NSW Farmers Association, Media Release 14 March 2022

The state’s peak farming body is calling on the state government to clearly set out rules around productivity of agricultural land.

NSW Farmers President James Jackson said increasing urban sprawl and new developments were eating away at the state’s farming land, which will ultimately reduce the amount of food we can grow.

“There’s an old saying that they’re not making any more dirt, and when it comes to agricultural land there is a finite amount of it that we cannot afford to lose,” Mr Jackson said.

“Unless we have a very clear set of rules purpose-built to ensure the productivity of agricultural land, we risk losing it and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

“It is critical that we take this issue seriously, otherwise we’ll find ourselves in a very precarious position when it comes to our capacity to grow high quality food for our community.”

The NSW Farmers Executive Council has resolved to pursue reforms to protect and retain agricultural land, specifically:

• a clear whole-of-government vision and objectives to protect agricultural land and minimise land use conflict over the long term;
• an agreed upon framework for the categorization of agricultural land, incorporating agreed regional and state targets for retaining agricultural land and ongoing monitoring and evaluation;
• a duty on state government agencies to consider impacts to agricultural land in all decision making;
• improved dispute resolution mechanisms for land use conflict, upholding existing land-use and routine farming practices.

Mr Jackson said with world population on the rise while climate variability increased, the need to continue growing Australian agriculture was essential.

“Our farms feed 75 million people every year, and more people means more mouths to feed,” Mr Jackson said.

“Current data on land capability is outdated and does not consider much beyond soil quality and slope, so there’s an awful lot of work to be done in protecting agricultural land from inappropriate development.

“There must be a ‘duty’ on government to consider future agricultural needs in their planning in the same way environmental needs must be considered, and to ensure routine farming activities are protected from nuisance complaints.”