strong as concrete, however it is said to be fire-resistant, pest-resistant, a strong thermal insulator and able to absorb carbon. More than 200 houses across Australia have been built using hempcrete.

Hemp seed oil: An oil extracted by pressing the seeds of the hemp plant. Commonly used in skincare and food products, it is high in linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid and essential fatty acids (omega 6 and omega 3), which are beneficial to the skin and help support immunity. When cold-pressed and unrefined, the oil is green in colour and nutty in flavour. Hemp seed oil is different from hemp oil because it comes from the seeds and not the flowers. There are no significant levels of cannabinoids in hemp seed oil.

Hurd: The tough woody interior of the hemp stalk which can be used to produce animal bedding, building products, flooring, hempcrete and wood pellets.

Industrial hemp: Low-THC varieties of cannabis that are grown for food and fibre. In Victoria, industrial hemp crops can contain no more than 0.35 per cent THC or they must be destroyed.

Retting: A traditional technique used to facilitate the separation of the long and short fibres in hemp stalks. Cut stalks are soaked in tanks – or spread across the ground, turned and watered – to encourage breakdown by fungal colonies.

Seed: The flowering plant’s unit of reproduction. The flower of a female plant must be pollinated by a male plant so the female plant produces seeds. Once the seeds are mature, the female plant begins to die and seeds either drop to the ground to germinate or are harvested for processing into hemp seed oil, food products, or the next generation of plants.

THC: Tetrahydrocannabinol is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that produces the ‘high’ associated with recreational use of marijuana.

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set up a hub during a transition period over the next one or two years so that manufacturing in small rural communities is ready and farmers are ready. If we could get 20,000ha of hemp growing in Victoria in the next five years, it would be absolutely amazing for our farmers, with carbon sequestration benefits and soil regeneration without using chemicals – in the future 20,000ha is not enough, but it’s a start.”

Fibre, manufacturing and unity

Another challenge Darren identifies is the lack of unity within the sector.

“Nobody supports each other in the industry,” he says. “We’re all climbing over the top of each other. A lot of people think it’s a cash crop and they’re going to make a million dollars overnight. What we’re

Trade

The many faces of hemp (Top far left, then clockwise): Chris Davies from Frontier Farming Services harvests the hemp crop at the SuniTAFE farm at Cardross near Mildura; A hemp plant in the SuniTAFE trial at Cardross near Mildura; Mumbannar potato grower Hamish Henke and Charles Kovess in a trial crop of hemp grown for fibre; Hemp fibre degummed and cottonised; Baled hemp stalk ready for decortication.

trying to do here is get an economy established and if we want fibre, we need manufacturing.”

Textile and Composite Industries (TCI) chief executive officer Charles Kovess is keen to see farmers test small crops of 10-20ha as part of his company’s plan to build exports of raw hemp fibre, as well as yarn and textiles.

Charles is secretary of the peak body, Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance, and leads the AIHA’s Victorian chapter. He’s fielding requests for large volumes of raw fibre. One Indian buyer wants 100 tonnes a month, which Charles says is equivalent to 300 tonnes of stalk from a 30ha crop.

“We see hemp as being a magnificent gamechanger for agriculture in this country,” he says.

“One million hectares of hemp grown in Victoria,

which can be done, would produce 2 per cent of the world’s global annual fibre consumption for textiles alone. There is insatiable demand for hemp fibre for textiles.”

Charles says TCI wants to re-establish yarn production from hemp in Geelong for local and global markets.

“Textile production today is a capital intensive, not labour-intensive, enterprise because of technology,” he says. “We can compete in any markets in textile production, because it’s machinery that does all the work.”

Victorian Farmers Federation Horticulture President Nathan Free is no stranger to industrial hemp, harvesting an organic crop for fibre near Tresco in 2014.

“At the time it was pretty rare and no one really knew much about it,” he says. “Hemp is a great crop as a production crop. It leaves the soil in a better state than it found it, so it would be a great thing to have in the rotation as a summer crop before wheat or canola.”

While most growers are focusing on the lucrative seed market, Nathan says improving access to specialist equipment for mowing hemp and processing the fibre into its two components, hurd and bast, holds the key to sustainable industry growth.

There is already solid domestic demand for the hurd, which is used in building products, flooring, wood pellets, and hempcrete, but none for the bast which must be compacted and exported.

“There’s a lot to growing industrial hemp – it’s quite a highly skilled area – but the rewards are there for it,” Nathan says. “What’s holding things back at the moment is the lack of efficient processing.

Having that secondary market for fibre will increase the value of hemp and get farmers really cracking in this industry.”

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19

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Show me the money To run a successful farm in Australia today, you need to spend as much time working on it as you do working in it.

But according to surveys, close to half of all Australians struggle with financial literacy. In this month’s special feature, Victorian Farmer speaks to three financial experts working in the state's agriculture sector to help the next generation of farmers do better.

