Agriculture
26 November, 2025
Petition wants safeguards
A PETITION has been launched to grow and protect the state’s prime farmland.
Victorian Farmers’ Federation president Brett Hosking said Victoria’s farmland represented a huge asset that needed protecting.
“Our farmland is an economic powerhouse that underpins more than 150,000 jobs and contributes in excess of $20 billion to the Victorian economy each year.”
“Victoria is Australia’s food bowl and our farmland is a national treasure, producing almost a quarter of the Nation’s food, from just three per cent of arable Australian land,” he said.
“Our farmers protect and conserve our State’s incredible biodiversity, as well as being industry leaders in the emissions reduction our planet needs so urgently.”
“Farmers and the soil they farm are irreplaceable and I’m urging everyone to back our farmers. We must send this message loud and clear to governments right across the Nation,” Mr Hosking said.
Across Victoria, productive agricultural land is facing challenges for competing land use for housing estates, mining approvals, transmission corridors and large-scale energy projects.
But Mr Hosking said the rate of prime farmland loss was staggering.
“We’ve lost well in excess of 100,000 hectares to housing alone in the past 10 years, that’s 6500 times the area of the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” he said.
The petition wants to remind governments and decision makers that farmers and the rural communities they support are vital to our State’s success.
The VFF is calling for a change in how land use decisions are made, with a particular focus on food security, local communities, and long-term sustainability.
It wants the Victorian Government to develop a statewide strategy that:
Protects high-value agricultural land from fragmentation;
Ensures real consultation with local communities;
Provides fair compensation for landholders and communities; and
Guarantees shared benefits for regional areas impacted by development.
“We’re not asking for development to stop. We’re asking for it to be planned with intelligence, respect and an eye to the future,” Mr Hosking said.
“It’s time we looked at our Victorian farmers and rural communities as an icon to be celebrated for all they provide to our economy, community and environment.”