Farmers are warning the federal Labor government that its decision to ignore the sector and increase taxes on producers will force up the price of food, pushing the cost of living even higher.
This comes as the federal government announced in the budget that it will introduce a new 10 percent levy on all domestic agricultural, fisheries, and forestry producers to fund the cost of the new biosecurity system.
This means that farmers of beef (grass-fed) will now pay an extra 50 cents per head of cattle, while a prawn farmer will pay 67 cents per kilogram of whole-farmed prawns. An egg farmer will pay an extra 3.25 cents per bird, and a honey producer will pay just under 5 cents per kilogram….