property down up to 40% in sydney-is this for real, page-79

JC Land values have gone up appreciably but we have definately peaked. I believe the main driver of land prices has been neighbouring farmer competition to get bigger. As you'd no doubt be aware the more land you have the more you can dilute your fixed costs. And I guess in comparison to international farm land values we are pretty cheap. But that is perception or else there would be a lot fo farmers killing the pig.

I am 30 and I don't see a future in growing wheat. I can see fossil fuel prices crippling the economics of growing the stuff. Unless of course people are prepared to pay significantly more for bread! Consumers will not do that unless they are forced to by people not growing the stuff. There are only two crops we have available to weather an energy storm. Because we now have to view what we produce in terms of energy. Energy invested to energy returned. Wheat is a big energy sucker - straight from an oil spigot your bread is! However there are some crops we have that require significantly less energy to produce hence the cost of producing are lower and able to handle high energy costs a lot better. They are any legume which uses half the inputs of wheat and produces a higher valued grain and with lower yields lower freight costs. The other crop is a new one and I stay here because I want to be the first to commercialise it. It is the sandalwood nut.

It is a parasite so requires a legume tree as a host to obtain protein off. This means I never have to fertilize with nitrogen (the most energy expensive input in agriculture). Both the host and the sandalwood are long lived so I only have one establishment cost. Wheat needs to be planted every year and that requires a lot fo energy. The nuts are rich in oil and protein so give us the ability to feed people but also produce our own energy. The system is native so benefits the surrounding environment - salinity, biodiversity, reduces soil erosion. So I stay here because I have a passion and a sense of responsibility to my community. I believe I can add value to my land asset as well. The nuts are ridiculously priced at $60/kg at the moment and will undoubtably come down in value but the figures even at $3/kg beat wheat hands down!