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A Productive Year
This has been a very productive year for the OFA. We are pleased with the ever growing level of support that that we are receiving across the whole organic sector. Our membership is continuously increasing and we are a truly representative organization with individuals and very small sector organizations through to some of the largest industry organizations as members. This fits in with our mandate to work on behalf of the whole sector and to ensure that we are inclusive, not exclusive.
The organic sector continues to expand rapidly as the fastest growing agricultural industry in the world. It is a consumer driven revolution, with producers and government needing to invest more to meet the ever growing demand.
The day to day running of the OFA is done from our membership funds, from projects such as conferences, trade shows and the support in kind that we receive from members and directors. One point that needs to be made is that we have never received special funding from government to run the OFA. Like other industry organizations, we have applied for and received funding for specific projects through the normal funding programs. Our financial position continues to improve every year and this coming year we expect to see a larger change.
The value of the in kind services donated by our unpaid elected representatives has been estimated at over $500,000 by the consultants who prepared our corporate plan.
We are very pleased with the widespread support we are receiving from the whole sector including industry and the support continues to grow. This was particularly evidenced by the fact that the overwhelming majority of the 30 industry and stakeholder organizations surveyed by Standards Australia supported the OFA’s application to develop an Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products.
Like most peak bodies we are a not-for-profit organization rather than a commercial organization. Our role is to develop the organic sector on behalf of all the stakeholders and we have been doing this based on extensive stakeholder consultation and developing good relationships with governments.
Substantial Improvement in Finaces
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Finances
This financial year has seen substantial improvement in our finances. We will be embarking on a membership drive as part of the process of increasing our funding base and we would appreciate your support to encourage more people to join the OFA.
Support from the ACCC
The Organic Federation of Australia is very appreciative of the financial support from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for ongoing development and promotion of the Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products.
The ACCC has contributed $216,000 to the OFA to promote the new Australian Standard to consumers, retailers and the organic sector as well as its continued development to protect the integrity of products labelled as organic.
We would like to thank NASAA for its role behind the scenes in suggesting that this money should be used by the peak industry body for this purpose.
The RIRDC Organic Committee.
OFA board members have been actively involved in the current RIRDC committee for research and development for the organic sector. RIRDC is the main organization that funds organic research and the new 5-year plan is critical to our future development.
Representation
The OFA Chair and Board members have participated in over 70 meetings, conference and forums with industry and grass roots stakeholders throughout Australia to promote and discuss organic systems and sector issues such as the Australian Standard. These meetings involved presentations, consultations and opportunities for stakeholders to have input, ask questions and have any concerns addressed.
Australian Standard
The first meeting of the new Standards Australia committee FT-032 occurred on May 7 2007 in Sydney. The meeting overwhelmingly supported developing an Australian Standard and agreed to use the existing national standard as the basis of the Australian Standard. The OFA’s preferred position is to have minimal changes to our current national standard and have this put up as the Interim Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products.
This has 3 advantages.
1. It means that regulatory authorities such as the ACCC can start prosecuting products that are false or deceptive in their labeling.
2. It will give us two years to develop the final standard with full sector consultation
3. It will mean minimal changes for existing certified producers and processors.
The OFA has also formed a standards committee chaired by George Devrell, to consult with stakeholders to ensure that the OFA contribution towards the new standard adequately addresses the need for a living document that accurately defines continuing changes and identifies the needs and gaps in the standard.
Certification of Organic Products
The OFA wants to see certification of organic products mandated in regulations when the Australian Standard is ‘called up’ into relevant Federal and State regulatory systems. We are pleased that The Hon Ian Macdonald, NSW Minister for Primary Industries, has begun this process.
Government Support for the Australian Standard
The OFA welcomes the media release from the office of the Hon. Peter McGauran MP, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regarding the Ministers’ decision on the Australian Standard at this meeting. "Council noted that the development of an Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Produce by Standards Australia will provide greater certainty and credibility for the industry and consumers and will help the industry maintain its recent strong rate of growth. Council agreed to consider the need for a regulatory framework once the Australian Standard is developed and agreed to consult the organic sector as part of this process."
The Business and Marketing Plan – OFA Corporate Plan
The Corporate Plan of the OFA is finished and will be available on our website soon. The Hon. Sussan Ley, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, launched the plan in Melbourne in May.
