Drought puts grain import protocols under spotlight

摘要

The last major drought in the eastern states was for season 1994-95. In that year Queensland produced only 200,000 tonnes of wheat, New South Wales 784,000 tonnes and Victoria 898,000 tonnes. It meant less than two million tonnes from the three eastern states out of a total Australian production of nine million tonnes. That drought set primary producers against each other. Livestock producers wanted to bring in imported feed grains to keep the feed costs down, while grain producers mounted an argument based on the plant quarantine risk associated with imported grain. A heat treatment facility was established at Brisbane, but thankfully since that time the issue has not arisen. But the problem is coming into sharper focus on a daily basis. WesternAustralians had a drought two years ago and they may well wonder why an eastern states drought attracts more attention. The mason is that the intensive livestock industries are concentrated in the eastern states. These are pigs, poultry, lot fed beef anddairy cows. In past droughts, the extensive grazing industries have received government assistance, by way of fodder and freight subsidies.