The federal government’s agriculture white paper released at the weekend confirms the appointment of a new umpire within Australia’s competition regulator to help primary producers settle supply disputes with supermarket groups.

The Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper also doubled the limit for Farm Management Deposits (FMD) to $800,000 and makes a provision for these deposits to be used as a loan offset, thereby reducing interest.

The NSW Farmers’ Associations has welcomed these and other measures contained within the white paper as initiatives that will lower the cost base, boost productivity and provide higher returns at the farm gate for producers.

The government’s $11.4 million investment to boost the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) engagement with agriculture includes a new commissioner with expertise in the area.

“We have been lobbying the government to provide the ACCC with greater expertise in the agricultural sector and this is a big win,” association president Fiona Simson said.

The white paper acknowledged farmers had expressed concerns about “increasing consolidation beyond the farm gate and unfair trading practices through the agricultural supply chain”.

Association chief executive officer Matt Brand said the appointment would give people more confidence, particularly with supply chain issues.

He said there was a misconception about the prices consumers paid for goods, and it was often the “retailer and middle man making the money”.

“[In this appointment] we have a champion for agriculture and in particular farmers,” Mr Brand said.

The association chief said FMDs were used quite regularly and doubling the limit and allowing their use as an offset was another positive step.

FMDs allowed farmers to put money away during a good season, therefore helping build business resilience and giving farmers another management tool, Mr Brand said.

The association was keen to see priorities listed “as soon as possible” and an action plan for the infrastructure aspect of the paper, he said.

Parkes MP Mark Coulton said one key initiative was the ACCC boost.

The paper also added to the government’s investments to build 21st century water, transport and communications infrastructure, including a new $500 million National Water Infrastructure Fund, he said.

“. . . I look forward to seeing the practical outcomes not only for farmers, but also for the rural and regional communities across the Parkes electorate and Australia more broadly,” he said.

Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon slammed the paper as lacking any vision and said its value had been deliberately inflated by including money committed previously as well as $2.5 billion worth of loans that farmers would be required to pay back with interest.

“The $4 billion is illusionary,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Labor would not oppose any of the measures, he said.