Australian Agriculture’s Relationship With Capitalism and Climate Change
03/10/2022
Lei Feng
It is widely known that Australia is an agricultural powerhouse, however, the question of who owns the farms, and the ecological damage they cause, is rarely mentioned. Australia used to have a strong base of small, family farmers; however, since the 1940s wealthy farmers and banks have been driving them off their land. Nowadays there is a monopoly on farming and the average farm size is 4,331 hectares (ABS, 2015-2016). Most small farmers are unable to increase their farm size and instead are forced to sell their land to corporations as the cost of land is increasing. This is seen in the Shire of Westonia, as 30% of the farms are corporate owned (ABC, 2019). What does this corporate monopoly on farming mean for Australia’s people and environment?
The Environmental Burden of Corporate Farming
Capitalist enterprises prioritise profit above all else. Destruction of the soil, water and forests by capitalist agriculture shows this rule in action. Capitalism’s unplanned and individualist fashion allows monopolisation to thrive and plunder the planet’s resources. Forests are decimated to clear land for farms, waterways are diverted to major farms while rural communities and rivers are left to dry, and the soil is increasingly poisoned by chemical fertilizers. Furthermore, small farmers are unable to compete if they want to employ sustainable farming practises. All of this is done because it is the quickest way to maximise profits and make the rich richer, while rural communities and the environment are left to suffer.
Although the farming industry isn’t the biggest greenhouse gas emitter, it does contribute to 13% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, 42% of this comes from methane (Climate Council, 2021). The cattle industry specifically has the greatest effect on emissions as forests which absorb carbon are decimated and replaced with cattle farms which release one of the most potent greenhouse gases. In the short term, methane is more potent than CO2 by more than 28 times (Climate Council, 2021).
Alongside cattle farming, the overuse of chemical fertilizers in large-scale capitalist agriculture is also harmful to the environment. Although fertilizers are cheap and profitable, they are damaging in the long run as fertilizers degrade soil quality, resulting in smaller yields and more expensive produce in the future. Pesticides are also known to affect human health, while continual use increases the resistance of pests to these chemicals. Over use of pesticides is done to decrease production costs and increase profits; however, capitalism neglects the fact that these farming methods are more costly in the long term – we will be the ones paying the cost for higher prices while the capitalists maintain their profit margins. Essentially, the capitalist agricultural system neglects the sustainability of farming and its effects on humans and nature, as cheap chemicals result in more profits for the capitalist class.
As the effects of climate change worsen, food production will decrease due to there being less arable land and smaller crop yields. Changes in rainfall patterns and temperature will severely affect where crops can be grown. Therefore, we must act now to change farming practices and the entire capitalist system which maintains unsustainable production methods for the profits of a wealthy few.
The Myth of Ethical Capitalism
Now that the climate catastrophe can no longer be credibly denied, the ruling class has now shifted to promoting changes in individual lifestyles as a viable solution. Individuals are told to eat ‘ethically sourced foods’ and to consume less, while little is done to reform the major polluters and capitalism’s drive to overproduction.
Australia produces more than enough food nationally, enough to feed 75 million people (AFGC). However, 2/3rd of Australian produce is exported, while the Australian working class struggles to put food on the table (Queensland University, 2021). This is done because farmers earn more profit through exports. Therefore, wealthy farmers get even richer by producing food for export only, driving up the price of food domestically.
The problem with agriculture under capitalism is not the small farmers; it’s the entire system that produces more than enough food yet leaves those who can’t afford it to starve. It is a system that exploits migrant farm workers to decrease labour costs, and allows the supermarket monopoly to extort small farmers, sell produce at an incredible mark up and destroy food that can’t be sold profitably.
Many middle-class climate activists say that ethical consumption is needed. They ignore the fact that capitalism is not an ethical system. Capitalism is a system based on overproduction for the market and under consumption for those who can’t afford the markets’ prices. By having high-cost sustainable products, only the well-off middle-class can afford these products, while the masses that are pressed by the heel of capital turn to cheaper unsustainable products. As a result, ethical consumption is a class privilege, as those that can afford it feel as though they are making a difference when in fact they are maintaining the inherent exploitation of capitalism. Ultimately, what is needed is collective mass action that listens to the suggestions of scientists and pushes for the nationalisation of industry as food should be produced for need instead of profit.
What Would Agriculture Under Socialism Look Like?
Firstly, instead of food being produced for profit, it would be produced to meet people’s needs. A centrally planned economy allows for rational calculation of domestic food needs – and a sustainable plan for achieving those needs. Price controls on certain foods such as grain ensures that farmers are always able to make a living, while guaranteeing affordable prices for consumers. Centralised state-owned production guarantees that everyone has access to a nutritional diet as food is produced to fill the bellies of the workers instead of the pockets of the rich.
Any profits from the farm are either reinvested into the farm or divided among the workers, depending on the decision the workers on the farm make. Furthermore, by collectivising small farms into larger farms, workers have more control over production and production increases as there is more capital and labour on the farm. With improved technology, workers will be able to work less hours while being paid the same wage as the use of machinery increases productivity.
A socialist system of production will utilise modern technology to monitor what resources are needed on farms, ensuring that resources such as water are not wasted and are equitably distributed. In addition, a socialist economy will encourage the production of native plants that are designed for this ecosystem, instead of the production of non-native cash crops such as cotton and rice which are heavily water intensive.
References:
https://qaafi.uq.edu.au/blog/2021/09/australian-agriculture-and-climate-change-two-way-street
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-05-08/corporate-farming-ruining-rural-communities/11091568
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/australia-agriculture-climate-change-emissions-methane