This living document is the culmination of over a year’s work from the time it was conceived, funded, researched and developed. A very significant part of this plan is the extensive stakeholder input and consultation that has been built into the processes of developing this comprehensive document. It ensures that this plan is relevant to the whole sector.
Another significant aspect has been the partnership with government in funding and facilitating this plan through the Industry Partnerships Program. We would like to thank and acknowledge the significant contribution from DAFF for this project.
Member Councils
The corporate plan has recommended that the Advisory Boards are to be renamed Member Councils. The reason for this is that having a board of directors and advisory boards becomes confusing when people refer to board members. Also the roles of the advisory boards are far more that just advising. Under the constitution the Advisory Boards have the power to act to implement policy and conduct projects on behalf of the OFA. An example of this is the Alliance Advisory Board taking on the role of developing and hosting the Organic Hub on behalf of RIRDC. More details can be found later in this newsletter. Member Councils is a better description of the role and function of the Advisory Boards.
Changes to Membership Categories
The corporate plan has recommended changes to our current membership categories. These are available on our website.
Website http://www.ofa.org.au/
Our website continues to grow and is accessed by over 500,000 people a year. It is about the have a major upgrade. Part of the upgrade will be a section for members’ services, including links to member’s websites etc. We will keep you posted and appreciate your feed back. Please keep visiting www.ofa.org.au to observe the progress.
Education and awareness programs
OFA board members have been involved in running a range of workshops, seminars and courses on all aspects of organic agriculture. One of the major gains has been the nationally accredited Certificate IV and Diplomas of Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture. These had significant OFA input.
Media
Board members have been involved in a wide range of media to promote organics. These included the OFA Newsletters, the Website and in the national media, including the specialist organic media and all the major Australian organic industry internet newsletters. These include Acres Australia, OFA Organic Update, Organic Advantage, Organic News, OTACNET, TOS, ABC Organic Gardener, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The AGE, The Western Australian, Adelaide Advertiser, Courier Mail as well as regional papers and radio stations etc
As part of increasing the profile of organic products, systems and issues, we have engaged the services of two media consultants
New Magazine for Members and Industry
We are currently having discussions with a media company on producing an OFA magazine for our members and for the industry.
Organic Update
Thousands of subscribers receive the OFA Organic Update, a regular electronic newsletter about organic issues in Australia and around the world.
Industry Inquiries
OFA board members answer thousands of email inquiries and over 1500 telephone inquiries every year.
Climate Change
The OFA have been very active on the issue of climate change, particularly in promoting the benefit of organic systems in producing less greenhouse gases and by showing that by increasing soil organic matter we can sequester more carbon than we produce. We themed our National Conference on this last year and have actively promoted this at the Carbon Forums, The Qld Landcare Conference, The Qld Organic Conference and at the first national New Zealand Conference.
Promoting Organic Products
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The Benefits of Organic Food
There have been several articles attacking organic food in the media. We believe that this is part of a campaign by the GMO lobby to discredit our industry and change the current hostile public opinion about GMOs and to re-brand them as healthy and better for the environment.
The OFA had responded by sending out several media releases to every Australian newspaper, Radio station and TV station. We also sent out a special Organic Update about the benefits of organic food. This newsletter goes to thousands of subscribers, including key journalists and government departments. Consequently we did numerous interviews for radio, newspapers and magazines on the subject. The result has been a lot of good publicity for organic food and farming systems.
The Release of GM Canola and the Proposal to End GMO Moratoriums
The OFA has put our concerns to the media and submissions to the relevant Australian Governments about the proposals to end the moratoriums on the production of GMO crops in Australia. Most importantly we need to ensure the integrity of organic crops and prevent any contamination with transgenes.
Organic Expo
We have a seminar room in the Organic Expo venue for the three days of the event. The OFA seminar room will be open to public and showcase speakers on a range of current organic sector issues.
Victorian Directory
Victoria now has a directory with most producers and retailers. This was funded by the Victorian Department of Industry and Rural Development and was an OFA initiative conceived and championed by Liz Clay
Victorian Scoping Study
The Victorian Department of Industry and Rural Development has funded a scoping study to determine the needs of the organic sector in Victoria. This is also an OFA initiative conceived and championed by Liz Clay
OFA National Compost Photography Competition
The OFA is sponsored a national photography competition on the use of composts as part of International Compost Week. The winners were announced on the 11th May at the National Closing Event of International Compost Week – The Compost Ball.
