Australia's small-scale farmers are 'meat in a market concentration sandwich'

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Farming News

Market Concentration,Australian Competition And Consumer Commission,Australian Bureau Of Agricultural And Resource Ec

Many Australian farmers are getting squeezed at 'both ends' by concentrated markets.

'Higher prices for inputs. Less choice for repairs. Power imbalances in negotiating contracts.' Farmers face challenges in every direction.We hear a lot about consumers getting screwed by Australia's supermarket duopoly, but how do you think farmers feel?

"And the market share for garden supplies retailing is about 33 per cent for the largest four firms.""According to IBIS World industry reports, there is concentration in fruit and vegetable processing, with the largest four companies holding about 34 per cent of the market. Leigh says the data shows our agricultural supply chain is highly concentrated at the national level.

"In short, farmers have few choices when buying machinery but even less choice when servicing or repairing that equipment." In December last year, the National Farmers' Federation released an issues paper criticising the lack of transparency and competition across agricultural supply chains. "That study found evidence that conflicts of interest regularly arise in saleyard transactions when buyers bid for livestock on behalf of multiple clients, and when agents represent both a cattle seller and a cattle buyer in the same transaction," Leigh says.

"An ongoing concern is the impact on producers of market concentration and buyer power during tough times, such as droughts," he says.Leigh says unfair contract terms are another problem farmers have to deal with. He says the court declared contract terms that allowed Mitolo to unilaterally determine or vary the price paid to growers as void.

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