Agriculture Minister on the record: views, priorities and goals to deliver

Helping farmers adapt to climate change, biosecurity and farm labour shortages were just some of her priorities.

Ms Spence had kept an arguably low profile since her appointment in October 2023 with many Victorian farmers unsure of her position on several matters.

Does the state's policy lead on agriculture have strong views of her own or is her office simply a vessel for the implementation of ideas and policy summed up by parliamentary committees and civil servants?

She said it was a welcome surprise to be given the "diverse" cabinet portfolio of agriculture by Premier Jacinta Allan.

"Every day there are new challenges and there's more to learn about what's going on in the industry," she said.

"Whenever I'm out visiting people on site, they're so generous and welcoming with the information sharing with what they're doing and the pride they are taking in their work."

Climate change was the biggest threat facing such Victorian farmers, according to Ms Spence.

She said grappling with extreme weather events while maintaining farm profitability and productivity was key for agriculture over the coming decade.

She said this conundrum was a "concern" to a lot of the farmers she spoke with.

However, she suggested the climate challenge came with opportunity and climate innovation could make a real impact on farms.

"The innovation that's taking place now in response to climate change, I would like to see that become further advanced," she said.

Ms Spence was asked if farmers were sufficiently supported by the state to protect their livelihoods from pests such as wild dogs.

She acknowledged the "stress" experienced by producers facing uncertainty over the control of wild dogs in north-east Victoria at present.

A wild dog unprotection order in the region was due to expire on October 1 and farmers waited on the Minister's next move.

A review was being undertaken on the merits of the unprotection order which allowed farmers to control wild dogs in their area.

Ms Spence said she would "not sit on" the review's findings but would not be drawn on her own view.

However, she said the circumstances that led to the ending of a similar order in the north-west of the state earlier this year were not applicable.

"In the north-west of the state, the wild dogs or dingos are in lower numbers and predation of livestock is in lower numbers," she said.

"In the east of the state, there's much higher numbers and much higher predation even with the unprotection order in place."

Ms Spence said she "absolutely" understood the fears of sheep producers.

"Any predation is devastating for farmers and my thoughts are with anyone who had to deal with that," she said.

Ms Spence said she wanted to focus on addressing agriculture's "employment issues" and encourage more women and young people to work in the industry.

"I'd like to see the industry understood for how it operates in modern Victoria and see those pathways more established," she said.

"If you're not in the agriculture sector, I think there's limited appreciation for what those people do.

"I think if people knew more about how the industry actually worked, they would find it more inviting.

"They have a view of farming that they've probably seen on TV that doesn't reflect modern farming.

"They don't have an appreciation of the technology that's been used on farms and how that's completely different to what they may have previously perceived.

"We need to get farming incorporated more into curriculums and also to have careers advisors promoting that as an option."

Another of Ms Spence's goals was to strengthen Victoria's biosecurity position.

"[We need to maintain] a strong biosecurity system where we are keeping at bay any issues that may arise," she said.

"There are huge biosecurity risks."

She highlighted the threat of the Red Imported Fire Ant in Queensland, Varoa Mite in New South Wales, lumpy skin and foot and mouth disease in Indonesia and avian influenza already in south-west Victoria.

The last of these, the recent avian influenza outbreak in the state, has created a bill of almost $20 million, Ms Spence confirmed.

The investment has funded the disposal of culled poultry, site decontamination and other response activities.

This spend was cost-shared between the Commonwealth Government, state governments including Victoria, and industry under the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement.

Ms Spence was "very confident" in the way the emergency response was being rolled out.

She said "timeliness" was critical in preventing disease spread and she was not concerned about the supply of poultry meat and eggs for Victorian consumers.

"We are a net importer of eggs and there should be sufficient supply as long as people don't rush on a product," she said.

Ms Spence also said peri-urban sprawl around urban centres was affecting agriculture.

"We need to take that really important move of planning to protect not only green wedge but agricultural land in that peri-urban area," she said.

She said policy makers needed to make sure there were no more inappropriate uses for land in urban fringes and that food supply needed to be a strong part of the planning equation.

"I live in the outer north, in a growth corridor, and I've watched what was farming land be no more," she said.

"It's important that we have housing but it's important that we maintain agricultural land as well."