The growth underpinned Australia’s record exports of goods and services in 2010 – 2011 to just under $300 billion.

Export sales rose by 17.3 per cent from the previous financial year. The rise was accompanied by a good performance in the minerals sector.

The increase in export sales demonstrates the sector making a comeback in international agricultural trade. The agricultural sector has been affected by various weather disasters over the last few years, including droughts, floods and bushfires.

An increase in export sales was also experienced by other Australian business sectors in the last financial year. Cereal grain and wheat exports achieved record growth, with sales up by 50 percent from the previous year.

Cotton export sales increased by 80 percent and wool sales were up by a third.

Other sectors that experienced a growth in export sales included textile fibre, dairy products and manufactured products.

Export sales figures were recently released in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2010-11 edition of Trade in Primary and Manufactured Products, Australia.

The document provides an account of Australia’s international trade in goods and services.

When your business name is searched online, search engines compare the keywords included in your website copy to assess the relevance of your site in the search. You need to determine what your keywords are, that is, the words people use when looking for your products or services. Make sure these words are used throughout your entire website.

It is a good idea to add new content to your website each week, because search engines promote websites that have fresh items – they don’t like outdated websites. This new content can include articles, industry news, customer profiles, case studies or videos about your products or services.

Having a blog on your website is a great way to do this; it not only provides fresh information but provides your visitors with news about your business.

Online directories are also a great place to promote your business on the web. Get listed in industry specific directories such as FatCow.com.au, an online business directory for the farming, agricultural and horticultural sectors. Your business will be found by people searching for products on the directory, which has a high search engine ranking.

New Holland, an agricultural machinery manufacturer, is a global business and the team found it difficult to place the business’ website high on search listings in a range of different geographical locations. As a solution to the problem New Holland decided to advertise directly to its target audience with FatCow.com.au.

“Our website is listed globally and so when customers, potential and current, search for us online our website does not appear high in any search listing while our listings on FatCow.com.au always generate strong results,” New Holland Communications Manager Tara Stewart said. “So it made sense to advertise where many web users were going to view information on our products and have the ability to then direct them to our site through strategically placed links.”

Case for online

Most successful marketing strategies take more than one approach to target a wider range of customers. New Holland uses a number of different platforms to inform customers of their products and services.

“We use a series of above and below the line strategies including TV, radio, print and web advertising as well as promotional mail outs, email alerts, POS material in dealerships and giveaways,” said Ms Stewart.

Online marketing has seen some great results for the business due to its accessibility and long shelf life.

“Online has become one of our strongest strategies as it provides us with the opportunity to showcase our products in a unique and interesting way via a channel that is readily available to our key consumers when it suits them.”

“Particularly in the lower sector of our market (hobby farmers etc) we have seen strong results and increases in sales through consumers who may be first time purchasers being able to access the information they need online and then make contact with their relevant dealer,” said Ms Stewart.

Keep it simple

The key to online advertising is keeping it clean and simple. Consumers need to know what they are looking at and see what you are trying to tell them straight away. Not bombarding them with too much, or too technical, information can lead to greater results from your campaign. Speaking the language of your target consumers can also help.

Ms Stewart agrees, commenting, “Regularly update your content both editorial and advertising and use clean simple message trying not to bombard the user with too much text, particularly with advertising”.

Online visibility is what distinguishes successful internet ventures from failures and underachievers. Even companies that invest thousands of dollars in sophisticated websites struggle to connect with their target audience because they are unaware they even exist. So make sure you do the basics: get listed in a directory, keep your website fresh and use keywords and your business will become more visible to potential customers.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig welcomed the rise of 6.5 per cent to $34.6 billion. ”The forecast increase in farm export earnings mainly reflects expected higher farm production and a favourable outlook for agricultural prices on world markets.”

With highly promising growing conditions in 2011-2012 both a large national winter crop and an increased production of summer crops is expected.

