Last month an increase to milk prices brought smiles to the faces of dairy farmers who were struggling with rising costs and little to show for their work. As the costs involved in farming almost double, more farmers are coming to the table asking for the rising prices to be passed on. 

According to government data, the total input costs for wheat farmers has doubled in just two years, with fertiliser, chemical and fuel costs all increasing. 

While supermarket customers are already feeling the brunt of price hikes following supply issues and the bump in cost of living, NSW Farmers Vice President Rebecca Reardon said the cost of food production is outpacing the prices paid to farmers. 

“Everywhere you look people are worried about the rising cost of food, the rising cost of power, the rising cost of fuel, farmers are no different,” Mrs Reardon said. 

While the recent increase in pay to dairy farmers through a price change in Woolworths and Coles reflected increased costs for farmers and a decades long campaign for more appropriate return, other price rises haven’t meant the same thing for farmers. 

A seemingly iconic example this year was the influx on prices of lettuce, which wasn’t to account for higher fuel, fertiliser or chemical costs, but to make up for lost production in the Queensland floods during high demand. 

“What is different for farmers is that we have very little ability to pass on these price rises to our customers, so what you’re left with are shrinking profit margins,” she said. 

Ironically, while locals may want to support farmers through taking a further on price increase at the counter, the low socioeconomic status of most Western Plains communities means that price hikes often have a devastating impact locally.

While the flood event over the Western Plains late last year likely had little impact on supply in comparison to more recent flooding on the NSW and QLD coast, the damages meant that crops were lost and the price of those that survived reflected their damaged state. 

In essence, farmers had less to sell, and had to sell for less. Now, high costs are making it difficult to make a come back, with the costs of planting crops not leaving much room for failure.

Mrs Reardon said boosting productivity by producing more from less is a fundamental way to tackle inflation and relieve the stress of rising input costs. 

She called for greater investment in productivity-boosting measures such as precision agriculture technologies, which reduce the amount of fertiliser and chemical applications, and world class agricultural education courses which improve the capability of farmers to adopt new productivity-boosting technologies. 

“Australians are a nation of innovators, and our farmers are always looking for an edge and a way to improve what they do,” Mrs Readon said. 

“Fundamentally, if farmers can produce more food and fibre at a lower cost, and get it to consumers at a lower cost, we’ll see a reduction of this cost-of-living pressure,” she said.  

“Farmers and families are in this together - albeit on different ends of the supply chain - and we appreciate the support Aussie families have shown for the agriculture sector.”