Western Australia Country Hour: Recent Episodes
ABC Radio
Hosted by Belinda Varischetti, the presenter of the Western Australian Country Hour, the country's finest hour
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, is hopeful a global certification system will be modified to recognise Australia's sustainability rules and keep a $25 per tonne premium for WA grown canola.
President of the WAFarmers grains section says many WA grain growers will not comply with a certification system this season, which means they could miss out on a $25 per tonne premium for canola.
Just over twelve months after re-opening it is understood that Shark Lake Abattoir in Esperance will close.
WA meat processor V&V Walsh will increase its lamb processing numbers by 5, 000 a week, a production increase of close to 25 per cent, starting tomorrow.
The ongoing lumpy skin disease trade disruption to Indonesia, has seen live cattle exports out of the Broome Port drop by more than 50 per cent this season.
Over the last few months the price differential between genetically modified canola and non GM canola has closed, and this week the price was on par, with both trading for around $800 a tonne.
A quarantine area has been declared for the Pilbara's Burrup Peninsula to eradicate the exotic pest, the red dwarf honey bee.
Indonesia has advised Australia that eight additional positive tests for Lumpy Skin Disease have been recorded in Australian cattle post arrival in Indonesia.
A Kimberley pastoralist has had enough of people randomly lighting fires and is calling on the government to act.
A dramatic fall in farmgate lamb values should result in cheaper supermarket meat prices in coming months, according to a prominent West Australian sheep processor.
Livestock shipping company Wellard has recorded a net loss after tax of US$15.5 million.
The Australian Livestock Exporters Council says it's concerned by the footage aired on ABC TV's 7:30 last night, allegedly showing Australian sheep being sold, handled and slaughtered in violation of Australian regulations.
Australia's mining industry has an image problem. That's according to resources veteran Jim Pollock who has worked everywhere from BHP to Bloomberg and now runs a mining consulting business.
Dry conditions across much of the state's grain growing regions has stripped about one million tonnes off WA's total grain yield potential, with the current harvest estimate sitting at 17 million tonnes.
Pilbara pastoralist Michael Thompson says the cattle industry is on the brink of disaster with authorities now a month into the process of trying to prove to Indonesia that Australia is free of Lumpy Skin Disease.
New fishing laws a decade in the making have been put on hold by the Western Australian government just months before they are due to come into force.
Is Western Australia doing enough to foster good trade relationships with Indonesia? (A country tipped to have the fourth strongest economy in the world by 2050)
Western Power will be appearing in court next week over alleged breaches of the Electricity Regulations Act relating to a fire in WA's grainbelt.
Two former police officers have traded in a life of crime for a life of slime, hoping to establish one of Western Australia's only commercial snail farms in the South West.
Western Australians could soon be paying more for mangoes because interstate growers might have to use a more expensive form of treatment to prevent Queensland fruit fly from crossing the border.
Western Australian farmers should expect delays on the arrival of new agricultural machinery for at least the next year.
Malaysia has temporarily suspended all imports of Australian cattle and buffalo because of concerns around lumpy skin disease.
The town of Mingenew, 360 kilometres north of Perth, is celebrating its 40th Mingenew Expo.
WA Premier Roger Cook has confirmed his government will scrap its controversial Aboriginal Cultural Heritage legislation.
President of WAFarmers John Hassell says a meeting with the Premier and aboriginal affairs minister this morning has not eased concerns about the state's aboriginal cultural heritage laws
$20 million, that's how much Australian grain breeders miss out on in unpaid end point royalties every year.
A South Korean Energy Consortium is pursuing plans to build a green ammonia plant using renewable hydrogen near Geraldton.
The Western Australian government is prepared to ban alcohol from mine sites if companies don't make a concerted effort to tackle sexual harassment and bullying in the mining industry.
The Indonesian government has suspended imports of live cattle from four Australian export facilities, following the detection of the virus Lumpy Skin Disease in livestock shipped from Australia.
A new 580 kilometre gas pipeline has been officially opened by state energy minister Bill Johnson.
The GRDC has announced it will invest more than a billion dollars over the next five years in research, development, and extension for the nation's grains industry.
There's some more rain on the way today for parts of the state's agricultural region and while some farmers have had quite enough for now, others are hoping for a decent downpour.
Federal Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says the government's plan to phase out the live sheep export trade could be stymied if cross-bench senators are educated about the trade.
The Federal Government's $215 million offer to settle the cattle industry's class action against the 2011 ban on live exports to Indonesia has been rejected for a second time.
Cattle producers supplying live export markets are hoping a huge correction in cattle prices will stimulate more interest from key export markets, like Indonesia.
Russia has doubled down on a decision to end a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports.
Scott River dairy farmer, Ross Woodhouse, was fined $10,000 in 2018 after building a dam which impacted a site of cultural significance.
Russia has withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a pact brokered between Ukraine and Russia by the United Nations and Türkiye 12 months ago, which allowed food to be exported from Ukrainian ports during the ongoing war.
Lobby group, WAFarmers, is concerned a fresh inquiry into the APVMA could erode the chemical regulator's independence and see future decisions on the use of chemicals, like glyphosate, subject to government and public opinion, rather than science.
Canola has begun flowering in the south of Western Australia, much earlier than typical for the region, amid estimates of an 18 tonne grain crop for 2023/24.
Australia's agriculture ministers have agreed on Australia's first National Agricultural Traceability Strategy.
Farmer group, Grain Growers, says China's request for more time to consider the ongoing dispute over barley tariffs is nothing to worry about, and it remains confident a resolution will be reached.
Some south coast farmers have copped an absolute drenching over the past month and paddocks are covered in puddles.
One of the biggest players in WA's fruit and vegetable industry is, for the first time, investing and expanding its business with hot houses.
Head of the livestock shipping company Wellard says he doesn't see any upside in export cattle prices.
The West Australian Pork Producers Association says it's disturbing to learn about the deaths of hundreds of pigs on a property in WA's wheatbelt.
Animal Welfare Inspectors are responding to an incident involving the management of pigs at a property in the Wheatbelt.
Telstra has become the first telco in the world to partner with Starlink, signing a deal to provide voice and fixed broadband services in regional and remote Australia.
Wool producers say Western Australia's $655 million wool industry will suffer 'catastrophic' consequences if the Federal Government closes the sheep live export trade.
A former Nationals MP says to protect the state's meat and wool industries, the WA Government needs to step in and become the regulator for the live export industry.