Words: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

The teacher

“In my area of research – the drivers of rural business failure – financially literacy or the lack thereof is something that comes up again and again,” says Dr Tim Clune, lecturer in agribusiness at La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus.

“But for farmers I think it’s important not to just focus on financial literacy as it fails to explore the broader business skills and acumen required. Financial literacy must go hand-in-hand with the capacity to identify and mitigate risk, to plan strategically, to understand complex supply-chain relationships – all the things are a part of the complex agribusiness environment today,” he says.

“At La Trobe, we teach our students financial literacy this way, as part of the broader business skill set. Yes, they get an understanding of basic accounting but they’re also taught about entrepreneurship, risk management, supply-chain management and global food and fibre markets to produce well-rounded graduates from a business perspective.

“That being said, if the problem of financial literacy in rural areas was resolved, better financial decisions would be made and fewer businesses would be going under,” Dr Clune says. “If people don’t know exactly much they’re earning and when their next invoice is getting paid, it creates a lot of stress and from that you get mental-health issues and a broader range of family problems. So you can see why I am passionate about dealing with this particular issue.

“Financial literacy is not the solution to everything in business. To have sustainable agricultural production, you need to understand the nuances of the business environment farmers operate in. It is globalised. It has multiple players. It is not just about bailing up wool and throwing it onto the back of a truck.

“And it’s not just about books,” Dr Clune says. “We integrate the business part of our curriculum with a workplace experience subject where students do an internship at agribusinesses to the value of 120 hours where they get to test the skills we’ve put into their heads. It’s just a taster but the one statement I hear from students more than anything else is ‘this is so different from what I’d expected’.”

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Business

A shed full of hay is money in the bank A farmer might have seven megalitres of water, two silos full of grain and so much money in the bank – all of which must be taken into consideration to get a proper understanding of their financial position.

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The banker

“I grew up in the country, on a cattle property in northwest Queensland, so working with a bank that purely focuses on agricultural lending is a perfect fit for me,” says Rowena Propsting, community engagement manager at Rabobank.

“I feel my role within the community engagement area of the bank is very special. I work alongside the RaboClientCouncils (a group of innovative and forward-thinking clients) where we explore how we (the bank and the clients) can work together to support the agricultural industry.

“One of the initiatives we work on together is the financial skills workshops. This workshop is open for free to all farmers whether they bank with us or not.

It’s currently run online over two mornings so anyone can join no matter where they are in Australia and without having to travel.

“On the first morning we take one financial document every farmer has – the annual tax return.”

Rowena says, “This is a document farmers pay their accountants for each year and for a lot of them this document can become a filing cabinet filler. We teach them how to use it to understand how their business is performing.

“On the second morning, participants discuss the hypothetical situation of a real-life farmer who is in a similar situation as they are: armed with this new financial information, what strategy they should pursue? Should they buy a neighbours’ property?

Should they buy more equipment? Or should they divest? The exercise allows them to ask our facilitators about their assumptions, to understand key financial metrics along with recognising the financial strengths and weaknesses of their business.

This enables the participants to further explore and grow their business,” she says.

“The course might sound complicated and boring but it’s not. It is enjoyable because it’s all about sharing knowledge. You get to be part of a group discussion, learn from other participants’ feedback and learn how to take their business to the next level. It’s one of those things you can’t put a price on – when you see a participant having a lightbulb moment and suddenly all the financial jargon that was a mystery to them is clear, and they ask themselves – ‘Why didn't I think of this before?’”

The farmer

“There is anecdotal evidence that there are poorer levels of financial literacy in some rural areas compared to cities,” says Sarah Parker, a dairy farmer near Shepparton, member of the VFF's Farm Business and Regional Development Committee and treasurer of Australian Women in Agriculture and Vice President of the National Rural Women’s Coalition.

“And within agriculture, there are different aspects of a business to which financial literacy is required and applied.”

“It’s not just about knowing how much money comes in and how much goes out because modern farms are very complex businesses,” Sarah says.

“On our dairy farm, Glencliffe, we have many different budgets. We have a budget for feed, we have a budget for water as we have to purchase it for

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Above: Sarah and Raymond Parker with their Glencliffe Illawarra herd.

irrigation and we have a milk-production budget that looks at how much money we earn producing milk before we pay expenses like leases, taxes, wages, repairs, maintenance and electricity. Budgets are really important management tools and if you don't understand them you'll struggle,” she says.

“For Farmers (and indeed most SMEs), just figuring out your financial position, what accountants call ‘working capital’ let along the balance sheet is complex. The everyday citizen would say I have $50,000 in my bank account – that's my cash-in-hand – and I can go and buy or make purchases using this.

But a farmer might have seventy mega-litres of water, two silos full of grain, a certain number of livestock, a shed full of hay and so much money in the bank – all of which must be taken into consideration to get a proper understanding of their financial position.