Ludwig said the forecast Australian farm export earnings is the second highest Australia’s seen since 2002-3. However its not just farms showing a welcome increase; with the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics latest quarterly report predicting a 21 per cent increase in resources and energy earnings, hitting a record $215 billion.

Bureau executive director and chief economist Quentin Grafton said this reflected strong increases for most commodities including coal, iron ore, oil and gas, base metals and gold.

Prices for a number of commodities are forecast to ease in 2012, however Grafton remarked that “it should be noted in some cases they are coming off record high levels and still indicate a very positive outlook.” Thermal coal was tipped to rise 29 per cent to $18 billion, crude oil and condensate to hit $13 billion; up 13 per cent, and liquefied natural gas to grow by 11 per cent to $12 billion.

The increase in export volumes for many minerals and energy commodities reflects increased mine and infrastructure capacity, particularly for iron or and coal,” Grafton said.

Similarly positive increases across farming and crops exports were seen in canola, up eight per cent; raw cotton, up 63 per cent; rice, 377 percent; wool, 1 per cent and meat, up 6 percent.

“This is great news for Australia’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry exporters and a testament to the hard work and innovative approaches adopted by Australian producers,” Ludwig said.

“All meat that leaves Australia for export markets meets strict quality and safety standards,” Ludwig explained. “Export certification gives assurance to our producers and trading partners that hygiene and quarantine standards are met.”

The new co-regulatory arrangement, the Australian Export Meat Inspection System (AEMIS), will be implemented from 1 October this year. The government will provide $25.8 million over three years to support the transition into the new system. It is expected the industry will return to full cost recovery by 2013.

“The export meat processing sector supports over 10,000 jobs in regional communities all over Australia,” Ludwig said. “The Australian government has been working with the sector since 2009 to slash red tape and reduce the cost of the certification process and help Australian meatworks compete internationally.”

Gary Burridge, chair of the Ministerial Task Force, said the partnership with the government is important to the continued success of the industry.

“It is in our interest to continue to work with the Government to improve the efficiency of export certification and we are pleased the Minister has agreed to maintain an oversight role for the industry in both implementing the new system but also working to drive efficiencies in to the future.”

The legislative instruments to support the new certification system and the fees and charges will be tabled in parliament in the coming weeks.

GRDC chairman Keith Perrett and Western Australian Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman made the announcement at the Dowerin GWN Machinery Field Days in Western Australia.

Perrett said the new centre, located in South Perth, will be a world class facility, offering innovation and development in the export grains industry.

“The creation of the centre addresses significant industry needs including grain quality for export markets, grain economic analysis, market intelligence, grain quality genetics, processing and product functionality, and storage and product integrity,” Perrett said.  “Importantly, it builds national research capability in the Western region and will focus on investment in innovation that provides the greatest return to growers and the broader supply chain.”

The GRDC has committed $20 million over five years, with the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) contributing a similar amount in addition to $30 million to fund the actual AEGIC building.

Perrett explained the benefits from the new centre will be far reaching. “The long term co-investment by GRDC and DAFWA will attract significant additional investment from the public and private sector,” Perrett said. “This strategy is overcoming capability gaps, creating critical mass and reducing fragmentation and unnecessary duplication of effort across the nation.”

“Our citrus growers have survived the drought, frost and pest infestation, but unfortunately the exchange rate may be the final straw for many growers,” said Judith Damiani, CEO of Citrus Australia.

Orange exports were down 13 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. This is despite a bumper crop of quality oranges produced by Australia’s 2000 growers. “This year more than 240,000 tonnes of Aussie navels will be produced compared to 177,000 tonnes in 2010, and the quality is exceptional,” Damiani said.

Citrus Australia is urging Australians to eat more oranges, launching Aussie Orange Week to give the industry a boost.

The Australian citrus industry is worth $540 million each year. It is the largest sector of fresh fruit exports, netting $190 million annually for the local economy.

