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What’s in the Budget for farmers and rural Australians?
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the 2019-20 federal Budget in Canberra last night, with funding for agricultural stewardship, improved market access for Australian products, asset write-offs for small farm businesses and nearly $4 billion for an Emergency Response Fund to support future natural disaster recovery efforts.
Of course, with an election just around the corner, much of the new measures and funding changes announced in the Budget may not be legislated if the Coalition government is not returned to power. So, while much of the Budget may not ever materialise and should be taken with a grain of salt, the highlights for the agricultural sector included:
- $3.9 billion for a long-term Emergency Response Fund to provide additional resources to tackle future natural disasters
- $160 million for two more rounds of the Mobile Blackspot Program and $60 million to improve the NBN Sky Muster connectivity
- A $34 million Agricultural Stewardship package
- $29.4 million over four years to increase the market access for agricultural exports and ease trade barriers
- The instant asset write-off increased to $35,000 for businesses with a turnover of less than $50 million
- Eligibility for the Farm Household Allowance will be extended
Noticeably missing from the Budget was any action on the much-requested Agricultural Visa and a concrete plan for support for agricultural innovation and broader research and development.
Despite the lack of action on the Agricultural Visa, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) applauded the budget for initiatives that support the vision of a $100 billion agricultural industry by 2030.
“We have a vision for agriculture to be a $100 billion industry by 2030,” said NFF President Fiona Simson. “Achieving this goal requires Government to invest now in the areas identified as crucial to our growth.
"As we head into the federal election we need a clear commitment to a National Strategy for Agriculture. We’ll be working closely with all sides of politics to ensure the sensible measures contained in tonight’s budget survive the coming election.”
The reaction was more measured however from the University of Melbourne’s Professor Ruth Nettle, who analysed the budget from an agricultural perspective.
You have to look across the whole budget statement to find benefits for agriculture, and realise these benefits will depend on the detail,” said Professor Nettle. “Overall, there appears a mix of short-term support and a step in the right direction for some of the medium to longer term challenges.”
You can check out the 2019-20 Budget in full by clicking here.
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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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