Rural Australia has been mobile long before genius Steve Jobs released the iPhone and iPad, however until recently, mobile has meant the physical motion required to fulfil ones daily duties, their livelihood and our lunchtime relies on it.

As the global population swells, farmers have the weight of feeding the world on their shoulders. They will do this by continuing to do what they have done for centuries; innovating, educating and embracing technology to create efficiencies.

It is no secret that smartphones and tablets are saturating mainstream Australia, I am writing this on my iPad right now with my iPhone where it is at all times, within arms reach, just in case I need to check the weather, check-in, log my daily calorie intake, bid on that jacket, download a tune or scan a code. Not really game changing stuff for anyone but me!

Nielsen Online Ratings (mobile market intelligence Nov 2011) shows that in 2011 internet use on a mobile grew 71% in Australia.  In 2012 we will see this saturation of mobile continue to extend beyond the divide in to the hands of regional and rural Australians, enabling them to access the real time information they would not have previously had access to.

This will help them become mobile problem solvers, weather men/women, farm planners, parasitologists and agronomists, as they continue to do what they do best, more efficiently. Now that’s game changing.

Regular analysis of websites we develop for companies investing in regional and rural Australia reveals a steady rise over the past 12 months of traffic to websites from mobile phones or tablets. It is still heading north and as of 5 mins ago is around 30%.

These figures are not going unnoticed and many useful tools have already been created for Australian farmers, for example the Agvantage Dose Rate calculator, Elders Weather App and CottonMap. These are great examples because they are useful and designed with an understanding of their audience.

I fear the temptation for some has been too great and their desire to be first has led them into the app trap, a resting place where their time and hard earned is no more than an icon cluttering your screen that you looked at once or worse, deleted!

It is not hard to fall into the trap when bamboozled by developer jargon; jquery, java, silverlight, silverfox, iframe, API, what??? The needs you identified for your audience are quickly taken over by those who speak geek with an agenda.

Do you need a native app, web app, mobile site, do you need a website at all? or can your brands digital strategy exist solely within social media networks??? These are the questions that need to be addressed up front, as quite often the right solution isn’t the one with the biggest price tag, not that they will tell you that!

For those that truly understand the geniuses of the land, the mobile is an opportunity to drive their productivity and lift a little weight from their shoulders, in their quest to produce more food from the same amount of land, while steering clear of the app trap.

Libby Nixon

Account Director

I always love when a gentle summer breeze pushes against a wheat crop that’s ready for harvest. In my imagination, it’s like watching waves roll across a vast ocean of grain.

That was the creative inspiration we needed for the television launch of Roundup Attack with IQ inside, the smart, new glyphosate formulation that’s taken Nufarm Australia 8 years and millions of dollars in research and trials to bring to market.

Why not, we thought, turn a pre-plant paddock into a sea of problem weeds that are being terrorised and devoured by the most fearsome predator in the ocean – a Great White shark.

Bring on Jaws, we chorused in creative euphoria. Now coming to a paddock near you!

With Stephen Spielberg for inspiration it was just a simple matter of filming a Great White surging through a paddock and launching itself into the air while chomping on an unfortunate ryegrass weed.

Did I use the word, simple? Well, technology and 3D animation have moved on from the days when Australian creatives would turn up in L.A with George Lucas aspirations.

Today we’re spoilt in Melbourne with some great post effects production talent that’s the equal of anyone in the world – and a hell of a lot cheaper.

After a 2 day shoot in down town, or rather out of town Horsham, we had the bare bones of a great TVC. All the meat, or should I say, terrified weeds, were added in post. But no commercial where Horsham meets Amityville would be complete without the classic underground shot where the roots of a weed dangle helplessly awaiting its horrible fate. That one shot took a week or two of experimentation, but the result helps create real drama and anticipation.

The commercial aired on Boxing Day with outstanding feedback and congratulations from the Nufarm sales team right across the country, together with big “well dones” from distribution.

However, none of this would have been possible without the constant and unwavering support of our partners in this very long process – the Nufarm marketing team. Thanks guys, because we have something to be very proud of!

by Paul Hand

The benchmark as a 7 year old was being able to roost a torpedo over the powerlines that ran through the house paddock connecting electricity to the shearing and machinery sheds.

30 years on and the old powerlines appear to be hanging decidedly lower. What once appeared as towering MCG like goal posts rising above the shed, now look like low hanging death traps!

I am not sure if it’s the fact our machinery has got larger, or the powerlines have got lower, but watching trucks arrive on-farm and contractors negotiate loading and unloading of livestock and grain, make me more than a little nervous.

