Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and it is really wonderful to be able to welcome people back to an AGM in a room. My name is John Gillam. I'm the Chair of Nufarm. Welcome to all of you to the 2023 annual general meeting of Nufarm, whether you're here with us at the RACV in Melbourne or participating online. Our Company Secretary, Kate Hall, has informed me that we have a quorum present. I officially declare the meeting open. I'm chairing the meeting from the RACV Club in Melbourne today, and on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I wish to acknowledge them as traditional owners. I'd also like to pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and to Aboriginal elders of other communities who may be joining us today.
The online component of today's hybrid meeting is being facilitated by Computershare's online meeting platform. This allows shareholders, proxies, and guests to attend the meeting virtually. All attendees can watch a live webcast out of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes. Before I turn to how to participate in this meeting, I'd like to take a bit of time to welcome my fellow board members and others who are in attendance here today. With me today is Greg Hunt, our CEO and managing director. Joining us here in Melbourne are Gordon Davis, Peter Margin, Marie McDonald, and Alexandra Gartmann. Lynne Saint and David Jones are also joining us online. Lynne's in Queensland, and David's in Switzerland.
In addition, Greg and I are joined in the room by Paul Townsend, our chief financial officer, Kate Hall, our company secretary, and Rachel Scully, our general manager of investor relations. Kate will be moderating questions from shareholders later in the meeting. We're also joined here in Melbourne by Chris Sergeant. Where are you, Chris? There you are. Representing our auditor, KPMG, who is available to answer any questions in relation to the audit later in the meeting. Before we move to the formalities, there are several housekeeping matters regarding how to participate in this hybrid meeting, please bear with me as I just work through these. For those attending the meeting online who wish to submit a written question, you may do so at any time during the meeting via the speech bubble icon on your screen.
Type your question in the chat box on the right of the screen and then select Send. Confirmation that your message has been received will appear above. I'm guessing that if you don't know what a speech bubble icon is or a chat box, then you won't be online. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I'll not address them until the relevant time in the meeting, when I'll also take questions from those in the room. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on a topic, we might amalgamate them together. For those shareholders participating online who wish to ask a verbal question, an audio questions facility is available during this meeting. Instructions on how to use this facility are shown below the broadcast window on the online platform.
If you're asking a verbal question, please state your full name before asking your question, and please limit questions to only one or two at a time, then rejoin the queue to allow others to ask questions. I do expect that we'll be able to answer all your questions today. In the event that we're not in a position to do so, we'll answer them in due course via email or posting responses on our website. Depending on the questions, I'll make the decision whether I'll answer them myself or ask a member of management, another director or the auditor to respond. Now to the important point of voting. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. To provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions.
If you're participating online and you're eligible to vote at this meeting, a voting tab is available. Selecting this tab will bring up a list of resolutions, present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There's no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You do, however, have the ability to change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. For those of you in the room, your voting cards will be collected once voting is closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. Please submit your voting at any time from now on until the end of question time. I will give you a warning before I move to close the voting. Michael Hutchinson from Computershare... Sorry, just kidding.
From Computershare, just making sure people pay attention, will act as the returning officer for the purposes of conducting and determining the result of the poll, the results of which will be announced to the ASX later today. That deals with the formalities of today's meetings. We'll now move to the formal addresses which were released to the stock exchange earlier this morning. First, mine and then Greg's. Welcome again, shareholders and guests to our 2023 annual general meeting. Today, it is very pleasing to have shareholders present both in person and online. Please bear with us as we try to ensure everyone enjoys the benefit of full participation. It has been a privilege for me to serve another year as chair of Nufarm, an Australian company operating on the global stage and rapidly becoming a leader in agricultural innovation and technology.
My introductory remarks will be followed by a few words from our Managing Director and CEO, Greg Hunt, after which I will return to the formal business of the meeting. First, a review of the financial year 2022. In the financial year 2022, Nufarm made significant progress in its vision to becoming a leading agricultural innovator with cutting-edge technologies and a highly promising development pipeline. The strong foundations laid in earlier years are now delivering. 2022 proved a watershed year with revenue and market share uplifts across all segments, record earnings achieved, financial strength bolstered, and our long-term growth agenda significantly advanced. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine, extreme weather conditions, and the coronavirus pandemic caused significant global disruptions throughout the year.