That’s where we get the saying, a shed full of hay is as good as money in the bank’. You also need to

DID YOU KNOW? ▶ Only 35 per cent of all Australians know the exact value of their superannuation, according to a survey by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission ▶ People under 25 are the least financially literate. Only one in four understand compound interest, diversified investments and inflation, according to the Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey

Business

remember that the farm assets are not always owned by a single person or family they can be owned by multiple generations or several families.’

“How did I improve at understanding finance?

Part of it came through a company director's course.

The other from doing a course such as at TAFE and at University and from practical learning with guidance from those who have experience. I often say to young farmers and our next generation that financial literacy is not just a skill and knowledge acquired from a text book. You need a mentor or advisor who can teach you about financial planning and management. For example, if you wish to increase your herd size because of a good season and milk price, you do not necessarily go out and buy more cows. You need to make the purchasing decision with some critical thinking such as do you have the feed, labour and resources such as infrastructure to support an increase in herd size or could you perhaps feed your existing herd more efficiently to increase milk production or work on increasing over time, using for example sexed semen or purchasing young stock and rearing them. Only when you are living and working on a farm can you begin to understand the complex financial nature of running a complex and in some cases multi-million-dollar agribusiness.”

Sarah says that a good source of information and help with financial literacy and financial management with agriculture is the rural financial counselling service, local commodity organisations such as Murray Dairy, and the state’s Department of Agriculture. “They all deliver programs that can help, and grow your knowledge and confidence.

Good practical programs that can assist farmers with building financial literacy and management skills include Victorian Government’s ‘Young Farmer Mentoring Program’ and Murray Dairy’s Planning and Budgeting Tools.”

Top to bottom: Ariel view of Sarah and Raymond Parker’s farm and home – Glencliffe; Sarah at work milking the herd; the Illawarra herd at Glencliffe.

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Helping our regional and rural customers Introducing the Regional Advisory Network (RAN): a new program we’ve put together for our regional, rural and remote customers that ensures we’re going the extra mile to help when and where they need it most.

What is it?

The Telstra Regional Advisory Network (or RAN) is a program that helps our regional customers (Consumer, Small Business & Enterprise) to get connected wherever they are in regional, rural or remote Australia.. It provides holistic service solutions using our experts from regional Australia, as well as our Network & IT team and field technicians, to provide customers with a range of services from a simple fix to fully integrated and bespoke network solutions to ensure you’re able to make the most of your connection using our regional footprint. And it’s a big footprint.

We have the largest regional mobile network by a country mile: We cover 1 million square kilometres across regional Australia that is not served by any other network. It’s because of this investment and long history of supporting the regions that we wanted to ensure that our customers outside the major cities are able to get the help they need and deserve.

The RAN program has been designed to help customers who are having connectivity issues in their home, business premises or on the road. We want to be able to fix these problems the way that our regional customers need: by

putting the right people on the job who understand the issue in detail and who can recommend a solution.

The RAN team is made up of expert Regional Network Advisors (or RNAs) from our Networks & IT team and Local Communications Advisors (LCAs) from our skilled field technician team, who are supported by the wider Regional Australia team. The RNAs and LCAs are scattered around the country so no matter where you live, you’ll have access to them, locals helping locals!

Why have we created it?

In an ever-evolving digital world, we understand the critical role telecommunications plays in regional Australia. Whether it’s connecting with family and friends, educating the kids, running your business or calling for help, having a reliable service is essential.

We also have a dedicated regional team with deep technical knowledge who understand the reality of connectivity and are able to help all customers make the most out of the network.

So, we have put two and two together to deliver a personalised face to face service to

How does it work?

You can find out more about the Regional Advisory Network and how to speak to someone on our team at our Regional Australia page https://Telstra.com/ regionalaustralia For Mobile Coverage issues – You’ll be asked to complete a few questions online that will go to the specialist team, who will then arrange to call you back to understand more about your situation and what solutions will help get the outcome you’re after.

To invite a network expert to your event – This will give you the option to request the engagement of an RNA/LCA to attend a community event, to ensure the event has the right network support.

help our customers by leveraging our team of experts.

The RAN is an integral part of Telstra’s broader Regional Workforce Strategy with a focus on maintaining Telstra’s workforce integrity in regional areas.

Logistics

Harvest haul strains rural transport network A bumper harvest has put even more strain on Victoria’s regional road and rail network.

Words: Annabel Mactier Photography: Charlie Kinross

More trucks add to the strain An additional 10,000 trucks will be required to transport the grain each month, only exacerbating long-term issues of chronic underfunding within Victoria’s freight network.

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VFF Grains Group thanks its major sponsors Graincorp and GRDC

A

ccording to ABARES data, the 2020/21 Victorian harvest was the largest on record – with a 9,548 kilotonne harvest. This is up 26.9 per cent from 2019/20, and even slightly exceeding the previous record harvest of 2016/17.