The reality is, the same situation is happening across most farms every day right now, during one of Victoria’s biggest harvests in living history.

Dads, mums, brothers, sisters, grand parents, sons and daughters are all operating in high-risk environments without understanding the consequences of a moment’s lapse in concentration.

Many of the powerlines that stretch across regional Victoria are difficult to see as they are thin, single conduits with poles that are often hundreds of metres apart. These Single Wire Earth Return lines (SWER) carry 12,700 volts and any contact can be fatal.

This week, we are launching an awareness campaign for Energy Safe Victoria, reinvigorating the familiar “Look up and Live” concept.

The stark message of the advertising campaign is “Look up and live or dead and buried”, highlighting the tragic consequences that occur when trucks or machinery contact powerlines.

The campaign, targeting farmers, truck drivers and farm workers uses online advertising and social media along with press, radio and outdoor advertising to reach those most at risk.

Seven people have died across Victoria in the past six years as a result of accidental contact with powerlines, while many more have been injured.

So, what can you do to protect, remind and educate those in danger?

The first step is go directly to the Energy Safe Victoria website and download a copy of their “No Go Zone” rules and regulations – www.esv.vic.gov.au/For-Consumers/No-Go-Zones

You can also download a DVD and brochures, and even order stickers to place on machinery as an ever-present reminder for those at risk. Here are a few more tips to make sure this Christmas is spent with your family and not “dead and buried”:

• Always carry out a safety check before you start work
• Everyone working in the vicinity of powerlines, including farmers, tradespeople and truck drivers, need to take the time to identify powerlines in their immediate area
• Never raise truck trays underneath powerlines
• Make sure all bulk deliveries are stored well away from powerlines, and don’t move or use tall machinery near powerlines. This includes elevating work platforms, mobile grain silos, augers, headers, excavators, spray booms, irrigation pipes and scaffolding.
• Powerlines move in the wind and can sag with temperature and electrical load in the heat of summer, so always remain vigilant.

By Jim Gall

Both friends of mine, the conversation between them went something like this….

Financial Analyst to Farmer: “Gee, you must be excited about agriculture right now!! The sector looks like the place to invest!  Other than mining, it seems to be the only area of the economy which is really forging ahead, especially with this whole food security issue….”

Farmer to the Financial Analyst: “Well, you’ve got to be majorly concerned about our industry and its prospects when people like you start talking up farming and agriculture! If you think it’s all good news, why don’t you go farming?”

Ouch!

So it is with great excitement, but also a great deal of trepidation that I share with you this latest information from Neil Clarke and Associates  that hit my desk today.

Neil’s information is often relevant, insightful and always evidence based. This particular report is no exception, outlining some compelling data around a “new era of prosperity just around the corner” for Australian farmers.

They key findings are extremely exciting in that:

• Farmers are entering a period of exceptional cash flow with two years of estimated production of $50 billion;
• Farm numbers are declining but the number of large producers has increased by 74% in the past ten years;
• Banks remain positive lenders to the farm sector and total lending is now $60 billion;
• Machinery sales are at record levels and this will be followed by improving land values and farm sales;
• Water availability and storage dam levels are positive providing renewed security for irrigators and country towns

Now it’s not because the data isn’t accurate that I am nervous about this post, because I, like my friend from the financial industry, believe the fundamentals are strong.

However my trepidation stems from the fact my farming mates are still trying to harvest in the rain. The other point is, that although lending has increased, which I think is good for banks….so have farmers debt levels!

As another grain grower mate of mine from Boree Creek puts it, “it’s not in the bag, until it’s in the bag!” There are a lot of variables.

So when Neil says, “We fully expect that this renewed vigour in agriculture’s cash flow will boost spending on machinery and new technology, encourage land purchases, top up farmers’ bank accounts and stimulate spending in local towns,” I get nervous!

Not nervous because it won’t happen (although this is a little question mark after all this rain), but nervous that some in the industry may see this as an opportunity to profit from delivering poor quality products at a high price, at the expense of their most valuable commodity, their farmer customers!

Historically, farmers with cash flow and confidence will spend! But I am getting a funny feeling things are changing and just because they’ve got “grass fever”, doesn’t mean they will spend it on anything!

With unprecedented competition in our sector, especially from cheap overseas imports flooding the market, the key for us as marketers is to ensure we continue to invest in understanding what farmers want and always demonstrate a brands value.

Do this effectively, price the product based on what it can deliver, provide the service and proof around it and farmers will reward you.

I was in Swan Hill last week talking to some progressive rural retailers about fertiliser brands. After the usual harvest chat, the conversation quickly turned to communicating customer value.

