It’s been a long time coming, but the opening up of the West Australian potato industry has now been given a deadline by Premier Colin Barnett, who promised the relevant legislation will be repealed after the 2017 election. That is when the Potato Marketing Corporation Act, which has existed since 1947 to guarantee returns to the state’s growers, will be repealed.
The news means that around 80 small and independent growers will be forced to diversify into promising alternate crops such as almonds or avocados, or leave the industry altogether. “We’ll be working with government to prepare a transition plan, which we will hand over, but in the end the government will repeal the Act and leave the future of the industry up to market forces,” says Potato Growers Association of Western Australia executive member Ross Taylor. “In a disorderly transition to deregulation what we’ll see is the transition of producers from small farm growers to large agents and retailers, and the on-going destruction of small independent growers. Independent growers be working to mitigate that if we can.”
Managing the transition so that it is ‘orderly and cohesive’ is the main aim of the PGAWA, according to Mr Taylor, and there will be a number of issues to consider in doing so. “There is a whole range of issues that need to be considered, including for example ongoing royalties owed to the Dutch owners of the Royal Blue potato variety. Aside from that variety management, pest and disease control and water, land and environment issues which the small growers care about need to be addressed. I’m not sure people outside the industry have even thought of those issues.”
Market prices, export opportunities remain a mystery
While economies of scale might dictate that there will be a concentration of bigger potato processors, growers and retailers in WA, and that will mean lower prices for consumers. Lower prices are not guaranteed, according to Mr Taylor.
Market forces have not necessarily benefited consumers in states that have been deregulated either, according to Mr Taylor. “When you look at the experiences of the Eastern states, in particular South Australia, growers can earn as much as 35% less than growers here in WA,” he says. “Retail prices in South Australia are also equal to or even slightly higher than what people pay here in WA too.”
Regulation also ensures the cultivation of novel and popular new varieties, such as purple potatoes, and a distinct advantage because the seed the crops are grown from comes from WA itself, developed in pristine, pest free agricultural land according to him. “WA has produced something like 34 varieties last year, and the only reason consumers only see maybe five or six varieties is that that is what the supermarkets agree to take. They say ‘we have five or six bins, and that’s it.’ The regulatory system doesn’t restrict varieties, which is important.”
Disease free status and an abundance of variety are attractive prospects to grow the export market for seeds cultivated in WA Mr Taylor says, and that could be jeopardized if the transition to deregulation is mismanaged. “We think there’s an abundant opportunity to export clean seeds to Asia, but it has to be done right.”