An additional 3.5 million hectares of grain were planted last year, an increase of 9 per cent from the previous year.

While the bumper grain harvest is great news for farmers, it will put immense pressure on Victoria’s already strained regional road and rail freight networks as it goes from paddock to market.

An additional 10,000 trucks will be required to transport the grain each month, only exacerbating long-term issues of chronic under-funding within Victoria’s freight network.

An audit of state-controlled roadways conducted by the Victorian Auditor General Office in 2017 found that ‘the increasing proportion of the state road network in very poor condition presents a growing risk to public safety and increases road user costs’.

Farmers on the frontline

This is something Minyip grain grower Ryan Milgate is seeing directly on his twice weekly trips to deliver grain and hay to livestock and dairy farmers across South West Victoria.

“The roads are seriously appalling in some spots,” says Ryan.

Most concerning to him is that it is not just limited to low traffic farm access roads, but key arterial roads as well.

Road managers are increasingly using localised speed reductions as a band-aid solution for poor pavements as a result of limited funding. Ryan points to the nearby DonaldMinyip Road which has a number of 80km sections, but says you can see this across the state.

“It’s terrible – speed reductions have just become the norm in most areas. Meanwhile we’re losing productivity because we have to go so slowly.”

As Dimboola grain grower Ash Brooks points out, the issue extends beyond agriculture.

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Logistics

“This is a safety issue for anyone using regional roads.”

Ash and her family live near the Western Highway which in addition to being the second business national highway in terms of freight movement, is also the most dangerous major road in Victoria with 27 fatalities in just five years.

Like many grain growers she relies on this road to deliver grain as well as access key critical services in Horsham, Ballarat and Melbourne.

“It urgently needs upgrading. Like much of Victoria’s country road network it was established more than a century ago and many roads no longer perform the function for which they were designed,” Ash says.

“The worst thing is that this all could have been avoided, says Ryan. “Victoria used to have fantastic roads, but there’s been no planning or maintenance and we’re going backwards.

Everything has to leave the farm by truck so it’s critical we get this right.”

What can be done?

The VFF is calling on the Victorian Government to make substantial investments in upgrading and maintaining regional road and rail freight networks.

“Farming communities are concerned that there is a backlog of regional infrastructure developments that needs to be addressed

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Supply chain efficiency Improving Victoria’s rail freight network is another key to improve supply chain efficiency, especially for grain grown long distances from ports.

Below, left to right: Grain grower Ash Brooks and her family on their Dimboola Farm; Minyip grain grower Ryan Milgate.

immediately. Failing to do so will hold our rural economies back from reaching their potential and compromise the safety of Victorians travelling on our country roads,” says VFF President, Emma Germano.

Improving Victoria’s rail freight network is another key to improve supply chain efficiency, especially for grain grown long distances from ports.

One train can literally take dozens of trucks off the roads, but years of under-funding has left Victoria’s rail freight network in a dire situation.

“Our freight rail network is critically undermaintained and the urgently needed Murray Basin Rail Project is already two years overdue,” says VFF Grains President, Ashley Fraser.

“On certain sections of track, trains have been reduced to a maximum speed of 20km per hour.”

Setting legislative obligations for roads is another way to improve road safety and quality.

The 2021 Inquiry into the Increased Victorian Road Toll found that there is currently no legislative obligation for roads to be built or maintained to a certain standard to increase safety for road users.

It recommended that the Victorian Government publish an annual report on road standards that states the star rating for highways, arterial roads and undertake and publish research to determine the cost and timeframe of ensuring all highways, arterial roads and other roads of significant in Victoria are a minimum 3 star rating.

Whatever the outcome, it’s clear that the rural and regional transport infrastructure in Victoria must be urgently upgraded.

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WORKPLACE RELATIONS ADVICE

SECURING YOUR BUSINESS The Workplace Relations Team at the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) provides tailored and up-to-date advice on workplace related matters.

The team delivers updates for members on key issues pertaining to employment, clarifying information from the Fair Work Commission, and explaining the information in clear terms to help members understand their employment obligations.

The Workplace Relations Team’s services are available to full commodity members of the VFF, either by a subscription to the Workplace Relations Handbook or an hourly fee-for-service arrangement.