The price of fine wool is down 40 per cent compared to five years ago, and wool brokers say low value wool is being dumped into landfill because it's not worth the cost of storage.
A Broome-based transport company says the closure of the dual-lane causeway at Fitzroy Crossing due to recent rainfall will cause significant delays to their operations.
A grain industry analyst thinks CBH is making a sound investment in the future, with its decision to invest more than $400 million on new locomotives and wagons.
The start of NAIDOC week has been celebrated with the transfer of one of Tasmania's biggest Sheep stations to a local indigenous group.
A near $1 billion contract has been awarded to Primero Group as part of the expansion of Kalgoorlie's Super Pit gold mine.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, will spend $400 million on 17 new locomotives and 650 grain hopper wagons.
The state government's announcement of an implementation group to address any issues arising from the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act has been labelled a 'backflip' by the opposition and the PGA has celebrated it as a 'win' for the farm sector.
The Premier Roger Cook has confirmed there will be no delay to the implementation of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, which starts on Saturday July 1.
The architect of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act says the current debate about the Act and its implementation on July 1 has become hysterical.
After a slow start to the season, growers on the South Coast are finally enjoying some decent rainfall, with totals above 50mm recorded in the region.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, has retained its number one position as Australia's largest co-operative with a turnover of $6.23 billion for the fiscal year 2021, and a net profit of almost $500 million.
WA's mining and resources sector contributed 99 billion dollars to Australia's economy in 2021-22, according to a survey of members of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.
An Aboriginal Corporation working to become a Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Service says it will have a transition program ready ahead of the implementation of the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act this weekend.
Former Labor leader and Primary Industries minister, Simon Crean, is being remembered as a man of great integrity, who made Australia "a better and fairer country".
Australia's first soil carbon credits have been granted under the new 2021 methodology.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association says momentum is growing for a farmer rally on the steps of parliament house, to protest against the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act (ACHA), due to start on July 1, but due to the liability and risks associated it will not be held.
There was a heated exchange in WA Parliament question time over the new ACHA.
The PKKP Aboriginal Corporation says the debate over the ACHA has become "sidetracked", and the act should "not be delayed".
More than 150 people attended an information session on the ACHA in Karridale, south of Perth.
A Great Southern wine producer is calling for a review into Western Australia's prescribed burning practices, meanwhile others would like to see more prescribed burning in the state.
The US regulator has approved chicken products made in a lab out of chicken cells, but a researcher says the industry still has huge hurdles to overcome in Australia.
Northern WA's aquaculture and recreational fishing industry is concerned by a proposal to close Broome's North Regional TAFE aquaculture centre by the end of 2023.
The gap between livestock prices in WA and the eastern states is narrowing and reducing opportunities for local producers to sell stock interstate.
The United Kingdom's only superfine merino wool grower is considered unique by her neighbours.
Western Australia's two key farm lobby groups say a string of state and federal government legislation, with implications for the agricultural sector, has lead to an increase in enquiries about membership.
A massive cropping and livestock portfolio with properties across rural Victoria and Western Australia's South Coast could sell for as much as $400 million, with strong interest from US-based pension funds.
The price of glyphosate has fallen to below $4 per litre, after reaching as high as $12 per litre during the COVID pandemic.
The late pastoralist and horse trainer, Don Hammarquist, has been remembered as a 'true statesman'.
A major global mining conference being held in Karratha this week is looking closely at the livability and sustainability of mining communities.
Mining giant, Rio Tinto, believes a track fault is the most likely cause of a recent train derailment in the Pilbara.
Nearly 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for the new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws to be delayed by six months - a new record for Western Australia.
Premier Roger Cook does not expect the 30,000 signatures to delay the implementation of the Act.
CEO of the National Native Title Council, Jamie Lowe, says there are kinks to iron out, but he would like to see the Act implemented from 1 July.
Aboriginal Elder, Aubrey Lowe, has decades of experience assessing important sites, and says the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act should be delayed until the new laws are clarified.
Australia's cattle herd is projected to reach its highest level in a decade, according to a new report by Meat and Livestock Australia.
The Philippines is set to start exporting mangoes to Australia for the first time, but details are limited on just how many are due to arrive in the coming weeks.
It's been a frustrating start to winter for some sheep producers on the south coast, who are hoping for more rainfall.
A group of about 20 representatives from the WA sheep supply chain are at parliament house today, calling on state MPs to pressure the federal government on its policy to shut down the live sheep trade by sea.
The federal government's policy to end the live sheep trade by sea has inspired Tambellup sheep farmer, Andrew Bradshaw, to write a song titled "The Phase Out".
.Andrew and Tess Herbert are the 13th winners of the Kondinin Group and ABC Rural Australian Farmer of the Year award.
The Independent Panel which will report to Agriculture minister Murray Watt on the phase out of live export of sheep by sea is meeting in Geraldton this morning.
The Carnarvon Growers Association says producers in the region are incredibly anxious about the implications of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, and are concerned there will be no translator at the workshop for the region's Vietnamese growers.
Elders managing director, Mark Allison, says he delayed his recently announced retirement plans after the board convinced him to stay on.
Life is about to dramatically change for some of Australia's most isolated Indigenous communities, following a billion dollar investment in the Outback Way.
The Boyanup Saleyards could have a new home, in plans from the Shire of Capel to develop a new agribusiness precinct in the district.
A machinery collector is fighting to stop the export of a vintage tractor, which he says should never have received federal approval for export.
There are now over 22,000 signatures on a petition calling for a delay to the implementation of the Aboriginal and Cultural Heritage Act, however the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs says it will not be delayed.
More than 200 people turned up for an education workshop on the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act in Geraldton yesterday.
Global agribusiness' Bunge and Viterra, have agreed to a merger. The deal will create a $34 billion-US dollar global grain giant.
The minister for Aboriginal Affairs Tony Buti says the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act will commence, as planned, on the first of July.
Unions and farmers are at odds over changes to the way foreign workers are employed on Australian farms.
WA's biggest sheep meat processor WAMMCO says the Katanning plant must shut down for a two week maintenance period despite a huge demand from producers to process more sheep.
The panel tasked with assessing the best way to transition out of the live sheep trade by sea has received over 4, 000 submissions.
The bureau has moved from an El Niño watch to an alert, meaning there's around a 70 per cent chance of an El Niño developing this year.
Western Australian sheep and goat producers now have access to discounted electronic identification tags, which will become mandatory on January 1 2025.