Against that backdrop, the performance of the Nufarm team supporting customer and grower needs whilst progressing the growth agenda is commendable. Crop protection performed strongly due to our focus on core crops and geographies, supported by mostly favorable seasonal conditions and new product innovation. Our seed technology platforms gained further momentum, driven by new sustainable technologies that are leading us towards an exciting phase of growth. Our balance sheet has become even stronger, positioning Nufarm to maintain growth and financial stability through operating cycles while being able to capture any opportunities that may arise. The improved earnings and cash flows enabled the board to announce an unfranked final dividend of AUD 0.06 per share, bringing the total dividends for the year to AUD 0.10 per share. Strategic initiatives to reset and refocus the business over the past few years have set Nufarm up for a stronger future.
The robust trading and financial performance in 2022 gives us significant momentum. We remain on track to meet or exceed our ambitious 2026 revenue aspirations. Turning now to ESG priorities. As the world's population approaches 10 billion people, the challenge to meet the rapidly growing global demand for food, fiber, and energy over the next few years is before us. This responsibility falls largely onto farmers, who must produce more from the land whilst minimizing the impact of agriculture on our ecosystems. Nufarm has an important role to play in helping the agricultural industry meet these challenges in innovative, sustainable ways. Our solutions improve agricultural sustainability by enabling farmers to produce more from existing farmland. Innovation in both crop protection and seed solutions is key.
Plant-based solutions are increasingly emerging to address needs such as clean energy, human and animal nutrition, and soil health with minimal impact on the environment. Nufarm's advancements in agricultural technology and innovation are placing us at the forefront of this industry. In 2022, we made great progress in delivering innovative solutions to farmers to improve agricultural sustainability, including the expansion of our Omega-3 and bioenergy platforms. The Value Beyond Yield seed platforms are specifically designed to assist in addressing major global challenges: clean energy, human and animal nutrition, and soil health. Greg will touch on some important milestones we have reached as part of his address. We continue to increase the proportion of biological crop protection products in our portfolio, and we maintained our progress towards our sustainability targets. We reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 13% since FY 2020.
We improved our climate disclosures, we achieved material reductions in hazardous waste and volatile organic compound emissions. I encourage you to read our 2022 sustainability report that we released just prior to this meeting, which outlines our priorities, achievements, and future direction in this area. You are very welcome to contact us with questions or feedback on this latest sustainability report. In 2023 and beyond, Nufarm, in collaboration with our partners, will continue to build on our legacy of innovation, to pioneer new technologies and develop new markets to accelerate the sustainable production of food, fiber, and fuel. This is how we will continue to grow Nufarm and deliver for our shareholders. Underpinning our strong financial and ESG performance has been our most important asset, our people.
In 2022, they've risen again to meet unprecedented disruptions and challenges, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and commitment to ensuring customers' needs are met while helping Nufarm achieve its operational goals. The board and I would like to thank Greg Hunt and his executive team for their exceptional leadership and all of the wider Nufarm team for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to Nufarm and our clients. Our board renewal program continued in 2022, seeking to maintain the optimal balance of skills, experience, and tenure required to lead Nufarm into the future. After serving as the Chair of the Audit Committee for 8 years and a Non-executive Director for 9 years, Frank Ford departed from the board in December 2021. The board benefited significantly from Mr. Ford's wise counsel and direction, as well as his strategy and taxation expertise. We express our gratitude accordingly. Mr.
Toshikazu Takasaki resigned as a non-independent, non-executive director in May 2022. Mr. Takasaki joined the board in December 2012 to serve the interests of Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited. He was a valued team member for almost 10 years, and we thank him for his contribution. We were delighted to announce Ms. Alexandra Gartmann's appointment as a non-executive director in September 2022. Ms. Gartmann has extensive executive experience across rural organizations and agribusinesses, as well as strong ESGs expertise and a passion for regional and rural affairs. She's already proving to be a valuable addition to the Nufarm board. Before I invite Greg to address the meeting, I wanted to comment on items 2 and 6 of our notice of meeting. We're aware that some proxy advisors have raised issues regarding the bespoke structure of our new executive incentive plan.
