THE Northern Territory’s position as a coiled spring of agriculture has been put on display at day-one of the Northern Territory Field Days at the Katherine Research Station today (Thursday).
The 60 or so exhibitors at the two-day event showcased the breadth of the NT’s industries from beef cattle to sandalwood, mangoes to mining.
Hundreds of people poured through the inaugural field days, an initiative of National Australia Bank Agribusiness, Charles Darwin University and Fairfax Media.
Northern Territory primary industries and fisheries minister Willem Westra van Holthe officially opened the field days, taking the time to spruik the area’s potential, particularly with the ever-increasing Asian economy on the doorstep.
“We’re working hard internationally to put the Northern Territory on the map for those people who would invest in Australia and also take the produce that we are producing up here,” Mr Westra van Holthe said.
But he tempered his comments by saying he didn’t think Australia would be the one-stop-shop for Asian diners as portrayed by some politicians and industry analysts.
“I agree with Barnaby Joyce on this though- we don’t have the potential to be a food bowl,” he said.
“What we do have is the potential to be is a stable producer of high quality product produce for the Asian markets and for the Asian palate.”
He said markets like China with its 1.3 billion people and Indonesia with 250 million were key areas that could be further tapped.
“It’s growing, not because the population is growing up there but because of the change of demographics,” Mr Westra van Holthe said.
“There are more and more people reaching into the middle class right across Asia.
“And what that does is change consumer spending habits. There is far more disposable income across Asia now than there was five or certainly 10 years ago.
“They are all looking for better quality food, better quality produce for their markets. The Northern Territory is ideally placed to take advantage of that and that is why we are pushing so hard for the Territory and certainly Darwin to be the centre of that.
“We are the closest port to Asia and a whole bunch of great strategic reasons for us to be right there front and centre.”
Katherine turned on pristine Northern Territory weather with clear blue skies prevailing for most of the day despite a brief stint of hefty breezes in the afternoon.
Local horseman and entertainer Tom Curtain, Riverboyne Horsebreaking and Training put on a display of gentle horse-breaking while also performing some songs in the afternoon.
Mr Curtain has been preparing Bunda Speed, a six-year-old brown stockhorse mare donated by Reg Underwood, Bunda Station, Katherine that will be raffled off during the field days. The raffle will be drawn at 3pm on the Friday.
Fencing, fire control and timber cutting were other demonstrations held onsite.
The impact of the site was made even more impressive with the inclusion of helicopters, tractors, implements, tanks and the hard-to-miss RM Williams merchandise truck.
The field days are on until 5pm Friday.