Some news reports from China are suggesting heavy rain events over the past few weeks have wiped-off around 20 million tonnes of the wheat crop.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association says it's no surprise the state government wants to change WA's "property letter" system as part of the state's gun law reform.
There has finally been some rain in parts of the south west land division and there's more on the way for some areas.
Western Australia's farming community is ready for a fresh start and hopes the Premier's shock resignation marks the start of a new and improved relationship between the farm sector and the state government.
The Western Australian state government says it will be cracking down on the state's "property letter" system as part of changes to gun laws.
One of the country's biggest wool exporters says the significant drop in this week's wool price is due to a lack of demand from Australia's key market, China.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association says the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, due to commence on July first, is the greatest assault on farming and private property rights since Federation.
The Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia has just announced a four year, $8 million investment into cotton, grain and cattle production in northern Australia.
Australia's Energy Infrastructure Commissioner says an increasing number of concerns are coming across his desk about wind and solar farm operations.
It's a real mixed bag of seasonal conditions for WA grain growers who are starting to wrap up their seeding programs for 2023.
Global oil gas and energy giant BP has snapped up a farming property in the Midwest, as part of its hydrogen plans in the area.
A Chinese ban on Australian timber imports has been lifted, marking another diplomatic break through following a lengthy trade dispute between both nations.
A Western Australian sheep producer says the potential re-opening of the Saudi Arabian export trade is great news for the industry.
The head of the company which buys most of WA's live sheep says the number of livestock heading to the Middle East could dramatically increase, as early as next year, with the Saudi Arabian market on the verge of re-opening, just as the federal government is planning to end the trade.
The state government has shelved plans to build a $10 million fin fish nursery in Geraldton.
The shadow treasurer Steve Thomas says there's not much in the state budget for rural and regional Western Australians.
Supermarket giant Coles has teamed-up with two local producers to launch its own carbon neutral beef brand in WA.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has defended the Federal Government's plan to charge primary producers a new levy to help contribute to biosecurity in Australia.
Meat analyst Simon Quilty says the economics of Indonesia importing cattle from Brazil, rather than Australia, don't stack-up.
The state's largest integrated pork supplier, Linley Valley, says it's frustrated by visa processing delays that are preventing more than 30 much-needed meat workers from entering Western Australia.
The WA Fishing Industry Council is concerned the state government's marine park policies are being set by the Pew Foundation, which WAFIC describes as "US eco-lobbyists."
Meat from feral camels culled on a remote Western Australian cattle station is now being turned into pet food.
A WA pastoralist, who runs several cattle stations across the Kimberley, says much tougher fines need to be introduced for passengers trying to enter Australia with food items that put our biosecurity at risk.
The state's largest sheep and lamb processing cooperative,, WAMMCO, has plans to spend up to $80 million upgrading its plant and building mine-style accommodation to house as many as 200 workers.
The state's chief vet says she is not comfortable with the animal welfare outcome of a recent shipment of 1208 cattle from Darwin to Broome to be processed at the Kimberley Meat Company.
WA livestock agent Daniel Wood, who was charged with five counts of property/money laundering in a cattle theft investigation by WA Police, has had all charges against him dropped.
The consultation process, around the federal government's phase-out of the live sheep trade, is facing further criticism, with the commissioning of an economic and agronomic impact report due by the June 30, a report that would usually take up to a year to complete
Police minister Paul Papalia has announced a farm advisory board will be formed to consult on firearms laws.
Some members of the WA farming community are calling on the Premier and the agriculture minister to stop just saying they support the live sheep trade and actually start fighting to save the Industry.
An inquiry into workplace safety in Western Australia's agricultural sector has recommended establishing a levy on industry to allow WorkSafe to increase oversight and hire six new inspectors.
Pastoralists in Western Australia’s Pilbara region are picking up the pieces after Ex Tropical Cyclone Ilsa left a trail of ‘total destruction and devastation’ in its path.
If you've ever eaten cockles (pipis) you might have wondered who catches them. Today you'll find out. (But believe it or not these WA cockles are raked up)
There are only two main varieties of avocados sold in Australia. Why is one getting negative publicity on social media at the moment?
Western Australia's barley and wine producers hope relations between China and Australia keep improving so 'normal' trading can resume.
Australia has temporarily suspended it's World Trade Organisation dispute against China over tariffs placed on Australian barley.
A tropical cyclone and two cold fronts are forecast to bring lots of rain to Western Australia's north and south this week.
Western Australian lobster fishers say large cargo ships are regularly destroying thousands of dollars worth of fishing gear.
The first consignment of cattle shipped from Darwin to Broome has been unloaded for processing.
The Johns family runs Killara and Munarra Stations - about 50 kilometres north of Meekatharra. Liam Johns says it's been quite a few years since that country has seen this much rain.
There's a growing sense of frustration among the Esperance commercial fishing sector with the State Government pressing ahead with a new South Coast Marine Park, set to take effect early next year.
The sole export accredited abattoir in Western Australia's north has just been given the green light to bring cattle in via ship from the Kimberley and the NT.
Farmers and Indigenous rangers are a step closer to being paid to protect nature with the federal government introducing legislation to establish a biodiversity trading scheme.
Last night on ABC TV's 730 current affairs program, a report aired showing footage obtained by animal activist Chris Delforce, from the Farm Transparency Project. The footage shows pigs in Victorian abattoirs squealing loudly during a process called stunning.
Some WA wheatbelt farms experienced the wildest storms the owners have ever seen over the weekend. It's prompted some farmers to bring seeding plans forward.
The CBH Shareholders Association continues to pursue a rebate for growers from the CBH Group's record profit last financial year. If it can't secure that, it wants to prevent it happening in the future.
The degradation of Western Australia's rangelands is very often blamed on livestock but a group of pastoralists recently got together to learn how their cattle and sheep can actually be used to restore and revitalise the state's pastoral region.
A two week work stoppage, scheduled to start on Thursday, at the state's main grain port, is now on hold, following a meeting between the Maritime Union of Australia and the CBH Group.
One of the biggest players in the WA fertiliser market says it's keen to reflect any cost reductions in fertiliser prices to ensure farmers make good economic decisions and buy what they need for this year's season.
The Maritime Union of Australia is hopefully a seven day consecutive work stoppage at the Kwinana Grain Terminal, scheduled for next week, can be avoided, following a meeting held yesterday with the CBH Group.
Extensive road damage in the Kimberley has left WA's only major northern abattoir inaccessible.
Fruit and vegetable growers in Western Australia's north have seen their freight costs to the state's south double.