In 2021, we engaged widely with stakeholders on our plans for a new EIP. We then disclosed our intentions to implement the new EIP in the 2021 remuneration report, which received strong shareholder endorsement at our last AGM. Nufarm operates in the agricultural sector with over 80% of our revenue and 80% of our staff located outside of Australia. Our management team is key to delivering on our exciting growth agenda. Your board places great importance on being able to attract and retain global talent. Having a globally competitive remuneration plan is vital to achieving our strategic objectives and delivering value for shareholders.
We have sought to adopt a fit for purpose and contemporary remuneration structure for a global agricultural business and believe the new EIP strongly aligns the value of any rewards ultimately earned with shareholder outcomes. Based on proxy voting for this AGM, we will re-engage with shareholders and other stakeholders in coming months to better understand specific EIP concerns, so we can settle on a remuneration structure that shareholders support. In closing, the record results for FY22 well and truly herald a new era for Nufarm. Foundations have been well built and significant milestones achieved. Innovation and expanding the global agricultural sector by building new value chains and opening up new markets, and innovation and technology will be the hallmark of Nufarm going forward. We believe we have both the right core agenda and team to deliver for our shareholders for years to come.
To all of our shareholders, thank you for your ongoing support. I'll now pass to your Managing Director and CEO, Greg Hunt, for his address. Thank you.
Thank you, John. I would add my welcome to everyone joining us today. The 2022 financial year was pivotal in Nufarm's journey to becoming a world-class agricultural innovator. It was a year in which we delivered on key aspects of our transformation and innovation agenda. As John explained, we achieved this during another year of extraordinary global disruption. It was a year defined by impressive financial results, innovative new product launches, and the development of new markets in which Nufarm has a leadership position. Whilst we benefited from favorable seasonal conditions and attractive soft commodity prices, our 2022 progress was underpinned by our relentless focus, discipline, customer orientation, and bold thinking. Nufarm's transformation is already delivering sources of growth in the short and the long term.
Our transformation is also critical to Nufarm's ability to address some of the world's most pressing challenges. Producing enough food, fiber, and fuel for a global population that has now surpassed 8 billion is only half the story. Achieving this in a way that leaves our environment, society, livelihoods, and economies better off is the other half of the story and the ultimate measure of success. Farmers are on the front line of these complex challenges. When equipped with innovative solutions and access to new and expanding markets, farmers are better able to sustainably meet our growing nutrition and energy needs. This is what drives Nufarm's vision and strategy. In 2022, we made big strides in advancing our strategy, leaving Nufarm in a stronger position to deliver for farmers, customers, and shareholders.
As John noted, we delivered record earnings and increased revenue and market share in all of our segments. Revenue increased 17% to AUD 3.8 billion, and EBITDA was up 24% to AUD 447 million. In crop protection, our broad geographic mix and our increased focus on higher margin products, which complement our diverse portfolio, are reducing risk. Our revenues today are more linked to acres planted and seasonal conditions than directly to the price of soft commodities. North America, Europe, and APAC all recorded strong revenue growth despite challenging conditions in many areas. Our seed technologies result was also very encouraging. Our innovations are providing new and diversified revenue sources with strong growth potential reflected in a 20% increase in earnings for this business during the year.
These results demonstrate the benefits of our transformation program, our strategy to focus on core crops and key geographies, and our recent investments in supply chain and portfolio. Importantly, the financial year 22 results reinforces our capacity to advance new products, navigate supply chain challenges, invest in new growth opportunities, and meet key milestones. In financial year 22, Nufarm delivered innovative new products and technologies globally. What is particularly exciting is that our partnerships with leading innovators not only enable product development, they also allow us to establish entirely new markets and value chains. This approach has accelerated our ability to generate and share new sources of commercial value whilst delivering significant environmental benefits. During the year, we continued to progress crop protection and seed technology product launches and market development.
Nuseed, Aquaterra, and Nutriterra are our innovative plant-based oil products crushed from Nuseed omega-3 canola and developed to meet specific nutritional needs. Having established strong technology adoption with leading industry players, we are now very focused on expansion of market share with existing customers whilst continuing to scale our operations, expand our margins, and secure further import market approvals. We have now sold 16,500 metric tons of Aquaterra oil since commercial launch to key and, importantly, repeat customers in Chile, and we've recently completed our first commercial sale into the North American market. The first sales of our Nutriterra product into the human supplement market are expected in the first quarter of calendar year 2023, which is also an important milestone for this technology.
