International Farm Management Association Congress 2022
During June and July, Robert Patterson attended the 23rd International Farm Management Association (IFMA) Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. The theme of the Congress was Strategic Farming in Scandinavia, which encompassed a pre-congress tour of farms across Norway and Sweden, plus presentations of academic research and additional tours of Danish farms. The main messages from the congress, focused on a high level of management leading to better utilisation of inputs, which enhances profitability and reduces environmental impacts of agricultural production. Some of these key points include:
The global food system consumes 30% of total energy and produces 20% of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions
Competing demands on arable land – sustainable food production from less water, fertiliser and chemical usage
Europeans are happy to pay for land to be kept out of production to achieve environmental goals – a diversified landscape including Carbon sinks in conjunction with cropping and grazing
Precision Farming – controlling fertiliser application, especially on sensitive areas with better science-based decision making – could reduce crop area by 40% while maintaining current overall production
50% of protein consumed by humans results from N fertiliser, but N leakage in the system is significant, leading to low efficiency.
Yara Fertilisers are adding more S to fertiliser to increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE)
Denmark aims to produce more food with less energy. Since 1990 it has reduced emissions by 17% while output has increased by 31%. Emissions per unit of output have dropped by 37%
Despite profitability, farmers face is a cash flow crisis due to increasing costs, especially fertiliser, chemical and energy (incl fuel)
Oil and wheat prices move in parallel over time
Production of N fertiliser in Europe is dropping as it is not profitable at current energy costs
Fertiliser will remain in short supply and expensive due to high energy costs in both Ukraine and Russia – a supply crunch will lead to food shortages
Top ranking farmers have lower costs of production and have financial reserves. They also do well at what they like to do
Farmers’ mental health issues have been linked to a lack of a documented plan
Future Considerations for Australia
Increased leasing of land may be required as the discrepancy between land value and productive value increases. Many northern hemisphere farmers are heavily reliant on leased land to operate in conjunction with land which is owned, to increase farm scale and maintain a profitable business.
More government regulation around the environment and therefore more compliance especially for fertilisers and chemical use. This is in addition to requirements applied to exported products needing to meet production standards stipulated by the importing location, particularly into the EU.
A potential compliance risk with Carbon Credits in the USA is an issue – are they real property or personal property and therefore an encumbrance on the land or a personal contract? This is particularly important as Carbon needs to remain in place for the period of the contract, often up to 100 years.