The Grains Industry Association of WA has released it's latest crop report, which predicts a record 26 million tonne crop.
The first live sheep export consignment for 2023 has departed Fremantle for the Middle East.
The National Farmers Federation is urging the Commonwealth to review right to repair laws that would give farmers more power to decide who fixes their machinery
Federal Agriculture and Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt outlines assistance available to pastoralists in the Kimberley.
Prime Minster Anthony Albanese arrives in the Kimberley to assess flood ravaged communities.
Temporary access will be given to class 3 vehicles to ensure delivery of essential goods to the North West and the Northern Territory via South Australia.
Western Australia's main grain handler, the CBH Group, expects to topple its receival record of 21.3 million tonnes on Thursday afternoon.
Record flooding in WA's Kimberley region results in stock losses and extensive infrastructure damage.
For many livestock producers across the state, the future of the live sheep trade is front of mind as the first shipment of 2023 prepares to set sail this month
The national potato chip supply is being affected by flooding in the east and unseasonal conditions in the west. Not good news for fish and chip shop owners.
Murdoch University Dr Graham Gardner says methane emissions from livestock are not as big a problem as carbon dioxide from fossil fuels.
WA's new Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis says she'll take a 'pragmatic' approach to addressing challenges and opportunities in farming.
Grain farmers aren't the only ones waiting on conditions to dry out so they can get a crop off. WA's cherry growers are still waiting for fruit to ripen.
Last night was particularly eventful for Bruce Rock farmer Leigh Strange who says lots of lightning started five fires...and then it hailed.
Gary Webster still runs his family cropping operation, more than three years after a horrific machinery accident.
In April this year the price of DAP ex Morocco was around $1800 a tonne and in October it had dropped to $1200 a tonne , still historically very high prices.
CBH CEO Ben Macnamara said the supply chain will benefit from the co-op's decision to buy more trains and wagons and in August, CBH started the process to buy three more train sets.
Biosecurity has been the top talking point at this year's Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association conference.
Today you'll find out why it's quite significant the Cattle Council of Australia is set to become Cattle Australia.
Farmers in the Esperance region are counting the cost of a significant hail storm that ripped through on September 19. They can now see how much damage it did to their canola.
A senior state government aquatic resources director says decreasing catches in WA's Shark Bay prawn fishery are 'very concerning'.
The outgoing president of the WAFarmers grains section says the state government is completely disconnected from the WA agricultural sector and it's time for it to extend an olive branch to get the relationship back on track. The High Court has rejected a bid by animal rights activists to challenge some laws in New South Wales that restrict secret filming of farming practices.
Greg Payne from Badja Station says the last few weeks have brought some lovely rain which will be awesome for their feed.ws and events from Western Australia and the nation.
Pastoralists in the Pilbara will now have access to new trials and research, to help build drought resilience into their business.
The state government says recent events like the flooding in South Australia which cut off major railway lines have highlighted the need for a more resilient supply chain.
Australia now has a new national biosecurity strategy to help tackle serious pests like varroa mite and diseases such as Foot and Mouth and Lumpy Skin.
It sounds like the wet markets of Indonesia are filling up with lots of cheap meat, because small landholders are rushing to sell stock before they potentially succumb to foot-and-mouth disease.
The latest wool and sheepmeat survey from Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation shows Australia's total breeding flock is 42.5 million head, an increase of 500, 000 ewes since last year.
Parents of Australia's boarding school children are keen to see changes made to the way serious contagious diseases are managed in the future. That's one of the loud messages coming out of this week's national Isolated Children's Parents' Association conference held in Perth.
Sandalwood producer, Santanol, has put a promising new project on hold after the recent detection of myrtle rust in the Kimberley.
The installation of WA's first giant battery is underway and is expected to be online by the end of the year.
A Western Australian cattle producer estimates demand for his wagyu beef has increased about 300 per cent in the last year.
Angus Gidley-Baird, a senior protein analyst with Rabobank, says since the start of the year cattle prices have been slowly slipping away from the record high levels and he expects it to settle at a more realistic position.
The journey to develop a Kununurra cotton gin has reached a milestone with the State Government announcing a new land lease for the infrastructure.
WA's grain lobby groups WAFarmers, the PGA and West Australian Grains Group has met with the state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, to urgently find new ways to move grain from up country receival sites to port and out to markets. The delays and bottlenecks in the grain supply chain are now costing growers between $50 and $100 per tonne and have been since about November last year.
Indonesian officials are hoping to bring foot-and-mouth disease under control by the end of the year, through the roll-out of vaccinations.
A very handy drop of rain overnight for farmers in the north eastern wheatbelt, who were looking for a drink after a very dry July. Darren Marquis is an agronomist based at Mukinbudin. He says despite the fact some farmers have held back on nitrogen, due to the high cost, the crops are looking pretty good and it's a great start to August.
Sam Guest farms at Salmon Gums. He says the 16 millimetres of rain he got in the last 24 hours is exactly what his cereal crop needed.
The first grain ship has left the Port of Odessa carrying 26, 000 tonnes of corn destined for Lebanon. The market is not convinced this shipment is the start of any significant grain flows from the region.
The state's largest sheep and lamb processing cooperative WAMMCO will return a record $8.4 million in pool bonuses to its producer members at the end of this month. The bonus is $6.4 million more than last year, and $4.1 million more than any other year in the co-op's history. WAMMCO's Group Chief Executive Coll MacRury says the record is due to better than budgeted revenues.
Australian experts are saying more testing and surveillance is needed to verify claims from Indonesia that foot-and-mouth disease is under control in four provinces, including Bali, where there are now no active cases.
The state agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan says she's proud of her achievements in the portfolio, despite calls for her to quit after saying an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease would result in cheaper meat and milk prices. The minister says she's especially pleased with the money that's gone into research and development, the investment in biosecurity and in programs that support progressive farmers.
Derek Curwen farms at South Stirling, near WA's south coast, he says the minister hasn't adequately represented mainstream agriculture in WA.
One of the biggest players in WA's fruit and vegetable industry, the Galati Group, is looking at spending close to $1-million on a mechanical broccoli harvester, because there are no workers to do the job.
The National Farmers' Federation is confident the Australian Government is responding well to the increasing threat of foot and mouth disease.
Churchill Fellow Beth Green is heading overseas to research different livestock traceability systems.
One of the largest, if not the largest, vegetable producer in Western Australia says it's had to cut its plantings by 50 per cent this year, due to the eye-watering cost of inputs like fertiliser and the ongoing worker shortage.