Critical advice and expertise Areas of advice the Team can assist with includes: Ü Federal and State employment legislation Ü The National Employment Standards (NES) Ü Interpretation of modern awards Ü Wage rate information Ü Employment contracts Ü Performance counselling Ü Warning letters Ü Abandonment of employment Ü Termination of employment Ü Redundancy Ü The Fair Work Information Statement Ü Workplace policies and procedures Ü Workers compensation Ü Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Ü Legislative developments Ü Court & tribunal rulings Ü Enterprise Agreements and bargaining

Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü

Union entry Union rule interpretation Workplace bullying Discrimination Adverse action cases General protections Flexible work arrangements Pay and remuneration Equal opportunity Underpayment of wages

The Team also offers individual consultations for VFF members on a fee-for-service basis, providing professional and comprehensive advice on the following: Ü Agreement making Ü Mediations with agencies such as Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman Ü Workplace audits Ü Representation (Fair Work Commission)

WORKPLACE RELATIONS ADVICE

SECURING YOUR BUSINESS Reducing your risk By utilising the fee-for-service option, members greatly reduce the following financial risks to their business, including: Ü Underpayment Ü Unfair dismissals Ü Safe working conditions Ü Correct documentation Ü Equal Employment Opportunity Ü Anti-Discrimination As an example, the VFF service reduces the risk of an infringement notice being issued by a Fair Work Inspector (FWI) to an employer who fails to follow the required record-keeping and pay slip workplace obligations. This includes: Ü Not making or keeping time and wage records Ü Not including the right information on a pay slip or employee record Ü Not issuing pay slips within the required time limits

Timely information and peace of mind Workplace Relations is a necessity for businesses small and large in today’s climate, due to the ever changing legislation, rules and regulations, and entitlements to employees. Workplace entitlements that are being regularly updated include: Ü Ü Ü Ü

Your investment Full commodity members of the VFF who subscribe to the VFF Workplace Relations Handbook can call for advice anytime on workplace relations matters and the advice, in many instances, could reduce your business risks. Financial penalties can be applied to the individual business owner who is deemed at fault, or they could be applied to the entire business.

The VFF Workplace Relations Handbook, which contains all your workplace relations needs, is available to commodity members of the VFF for $204 (including GST, postage and handling). The subsequent annual subscription fee, which provides regular Handbook updates, is $165 per year (plus GST).

In addition, the VFF Workplace Relations Team, is available on a fee-for-service basis to provide assistance at $200 per hour (plus GST).

JOIN NOW For all your workplace relations needs, please contact us 1300 882 833 wr@vff.org.au

Casual rights per all modern awards Family violence and domestic unpaid leave Overtime for casuals (horticulture) Labour Hire Licensing Act (all industries)

With access to the VFF Workplace Relations Team you, as a member and employer, can make sure you are doing the right thing by your employees, keeping up-to-date with changes and minimising your chance of any infringement or claims. Infringement notices can be quite expensive at a cost of: Ü Up to $1260 per breach for an individual Ü Up to $6300 per breach for a corporation

September 2019

Safety Report

There is an elephant in the farm industry and it needs to be removed The farm industry has featured at the top of the list of industries with the highest rate of workplace fatalities – both in Australia and Victoria – almost every year for the last decade.

What is being done to change things?

Words: John Darcy (VFF Senior Farm Safety Advisor)

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Room for improvement If you ask most farmers whether they believe that they provide a safe workplace for their employees, most will inevitably say “yes”. Some will say “there is always room for improvement” almost conceding that they know that things are not quite right.

W

hen the statistics are announced each year by Safe Work Australia, or WorkSafe Victoria, there has been a propensity for industry representatives to rationalise the numbers on the basis that ‘the farming industry is an inherently dangerous industry’.

When the numbers of farm fatalities and serious injuries are broken down by causation – quad bikes, tractors, grain augers and contact with animals have featured consistently at the top year after year.

In recent years side-by-sides (UTVs) have jumped into the list as they have come into the market.

A report by industry research body, AgriFutures Australia highlighted that the number of workplace fatalities (58) in farming in 2020 was the same as the year before.

In Victoria, the industry contributed to almost one in five workplace fatalities (14) despite the industry employing only three per cent of the workforce. Quad bikes accidents were number one and side by sides were number two.

In a farmer’s opinion

If you ask most farmers whether they believe that they provide a safe workplace for their employees, most will inevitably say “yes”. Some will say “there is always room for improvement” almost conceding that they know that things are not quite right.

When I’m talking with farmers at branch meetings or events about safety, almost half of them will tell you about someone they knew who was seriously injured or killed.

Ask these same people whether they have met their legal duties to eliminate the risks in their workplace – or if unable to eliminate them to reduce them so far as is reasonably practicable – and most would look bewildered because the legal expectations have never been explained to them.

In a judge’s opinion

The test of what is reasonably practicable is an objective test. In the event of a workplace accident resulting in a prosecution the objective person that would be making the assessment would be a judge or magistrate.

The judge would consider these five factors in determining whether the employer met their duty ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’.

• The likelihood of an accident • The severity of the accident • The ways and means available to prevent the accident from occurring • The cost (which includes a test of gross disproportion) • What a person knows or ought to (reasonably) know

Thinking is not doing

It is the last of these factors that bring most employers undone.