Their value proposition was clear; “We provide the products, service and trial data in our growers back yard to boost their productivity”. With agronomy teams and extensive trials across their region, this sounds like a great reason to do business with them. In short, they make their farmers money!

What I concluded from this discussion and in context with Neil’s very exciting data about our farmers’ new found ‘prosperity’, was that farmers don’t spend any more! They are a little more like my friend from the financial industry, in that they now tend to invest only, in what makes them money!

I expect the next wedding, funeral or barbeque that I attend will have me playing Switzerland once again, sitting strategically between my city and country mates and reinforcing no matter what side of the fence we are on, “Agriculture is a great place to invest in right now. Just make sure you invest in those investing in you!”

Download Neil’s ‘Exceptional Prosperity for Farmers’ report here.

By Jim Gall

Incitec Pivot Fertilisers have taken a proactive approach to the very important issue of mental health, with the launch of the “help a mate” program.

The “Help a mate” program is an online community initiative aimed at informing, supporting and offering solutions for farmers and their families, who may be touched by mental health issues.  More than 1 in 5 men in rural Australia suffer depression.

For more information, farmers can register at Incitec Pivots’ Farmer Community website at www.farmercommunity.com.au.

The site features uplifting one-on-one interviews with farmers and their families who have directly combated depression.

It also features insightful interviews with Psychologist Dr Chris Day, who provides very actionable strategies for taking on this mental health initiative.

We have all known people effected by depression and it is encouraging to see Incitec Pivot Fertilisers taking such a lead role in addressing one of the big issues in rural and remote Australia.

Jo Clarke
Account Manager

Note from the editor: From Redhanded’s perspective, it was a great privilege travelling the country and interviewing these very brave and honest farmers who wished to share their stories for the benefit of others. Well done guys and congratulations to Incitec Pivot Fertilisers for spreading a very positive message about mental health.

Australian Farm Institute Agriculture Roundtable Conference 2011
Melbourne – 10 November 2011

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the farming sector in Australia. Perhaps more than any other parts of the Australian economy, farmers understand uncertainty. They live with uncertainty about rainfall and growing conditions. They live with uncertainty about the costs of their key inputs. And, of course, they live with uncertainty about the world prices for their outputs. It is this ability to deal with uncertainty that is one of the strong and enduring characteristics of the Australian farming sector. This morning, I would like to begin by talking a little about some of the uncertainties facing the global economy. I would then like to discuss why it is that, despite these uncertainties, the medium-term global environment facing the Australian farming sector is quite favourable. And then finally, I would like to briefly touch on current conditions in the farming sector in Australia.

The Global Environment Facing Farming
I would now like to look beyond these global macroeconomic risks to the medium-term global outlook facing the farming sector. And here the news is more positive. In short, farming is benefiting from some of the same underlying forces that have led to an improvement in the outlook for the mining sector: namely, the development of Asia and the steady rise in incomes of the many hundreds of millions of people who live on the Asian continent. As incomes rise, especially from low levels, food consumption tends to increase, and the increase is concentrated in food with relatively high value added. There is also growing demand for agricultural products for energy production. And this increase in demand is occurring at a time when global growth in agricultural productivity has been slow by the standards of previous decades.

This changing balance in global demand and supply can be seen in the global prices for agricultural goods, which have increased significantly. As one example, the IMF’s global food price index has almost doubled over the past decade, after trending lower in the 1980s and 1990s (Graph 1). While after adjusting for overall inflation, food prices are still just below their average over the twentieth century, the downward trend evident over most of the past 100 years appears to have stopped. And looking forward, there are reasonable prospects that higher prices are not just a temporary development. For example, in its latest review of world agriculture, the OECD is predicting that prices of a wide range of products over the next decade will be 20 to 30 per cent higher than their average over the past decade (after adjusting for inflation).^[1]

Graph 1

The higher prices of agricultural commodities – together with their greater volatility – have attracted the attention of policymakers around the world. Just last week, the G20 issued a comprehensive report looking at the reasons for these developments. Its central conclusion is that ‘marked shifts in the physical supply-demand balance … have been the main driver of the price fluctuations over the past ten years’ and that ‘for many commodities, the expansion of supply has fallen short of buoyant demand’.^[2] This buoyant demand for agricultural commodities is underpinned by rising food consumption per capita as incomes rise, particularly in Asia (Graph 2). Since the early 1960s, the number of kilojoules consumed on average per person across the planet has increased by almost 30 per cent. In China, the rise in average food consumption has been particularly pronounced, with food consumption per capita more than doubling over the past 50 years. And in recent times, there has also been a significant increase in average food consumption in the world’s least developed economies, after there had been little growth for many years.