Following floods and extreme weather in New South Wales and Queensland a couple of months ago, WA vegetable farmers are sending an unprecedented amount of winter vegetables to markets in the eastern states.
One line of fresh produce that is not in short supply and is relatively cheap, is avocado. A Rabobank report says Australian growers will this year produce 22 avocados per Australian; that's up 26 per cent on last year's figures.
Only hours after the deal was inked with Russia to allow grain exports to resume from Ukraine, Russia fired missiles at the Port of Odesa, Ukraine's largest seaport.
Australian researchers are optimistic they can develop a world-first pesticide that selectively kills the varroa mite pest, without harming honey bees.
When you find the best ram you've ever seen, you're obviously prepared to pay whatever it takes to get your hands on him, that was the case for Luke Ledwith from Kolindale Merino Stud at Dudinin, 270 kilometres south east of Perth.
A deal with Russia, to allow grain exports to resume from Ukraine, is expected to be confirmed later today. The deal will obviously relieve some of the global anxiety about a food crisis, but it will also put downward pressure on grain prices.
WA based multinational Perdaman has paused works on a multi-billion-dollar fertiliser plant in the Pilbara, following concerns about its potential impact on ancient rock art.
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says businesses are struggling with a range of rising costs and delays through the supply chain, with the gold sector most under pressure.
A South American beef industry analyst says Australia needs to do whatever it takes to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of the country.
An animal health leader says the discovery of traces of Foot and Mouth Disease in imported meat products for sale in supermarkets is proof Australia's biosecurity system is working.
Margo Andrae, head of Australian Pork Limited is not happy a product, with traces of FMD, has found its way into Australia.
The South American red meat giant Minerva Foods has just opened its new meat processing facility at Shark Lake, a few kilometres north of the Esperance township. In 2021 Minerva purchased the Shark Lake plant and the Great Eastern abattoir near Tammin, about 180 kilometres east of Perth.
New figures for the month of June show live cattle exports out of Australia are the lowest they've been since the 2011 live export ban.
WA's cattle exporters are experiencing very difficult trading conditions as a key market like Indonesia backs away from buying a lot cattle while it's still trying to roll out FMD vaccines and get the appropriate protocols in place.
The Australian Meat Industry Council is today calling for some calmer heads in discussions surrounding foot and mouth disease.
Pieter Mostert has a dairy farm just north-west of Albany and has implemented as much biosecurity measures as possible to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of his property.
The Livestock and Rural Transport Association is calling for more truck washing facilities in Western Australia.
Former CBH director and Morawa grain grower Rod Madden is excited about the prospect of a new player entering the grain handling and export market here in Western Australia.
The demand for sheepmeat and lamb is continuing to grow in existing and emerging markets throughout Asia.
Dr Chris Parker is head of the National Animal Disease Taskforce with the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture says Australia could get hold of at least one million foot-and-mouth disease vaccines with a week.
A farmer in the state's South West says the threat of foot-and-mouth disease is really stressful and it's becoming very difficult to cope.
WA's Agriculture Minister says the State Government is working on strategies to manage an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, should the virus reach Australia. Amid calls for travel bans from Indonesia, Alannah MacTiernan says there are better ways to protect the nation's livestock.
Kimberley pastoralist David Stoate agrees with Alannah MacTiernan that a Bali travel ban may not be such a good idea.
An innovative grain handling and export company based in South Australia is investigating the possibility of setting up shop here in Western Australia, and is currently exploring several suitable sites along the WA coastline. T-Ports was established in 2018 and developed its own small port at Lucky Bay, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. It's a shallow water port where grain is loaded onto a smaller feeder vessel and then taken out to an ocean-going vessel, waiting in deeper water. It's a process called transhipment.
Andrew Forrest's aquaculture company has plans for a major expansion of its Gascoyne oyster farm.
Tropical rock lobsters could soon be reared in some sort of land based aquaculture set-up.
Farmer protests in the Netherlands are a timely reminder for the Australian farm sector to keep talking about and documenting the work being done on farms here to manage the landscape, improving sustainability and biodiversity. That's the message from the CEO of the National Farmers Federation Tony Maher. He's just returned from a trip the Netherlands where thousands of farmers have been protesting against the Dutch government's plans to reduce total nitrogen emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.
Leader of the federal National Party says the government needs to do more to keep foot and mouth disease out of Australia.
Farmers could benefit in a number of ways from the development of Australia's first renewable diesel plant which looks like being developed in WA's Great Southern region. That's on the back of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between a number of organisations including WA-based company Carnarvon Energy and state owned Horizon Energy. Carnarvon Energy CEO Adrian Cook says they want to use farm waste to make diesel fuel.
The fungal disease, myrtle rust, has been detected in the East Kimberley and has the potential to wipe out entire plant species.
WA sheep producers say it's a real challenge to get livestock into a processing facility at the moment, with many getting a last minute call from the meat works to delay bookings.
Craig Heggaton is chair of WAMMCO and says the delays are due to the shortage of workers.
Murray Frangs is the general manager of RETWA, Rural Export and Trading WA, the country's biggest sheep exporter. He says the company plans to have a ship ready to set sail from Fremantle when the moratorium period comes to an end.
Western Australia's grain crop is on target for a 19.4 million tonne crop come harvest time later this year. The crops are generally looking very good, particularly in the southern regions, however, as you head north they could definitely do with a good drop of rain.
A farmer in the south west of the state says he's had first hand experience with foot-and-mouth disease and he's worried it's now so close to Australia's borders. He says after being up close to the disease, he knows the grief it can cause.
About 1.2 million native tree seedlings are being planted by hand on farmland about 200 kilometres north of Perth. It's part of Woodside's Native Reforestation project.
Travellers returning from Indonesia will be subject to tougher biosecurity measures from today to try to prevent a local outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
As an added precaution Western Australia's chief vet, Michelle Rodan, is asking farmers to consider isolating any farm workers, returning from holidays, from livestock for seven days.
The threat of a serious livestock disease like Foot and Mouth or Lumpy Skin Disease has highlighted the need for Australia to introduce an electronic ID system for sheep.
An expert panel has just revised the likelihood of foot and mouth disease getting into Australia. It's gone from a nine per cent chance to an 11.6 per cent chance in the next five years. This follows the recent detection of the disease on the holiday hotspot Bali.
Australia's chief veterinary officer, Mark Schipp, has confirmed there will be compensation available to Australian farmers if there's a local outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Ag consultant Wayne Pluske says it is worth doing the sums on the financial returns from applying nitrogen.