It is concerning that some employers in the industry believe that it is sufficient to rely upon the ‘common sense’ of their workers. That could relate AUTUMN 2021

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Safety Report

to how they ride a quad bike or a side by side safely, or it could be about not putting their hands near the unguarded power take off (PTO) shaft.

These employers are unconsciously exposing their employees to risks of death or serious injury, and themselves to prosecution including the possibility of workplace manslaughter charges.

So how might a judge or magistrate consider what a farmer ‘ought to know’ about OPDs, PTO guards and seat belts on side by sides?

There is no question that operator protective devices (OPDs) save lives because they prevent riders from being crushed when a quad bike rolls over.

Reducing the risk so far as is reasonably practicable entails ensuring that an OPD is fitted, workers are trained and competent and that helmets are worn.

There are plenty of farmers that have told their stories about how an OPD saved their life.

PTO guards stop people from getting their hands, hair and clothing caught in unguarded PTOs. Farmers often take them off during maintenance and then leave them off. But guards are essential.

Seatbelts stop drivers from being catapulted from a side by side in the event of a collision, but are also necessary to ensure that the secondary safety device – the speed limiters – remain operable. The argument that it was not practical to wear a seat belt because it would have to be undone multiple times

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Savings farmers' lives The challenge lies ahead of us.

We must commit to doing the things that are known to save lives. Look at your farm and see if the PTOs are guarded, the OPDs are in place, the guards are on the augers and that seatbelts are being used.

QUAD BIKE SAFETY Farmers need to be conscious of OHS liability risks in quad bike purchases.

There has been a marked increase in the purchase of quad bikes over the last few months, which has in part been attributed to the declarations by some of the major quad bike manufacturers that they will withdraw from the Australian market as a result of the quad bike safety regulations put in place by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).

The VFF is urging its members to ensure that they factor in the purchase and installation of OPDs onto the new quad bikes that they are purchasing.

Breaches of the workplace manslaughter offence will be characterised by three factors: ▶ Whether a duty was owed under the Act (e.g. the employer duty to provide a safe workplace) ▶ Whether a death was caused by the conduct of the business or its officers ▶ The conduct of the business, or its officers, was negligent Proving the first element is something that WorkSafe already does in bringing about OHS prosecutions. The employer duties under the Act are premised on the concept to ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’.

Some farmers may approach the idea of purchasing their quad bikes whilst they are still available for purchase without OPDs installed because it is their preference to not have the devices fitted.

Whilst the requirements for mandatory installation of OPDs under the Consumer Goods (Quad Bikes) Safety Standard 2019 do not take effect until October 2021, farmers should be mindful that this stipulation applies to manufacturers and that farmers, as employers, have to have regard for the state of knowledge that applies to themselves (i.e. not the manufacturers) today. to collect calves or lambs out in the field will not stand up in a court of law.

Why are workers being killed in side by side accidents? Because they are not wearing seatbelts and helmets. It is an employer’s legal duty to ensure that these things are used.

The challenge lies ahead of us. We must commit to doing the things that are known to save lives.

Please look at your farm and see if the PTOs are guarded, the OPDs are in place, the guards are on the augers and that seatbelts are being used.

If not, you know what you have to do and the VFF’s Safety Team is only a phone call away.

Members are urged to consider their decisionmaking not in the context of the rules that will apply to manufacturers and dealers from next year, but how the OHS laws could possibly be applied to themselves from 1 July 2020 onwards.

As always, the VFF Safety Team is available to help guide you through your safety obligations.

The VFF Safety Team can be contacted on 1300 882 833 or further information can be viewed on our website: vff.org.au/project/making-our-farms-safer

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Let there be water Steve Marshall’s interesting journey in avocado farming led him to becoming a champion for recycled water usage in the Mornington Peninsula region.

Words and photography: Charles Everist

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Meet a Farmer

S

teve Marshall did not grow up in a traditional farming family. Raised in Melbourne he was not exposed to the daily experience that prepares most farmers for a life in agriculture.

This however did not stop his passion for farming, which developed during visits to his family-owned property at Shoreham on the Mornington Peninsula.

“My father tried his hand at growing all sorts of tree crops including nuts, and after seeing that, I wanted to make a go of it myself.

So he encouraged me to go off and get my agricultural science degree.”

Steve adds that he’s had the benefit in recent years of industry funded leadership courses such as the Young Food Innovators Program and the Leadership Exploration and Development Program.

Consultation and avocados

Whilst completing his studies, Steve founded his own horticulture consulting and contracting company which he has operated on the Peninsula since 1992. Through the knowledge he developed in the early years of his business he set himself the challenge of pioneering the growing and commercialisation of avocados in the hinterland overlooking Western Port Bay. The trees – which historically come from Mexico, Guatemala and the West Indies are commercially grown in the sub-tropical regions of the world – are far from the ones you might expect to see growing in such a cool maritime climate.