Turning to our bioenergy platform progress, Nuseed and BP entered into a long-term strategic offtake and market development agreement in financial year 2022 that will see BP or its affiliates purchase Nuseed Carinata oil to process or sell into growing markets for the production of sustainable lower carbon feedstocks. Less than a year since signing this deal, the first shipment of Nuseed Carinata departed Argentina in early January for France. It will be processed by our proprietary processing partner, Saipol, into oil and delivered to BP. Nuseed and Saipol also recently announced an expansion in crushing operations in France to boost supply of certified Nuseed Carinata oil to BP.
After a successful 2022 harvest, along with the benefits of our new hybrid technology and increased grower adoption, in financial year 23, we expect to at least double the hectares planted to be greater than 80,000 hectares. Nufarm also acquired energy cane assets and entered into a long-term technology access and license agreement with GranBio, a leading Brazilian renewable energy technology company, to accelerate the development and global expansion of energy cane. Our bioenergy platform will help us meet the rapidly rising demand for renewable feedstocks and provide a low carbon alternative to transition away from fossil fuels. The pace of seed technology innovation was matched by our progress in crop protection. Our top 22 projects in the crop protection pipeline have passed proof of concept and have an addressable market of over $6 billion. We launched new products, including corn and cereal herbicides.
These products enhance our market position and contributed to a strong FY22 result. In October of 2022, after years of development work, we launched our DROPZONE herbicide, which is specifically formulated to manage spray drift, improve product efficacy, and to reduce the impact to off-target areas. Our partnership with CROP.ZONE has led to the development of an alternative solution to chemical-based weed control and crop desiccation, reducing the chemical load on the environment. We've increased our investment in Enko, a company that discovers new products for farmers to protect their crops from pests and disease with less environmental impact using technology such as DNA-encoded libraries, AI, and machine learning. Our strategy of building relationships with innovative companies, institutions, and universities provides us access to new technologies without having to invest significant capital in early-stage research and discovery.
This is critical to Nufarm's ability to deliver strong financial results and capitalize on growth opportunities. We have continued this momentum into the first quarter of financial year 23. We are experiencing favorable agricultural conditions across the major grain-producing regions, where demand remains strong for both our seed and crop protection products. As a result, assuming normal seasonal conditions, we continue to expect modest underlying EBITDA growth in the 2023 financial year on a constant currency basis. This reflects Nufarm's expectations at the time of this AGM. You can read more about our approach to forward-looking statements and what we mean by a constant currency basis in our 2022 annual report. As we noted when we announced our results in November, we expect full year earnings to be weighted to the first half. However, less skewed than what transpired in financial year 22.
This should result in a lower underlying EBITDA at the half compared with the prior comparative period. As I mentioned, we remain confident of delivering modest underlying EBITDA growth for the full year on a constant currency basis. I'm also pleased to share with you that we continue to remain on track to meet or exceed our financial year 2026 growth aspirations of AUD 4.6 billion-AUD 4.8 billion in revenue. We are confident of reaching our anticipated plantings for Nuseed Carinata and for delivery of Nuseed Omega-3 oil as announced in December. Our crop protection pipeline remains strong with a number of new product launches planned for the year. We witnessed considerable political and macroeconomic uncertainty in financial year 2022 with the impact of the conflict in Eastern Europe, supply chain disruptions, and higher inflation.
These disruptions highlight the importance of what we do, help farmers grow the crops that feed and clothe us, and increasingly provide us with new sources of renewable energy. What I've outlined here are exciting developments that demonstrate Nufarm's evolution into a world-class agricultural innovator. We are creating a stronger, more balanced, growth-orientated company that is less exposed to commodity cycles and more focused on global growth opportunities. Our performance and approach also underlines how sustainability is embedded into Nufarm's strategy, operations, portfolio, and partnerships. This approach is already delivering impressive financial, environmental, and social value for our shareholders, stakeholders, and wider community. In closing, I would like to express my appreciation to Nufarm's employees globally for their ongoing dedication to the company and their commitment to delivering for our customers.
The board and management are also grateful for the support of our partners, customers, farmers, and shareholders to enable Nufarm's transformation into an agricultural innovator. Together, we ensure that financial year 2022 was a pivotal year in our journey, and I'm confident that the best years are ahead of us. Thank you, and I'll now hand you back to John.