This week's rain has been perfect timing for WA's grain growers. Today's Grain Industry of Western Australia crop report shows the state is now on track to plant about nine million hectares of crop, very close to last year's record total area for all crops of 9.2 million hectares.
The Premier and Treasurer, Mark McGowan, has spent the morning spruiking the budget highlights to the state's top business leaders at a breakfast in Perth. The key point being a $5.7 billion surplus, reduced debt and a $400 credit for the household power bill, paid for through high iron ore revenues, increased GST payments and a strong housing sector.
The State Government has announced an additional $30 million for the native forestry transition plan, bringing the total to $80 million.
The Federal Government could be forced to fork out $2 billion over its snap ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011. Almost two years after the high court ruled the ban unlawful, a class action seeking compensation for lost income has submitted its review of the damages. Initial estimates had put the cost at $600 million, but facilitator of the live export class action Tracey Hayes says, since then, the figure has more than doubled.
Australian food regulators have approved a new Genetically Modified wheat variety for human consumption.
Croplife Australia CEO Matthew Cossey believes it won't be long before Australia adds to its list of approved GM crops and is growing GM wheat.
With the threat of lumpy skin and foot and mouth disease on Australia's doorstep, there are concerns the state is under prepared to manage an animal disease outbreak. Geoff Pearson heads up the WA Farmers livestock section and sits on the cattle council. He says it's critical a WA based management plan is created to ensure the state to be better prepared than it is now.
Colin DeGrussa is shadow minister for agriculture and food. He says, when it comes to livestock biosecurity, WA is in a precarious position.
Dr Mia Carbon is DPIRD's executive director biosecurity. She says WA does have a plan to manage FMD and other biosecurity threats.
Smuggling of goats from Malaysia is thought to be the source of a major outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease for livestock in Indonesia.
Australia's chief vet says the chance of foot and mouth disease entering the country has possibly doubled following its spread to Indonesia.
The Greens have announced a new policy that would set a precedent for the end of native forestry in Australia.
Australia's livestock industry is nervous because it's been confirmed the devastating foot and mouth disease has been detected in Indonesia.
Markus Rathsmann is president of the Cattle Council of Australia. He says livestock producers should be alert but not alarmed.
Kathleen Plowman is the CEO of Animal Health Australia. She thinks Australia is well prepared for an FMD outbreak, but says it's not good news the disease has been found so close to Australia.
SunPork is one of Australia's largest pork producers and the company's head vet is Kirsty Richards. She is confident Australia can cope with the threat of Foot and Mouth disease.
The Federal Member for O'Connor says he has documents which reveal Animals Australia paid $148, 000 to the whistle blower who provided the footage of distressed and dead sheep on board the Awassi Express in 2017. The footage ultimately lead to a moratorium on sheep exports during the northern hemisphere summer, which began in 2019. Rick Wilson says the paperwork shows the Department of Agriculture Water and Environment was aware of the payments, despite an investigation by the Department which concluded the footage was not contrived and no illegal payments were made.
Labor has confirmed its plan to end live sheep exports, if it wins this month's federal election. But it won't say when the ban would come into place.
Australia’s $92 million live sheep export industry would end if Labor is elected at this month’s federal election. For months, the Shadow agriculture minister Julie Collins has refused to say if the party planned to end the live sheep trade, a policy it took to the last federal election. In a statement to the ABC, a Labor party spokesperson confirmed it would ban the trade.
Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said it was a disappointing result. “There’s many reasons livestock volumes change over time, including price and market supply. “To call the industry a declining industry does not give it due respect to its importance both to our producers or geopolitically to trading partners.”
The Australian Alliance for Animals says the Labor Party has confirmed it will phase out the live sheep export industry if it wins power at the federal election. Up until now the federal shadow agriculture minister Julie Collins has been unavailable to confirm the party's policy position on the future of live animal exports. But, the party has made its position clear on the trade in a survey conducted by the Australian Alliance for Animals.
Geoff Pearson, chair of the livestock council with lobby group WAFarmers, said "it's concerned that we can have a shadow minister listening to the beat of a drum of an animal alliance" when it comes to the future of the live sheep trade.
Wayne Pech runs about thirty thousand sheep on his farm just south of Gnowangerup in WA's Great Southern. He believes a forward thinking government should help the sheep industry transition away from live exports and towards value-adding here in Australia.
Four hundred million dollars will be spent on upgrading rail infrastructure and grain loading facilities in Western Australia's agricultural region over the next three years in a bid reduce delays moving grain from storage sites to port. The state and commonwealth governments will spend $200m across various sites in the wheatbelt, while grain handler CBH Group will spend another $200m on rapid loading bins and elevators. CBH Group CEO Ben Macnamara said the joint spend was 'fantastic news' on the back of a record 24 million tonne grain harvest last year, which had created logistical headaches for CBH getting grain to port.
WA Transport minister Rita Saffioti said she was confident improving the efficiency of grain to port rail transport would push more grain onto rail.
The Wheatbelt Railway Retention Alliance was formed in 2010 to lobby for grain transport to remain on rail ahead of the closure of several Tier 3 railway lines. The alliance's Jane Fuchsbichler said some spend on Tier 3 was a 'tiny step in the right direction' but much more investment into restoring Tier 3 was needed to reduce freight rates for farmers in parts of the wheatbelt.
In a pre-budget announcement today, the state government will invest $25 million over three years to grow agricultural research and development in WA. A team approach will be taken to this research with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, universities and research bodies coming together, under what will be known as the Western Australian Agricultural Collaboration.
A farm lobby group from New South Wales says the only one benefitting from the higher prices you're paying for groceries is the supermarket. The NSW Farmers Association says the higher prices are not being passed onto farmers and accuses the supermarkets of price gouging, something the Australian Retailers Association completely rejects.
The total amount of shorn wool production in Western Australia is down five-and-a-half per cent, dropping from almost 60 million kilograms in 2019/20 to 56.5 million kilos in 2020/21.
In the west Kimberley, the state government has ruled out damming the Fitzroy River, but is still exploring groundwater, surface water or water harvesting options for agricultural purposes.
Environment minister Reece Whitby has expressed his disappointment in the outcome of a land clearing investigation in the Kimberley.
Federal agriculture minister David Littleproud says Labor can't be trusted to allow the live sheep trade to continue if elected. The minister made the comments during a visit to Western Australia this week. He says a coalition government will continue to support the sheep trade if it wins power on the 21st of May, but Labor plans to get rid of it.
