13 April 2026. Lloyd Hick, AgForce Cattle President.
It’s been a difficult month of disappointment, uncertainty and sadness, with a few rays of hope in there too that we can hang on to.
It started with a new Free Trade Agreement with the European Union that ironically delivers very little for Australian Agriculture, and delivers nothing to address the trade imbalance with the EU.
We import a lot of pork from the EU. We return very little beef. There was a great opportunity there, but we were just outclassed in our negotiations. And unfortunately, even though we do have an improved free trade agreement overall, there was a lot more that could have been done.
AgForce continues to work hard to make sure its members remain profitable and productive, particularly under the pressure of the rollout of the new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act reforms.
Senior leaders of AgForce have been involved in high level meetings with senior representatives from the Department of Climate Change Energy Environment and Water, taking them out onto the ground to help educate those who impose these new laws on Agriculture with little consideration given to the consequences.
Of course we also have growing concerns about fuel and fertiliser shortages, and what that means to the long term future of Queensland Agriculture.
Last week, AgForce representatives presented a very detailed document to both state and federal government leaders projecting short-term and long-term expectations about what it will mean to industry if we don't have a reliable fuel supply going forward.
Because as we know and understand, fuel security is intricately linked to the food security of our nation.
I think it's a great wake up call to Australia. We've been caught out. We shouldn't say by surprise, because a lot of people have been warning that this has been coming for a while, and that the risk of not having a secure fuel supply in Australia is dire.
Firstly, we need to shore up a supply of fuel in the short term from overseas. But in the medium term, we need to really look at our own oil supply in Australia and start refining some fuel for ourselves so we are self-sufficient.
We also need to mention with great sadness that AgForce has lost one of our industry’s true gentlemen in Ian Burnett, to a terrible farm accident. Ian was a steadying force and a terrific friend of AgForce and the agriculture industry for a long time. He was someone who had enormous respect from throughout our industry, was a tireless role model to so many, and I modelled my leadership off him. We will miss him greatly.
To end on a positive note, the cattle board would like to welcome Henry Waller who is taking on the important role as the new policy officer. Henry’s experience in policy development will be a great asset to us.