“It has been an adaptive learning process over 30 years,” Steve says. “As an evolved rainforest tree, avocados are quite lazy and expect you to do all the work for them. I often joke that I’ve probably killed more trees in the process than actually grown them!”

Steve, who confesses to not eating avocados himself, manages a separate company to his consulting and contracting business branded as Peninsula Avocados. It operates the harvesting, processing and marketing of avocados that are grown by five local growers, including ones from his own family farm.

The avocados are processed in the one pack house and are typically pre-sold into the Melbourne Wholesale Market. A pool price arrangement is in place for the small network of growers that Steve manages through his consulting business.

Unfortunately for Steve this year, he was unable to pick a crop to send into the market with a particularly cold spring in 2019 disrupting fruit growth. The avocados that did manage to produce remained on the tree alongside the juvenile fruit that flowered in spring last year.

“Because the fruit has a long hang time on the tree of up to 14 months, there is actually an overlap where you’ll have this year’s and next year’s crop on the tree together. The long ‘hang time’ helps to develop a depth of flavour that is sought after. We are known for the quality of our fruit – we hardly ever get fruit coming back.”

It’s not only the cool maritime climate that makes avocado growing on the Peninsula a difficult enterprise. Harsh summers and heatwaves can also quickly decimate a promising crop in the blink of an eye.

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Keeping the avos cool Avocado grower Steve Marshall (left) lost whole crops in 2009 and 2015 because of a couple of 40 degree days hitting the trees just as they started fruiting.

"One way to combat the heat is to install high sprinklers like they do in Mildura to help cool down the trees and limit transpiration," he says.

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“We have lost whole crops in 2009 and 2015 because of a couple of 40 degree days hitting the trees just as they started fruiting. One way to combat the heat is to install high sprinklers like they do in Mildura to help cool down the trees and limit transpiration.”

Steve sees water as being the key to unlocking the potential of horticulture on the Peninsula, not just to produce more, but also to help safeguard the industry against a changing climate.

“Plenty of high quality, salt-free water is needed to grow avocados because coming from the rainforest, they are used to getting an afternoon drink every day from the sky. We work on 20,000 litres per tree in a season and we are set up with mini sprinklers under each tree. We also do a lot of targeted fertilising through the irrigation system.”

Water everywhere, but still not a drop to spare

On the other side of the Peninsula, 350 megalitres of recycled water spews into the ocean at Gunnamatta Beach every day. For decades the outfall has been a great cause of concern for local beachgoers including surfers and fishermen with reports of people becoming sick after swimming, and of damage to marine life.

Nearly half of Melbourne’s wastewater is treated at Bangholme and then piped under the entire length of the Peninsula until it spills into Bass Strait.

Years of campaigning eventually led to Melbourne Water upgrading its treatment systems to go from producing Class C water to the higher quality Class A. At the same time, communities on the Peninsula could not believe so much water was being wasted, which could otherwise be used to help water golf courses, parks and help grow the local agricultural industry. Mornington Peninsula resident Russell Joseph – who at the time was working for the local state member of parliament – started reaching out to local farmers to see if using the treated water was feasible.

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“Initially I was trying to find a way to help replenish the creeks in the hinterland which were drying up because of the construction of dams,” Russell explains. “It seemed like a no-brainer to somehow use the river of water that passes us by every day. Steve Marshall heard about the idea and got in touch with me offering to help and that’s where it started.”

In 2015 Steve and Russell set about coming up with a way to take advantage of the recycled water rushing out to sea.

“If you said to any farmer that we are deliberately wasting 350 megalitres of water a day they would think you are crazy. We have options about how to use this water,” Steve says.

“Our first idea was to drill down into the pipe from Arthurs Seat. We then found a government reserve sitting above the pipeline, which also happens to be the shortest distance between the outfall pipe and a high point on Arthurs Seat. A new pipe would not need to cross any private land. All the land is government owned and could be installed underground with minimal disturbance.

“Once the water gets to the top of the hill, we worked out that it’s possible to deliver to a network across the hinterland using gravity. Pretty soon we started to realise just what an elegant design the scheme could be.”

However, despite the outfall water being technically suitable and approved by the EPA for irrigation, Steve knew it still has the ability to cause long-term soil degradation and pollution via nutrient runoff unless it was post-treated to remove salt and other contaminants that still remain.

Imitating the rainforest Steve is already growing wine grapes (pictured above) and says there is the potential to grow other high value crops such as citrus, persimmons, hops and flowers.

Meet a Farmer

“The more I think about it, I see this project as being a bushfire safety one, as much as it will benefit agriculture. We haven’t had a major fire through the area for a long time and everything surrounding us is more than 50 years of regrowth,” Steve says.

