Ten Major Trends in Agriculture

1. Costs and risk aspects of climate change & impact of carbon tax

2. The cost & scarcity of water

3. The declining competitiveness of the Australian agri-food sector, eg it costs around 2.4 times to slaughter and process a cow in Australia c.f. USA

4. The shift in value along the supply chain

5. Corporatised farming and foreign ownership

6. Market access & biosecurity

7. Social values & accountability (largely driven by social media)

8. Growing global demand for food

9. Threats to the agriculture supply base

10. Technology

(source: Andrew Cornell, 2013b)