Good morning,

The Australian’s 2024 Global Food Forum in partnership with Visy and supported by the Wall Street Journal begins in Brisbane today.

Keynote speaker Anthony Pratt will discuss how Australia has quietly become a “food superpower” . The billionaire notes that over the past decade 1200 new factories have sprung up, exports have doubled and the output of farmers has increased by more than 90 per cent.

Meanwhile, federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has a warning for industry leaders at the annual event, saying any switch to nuclear power generation, as touted by the Opposition, could put Australian agriculture at risk by taking away valuable water resources used to grow crops and livestock.

And Marc Werner, the boss of grower and supplier Costa Group, wants the federal government to step up action to support exports of fresh produce and will tell the forum that a united lobbying front is needed against non-tariff barriers preventing sales of berries and avocados to some Asian countries.