Mr Allison, who is also the chairman of Agribusiness Australia, added the local agribusiness sector was fully behind net zero carbon emissions targets, noting that a recent study by the association found that rural and regional Australians were equally concerned about climate change and sustainability as their metropolitan counterparts.

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“Because city people have no skin in the game, they want everything to happen yesterday,” Mr Allison said. “Because regional, rural and agricultural people have skin in the game, they want an orderly transition so that it was commercially viable, and they could implement all the initiatives.”

He noted that Australia’s red meat and livestock industry had already set a target to be carbon zero by 2030 five years ago, and the grain industry last year implemented a sustainability framework.

“Agriculture as a whole is supportive and just wants to work through the practicality of how to get there with technology.”

Earlier on Monday, Elders released its 2021 financial year results, posting $151.1 million underlying profit after tax for the year ending September 30 up from $107.7 million the year before.

The company declared a final dividend of 22 cents per share, partially franked and payable on December 17. Chief financial officer Tania Foster said she did not expect the business to deliver fully franked dividends until the 2024 financial year.

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