A new policy for 200 extension officers to help farmers access carbon markets is being pitched by Independent MP and member for Indi, Helen Haines.
Traditional Owners in WA's West Kimberley have welcomed the declaration of a new national park.
The price of iron ore dropped ten per cent this week, following concerns around China's COVID-19 lockdowns.
China's decision to continue with its COVID-zero policy is adding to the global backlog of ships at anchor at some of the biggest container ports in the world.
The wool industry says these shipping backlogs in China threaten to slow exports to a crawl, affect cash flows for Chinese wool mills and ultimately decrease demand for Australian wool.
It's been a challenging start to the year for the state's banana industry, according to Carnarvon's Sweeter Banana Co-Operative. There's the COVID-19 pandemic, the associated worker shortages, driver shortages, and even shortages of materials like boxes and gloves.
But despite all the challenges, business manager for Sweeter Banana, Doriana Mangili says the co-operative has had a strong start to 2022.
Labor says, if elected, it will reform and expand the PALM, the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme. Labor also says under its reforms the Federal Government will meet upfront travel costs for Pacific workers under the Seasonal Worker Program, which are currently paid for by Australian farmers.
The first of three cold fronts is set to cross the WA coast tonight, delivering as much as 45 millimetres of rain by the end of the week for farmers in some parts of the South West Land Division.
The latest data from the Foreign Investment Review Board shows foreign buyers haven't spent as much on Australian farmland during the pandemic, as they have in past.
Shell's $21 billion floating gas plant Prelude, resumed its operations this month after a fire and power issues shut it down in December last year.
Good news today for an Australian abattoir. After a week's suspension it has now resumed trading with China.
You don't have to be a farmer to capitalise on the current strong grain and livestock prices. A market strategist offers some investment advice.
'Anybody else growing a ridiculous number of canola varieties due to increased programs, seed shortages and delays. I'm at seven varieties. I normally plant two.' - Today you'll hear some pros and cons of the current strong demand for canola.
Coles has launched a new brand of carbon neutral beef in Victoria, but are all the farmers who produce that meat carbon neutral?
Today Narrogin farmer Michael Lange gives you some idea of what it was like in February this year when a fast moving fire tore through his piggery killing thousands of animals.
And have you ever wondered what would happen if all the farm in one country were told to go organic? Sri Lanka tried it...and it didn't go so well.
Lawyers acting on behalf of three insurance companies have confirmed enquiries are underway to look at who might be liable for damage caused by a fire that ripped through part of WA's grainbelt earlier this year.
Researchers are trying to find more environmentally friendly ways to mine 'green metals' such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper which are vital in the production of batteries and electric vehicles.
The head of the WAFarmers dairy section is calling on milk processors to 'get involved' and make some levy contributions because they benefit from research and development done by Dairy Australia.
And today you will find out why the US has just bought some canola from Australia.
Competition between the re-stockers and the feedlotters at WA cattle markets is red hot with the Western Young Cattle Indicator reaching a record high and cracking the 1200 cents a kilogram mark this week. It actually hit 1202 cents a kilogram, which means the WYCI is now over 100 cents higher than the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator.
Plans to re-open the Kimberley's only abattoir as a co-operative have been abandoned for now due to a lack of investor interest. The revised plan is to re-open the mothballed Kimberley Meat Company as a subsidiary of the Yeeda Pastoral Company. The facility, which is about 100 kilometres east of Broome, closed its doors in 2021, following pressure from record high cattle prices.
One of the key players initially keen to get involved in the Kimberley Meat Company co-operative was the Spudshed's Tony Galati, who had plans to supply beef processed at the Kimberley abattoir to his retails stores across the state. He's now put those plans on hold and intends to focus his attention on sorting out labour shortage issues and the company's southern operations.
The ongoing war in Ukraine and dry seasonal conditions in the northern hemisphere are putting a big question mark over global wheat supplies this year, which is opening opportunities for some new players to enter the market. The latest USDA world supply and demand report reveals India plans to export 8.5 million tonnes of wheat this year. That is significant because India doesn't usually export any wheat, or at most about half a million tonnes.
Australian grain growers are being asked to show their support for Ukraine by displaying Ukrainian flags on their farm machinery this season and then sharing photos of their flags on social media with the hashtag AussieGrain4Ukraine. At harvest time there is an opportunity for growers to make a donation to deliver humanitarian support for Ukrainian farmers and farming communities. The campaign is being led by a sub-committee of Grain Producers Australia.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association is calling on the state government to help WA's agricultural sector to take advantage of the export opportunities in Australia's free trade deal with India.
Fertiliser prices continue to sit at record highs, as the global supply continues to be impacted by the war in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine and dry conditions in the United States are continuing to raise concerns about this year's global supply of grains and that's driving up global prices.
Australia will import lumpy skin disease for research. The live virus will be used to help the industry come up with a vaccine against the disease that has swept through international cattle herds and threatens to devastate Australia's red meat and dairy industries.
A Kimberley vet says an updated strategy to deal a possible outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease is urgently needed for northern Australia.
CPC's chief executive officer Troy Setter says while the company's Indonesian feedlots haven't been directly affected, at this point, the disease poses a huge threat to its international and Australian operations.
Western Australia's farm and pastoral land is the currently the focus of a lot of big business interests. Andrew Forrest has recently purchased another three cattle stations in the north west, and you heard about the renewable energy hub plans for one of them, from his company Fortescue Future Industries. But the mining billionaire isn't the only company knocking on homestead doors. Rural and regional communities are now trying to work out the best way to negotiate with these companies and get a win-win outcome for the farmer, the business and the community.
Lamb slaughter rates in Western Australian meatworks have dropped 43 per cent in recent weeks due to covid related staffing problems.
Another three cattle stations in Western Australia's north have been sold to prominent billionaire Andrew Forrest. Ella Valla and Yalbalgo stations south of Carnarvon, and Emu Creek Station about half way between Carnarvon and Karratha. They've been sold to Andrew Forrest's green energy business - Fortescue Future Industries. It's still early days for Ella Valla and Yalbalgo, but it's expected they'll become part of FFI's green hydrogen and green ammonia exports.
The body representing the state's commercial fishing industry wants more consultation and better over-arching government policy in place to regulate emerging offshore wind farm projects.
Global mining giant B-H-P has inked a deal to bankroll a major wind farm in Western Australia's Great Southern region.
The Cattle Council of Australia wants the Federal Government to allow live samples of Lumpy Skin Disease to be brought into the country, so infectious disease experts can work on a suitable vaccine.