Thanks, Greg, again, congratulations to you and the exec team and the wider Nufarm team on the terrific results in FY22, and a very sincere wish from all of us for more, please, in FY23 and beyond. I'll now move to the discussion on the formal items of business as set out in the notice of meeting. I remind you that the poll is open for voting, and if you have not already done so, I encourage you to vote now. The notice of meeting contains all the material information in the board's possession to assist you in determining how you wish to vote. This includes the board's recommendations for shareholders to vote in favor of all resolutions.
Following the change made in 2020 to Nufarm's financial year-end, we moved it then from 31st of July to 30th of September, Nufarm received ASIC approval to not hold an AGM in the 2022 calendar year. The change in AGM timing, combined with the manner in which the financial year-end change was affected, means we have a number of directors standing for re-election at this meeting, notwithstanding they were re-elected a little over 2 years ago. Myself included, along with Marie McDonald, Gordon Davis, and Peter Margin. Alex Gartmann is also standing for re-election at this AGM for the first time, as required by our constitution. I'll invite each of the directors standing for election or re-election to address the meeting in the order laid out in the notice of meeting.
In particular, I draw to your attention that long-standing directors Gordon Davis and Peter Margin are offering themselves for re-election. Our board renewal process will conclude in 2023, with both Gordon and Peter indicating their intentions to retire towards the end of 2023 once suitable new appointments are identified and onboarded. Their re-election would afford the board the time and flexibility to identify suitable new directors, and I thank them for providing us with that. It will complete the renewal process in a manner that's orderly and timely. Thank you for standing again. Details of each director's skills and experience are contained in the explanatory notes in the notice of meeting. I will kick off with inviting Alexandra Gartmann to speak, and welcome to your first AGM. It's terrific to have you on the board.
Thank you very much, John. Good morning, everyone. I'm really very honored to be addressing you today and seeking your support for my election to the Nufarm board as an independent non-executive director. I've been involved with the wider agricultural industry for about 25 years. I've worked with growers, researchers, and innovators on production and sustainability issues, with investors on rural and economic development, and with bankers backing the industry, plus corporates and governments working to really enable the industry growth whilst responding to environmental and climate challenges. These roles have given me a broad agribusiness and executive experience in agricultural innovations and pathways to commercialization and adoption, plus sustainability, ESG, strategy, and finance.
I am really passionate about agricultural industries, the farmers and businesses at its core, the rural communities across the globe that it supports, and the people who choose to put their time, treasure, and talent into the industry. Combined with my interest in sustainability and environmental and social impact, I am really excited by the prospect of building on Nufarm's legacy of innovation to pioneer new technologies and to develop new markets to accelerate the sustainable production of food, fiber, and fuel. While I've only been in the role for four months, my connection to Nufarm spans my entire time working in agriculture. I am really enthusiastic to continue and confirm that I do have the time and energy to commit to Nufarm as a non-executive director. I thank you for the opportunity to address you today and for your support. Thanks, John.
Thanks, Alex. As shareholders can see, Alex has got terrific skills and capabilities and will serve your interests very well around our board table. Obviously, I'm also up for re-election today. Since joining the company in 2020, I've found it a very rewarding experience to be part of your board and be able to contribute to the development of Nufarm as an Australian company operating on the global stage and rapidly becoming a leader in agricultural innovation and technology. I present myself today for re-election, it would be an honor to have your support for my ongoing role as a Nufarm director. With that, I'll now invite Marie McDonald to address you.
Thank you, John, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First can I echo my colleague's sentiments and say how wonderful it is to be back here in person again after the restrictions of the last few years.
I'm pleased to have the opportunity to briefly address you this morning as I seek your support for re-election as a director of your. The sound's come back on. Terrific. I don't think you missed too much up until that point. I will say again that I'm very pleased to be here to seek your support for re-election as a director of your company. I was originally appointed to the board in 2017. I serve on a number of committees, and it's been an honor to serve your company in those capacities. My professional career was spent as a lawyer, specializing in corporate and commercial law, and often working on cross-border transactions. This gave me significant expertise in public markets, corporate governance, and regulatory policy matters.
