Ref: MG/MA/GG25005
9 June 2025
Department of Primary Industries
BRISBANE QLD 4001
By Email: SGR@daf.qld.gov.au
To Whom It May Concern
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Consultation on the Queensland Government’s Primary Industries Prosper 2050 Blueprint
AgForce Queensland Farmers Limited (AgForce) is a peak organisation representing Queensland’s cane, cattle, grain and sheep, wool & goat producers. The cane, beef, broadacre cropping and sheep, wool & goat industries in Queensland generated around $11.2 billion in on-farm value of production in 2022-23. AgForce’s purpose is to advance sustainable agribusiness and strives to ensure the long-term growth, viability, competitiveness and profitability of these industries. Over 6,000 farmers, individuals and businesses provide support to AgForce through membership. Our members own and manage around 55 million hectares, or a third of the state’s land area. Queensland producers provide high-quality food and fibre to Australian and overseas consumers, contribute significantly to the social fabric of regional, rural and remote communities, as well as deliver stewardship of the state’s natural environment.
AgForce welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of the State Government’s Primary Industries Prosper 2050 Blueprint. Representing thousands of farmers and graziers across the state, we commend the intent to establish a long-term vision for Queensland agriculture and primary industries that is forward-looking, inclusive, and attuned to the opportunities and challenges emerging over the next 25 years.
The Blueprint presents a timely opportunity to position Queensland agriculture to deliver on the State’s ambitious target of a $30 billion industry by 2030 and to ensure our rural and regional communities are equipped to succeed in a dynamic global environment shaped by technological transformation, climate variability, changing consumer expectations, and competition for land and resources.
The following pages represent AgForce’s views to the survey questions posed during the Consultation process.
Yours faithfully
Michael Guerin
Chief Executive Officer
BLUEPRINT VISION
Queensland’s primary industries are productive, profitable and sustainable for future generations. We are the backbone of our economy and communities.
AgForce considers the Vision to be concise and aspirational, succinctly capturing the pillars of economic performance (productive, profitable) and long-term viability (sustainable for future generations), recognising the sector as the backbone of Queensland's economy.
However, the Vision does not acknowledge the State government’s wishes that this Plan is to be co-designed by government and industry. This lack of sentiment does not speak to partnerships and therefore may not inspire the collective action the Plan seeks to achieve. A vision that motivates collective action should explicitly include industry, government, research and community working together.
BLUEPRINT PRIORITIES
Priority 1: Market Growth and Value Adding
Expanding market access and fostering value-added production are essential for Queensland's agriculture sector to meet its $30 billion by 2030 target and achieve long-term sustainability. Increased competitiveness and diversified revenue streams enhance resilience to global market fluctuations and climatic uncertainty. Continued investment in export market development, along with policies that reduce supply chain costs and incentivise value-added production, will help drive the targeted 5% annual growth. This includes support for local processing facilities, high-value secondary products, and waste transformation innovations. Regional areas like the Darling Downs and Central Queensland are well-placed to lead in value-added grain and beef, while northern Australia presents significant development opportunities as presented in AgForce’s Northern Development Report.1 Queensland agriculture’s reputation for biosecurity and sustainability is essential for both securing and increasing market access, and building long-term value across the supply chain. AgForce’s ESG principles2 have been developed to help guide Queensland’s thought leaders to support our continued strong ESG trajectory.
Priority 2: Coexistence and Community Support
The growing overlap of agriculture with renewable energy, mining, conservation and urban development makes effective coexistence frameworks essential to protect the viability of primary production. To secure agriculture's long-term social licence, producers must be acknowledged as land stewards and food security providers, with clear land use protections and planning certainty.3 Strengthened regional planning that safeguards productive agricultural zones, right to conduct lawful farming practices, alongside mandatory agricultural impact assessments for major projects, will reduce land use conflict. With increasing change in land use within traditional farming landscapes, it is essential to uphold the right to undertake lawful farming practices – such as chemical application, vegetation management and animal husbandry – even when these activities may cause concern for neighbouring landholders, to ensure primary producers can operate effectively and sustainably. Public trust in agriculture can be enhanced by promoting the
sector's achievements in biodiversity, emissions reduction and land management. Community outreach, food literacy programs and reward mechanisms for ecosystem services4 will be vital to achieving this outcome. Added to this, agriculture should have an increased emphasis when developing syllabuses, curriculum guidelines and assessment programs for Kindergarten to Year 12 in Queensland. This plays a central role in shaping community mindsets towards primary production and should help design career pathways for students (i.e. to build a skilled and agile workforce – Priority 6). Added to this, biosecurity as an aspect of good citizenship needs to be accepted and achieved at a whole of community level.
Priority 3: Accelerated Innovation, Readiness and Adoption
A forward-looking innovation ecosystem is crucial for agricultural profitability, productivity and adaptation to future challenges. The increasing complexity of global markets, consumer expectations, and climate variability necessitates the rapid deployment and widespread adoption of agricultural technologies. To achieve this, Queensland should invest in regional AgTech demonstration projects that align with local production systems – from precision cropping in the Western Downs to remote livestock monitoring in Northwest Queensland. Greater emphasis is needed on enabling the problem-solving capacity of small to medium sized business and citizen scientists to drive a suite of innovative solutions. Strategic investment in ultra-high frequency (UHF) electronic identification (eID) ear tags would also deliver strong benefits for producers, particularly in the sheep industry, by enabling more efficient data collection, improved labour productivity, enhanced animal welfare monitoring and more informed on-farm decision-making. The implementation of technologies such as UHF is key to driving improvements in on-farm productivity and profitability. Strong innovation in user-friendly traceability will be key for supporting biosecurity responses and building consumer trust in the origin and quality of agricultural goods in a global market. Expanded digital connectivity and tailored advisory services will enable more producers to adopt new tools with confidence; while aligning research with commercialisation pathways, modernising extension services and embedding digital training within education frameworks will support a pipeline of producers and professionals capable of leveraging innovation for productivity and resilience.
