The federal government has quietly published the individual commodity calculations that farmers will be forced to pay towards the controversial biosecurity protection levy.
The powerhouse grain, livestock, dairy and vegetable industries will shoulder the greatest share of the burden for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries if the levy begins operation as scheduled on July 1, according to a Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry document.
Grains alone will be asked to pay $12.25 million, or 23 per cent, of the total $51.8m per annum to be collected from farmers based on the average gross value of production for 2019-20 to 2021-22.
The data was released the week before a Senate Inquiry is due to begin public hearings into the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024 [Provisions] and related bills, and days after the deadline for public submissions to the inquiry closed.
Grain Producers Australia said the amount the grains industry would be charged was about 10 times more than the $1.2m it currently contributes through a voluntary levy to Plant Health Australia used mainly for emergency responses including recently for the Varroa Mite outbreak.
You can quickly find your commodity using the searchable table at the bottom of the page.
Meanwhile, the livestock sector will also pay around 30pc of the entire statutory levy, with cattle and calve producers to contribute $9.3m per annum, or 18pc, under the GVP calculations.
Dairy farmers will be milked for $3.1m, or 6pc, followed by sheep and lamb producers who will be shorn for 5.8pc, or $3m, of the levy despite a looming ban on the live sheep by sea export trade that stakeholders claim will have ramifications across the industry.
Meat chicken farmers, facing a national phase-out of caged hen production, will be plucked for a not-so-poultry $1.8m, or 3.5pc, while pig farmers are next with a sizzling $1m, or about 2pc of the total bill.
Egg farmers will also be poached for $640,000 as the industry faces a staggered phase-out of battery cages by 2036.
The figures will be particularly eye-watering for those sectors who have never before had to pay an agriculture industry levy.
The federal government originally announced the BPL in the May 2023 Budget and said it would be collected on a par of 10pc of the 2020-21 agricultural levy rates.
However, following a public consultation process in which industry pointed out a lack of equity in the settings, the foundations of the BPL were changed so the rate would be calculated based on each industry's proportionate share of agriculture's total gross value of production.
This meant those sectors that did not pay an industry levy could be made to also contribute to the BPL.
Despite the adjustment, GPA chair Barry Large said the government's policy was fundamentally flawed in its design and "the most glaring fact" is that virtually all producer groups had unified against it.
"This is not about how much the levy rates are per tonne or per kilogram of farm produce - it's all about the principle of this policy and real failures to get it right and win any support," he said.
"Australian farmers should not be used as sacrificial lambs to fill budget black holes in government departments."
Mr Large pointed out that while farmers were being forced to pay the levy as 'beneficiaries' of biosecurity, other major supply chain participants, such as major supermarkets were not.
The BPL legislation was sent to the Senate committee for inquiry after lower house crossbenchers, including the Greens, and Coalition MPs took a stand against the levy in the Federation Chamber and widely called for the introduction of a container levy to be slapped on importers instead.
Meanwhile, vegetable growers will pay the most of all horticulture players towards the BPL with a $1.7m, or 3.3pc overall, contribution. Wine grapes ($680,000), potatoes ($500,000) and table grapes ($450,000) would be next.
There are currently several investigations being undertaken into the market dominance of Australia's major supermarkets and alleged "predatory pricing" practices used against fruit and vegetable growers, including a Senate inquiry.
Nursery producers, who were recently drawn into the supermarket inquiry due to dealings with Bunnings, will be asked to fork out $1.75m, or 3.3pc, towards the BPL.
Almond players ($560,000) will shell out the most of nut producers, salmonid ($680,000) and rock lobster ($280,000) producers will pay the most from fisheries and the forestry industry will face a chop out of $1.5m, or 2.9pc, of the entire bill.
Meanwhile, in responding to industry claims that the levy was 'double dipping', the DAFF submission to the Senate inquiry said while recognising there were several long-established levies in place for things like research and development and marketing, farmers do not currently contribute directly to the cost of keeping pests and diseases from entering the country.
DAFF currently disburses around $800m to 18 levy recipient bodies each year, this is comprised of $500 million in levies and charges collected from farmers and $300 million in Commonwealth matching payments for eligible research and development activities.
According to the DAFF website, "levy settings are determined by primary industries. Any new or amended levy is driven by primary industries."
There are currently more than 110 levies and charges are collected on more than 70 commodities across the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors.
The department is continuing to engage with industry on the intended imposition and collection arrangements of the BPL.
