Australian horticulture’s $1 billion annual productivity opportunity

A new report from Hort Innovation and the Centre for International Economics has today revealed that high adoption of productivity enhancing innovation would benefit the Australian industry by about $1 billion annually in additional value added, reaching $22 billion in 2040. 

The Australian horticulture sector, currently at $8 billion value added, is at a critical juncture and productivity increases will be the key to ongoing profitability for more than 12,000 businesses that make up the industry.

The Factors Driving Productivity Report has revealed that targeted action across four key areas will accelerate productivity growth: 

• Building capability in production cost analysis;
• Automating data collection;
• Harnessing AI-insights; and
• Embracing mechanisation and automation at scale.

Over the past 30 years, the annual productivity growth of the horticulture industry has been 0.5% to 1.5%, while the broader agricultural sector's growth has been 0.88%.

“This report spells out the opportunities for growers and Hort Innovation to focus on and also presents case studies on growers who are already pioneering technology solutions,” Hort Innovation CEO Brett Fifield said.

“The focus on doing more for less is not just an issue being faced by Australian growers. It is something that all businesses are seeking to prioritise. We have modelled future productivity and enhancements to modern farming systems.”

“From improved data collection, to bringing more automation on farms, there is opportunity for every grower, no matter the size of their business.”

“Many of our R&D projects already in the field have started exploring these themes. But we know there is more work to do. We intend on making more future shaping investments based on grower needs.”  

Harrison Rowntree from Longridge Olives has been prioritising productivity on his family farm. He shared his experience: “We have always strived to be as efficient as possible to save on labour, time, and money, which means coming up with out of the box solutions that suit us and our business.”

"It's easy to make money while the oil price is high. The test is being able to do it when the prices are low. Mum and dad endured the lowest prices for EVOO in the mid 2000s which pushed them into making the most efficient farm possible.”

“I'm looking for even more efficiency and optimisation, preparing ourselves for whatever the future market brings."

“The only way to do more without hiring more people is to look for ways to automate what you have or find ways of doing it faster,” said Rowntree.

The report is accompanied by an excel spreadsheet tool that growers and stakeholders across the industry can use to help model their own scenarios and adoption rates.  

To read the report The Factors Driving Horticulture Productivity Report head to: www.horticulture.com.au/ha24004/