Australia’s top agribusiness boss has called for a long-term national agriculture strategy to bolster the nation’s economic and sovereign capability.

Elders’ chief executive Mark Allison said the multitude of representation across the agriculture industry — commodity bodies, State organisations, and industry associations — often results in fragmentation rather than influence.

He presented at the University of Western Australia’s Institute of Agriculture 20th Annual Industry Forum on July 8.

“Agriculture is a global industry where our competitiveness is increasingly determined by domestic policy settings, energy, infrastructure, regulation, labour, and capital investment energy is becoming one of the more defining pressures on the agricultural supply chain,” Mr Allison said.

“Fertiliser manufacturing, irrigation, coal chains, food processing, and grain handling all depend on reliable and affordable energy.

“Regulatory complexity is also increasing — environmental approvals, water policy, land use planning, cash flow regulation, labour compliance all add layers of complexity and friction.”

Australian farmers help feed about 75 million people each year, domestically and internationally.

Mr Allison said the gap between industry and policy could continue to widen until it became unsustainable, urging for a collective national strategy to tackle hurdles faced by the sector.

“We need a long-term national agriculture strategy, stronger co-ordination of the industry but throughout the supply chain optimise and renew investment in productivity, research technology, physical infrastructure, and digital infrastructure, and we must ensure domestic policy settings support agriculture,” he said.

“The capability for our farmers and agribusinesses is extraordinary but the real question is not whether farmers can adapt — they always have.

“The real question is whether our national leaders will recognise that agriculture is strategically important to Australia’s economic and sovereign stability before the water gets too hot.”

One of the greatest emerging risks for Australian agriculture, Mr Allison said, was the growing exposure to geopolitical instability and conflict as recently discovered.

“The conflict between Iran, Israel, and the US is not just a foreign affairs issue, it’s directly relevant to Australia in many ways,” he said.

“Modern agriculture is deeply, deeply connected to energy, fertiliser, shipping, and global supply chains, and when the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted diesel prices rise and fertiliser prices are impacted as we’ve discovered.

“If natural gas markets tighten, urea prices rise. If freight lines are disrupted, crop protection products become more expensive. If geopolitical tensions intensify, supply chains reliably weakens.”

He said a collective agreement across the sector would secure greater policy influence with State and Federal governments, and was concerned if the industry voice remained fragmented it would slowly lose competitiveness, investment attractiveness, and sovereign capability.

“We need a serious national conversation around agricultural productivity and competitiveness — not slogans, not politics, not short term announcements, a genuine long-term framework,” Mr Allison said.