Graph 2

Looking at cross-country data, it is clear that higher-income countries consume much larger quantities of meat and sugar per person than do lower-income countries (Graph 3). In contrast, there appears to be little relationship between the average human consumption of grains and a country’s per capita income. However, overall demand for grains does increase with income, given the use of grains as food for animals. One implication of these findings is that as average incomes increase over time, there is a tendency to consume more protein, especially meat. Over the years ahead, this switch in diets is likely to generate strong underlying growth in demand for a wide range of agricultural commodities.

Graph 3

Another factor adding to global demand has been an increase in the use of agricultural commodities for non-food purposes, particularly for biofuels. In the United States, for example, bioethanol production now uses more than one-third of the total corn crop and, in Brazil, sugarcane is used extensively to produce ethanol. Globally, the OECD estimates that almost one-quarter of total sugar cane production is now used for non-food purposes, and this share is expected to increase significantly over the years ahead. Similarly, a substantial rise is expected in the use of vegetable oil for purposes other than food (Graph 4).

Graph 4

These developments on the global demand side have coincided with relatively modest expansion on the global supply side. In the years prior to the surge in demand, global research into improving yields was relatively low, as was investment in expanding the supply of arable land. This is one of the consequences of the low level of prices in the 1980s and 1990s. The result has been that the rate of growth in yields has slowed and there has been little growth in the area devoted to agricultural production over recent decades, partly due to the urbanisation process in Asia (Graph 5). Another factor affecting global supply has been an increase in the frequency of reported extreme weather events including droughts, floods and high temperatures.^[3] Export bans imposed by some countries have also reduced the supply coming onto world markets

Graph 5

All up, these fundamental global drivers are reasonably favourable for the Australian farming sector. No doubt, global prices will continue to fluctuate in a wide range and there will be problems in individual markets. But the overall external environment is likely to be a relatively positive one over the medium term. And this external environment is being driven by some of the same underlying factors that have improved the outlook for the mining sector.

I would now like to turn more specifically to recent developments in Australia.

Developments in Australia
To begin with, it is worth noting that the high prices for agricultural commodities in global markets have flowed through to higher prices for many commodities in our domestic markets. However, the higher exchange rate has meant that the increase in Australian dollar prices has been less than the increase in foreign currency prices. In Australian dollar terms, the IMF’s food price index that I showed earlier has increased by 40 per cent since 2004; this is substantially less than the increase in foreign currency terms, but significant nevertheless (Graph 6). The other notable feature of this graph is that the long-run swings in Australian dollar prices tend to be smaller than those in foreign currency prices. This is another illustration of the stabilising effects of our floating exchange rate; when commodity prices are high, the exchange rate tends to be high, and when commodity prices are low the exchange rate tends to be low, smoothing out the fluctuations in domestic prices. This provides an important source of stability for the economy as a whole.

Graph 6

At the individual commodity level, there have been substantial increases in the prices of a number of commodities over recent years (Graph 7). While prices are generally lower than earlier in the year, partly due to problems in the global economy, most are substantially higher than they were a decade ago. This is true for the commodities in this graph as it is for lamb prices and the prices of many dairy products.

Graph 7

This rise in prices is the good news for domestic producers. The bad news is that the same forces that have driven up global prices have also put upward pressure on the prices of many inputs used by the farming sector. Obvious examples here are the higher prices of fuel, fertiliser and seed. For some parts of the industry, these increases in costs have been a significant constraint on profitability.

It is also important to recognise that there are substantial differences in the current situation across commodities. In particular, the producers of commodities whose global prices have not risen have found that the exchange rate appreciation and higher input costs have had a significant effect on their competitive position in global markets. One clear example is the wine industry, where the price of grapes internationally has not shown the same pattern as that for many other commodities, with the Australian dollar price of grapes falling significantly. As a result, the average Australian dollar export price for wine has declined by around 40 per cent over the past decade, and production has fallen over recent years. And according to its latest assessment, ABARES does not expect a reversal of this trend in prices any time soon (Graph 8).^[4] A similar, although less dramatic picture, is evident for some horticultural products.

Graph 8

Turning now to the volume of output, as opposed to the price of output, the recent aggregate outcomes for the farm sector have also been generally favourable. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), farm GDP increased by almost 10 per cent in the past financial year, boosted by higher levels of rainfall. As one example, the winter wheat crop is expected to be a near-record high of around 40 million tonnes this year and this follows a good harvest last year. Taking a somewhat longer perspective, farm output has increased by around 70 per cent since the mid 1990s, although there have been a number of bad years over this period, particularly due to severe drought.

