SAC consultant claims agriculture can reclaim its hero status and create a bright farming future
Agriculture is set to regain its “hero” status in the coming years as consumers increasingly realise that farmers have a key role to play in food and fuel security, according to Dr Keith Dawson, SAC’s principal crop consultant.
Speaking to around 200 delegates at SAC’s Outlook Conference in Edinburgh yesterday, Dr Dawson said that the future for agriculture was undoubtedly bright, with world population set to soar to 8 billion by 2020, up 6 billion on 1920.
“We’ve had a rough time over the past ten years, being seen as producers of food mountains and despoilers of the environment. I believe the agriculture industry will be heroes again in the future in terms of food, fuel and fibre security,” he said.
Looking forward, he said high yields and the lowest costs per tonne would still be important and he warned that by his calculations, only 6% of growers know what their costs per tonne truly are.
The past three month, he said, have seen volatility in the feed wheat market as a result of drought in parts of the world and the impact of biofuel demand, leading to a dramatic price increase.
Looking at the global picture for world grain in 2006/07, he said world wheat production was down 34 million tonnes, with coarse grains down 9 million tonnes. “World stocks are at a 25 year low and this will have a major impact on the price of grain,” Dr Dawson said.
Dr Dawson also emphasised that there is no conflict between making farming pay and good environmental performance and said new technology and resistant varieties would be crucial going forward.
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