Spring
2015
grainswest.com
41
pirits are highonWestern Australia’s
Glenora Farm. Carlia and Frank Nield own and operate
the 7,400-acre grain and sheep operation near the
town of Hyden, 300 kilometres east of Perth. It’s late December
2014, and the grain harvest is wrapping up with a predicted
yield slightly higher than the regional average—and the
sweeping China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA)
signed November 17 is predicted to boost the country’s farm
economy.
“ChAFTA is certainly a vote of confidence in the agricultural
industry,” said Carlia Nield. Though
Australian farmers view the deal positively,
she said enthusiasm among producers is
tempered by the hard work of remaining
viable. The flat, dry, western agricultural
belt produces high-quality grain, as well
as cattle for domestic consumption.
However, like much of Australia, it has
experienced 10 years of extreme drought.
Unlike distant eastern Australia, the state
of Western Australia lacks the processing
mills and abattoirs necessary to produce
value-added exports, and its export-dependent grain farmers
receive slightly lower returns than their eastern counterparts.
Though Nield was reluctant to predict great things, she
noted that, in advance of ChAFTA, private investment in just
such agricultural infrastructure has been taking place in Western
Australia and across the country.
S
“If there is new investment in western Australian agriculture,
this allows investors to produce an export-quality product,”
she said.
Under the two-year-old government of Prime Minister Tony
Abbott, Australia pushed for the completion of ChAFTA,
which had remained at a low boil for a decade. In contrast, the
Canadian government under Stephen Harper has aggressively
courted global free-trade deals since 2006. The Canada–EU
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is
now in the final approval stage, the Canada–Korea Free Trade
Agreement (CKFTA) has been ratified
and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a
work in progress. Given Canada’s largely
unassailable record in securing trade
deals and China’s burgeoning hunger
for natural resources and agricultural
products, Australia’s scoop is notable.
Now that one of the country’s main
agricultural trade rivals has gotten this
leg up, will Canada forever be forced
to play catch-up as a competitor in the
Chinese market?
“Twenty years ago, Australia wasn’t even thinking about
China. We were in the lead, and had very strong relations
with China,” said Alberta business development consultant
Ken Nelson, president of K L Nelson Associates. “Canada was
doing things in China—all in agriculture—but it seems today
Australia just kind of ‘vroomed’ past us on the freeway. The
“Twenty years ago,
Australia wasn’t even
thinking about China. We
were in the lead, and had
very strong relations with
China.”
–Ken Nelson
EAST
MEETS
EAST
Can Canada keep pacewith the China–Australia
Free Trade Agreement?
by IAN DOIG • ILLUSTRATIONS BY KYLE METCALF