“There are big problems with the CFA being able to access water up here,” he adds. “With pipes travelling next to every road, and regular supply points, crews will be able to fill up safely away from the fire ground, but without having to travel so far that they can’t commit to a full attack on the fire.”

Back in Shoreham

“That’s particularly a concern for growing avocados because the trees require careful management of their nutrient needs,” Steve says.

“We also don’t want to be dumping truckloads of salt onto what are some of the best soils in country.”

The solution was to treat the water at the off-take site by reverse osmosis, a process that requires large quantities of electricity, which can be supplied by an on-site solar electricity facility.

Together Steve, Russell and other members of their Hinterland Environmental Water Scheme (HEWS) group secured Commonwealth funding for a feasibility study, which has been matched with co-contributions from Mornington Peninsula Shire and South East Water. The project has received support from a range of organisations including the Mornington Peninsula branch of the VFF. “We have full cooperation now from state, federal and local government,” Russell says. “An engineering firm has been engaged to do the technical work and everyone is working hard to make the HEWS a reality.

The feasibility study will conclude this year and we are confident it will prove this thing works.”

One of the added advantages of the proposed project is the ready supply of water to be made available in the event of bushfires.

With a reliable source of water, Steve is excited about the potential not just for his own business, but for all landowners in the hinterland region.

“Fundamentally we need more food trees in the ground. The more plantings we have, the greater our market share, and the more resilience we have if something goes wrong on one farm. We need water to do that. Not to mention the carbon that these trees will sequest,” he says.

“Farmland down here is not being utilised. We don’t want to see it just being cut for round bails on some of the best soils in the country. Most livestock farms are small scale and are 50 acres or less. Land values are going up with those farms struggling to cover their rates. Just 30 acres of irrigated agriculture would see returns far in excess of what could be earned on the 100 acres.”

If the Hinterland Environmental Water Scheme is successful, Steve has recommended the creation of a trial site on the Peninsula with the support of the council to prove the variety of innovative crops that can be grown commercially.

“These things have to be led by example. When I had my first planting of avocados, I called it my show room. If you can show a potential grower what you are doing, and that it actually works in the real world, then it’s believable. If you try to just show them on a piece of paper, then it doesn’t look real,” Steve says.

“We are already growing wine grapes, strawberries, cherries, olives, and of course avocados. What are the next 10 crops we can grow to extend markets? There is the potential to grow other high value crops such as citrus, persimmons, hops and flowers. All we have to do is just add water.”

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Socials

Out & About

Here we showcase some of the best shots from our members all over the state.

If you have a great photo of your farm that you’d like us to publish, send your shots to: media@vff.org.au and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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7 1. An ominous storm rolls in over Diretto’s Orchard in Cobram.

2. The High Country mountain calf sales return in Benambra.

3. Kim Tupper from the VFF’s Membership team catching up with farmers in Murtoa.

4. Stunning autumn skies near Warrnambool.

5. Mark Billing inspecting stock and incredible feed levels.

6. Follow the leader.

7. Spectacular evening sunset near Seymour.

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5

The Last Word

Manure confusion causes a stink The Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) waste classification has caused mass confusion for Victorian farmers.

Words: VFF Egg Group President, Brian Ahmed

F

armers have been using manure and organic compost by-products as a valuable resource for as long as they can remember.

For many of us, its production and use is part of everyday farming life in feedlots, intensive agricultural systems, broad acre cropping systems, market gardens and much more.

That’s why the government’s insistence to classify manure as industrial waste under the new Environmental Protection Act has completely stumped a lot of us and caused mass confusion amongst farmers.

It is true that animal manure has, by default, been classified as industrial waste in Victoria since 1970, but in the new Act this was clarified and a new layer of regulation proposed.

Animal manure and compost have been used in agriculture as fertilisers and soil improvers for centuries, so why all of a sudden is it now a problem? This was an opportunity to create a new more positive classification for manure, and this position was argued at the time by the VFF. As an industry, we’ve implemented a comprehensive range of management practices

when using animal manure and organic compost on our farms.

These include nutrient budgeting, runoff prevention, application technique and timing, soil condition monitoring and record keeping to name a few.

It’s clear that as farmers and as an industry, we are doing our part to ensure we maintain the best possible practices for the demands of modern farming.

Farmers are responsible and are always looking at better ways to deal with their waste on farms in an environmentally friendly way that will allow our farms to remain sustainable. Farmers have well recognised QA systems which the majority of farmers adhere to.

The EPA has acknowledged farmers who meet their obligations under their approved QA systems will comply under EPA. The VFF’s goal in responding to this process is to ensure that no practice change is required on farms that are doing the right thing.

To this end the VFF has asked the EPA to recognise existing industry good practice, guidelines and quality assurance schemes rather than applying another layer of regulation.

What do you want to hear about in The Last Word?

Let us know at media@vff.org.au AUTUMN 2021

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Looking for a water solution?

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