Jon Duffy
Frontier Agriculture Ltd
Malvern Farming Conference
15th November 2012
Activities
Grain Marketing
Grain Logistics
Grain Storage
Grain Exports
Seed Processing
Crop Nutrition
Activities
Crop Agronomy
Agronomy Trials
Contract Services
Precision Farming
• Resources
• Economics
• Politics
POWER IN
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
HAS
POWER
– and a very bright future!
London Wheat Futures
Nov LIFFE futures
250.00
200.00
150.00
100.00
Real power sits with
the consumer/retailer/
50.00
processor
Tony Blair: “UK needs
to concentrate on
0.00organic niche farming”
Paradigm shift of power.
Consumer is squeezed, retailing
is putting margin pressure on
processors – power sits with
farmers & traders
David Heath: “we need a
production supply industry that
concentrates on productivity and
can thrive without unnecessary
Nov LIFFE futures
barriers from Government”
Projected World Population Growth
2011 to 2050 (From 7 to 9.5 billion?)
Northern Hemisphere Grain Belt
Growth in wheat imports
= 40.4 MMT
Latin America
+300 million
Growth in corn imports
= 40.9 MMT
Africa
+1 Billion
Asia
+1.8 Billion
Mid-Latitude Demand Concentration
Southern Hemisphere Grain Belt
Source: US Wheat Associates
Second Agricultural Revolution
– Collaboration in the supply chain
Second Agricultural Revolution
– Collaboration in the supply chain
Second Agricultural Revolution
– Collaboration in the supply chain
The UK has to...
• Identify strengths
• Embrace technology
• Re-invest
• Employ the best people
• Recognise comparative advantages