For centuries, the Chinese have purchased their daily ingredients such as fruit, vegetables and meat from local fresh produce markets. More recently, due to urbanisation, modern supermarkets are gaining popularity and the trend to purchase weekly is slowly becoming more convenient for busy commuters. In the past, little attention was paid to the origin or treatment of the food, as “fresh” was simply considered the best form.

Whilst “fresh” is still a major consideration, Chinese shoppers are now more focused on food safety, health and diet. The spate of food quality incidents and a heightened awareness of the effects of pesticides have produced a more discerning consumer and organic options have gained popular interest.

Soil depletion, over-cultivated land, pollution and public health issues have also forced the government to look for solutions. They see organic farming as a potential remedy and for the past 30 years have been working on initiatives to develop a national standardisation body. Whilst these days there are multiple government and international bodies dedicated to achieving organic standardisation in China, the main one is the China National Organic Product Standard. Products that qualify are registered with the Administration of Certification & Accreditation of China (CNCA) body. Food products that satisfy the standard and attain this certification will receive the “fully organic seal”.

When it comes to organic food products, price sensitive Chinese consumers still pay close attention to whether they are grown locally or internationally. Generally international products are deemed more trustworthy, although price can still dominate the final purchase decision. With time, and as China continues to develop their food industry, more local options and choice will become available to local consumers. International competition in this market is still fairly new.

Chinese Consumers are buying their organic products from organic farmers markets, organic specialty stores, supermarkets and through home delivery. Perhaps one option that is becoming increasingly popular is online purchasing. It’s a common belief that the online channel offers better prices and higher quality.

With Australia’s good reputation for being a clean and healthy country, we enjoy popularity in China for our known quality foods – especially organic. This makes us a premium choice for local consumers when it comes to purchasing decisions. Sadly though, Australian producers are still very under-represented in the China market. As our organic growers become more aware of the potential for their products in China, and gain an appreciation of their popularity, hopefully more growers will start looking east to Australia’s largest trading partner.

If you are interested in testing the market or finding new distributors for your organic or healthy food products, then why not join us at the Hong Kong Food Expo in August this year? We are co-ordinating a high profile trade delegation in conjunction with the popular HKTDC Food Expo to give producers access to key local suppliers, distributors and partners. Click here for more details.

Applications are now open for the 2012-13 funding round, which will offer six grants for delegations to visit China in an effort to develop links and cooperation with China in the agricultural, fisheries or forestry industries.

The grants are offered under the Australia-China Agricultural Cooperation Agreement, jointly administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China.

For more information, visit the DAFF website .

“With yields up and cotton prices going from strength to strength it’s great news for the state’s cotton farmers,” said Myles Parker, manager of industry development broadacre cropping for Industry and Investment NSW. “Off the back of strong cotton prices, it is tipped the crop will net about $2.3 billion for Australia’s cotton industry.”

Despite the recent natural disasters in QLD, the northern state is expected to produce 1.79 million bales. NSW will lead the harvest at 2.27 million bales, with farmers overcoming a plague of Spur Throated Locusts and heavy rains.

The harvest has already started in QLD and Northern NSW and will move south as the season progresses. Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay said the industry was still looking for harvesters.  “With such a massive crop predicted, we are still looking to recruit enough workers to harvest and gin our cotton.”

Up to 98 percent of Australian cotton is sold for export. The biggest markets for Australian cotton are China, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and Japan, while the industry also exports cottonseed to the USA, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Korea.

The Tasmanian Government has set aside $200,000 dollars to provide one-off grants to eligible businesses to assist with projects beyond the farm gate, including:

• development of new products and processes
• accessing new markets or developing existing markets
• increasing efficiency in existing value-adding or marketing activities

Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded to meet up to 50 percent of a proposed project’s cost.

Applications are open until 29 April 2011.

To view the North-West and Northern Tasmanian Vegetable Industry Development program guidelines, visit www.development.tas.gov.au.