Priority 4: Confidence in System Settings
Regulatory certainty is fundamental to enabling sustainable agricultural investment, innovation and environmental stewardship. Overly complex or duplicative regulation increases operational costs and discourages long-term business planning. A 25% reduction in regulatory burden can be achieved through a comprehensive review of state and federal regulatory overlaps, particularly around environmental, land use and WHS requirements. Producers would benefit from more outcome-focused, risk-based frameworks and digital compliance systems that streamline processes and increase transparency. Land use protections, tenure clarity and fair application of biosecurity laws across all land tenures must be reinforced. Regional producers in the Channel Country, the Central Highlands and Cape York face unique challenges that necessitate responsive, regionally tailored approaches to regulation that balance productivity and protection.
Priority 5: Shared Infrastructure
Strategic infrastructure is a critical enabler of agricultural productivity and export competitiveness. Access to reliable roads, water, telecommunications and supply chain facilities allows producers to connect efficiently with markets and service providers. Investment in rural and regional transport corridors must be prioritised to support high-volume freight movement from inland production zones to ports. Along key routes, access to wash-down and effluent treatment facilities is key to helping future proof the state against preventable spread of biosecurity matter. Expanded water infrastructure across remote Queensland would unlock new production and support drought resilience. Integrated planning across sectors and shared-use investment models should be pursued to ensure infrastructure meets multi-sector needs and facilitates broader regional development.
Priority 6: Skilled and Agile Workforce
Building a future-ready workforce is critical to realising the full potential of Queensland’s primary industries. A skilled, tech-savvy and regionally based workforce supports innovation, resilience and sectoral renewal. To achieve growth in graduate entry into agricultural careers, food and fibre education must be embedded across the curriculum and linked to clear career pathways.5 School-based training, university placements in rural areas and targeted promotional campaigns will help address workforce shortages and attract the next generation of industry leaders. Expanding training availability in regional centres, providing digital and micro-credential options and upskilling existing workers will ensure producers can meet evolving demands.
A coordinated, state approach is needed to integrate workforce planning into regional infrastructure and housing strategies, particularly in areas like the South West, Central West, and North Queensland where workforce scarcity limits growth.
PRINCIPLES FOR WORKING TOGETHER
AgForce strongly supports the Blueprint’s guiding principles for working together – being genuinely united, evidence-based, accountable, productive and bold enough to learn through failure. These principles reflect the collaborative spirit required to navigate the evolving challenges and opportunities across Queensland’s primary industries. We particularly welcome the emphasis on trust-building between industry, communities and government, as this underpins social licence and regulatory certainty.
To strengthen this framework, AgForce suggests explicitly recognising the role of mutual transparency and continuity in consultation to ensure that industry knowledge informs all stages of policy development and delivery. We also encourage stronger acknowledgment of regional diversity to ensure unity is achieved not by uniformity, but by a shared purpose and locally responsive approaches. Further, to ensure Queensland’s primary industries remain productive, profitable and sustainable for future generations, biosecurity must be elevated as a standalone strategic priority.
5-YEAR ACTION PLANS
To realise the ambitions of the Primary Industries Prosper 2050 Blueprint, the Queensland Government must partner with industry to deliver coordinated, regionally responsive investment in infrastructure, workforce development, and innovation. This includes upgrading transport and logistics infrastructure in Northern and Western Queensland to support market access, investing in remote biosecurity and drought resilience systems and enhancing telecommunications connectivity to enable AgTech adoption. Clear and stable regulatory settings, especially around land use, vegetation, and emissions, are critical to ensuring confidence for long-term planning, while protecting agricultural land from encroachment by urban and energy developments will be essential to maintaining productivity in peri-urban and high-value production areas.
Simultaneously, building a skilled and agile workforce must be prioritised through stronger integration of agriculture in the education system and region-specific training initiatives. Vocational and tertiary programs should align with current and emerging industry needs, supported by incentives for workers in remote and regional areas. Industry and government must work together through inclusive governance mechanisms, such as regional advisory panels and co-investment models, to ensure that decisions are grounded in local knowledge and evidence. By embedding these foundations, Queensland’s agricultural sector will be better positioned to expand market share, enhance value-adding opportunities, and respond to climate and market challenges, delivering long-term prosperity for producers and rural communities alike.
CONCLUSION
AgForce Queensland Farmers supports the development of a bold and practical Primary Industries Prosper 2050 Blueprint that builds on the strengths of Queensland’s producers while anticipating the challenges and demands of the next generation.
Queensland’s agriculture sector has the potential to exceed the $30 billion by 2030 target, if supported by the right partnerships, enhanced infrastructure, land use protections, workforce planning, and innovation platforms.
AgForce looks forward to ongoing, bipartisan collaboration across all levels and departments of government and stands ready to support the implementation of the Blueprint as a foundational roadmap for Agriculture’s shared future.