Damien O'Connor says biosecurity highest priority

Agriculture, Food and Safety, Biosecurity and Rural Communities Minister Damien O'Connor. Photo / Supplied

New Agriculture, Food and Safety, Biosecurity and Rural Communities Minister Damien O'Connor says biosecurity is his highest priority across his portfolios.

In the latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries, Mr O'Connor said a greater focus on biosecurity would deliver better border protection and a focused biosecurity and food safety regime would protect the interests of the whole primary sector.

The ministry's director-general, Martyn Dunne, said the ongoing Mycoplasma bovis incursion was a reminder ''that we need to be constantly aware of threats to our industries''.

He was proud of how the ministry had responded to it and other incursions over the past year.

The report showed the sector's exports were poised to grow 8.5% for the year ending June 2018, to $41.4billion - the largest annual increase since 2014 when Chinese demand sent dairy prices skyward.

It was based on robust demand for dairy and forestry products, an improving outlook for red meat and other primary sector products, and continuing investment in horticulture expansion.

The outlook for the year was slightly less positive than the previous forecast in September. Exports had been revised downwards by $265million. A lower dairy forecast was partially offset by a more positive outlook for red meat and other primary sector products.

Dairy exports were forecast to increase $2.2billion to $16.8billion for the year ending June 2018.

Higher dairy product prices, particularly of butter, and an increase in exports of value-added products were major drivers of that growth.

The meat and wool forecast has been revised $230million upward to $8.7billion, largely driven by a more positive outlook for lamb and mutton prices resulting from strong global demand and a weaker production outlook in Australia.

Forestry exports were forecast to rise 3.2% to $5.7billion for the year ending June 2018 as strong Chinese demand continued to drive high log prices, while harvest volume records were expected to continue to be broken in the coming years.

The year ended June 2017 harvest reached 31.4million cum, up 8.8% from the previous year. A strong domestic construction sector was also contributing to record harvest volumes.

Orchard profitability and optimism in the horticulture sector continued to drive expansions in planted areas of gold kiwifruit, grapevines and apples. As recent expansions reached production, export revenues were forecast to reach $5.4billion for the year ending June 2018.

Overall export revenue in 2019 was forecast to build on the gains expected in 2018, rising a further 1.3% to $41.9billion.

Federated Farmers national president Katie Milne said the report made for ''good reading''.

''As a farmer, you also want to see it reflected in genuine returns at the farm gate, where you can make a sustainable profit, too.''

It had been a challenging spring in terms of growing crops and pasture and now it had swung to extreme dry in some areas and that might impact on some of those longer-term predictions, Ms Milne said.