International Relations
OFA board members have participated in international conferences, forums, meetings and trade shows to build the links between Australia and our colleagues around the world.
OFA Board Members are Volunteers
OFA board members give their time and in many cases pay their own expenses to promote, to lobby, to educate and to develop our sector. As evidence by all the above activities it is easy to see that the current OFA board has been very active over the last year engaging in numerous activities on behalf of our industry.
A Credible Relationship with the Australian Government
The OFA has put considerable effort into developing a credible relationship with the Australian Government. This has been very positive with the government supporting an Australian Standard, environmental management systems and industry events. Very significantly the government recognises the importance of the OFA as the peak body and has assisted with our restructure with critical funding through the Industry Partnerships Program. The perception of the organic sector is changing within government and this bodes well for our future.
The OFA thanks and greatly appreciates the contributions from the Hon. Peter McGauran MP, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, AQIS and RIRDC. We also thank all of the many people who provided input, including the board of directors of the OFA who generously gave an enormous amount of their time. And finally we thank the Centre for Organic & Resource Enterprises (CORE) for contributing far more in time and resources than the contracted the price for the Corporate Plan and producing an excellent resource for the OFA and the whole organic sector.
Thank You to Members
Most importantly I would like to thank all our members. You are very important to us, because without your contributions we would not have the funds to operate this organization and to work on behalf of all of us to ensure that the organic sector has expanding and vibrant future. We appreciate your continued membership.
Yours Sincerely,
Andre Leu,
Chair, Organic Federation of Australia
FIELD DAY CONDUCTED BY DR MAARTEN STAPPER
Moving from Current to Biological Soil Fertility Management Evaluation of Trials highlighting Dry Land Wheat/Pasture Production
WHERE: ‘Milgadara’ Moppity Road YOUNg WHEN: Thursday 27th September 2007 TIME: 8.30 am – 5.00 pm
Keynote Speakers for this event will be:
Dr Maarten Stapper FARMING SYSTEMS AGRONOMIST (FORMER CSIRO) Biological agriculture, healthy soils and profitable farming
Cary Richardson MIDWEST BIO-SYSTEMS - ILLINOIS USA Life in the Soil- DVD The Role Humus Compost has in Creating Soil Balance - Nutrient uptake by plants via roots: Extraction vs Absorption
Michael Kiely CARBON COALITION -Setting up the parameters for Trading Carbon Credits
PLAN AHEAD: February 2008 Workshop Dates. Edwin J Blosser Pres. Midwest Bio-Systems Ill USA
3 day Advanced Composting System Workshop – Mudgee
1 day Compost Use and Benefit Workshop – Young, Wangaratta, Emerald, Adelaide, Perth, New Zealand
BOOKINGS [02] 6382 2165 EMAIL ylad@dragnet.com.au www.yladlivingsoils.com.au
David Howard, Head Gardener to HRH Prince of Wales to Tour Australia
The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney are hosting a speaking tour by David Howard to Australia from November 7-16 2007. David will present a number of different talks including ‘Highgrove, the Garden’ offering a fascinating insight into this prestigious organic garden, looking at its development over the last 25 years, including the wildflower meadow, walled garden, arboretum and carpet garden. One of his talk topics will be ‘The Philosophy of Highgrove’ that will concentrate on the technical aspects of the workings of the magnificent garden and an understanding of it’s underlying organic principles and practices.
For more information on David’s speaking tour in November including dates, venues and ticketing information (as well as a gala dinner with David as the keynote speaker in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart), please go to www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/friends or telephone 02 9231 8182.
Slow Food Melbourne Farmers Market
St Heliers Street, Collingwood on the 4th Saturday of each month.
Veg Out Farmers’ Market
1st Saturday of every month 8.30am-1pm
Chaucer Street, St Kilda (just behind Acland Street and Luna Park)
Collingwood Children’s Farm Farmers’ Market
2nd Saturday every month 8.00am–1pm
St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
Gasworks Farmers’ Market
3rd Sat every month 8.30am–1pm
Graham Street, Albert Park. (cnr Pickles St)
The Gascoyne Growers Markets, Carnarvon, Western Australia
Every Saturday 8am to 11.30am from mid-May to October
For further information email gascoynemarkets@westnet.com.au
or call markets coordinator Nic Giblett on 0403 198 760.
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