Australian Sourced v Australian Made
Get fair-dinkum about buying Australian…
You will be surprised at the country of origin of your farm shed
Sheds like most manufactured products have many components. To claim that it is Australian made can simply mean that it is fabricated in Australia with imported material. Sometimes its Australian steel with imported (generally Chinese origin) cladding, purlin and bridging (PCB). Some companies like Entegra in Swan Hill pride themselves in using all Australian steel and PCB’s manufactured in Australia with Australian raw material. The footing bolts and screws unfortunately have not been manufactured in Australia for many years now, so a very small % of material is imported through necessity. They have been duly rewarded with the Australian made logo for their effort to keep true to the buy Australian ethos that we all share.
Key points
- Some shed manufacturers mix imported components with Australian steel
- Entegra use 100% Australian made components
- Request for certificates of origin from your shed supplier
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Inside Red Rich – Fruit Packing Shed
Harvest video
So why is it important to buy Australian? The Farm sector more than any other sector is dependent on the vagaries of international economics and geo-political shenanigans for their success. They cannot quite influence that fact aside from voting in the government that they think will handle the situation best every three years. However, what remains true is that Australia depends on its agriculture sector to feed and nourish itself first and foremost and to export the excess production to other countries to balance the trade imbalances we have with those countries. So, the Agriculture sector has a vested interest more than most other sectors to keep the inputs and factors of production within Australia as much as possible. For instance, aside from natural factor inputs like sunshine, water, soil and land, we owe it to ourselves to try to keep as many other discretionary inputs like transport, machinery, chemicals and farm infrastructure as Australian made, not just Australian sourced from China or elsewhere.
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Request Australian Made certification to ensure local materials are being used
Sheds can be simple or complex structures depending on their scale and use. For instance, Red Rich Fruits in the Yarra Valley, a major supplier of apples, pears and xx chose to build the largest wide-span building in Australia using Entegra’s expertise with large clear-span building technology. With a span of 80m without central posts, it has liberated itself from limitation and restrictions caused by central post to the operations of a multi-crop packing and processing shed. To put an 80m clear span in perspective, an Airbus A380 can be parked wingtip to wingtip inside the building. This provided total flexibility of movement to mobile machinery and the location and relocation of plant and equipment as when required. At the other end of the scale, a simple 1000 bale Hay Shed has 3 walls enclosed with an open front. The composition of material remains the same – Australian structural steel, purlin, cladding, and bridging. One just has more of it than the other. If it is not of Chinese origin, we are not doing ourselves a disservice from both a ‘buy Australian’ ethos or from a 50-year lifespan!
So, the object lesson in all this is – for Australia’s sake and for the longevity of your asset, ask for certificates of origin from your shed supplier before you make a buying decision. Australian sourced does not mean it is Australian made of Australian material!