About

Demand Farming Australia is a national project that will change the face of agriculture in Australia. Demand Farming Australia is owned by Aurora Research and supported by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, NSW Department of State and Regional Development and Local Government.

Demand Farming is about changing the balance of agriculture towards farmers. Participants will have access to commercial opportunities only possible through the collective strength of the Demand Farming Australia model. The efficient supply chains, information and improved market linkages will give farmers more power in negotiating contract supply arrangements.

A collaboration of initially 1000 of the top 30% of Australian farmers will be put together, with the participating farmers being spread across approximately 40 strategic locations in Australia, of which approximately 400 farmers will be in New South Wales. This aggregation of farms will be equivalent to a land bank greater than $2 billion, which gives great negotiating power and market leverage.

Demand Farming Australia will engage farming businesses in a systematic roll-out across Australia, and the best farmers will select themselves as they will be innovative, forward thinking and willing to invest in new opportunities.

Our emphasis is in quality assured, traceable food, fibre and energy crops that meet the specific high standards required for the specialty market, particularly in the ever growing Asian food sector. With the growing need for renewable energy crops for fuelling our energy needs, an increasing demand is emerging for renewable crops that are, not only carbon neutral, but also environmentally tolerant in the ever changing agricultural landscape.

Workshops are conducted with interested farming businesses, followed by Farm Audits of the participating farms recording farming practices, production capabilities, soil types, water availability, climate, etc. This data will provide aggregated estimates of potential for a large range of produce, with large volumes, which are of interest to customers who prefer to buy from one quality and traceable source rather than many small suppliers or 'anonymous' pooled product.

A group of sales staff based overseas will sell to large customers, aggregated volumes of high-quality produce which will command higher prices than mixed quality offerings. There will also be sales to Australian customers but the main opportunities will be in exports.

Significant ongoing investments in market intelligence, consumer research and market opportunity evaluations will provide participating farmers with significantly more opportunities and less risk than trying to undertake research themselves.

Participating farmers will be offered contracts with farm gate prices based on quality parameters, an input/output model, cropcheck systems and anticipated gross margins and internal rate of return. This will enable farmers to compare current returns per ha and per mg of water against the Demand Farming Australia offers.

Participating farmers have the choice to decide whether they wish to participate in the offers or not. Increased medium to long term returns, diversification, sustainability and reduction of risk with less market fluctuations are all objectives set out by Demand Farming Australia.