Since then, I've become a non-executive director of several companies, each of which has a science and innovation focus, and a number of those companies have significant international operations, and that gives me insights into the challenges of managing people and risk in diverse locations. I think this combination of skills and experiences is of value to Nufarm as it evolves its crop protection business and seeks to ensure that Nuseed and its innovative technologies fulfill their potential. I have both the time and the energy to commit to Nufarm. I believe the company has a really exciting future, and if re-elected, I look forward to working alongside my board colleagues and management with the aim of creating long-term value for you, our shareholders, as well as for our customers, suppliers, employees, and the communities in which Nufarm operates. Thank you.
Thanks, Marie. Over to you, Gordon.
Thanks. Thank you, Chair. Firstly, I'd like to thank my board colleagues in for supporting my candidature. I joined a very different Nufarm, which was in very different circumstances in 2011. It was largely focused on the chemicals business, and adverse currents were strong with the effects of the GFC still a burden on the company. Nufarm was also under a degree of external examination about its governance at that time. Unfortunately, these burdens cannot just be shed, but can only be lightened by business performance. Improving the business became a strong focus for management and the board. Over this time, Nufarm has also made significant portfolio and geographic changes with acquisitions of product families in Europe and the divestment of the chemicals business in Latin America, which brings us to today.
You see a chemicals business performing at an improved level and an exciting suite of emerging products in the seeds platform. Of course, all against the backdrop of the inherent volatility of the weather-facing business and the normal vicissitudes of a very competitive market. I originally joined the Nufarm board with a strong view of the centrality of improving agricultural production as a goal for society generally. This has not changed and has been reinforced as the community seeks solutions to production challenges which are more climate friendly or reduce reliance on other scarce resources. In the Nufarm world, examples abound, and I commend the sustainability report to shareholders interested in this facet of the company's activities. As the notice of meeting records, this is my last year at Nufarm.
The requirement of having to stand for election, again, a quirk of moving the AGM to better align with the Nufarm financial year. If elected, I look forward to working with the Chair and my colleagues on the process of board renewal as the year unfolds. Thank you again for your support over my time on the board.
Thanks, Gordon. Finally, Peter.
Thank you, John. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I do appreciate the opportunity of discussing with you my re-election as a director of Nufarm. Like many of my colleagues, I've been actively involved in the food and agricultural sectors for most of my working career, working in organizations like National Foods, Goodman Fielder and Asahi. These organizations have provided the opportunities to gain a very broad experience across many disciplines, including innovation, integrated supply chain management, marketing, international business, and strategy M&A. I've also been very fortunate to be part of the Nufarm team for just over 12 years as a director, and I'm very pleased to witness the progress the organization has made, particularly over the last few years.
During this time, I've served on the Audit Committee, the Risk and Compliance Committee, the HR Committee, and most recently, the Innovation Committee, and have taken an active role in working with both management and the operational teams. Like Gordon mentioned in the notice of meeting, I intend to retire during 2023 to enable an orderly process of board renewal. It has been a great privilege to work for you as our shareholders, and I sincerely thank you for the support that you've provided me along the journey. Thanks, John.
Thanks, Peter. Terrific to have the support of our strong board members, all four who are up for re-election. I'm now gonna take questions on all items of business in the order that they're submitted or on any general questions relating to Nufarm that you have. I encourage you to submit your question via the online platform if you have not already done so. As I mentioned earlier, the poll is open on all items of business. The proxy results for all items of business are now being displayed on the screen.
As I mentioned before, you can see the proxy voting indicates that item two is likely to receive a first strike and item six is not likely to be passed. In my formal address, I noted that we'll re-engage with shareholders and other stakeholders in coming months to better understand their specific concerns with these items. Our clear desire is to have a remuneration structure which incentivizes management appropriately and is understood and supported by shareholders. With regard to item six, if the resolution is not passed, the board intends, as stated in the notice of meeting, to give consideration to alternative arrangements to appropriately remunerate and incentivize Mr. Hunt. With that, I'm now gonna ask Rachel Scully, our General Manager of Investor Relations, to read me the questions, and I'll decide whether to respond myself or ask one of my other directors or executives on-hand here to answer.
A reminder that Chris Sergeant, our auditor from KPMG, is also available to answer any questions on the audit. We'll start with questions which were submitted in advance of the AGM. Rachel, over to you.
Thank you, Chair. We have received 3 questions via Computershare in advance of today's AGM. Your first question is from shareholder Mr. John Appleby: I'm asking the position of G. Hunt. Is he full-time? Part-time? Also, the work being carried by him is what exactly?
