By CAITLIN CROWLEY
EYE-WATERING produce prices at Australia’s supermarkets are contributing to the mental health crisis among the nation’s farmers, with one Southern Queensland beef producer describing the chasm between what farmers are paid and what consumers are charged as a “bitter pill to swallow”.
Nobby farmer Belinda Callanan told the Caller, it was tough to walk into a supermarket and see meat priced at $40 a kilo, when farmers had received $2 a kilo for animals they’ve fed for the last two or three years.
“It’s not a good look, when you’re paying $49kg for a piece of rib fillet in a butcher shop or a supermarket and myself as a farmer, a producer, is only getting $1.98c a kilo for a feeder steer,” Callanan said.
“And you know damn well how much it does cost to butcher it and get it to the abattoirs and so forth, so somebody’s making money and it sure as heck isn’t the farmer.
“It doesn’t do your mental health any good.”
Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Jo Sheppard (pictured) said it was confronting to sit with farmers and hear how diminishing returns, tightening margins and increasing red tape and compliance requirements were forcing them to consider exiting farming.
“Some of these farmers are third and fourth generation farmers who are the best of the best when it comes to business experience, efficiency and productivity,” Sheppard said.
“You can visibly see the heartbreak on their faces as they tell their story.”
Pressure is mounting for the Australian Consumer and Competition Authority (ACCC) to investigate alleged price gouging and Queensland Premier Steven Miles has written to the CEOs of all major supermarkets requesting a meeting to address the imbalance between farmer profits and grocery prices.
A recent industry report from AUSVEG found 34 percent of Australia’s vegetable growers were looking to exit the industry over the next 12 months.
Jo Sheppard said while the QFF welcomed the interest Premier Miles had shown in the issue, an “wholistic approach” was needed when looking at the nation’s food production system.
She said the QFF supported further reforms in the areas of transparency, fair contracts and managing power imbalances within the market, but that it was important for all factors creating challenges for farmers were considered in the discussion.
“This includes the impact of weather events on farming enterprises, the cost to farmers of rapid industrial relations reforms that have been rolled out over the past 12 months, increasing red and green tape requirements, and the cost of vital inputs across the board,” she said.
“Cumulatively these impacts are eroding profitability and productivity for farmers, who at the end of the day, are often price takers with little or no opportunity to pass on any of these costs.”
The latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, released late last year, found 53 percent of producers were expecting business conditions to deteriorate in the year ahead, up from 43 percent in the previous quarter.
Last week the Albanese Government appointed former Federal Trade Minister Dr Craig Emerson to lead the 2023-24 review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, which was introduced to improve the standards of business behaviour in the food and grocery sector and regulates the conduct of retailers and wholesalers towards suppliers.
“As a Government we’re taking a fresh look at the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to make sure the sector is giving consumers and suppliers a fair deal,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“When the price of meat and fruit and veggies comes down for supermarkets, it should come down for families as well – it’s a big chance for the big supermarkets to do the right thing.”
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the move, with hopes the action will give the Code “the teeth it needs to fix a system failing consumers and farmers.”
“The code is failing farmers and we’ve said for a long time it should be made mandatory,” NFF President David Jochinke said.
“We need to get to the bottom of why there’s a growing gap between what farmers get paid and what produce is being sold for on supermarket shelves.
“It’s not just supermarkets we need answers from, we need to know who else in the supply chain is clipping the ticket and sending food prices skywards.”