The escalating crisis in the Middle East is once again sending shockwaves through global supply chains and Australian agriculture is feeling the tremors.
Much of the focus has rightly been on disruptions to fuel and fertiliser, which are critical inputs that underpin every hectare planted and every tonne harvested.
Producers have been especially concerned about access to in-season fertiliser and what that could mean for yields.
Tight global supply and rising costs translate directly into production decisions, margins and ultimately the price and availability of food on Australian tables.
Recent efforts by government and industry to secure supply through taskforces, underwriting imports and streamlined processes are important and welcome.
These measures ease immediate pressure but only address part of the challenge.
They also highlight a deeper truth: Australian agriculture remains exposed to supply shocks in ways that go beyond fertiliser and fuel.
If this crisis tells us anything, it is that resilience in agriculture cannot be built on inputs alone.
Food security is national security and that requires us to broaden the conversation and focus on the levers within the control of state and federal governments.
Water security and access to productive land are just as fundamental – and far less substitutable – than any imported input.
Without reliable water, even the best fertiliser cannot deliver a crop or sustain livestock production.
Without secure access to arable land, no amount of fuel can drive production forward.
This crisis could also be a catalyst to revisit discussions about “growing” more fuel as diversification options for primary producers and sovereign capability.
Historically, when there has been discourse around growing crops for biofuels, we get the challenge that it would be immoral for us to waste by making it into fuel when people are starving elsewhere in the world.
But we also know there is enough food grown in the world now – the real challenge is excessive living standards in the West and a lack of equitable global distribution of what is grown.
Equally, when we export 70 per cent of what we grow, we get others challenging that we therefore do not have a food security issue and agriculture can afford to reduce its productive area for other uses.
But this ignores the fragility of much of our productive resource and the critical role these exports play in our economy.
There is an opportunity to increase local manufacturing so we can value-add to the primary produce we currently export.
We must also restore confidence for farmers and regional businesses to invest, to plan, and to make decisions about the future of farming.
Without it, production does not simply pause; it declines. Investment is deferred, innovation stalls and over time we risk losing local food production.
We must ensure this is the last time we find ourselves so vulnerable to global shocks.
Strengthening sovereign capability must extend beyond inputs to the very foundations of production.
That means clear policy to secure water, safeguard prime agricultural land and recognise agriculture as a fundamental pillar of our economy, society and environment.
Agriculture feeds our population, sustains regional communities, drives export income and stewards the landscapes that define this country.
That responsibility cannot be met if our own systems are under strain.
This column was written by PPSA Chair Professor Simon Maddocks and originally appeared in the 30 April 2026 edition of Stock Journal.