A searching question to kick off with here. Greg is the Managing Director and CEO of Nufarm, and I can confirm that he is very full-time. Very. He's passionate, absolutely. He does everything that you would expect a CEO to do, and I guess he does a bit more than that as well. Thank you for the question.
Thank you, Chair. Your second question is from shareholder Mr. Anthony Kennedy: As an agricultural company, what is the company doing to minimize the possible negative effects of climate change?
That's a great question. I'd encourage Mr. Kennedy to look at the disclosure we released yesterday in our sustainability report and really enjoy reading what we've laid out in there and come back to us with any specific questions. The answer is, we're doing a lot, and we'll do even more. We're doing a lot in ways that are basic and then in quite refined. In basic ways, we're supporting farmers to do more with less inputs, and we're supporting sustainable farming practices, low till, no-till, et cetera. Perhaps if there is further interest within the room, Greg can expand on that. We're also delivering innovative solutions to farmers to improve sustainability. Things like what we're doing with Omega-3 biofuel and bioenergy, they're all really strong sustainability initiatives.
Within crop protection, the biological crop protection products within our portfolio continue to expand. Greg mentioned DROPZONE. There's a whole raft of things we're doing. Our own practices, the things that we can control regarding our manufacturing, they're also improving, and we spoke in both my address and Greg's address around some specifics that have been achieved in terms of reduced emissions across a number of variables. The 2022 sustainability report, I think is a terrific document. It sets a benchmark for where Nufarm is now and its ambitions for the next five and 10 years. I think shareholders will be greatly encouraged by what we're doing.
Thank you, Chair. Your third question is again from shareholder Mr. Anthony Kennedy: The company is doing well in the production of added value agricultural products such as omega-3 canola. What is being done to ensure that the research efforts and technology are safe and cannot be taken over by hostile entities or countries?
That's a great question from Mr. Kennedy, because we're living in a time when particularly with cyber attacks, security and the ability to retain confidentiality is being greatly challenged. We in Nufarm manage the risks as best we can by having stewarded identity preserve production practices and maintaining confidentiality around where we would do our research and development and our seed production. We're very careful in selecting the jurisdictions in which we conduct R&D and production and seek to avoid the riskiest global locations. We carefully select our supply chain partners and use contracts to protect our rights in those relationships. All of these processes are overseen by strong stewardship, R&D, and supply chain professionals. We believe these are all reasonable risk mitigation practices that focus on reducing the type of risk that Mr.
Kennedy's alluded to in his question. There were three before the main, weren't there, Rachel? Are there any questions from the floor? Please.
Just one question. In the capital management section in the annual report, there is a well-written policy about the ability to undertake various capital management procedures. My question is, given the confidence of the increased profitability going forward, what's the confidence of the board of maintaining at least the current dividend level? As a second part, what's the timeframe which we may receive some franking credits?
On the first question, on the first part of your question, and I thank you for it, you can see the aspirations that we've stated that there's a confidence in the board to be able to deliver improved financial outcomes through strong trading and strong growth initiatives. That confidence then sits that we would hopefully be able to maintain the dividend policy that's outlined in that, and as earnings increase, dividends should increase in line with that. I think that's a clear intent of what our policy outlines. I'm hopeful that what you're seeing is the start of a return to a stronger yielding position for shareholders as the years progress.
The second part of your question is a bit harder to answer without getting into forecasting and the like. Perhaps, we can have a chat over a cup of coffee at the end, if that's preferred. Any more questions from the floor? All right, we'll come back to the floor as the last check for questions, but now we'll go to those that might have had questions online, either typed in or via the spoken option that's available.
Great. Thank you, Chair. Your first question via the platform is from Mr. Kevin Daly. He asks: What was the effect of rising gas prices on Nufarm's Australian and UK manufacturing operations?
It's a good question. It came up quite a bit during the full year results. Perhaps I'll invite you, Greg, to just answer that one.
I think our energy costs represent less than 1% of our overall cost. It's not really meaningful. Where we have proprietary products, and in this case, I would be talking specifically about our operations in the UK, then the opportunity for us to pass those costs on are real, and that would be our intention with our pricing aspirations in 2023.
Yeah.
I think the bigger risk has been actually can we get it rather than the price, going back a few months, and that risk has now averted.
That's correct.
very pleasing.
