National Farmers' Federation

National Farmers' Federation Headquarters in Barton, Australian Capital Territory.

The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian industry association that represents Australian farmers at a national level, including through lobbying the Australian Government. NFF's members are the state-level farmers' organisations, national commodity councils, and other affiliated members.

According to the NFF charter, state-level farmers' organisations represent the interests of the agricultural sector in their respective states while issues related to individual commodities or interstate/national farming concerns are represented by relevant national commodity councils. The NFF council comprises delegates from each state and territory representing primary producers on the commodity councils of their respective industry.

Jock Laurie, a grazier from Walcha in the New England region of NSW, has been president of the organisation since late 2010, replacing former president, David Crombie of Queensland.

The current CEO of the National Farmers' Federation is Matt Linnegar, replacing former CEO Ben Fargher who stepped down from the position in January 2011.

History

The Federation was created in 1979. The organisation was incorporated in July 2001.

NFF has been involved in a number of major policy debates in Australia, including the tariff reform debate and the tax reform debate. NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, including:

• the "Wide comb dispute"
• the Mudginberri abattoir dispute in 1984-85
• the Waterfront Dispute in 1998

Rick Farley, was NFF's Chief Executive for eight years.

See also

• Agriculture in Australia
• Economy of Australia

External links

• National Farmers' Federation website