This combination of generally high prices and high output has provided a substantial boost to aggregate income of the farming sector over the past financial year, and another favourable outcome is expected this year (Graph 9). After adjusting for inflation, farm incomes over these two years are expected to be almost double the average of the previous two decades. As I mentioned earlier though, the picture is not uniform across the industry and some parts of the farming sector have experienced very difficult conditions over the past year. But overall, the current picture is better than it has been for some years.

Graph 9

Of course, agriculture remains an industry whose fortunes can change quickly from year to year. And it is one in which very significant structural change has occurred over many decades. Given its importance to the overall Australian economy, it is also an industry that the Reserve Bank has payed close attention to over the years, and it continues to do so.Looking forward, no doubt the fortunes of the industry will continue to wax and wane. And like many other parts of the Australian economy, the farming sector will need to continue the process of structural change. As I have talked about, this process is being driven, in part, by a fundamental realignment of global relative prices due to the re-emergence onto the global stage of the populous countries of Asia. This realignment of relative prices is creating new opportunities for Australian agriculture. I wish you success in finding those opportunities and in taking advantage of them over the years ahead.

Thank you

End notes:

*I would like to thank Troy Gill, Ewan Rankin and Trent Wiltshire for assistance in the preparation of this talk.

1. See OECD-FAO (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (2011), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2011–2020, OECD Publishing, Paris.

2. See G20 (2011), ‘Report of the G20 Study Group on Commodities under the Chairmanship of Mr Hiroshi Nakaso’, November, p 5. See also FAO, IFAD, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank, the WTO, IFPRI and the UN HLTF (2011), Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses, OECD Publishing, Paris.

3. See, for example, G20 (2011), p 17.

4. ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences) (2011), Agricultural Commodities: September quarter 2011.

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Walk on to any farm and you’ll see an unsightly stack of plastic and tin chemical drums awaiting disposal. Fast forward to the end of the 2012 winter cropping season and over 3 million litres of agro-chemical will be stored and poured, and the packaging simply handled, thanks to a revolutionary new solution from Nufarm, branded as QuikPour™.

QuikPour is a 15-litre box consisting of a collar, flexible liner and outer carton. The design offers faster and more accurate pouring when compared to a 20L plastic drum, as well as a 25% reduction in weight and an 80% reduction in plastic packaging per litre. The pack empties in seconds and is built to withstand physical duress and moisture.

The break through solution not only impressed growers, consultants and distributors during its four years in product development, but last week won a swag of awards at the prestigious Australian Packaging Design Awards including a Gold Medal in the Innovation category and the overall ‘Best of Show’ Award.

The packaging artwork and design was created by Redhanded, whilst the box was built by Nufarm with key technology partners Scholle Packaging and Visy.

Redhanded Senior Designer Fernando Tan, who conceived the QuikPour logo, pack design and created the graphics for the 90 second promotional animation was thrilled to be working on such a significant breakthrough for Nufarm.

“To work on a product that will have such far reaching environmental impacts is fantastic and to be acknowledged by the industry with this “Best of Show” Award also, is a major bonus,” said Fernando.

Launching the QuikPour pack last week at Nufarm’s Laverton Manufacturing facility, Professor Kate Auty, Victorian Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability, congratulated Nufarm on what she said was an important and practical innovation in packaging, recycling and waste management.

“QuikPour shows an innovative change in thinking to how agro-chemicals are delivered to farms, as well as how we recycle and responsibly dispose of chemical packaging,” Prof Auty said.

At the recent Social Media in Agriculture seminar hosted by the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology. Paul Higgins, Futurist with Emergent Futures looked beyond the technology to the personal interaction that fuels the one to one conversation made so public and prompt by digital devices and social media applications.

Paul addressed agribusiness marketers from across the country on the role social media can play in starting the conversation with rural and regional Australians and the opportunities and challenges it presents to business. The opportunity to converse one on one or one to many with our customers is an exciting prospect for us all, how we do it without tarnishing our brand equity, personality and reputation is something we must approach with caution. Paul spoke of the rewards we can reap from trust, quality and transparency.

On August 2, Redhanded hosted their third Media OptimiserTM lecture at Redhanded – A Vision for Social Media in Regional and Rural Australia – How do we all help build a thriving culture of social media activity and contribution?

Social Media is a new and exciting opportunity for us to raise brand awareness and create valuable relationships and take the conversation from over the fence to sharing information on innovation and experience to a broader audience. For more information please contact me at libby@redhanded.com.au or follow us on twitter @redhandedteam

Paul Higgins – Futurist

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