Thank you. Your next question is again from Mr. Kevin Daly: Is Nufarm affected by the Security Guarantee Scheme? If so, what is the impact?
Thank you, Mr. Daly, for the question. Your question relates to the Australian government's initiatives around emissions reduction for the top 200 Scope 1, Scope 2 emitters of which we are not. Unless in the definitional stage things change, this won't be applying to us at this time.
Thank you, Chair. Your third question received via the platform again from Mr. Kevin Daly: Does decarbonization mean that there is no future for Nufarm's manufacturing operations in Australia?
No. Without being too glib on the matter, we've got an even stronger future for manufacturing in Australia, than people realize. I think this government is doing things that are far more supportive than any of its predecessors over the last 15 years, so that I'm not being painted one color or the other. There's some very strong intents. I don't know how much you want to reveal of who you've hosted and what you've discussed, Greg, because it's been a pretty busy time in the last 7 or 8 months. We've also had strong support on anti-dumping as well. Perhaps if you wanna put a bit more color to the answer, but the short answer is no.
Well, I mean, Nufarm is the only manufacturer of crop protection products in Australia. I mean, and we are a significant and the largest formulator. There are other smaller formulators. I think the point I would make that if you're trying to grow a crop in Australia, there's essentially four things that you need. You need seed, you need fertilizer, you need fuel, and you need crop protection products. The discussions that we've been having with the government is in one real way, this is sovereign capability. I think it would be a tough day for Australian farmers if they're reliant on all or many of those key inputs to come from offshore. I mean, this is a serious issue. We're absolutely committed, and we've made this public.
We are committed to our operations in Australia, and we think that we can have a competitive operation with some investment. We have talked about the investment that we're making in our operations here at Pipe Road, and we believe that those operations can be sustainable against imports from not just China, but from a number of different countries. Absolutely committed to our operations here.
The anti-dumping?
The anti-dumping, this was, dumping that was brought against Chinese manufacturers of 2,4-D, which is a phenoxy herbicide that we produce here in Australia. That anti-dumping duty has been renewed for another five years. This is another thing that gives the board and the management team confidence about, investing in our operations here in Laverton.
Great. Thank you.
Thanks, Greg.
A further question from shareholder Mr. McKinnon: Can Greg give an update of where he sees the growth coming from for Omega-3 oil in the aquaculture industry?
Mm.
Okay. Thanks for the question. I guess our research shows that, over the next 10 years, the demand for omega-3 oils broadly will result in a deficit of about 1 million tons from the oil that is currently harvested from the wild fish catch. That demand will come from as demand for fish, farmed fish grows from the increase in the volumes of fish in the water. The second area would be higher inclusion rates. There's plenty of evidence that supports higher inclusion rates of omega-3 oil in the fish ration drives improved performance and yield. The third area in aquaculture would be geographical expansion. Both into...
Today, we're largely supplying oil into the Chilean fish market. The opportunities for us to expand into the North American market and importantly into Norway, where we have lodged our regulatory dossier. That's an important market because around 50% of the farmed salmon in the world is produced in Norway. They're really the three key areas that we see that growth coming from. The fourth area, which is not aquaculture, but I do think it is an area that's worth mentioning is the human food and nutrition market. As I said in my prepared remarks, we are on track for the launch of our Nutriterra products. In effect, you'll be able to buy Nuseed canola in encapsulated forms. I would advise you then.
Without the fishy smell.
Without the fishy burp. That, I mean, that's gonna be launched in the U.S. Clearly, it's a large market, but, you know, ultimately, we would like that product to be available here in the Australian market as well. You know, I think as we've said pretty consistently over the last few years, I mean, this is an exciting growth platform for us.
Great.
Are there any more questions online, Rachel?
No further questions, Chair.
Okay. Are there any more questions from the floor? All right. On that basis, we've answered all the questions submitted before or during the meeting, and it's really pleasing to be able to do that. That concludes discussion on the items of business and all matters we need to cover in our meeting today. I'll now formally close the poll for this meeting, and the final poll results will be released to the ASX and posted on Nufarm's website later today. On behalf of the board and the management team, I'd like to thank you for participating in today's AGM. It is terrific to be able to be back in a room with shareholders and stakeholders and having a real AGM. With that, I'll formally close the meeting.
Thank you once again and invite you to join us for a cup of tea.
Well done. Thanks, Chair.