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High freight costs undermining competitiveness of Australia’s agricultural commodities
Vivien Lin
A new report from AgriFutures Australia shows that freight costs are dampening the competitiveness of Australian agricultural commodities.
The research, produced under AgriFutures’ National Rural
Issues Program
, analyses the freight costs that Australian farm businesses
face when moving commodities from farm to processor, port or domestic market
across five major commodity groups including beef, milk powder, canola,
cherries and poultry.
It reveals that logistics are the largest single cost item in the production of many agricultural products, accounting for up to 48.5 per cent of farm-gate costs.
“In Australia, freight costs are highest for grains at 27.5 per cent of gross income, and fruit and vegetables at 21 per cent,” says John Harvey, Managing Director of AgriFutures Australia.
The report compares domestic analysis with international
agricultural supply chains to benchmark Australia’s performance on agricultural
transport costs against its global competitors.
“Knowing how much farmers pay for transporting their produce to consumers is crucial to measure the competitiveness of Australian farmers and to find out where the transport of agricultural goods faces pinch points and bottlenecks,” says Mr Harvey. “The report shows that Australia has comparatively higher freight costs for many of our key commodities compared to our international competitors and it’s hurting our bottom line.”
This research underlines the importance of improving transport efficiencies for agriculture by strategically investing in infrastructure. Establishing competitive modes of transport will ensure that Australian agriculture can reach its full export potential.
“Strategic planning and regulatory framework are required to
ensure infrastructure can be efficiently utilised by industry,” says Mr Harvey.
The National Farmers’
Federation
(NFF) has welcomed the research,
recognising the value of supply chain data for the agricultural sector.
“It is critical to look beyond the ‘now’ to consider future agricultural freight issues and to highlight possible options for potential improvement in transport infrastructure and regulation within the agricultural sector,” says Tony Mahar, CEO of the NFF.
One option for improving efficiency is to utilise air freight for transporting commodities. Agricultural producers can take advantage of enhanced air travel services and lower freight rates, especially given the depreciating Australian dollar.
Research
from Meat & Livestock Australia
shows
that air-freight trade is already being used by Australian sheep meat farmers
to meet high demand in the Middle East and North Africa, which represents
Australia’s largest chilled sheep meat export market. The rise of air-freight
trade to this region addresses the logistical challenges of supplying large
volumes of chilled sheep meat with strict shelf life thresholds through slower
sea-freight channels.
However, most airfreight is currently shipped through capital city airports, given few regional airports have the necessary aircraft and frequency required to offer significant regular freight capacity. The potential for air freight to improve the competitiveness of Australia’s exports will therefore depend on improving regional infrastructure close to food production areas.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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