Pastoralists across the north of WA are starting to get concerned about the threat lumpy skin disease poses to the cattle industry.
CSIRO researcher Steve Henry says judging by what he has seen in New South Wales, most adult mice seem to be able to tread water or swim.
Australia and India have signed a major interim free-trade deal hailed as a significant step in diversifying export markets and reducing Australia's economic dependence on China. It cuts tariffs on things like sheep goods, coal, lobsters and rare earths. Missing from the agreement are major exports like dairy and chickpeas.
Potato growers are stepping up their biosecurity measures after the discovery of a serious vegetable crop disease in WA.
The State Government has flagged plans to build a massive battery in the traditional coal mining hub of Collie, two hours south of Perth. Under plans announced this morning, the Government will partner with a company backed by prominent economist Ross Garnaut to study the idea.
One of the country's leading grain market analyst says there are now two big factors that could have a significant impact on world prices.
Farmers are feeling the pinch ahead of the winter vegetable season, with fertiliser prices hitting all-time record highs in recent weeks.
Plans to build the world's largest prawn farm on Legune Station in the Northern Territory have been deemed unviable by the ASX-listed Seafarms. The company's share price fell 42 per cent on Thursday, after releasing a damning review into Project Sea Dragon - revealing the project was "not viable in its current form".
The federal government has announced a 'Designated Area Migration Agreement' would be made available for the Pilbara and East Kimberley. The DAMA as it's known, will make it easier for workers to move from overseas to those regions.
Industry leaders have welcomed the new Agriculture visa announced by the federal government this week.
In the last 24 hours, lots of rain has fallen in Western Australia and it's mostly been well received. The weather is from ex Tropical Cyclone Charlotte. Some floodwater pictures at Mount Magnet in the Murchison region show water running down the main street, and even some beer kegs floating along.
Australia's Agriculture Minister says the country's national farm lobby is ignorant in its criticism of the coalition's pre-election budget and suggests it is a "sideline critic that doesn't understand the science".
Despite welcoming some regional funding commitments, the National Farmers' Federation said the "steady" budget had failed to deliver adequate and sustainable funding for Australia's biosecurity system.
People from Vietnam will be the first to be given an opportunity to work on Australian farms under the federal government's new Agriculture Visa.
VegetablesWA hopes the agreement will help solve the labour shortage problem on some WA farms.
A Vietnamese migrant in Australia's horticultural heartland is over the moon his home country has signed this new AG-Visa deal with Australia.
An internal review into DPIRD's response to the fires in the wheatbelt last month has found there was some confusion and lessons to be learned, but assistance was provided to farmers to assess burnt sheep.
There has been some perfectly timed rain in the south west land division, for those grain farmers about to start seeding.
Foreign workers on Australian farms are being left with as little as a hundred dollars per week, in accordance with the federal government's Pacific labour schemes.
Dwindling volumes of sheep going to the live export market is raising serious concerns about the long term future of the trade.
The Indonesian government has launched a major effort to contain an outbreak of lumpy skin disease, including vaccinating thousands of cattle, in an attempt to slow its spread.
Three more cases of Japanese Encephalitis Virus have been confirmed in South Australia piggeries.
Australia's chief vet is in Indonesia at the moment as the country grapples with an outbreak of lumpy skin disease. The disease is carried by biting insects and causes skin lesions, fever, loss of appetite and can lead to death in cattle and buffalo.
Federal Ag Minister David Littleproud, says if the disease got into Australia it could stop the live export trade "overnight." So he has announced some extra funding to improve biosecurity in Australia's north.
Some resource companies and analysts are saying high energy prices and global instability is increasing investment into prospective oil and gas projects in WA.
Some of Western Australia's main meatworks are struggling to stay open due to covid cases and restrictions. That's having a direct impact on prices farmers are getting at the saleyards. Livestock agent and auctioneer at Nutrien Mark Warren says he's not expecting COVID to cause a major crash in the market, but it's certainly affecting all the major abattoirs in WA, and will continue to do so for at least the next six weeks.
Rabobank says the price of beef has gone up eight per cent in the past twelve months. As the price of other grocery items, such as dairy, bread, fruit and vegetables, start to rise, it may test consumers willingness or ability to continue to pay top-dollar for beef.
A white dorper ram from a stud in New South Wales has just sold for a world record price of $62, 000 and is on its way to a farm in Toodyay, just north of Perth. It's a big jump from the previous record of $50, 000. The ram, named Trump, is a two-and-a-half year old former national grand champion, bred by Burrawang stud near Condobolin. The new owner is Luke Hardwick, who has plans to set up a new dorper stud here in WA.
The company developing a new iron ore mine in WA's Goldfields says it's going to cost more than $800-million to bring it into production.
Eight new areas for petroleum exploration have been released by the state government. The new acreages sit in the North Carnarvon Basin, in the north west of the state and the Amadeus Basin, which is mainly in southern Northern Territory but also extends into WA. State Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Bill Johnston, says seven of the eight areas released are for onshore exploration.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shone a spotlight on energy security around the world and Australia is no different.
A new state record price has been paid for a Simmental bull, going under the hammer for $82, 000. The bull was bred by Tony and Loreen Kitchen from the Bandeeka Stud at Boyanup in the state's south west.
In the last week or so, particularly in the eastern states, large numbers of older cows selling at saleyards have been given a second chance and some price records have been broken.
The founders of a Western Australian start-up believe they can help farmers find seasonal labour and stamp out dodgy employers.
The state government is going to hand over $100, 000 to grower groups in fire-affected Wheatbelt communities, roughly 230 kilometres south-east of Perth. The Facey Group and the Corrigin Farm Improvement Group will each receive $50, 000 to help co-ordinate the recovery effort.
Liberal MLC Steve Martin farms at Wickepin, near one of fires that ripped through the region last month. He says most of the recovery effort is being handled by the individual farmers affected by the fires, but he welcomes the funding and believes it's in good hands.
Mitch Miles farms at Wickepin, about 200 kilometres south east of Perth. He's got burnt paddocks, trees and fences down and topsoil drifting away in the wind. He welcomes the state government's contribution to the fire recovery, but wonders how far it will go?
Australian wool exporters are concerned an extended coronavirus shutdown in China will have flow-on effects for wool demand and prices here in Australia.
The Prime Minister has announced Commonwealth support for two critical minerals projects in Western Australia. Nearly $120 million will be provided for Pure Battery Technologies in Coolgardie to build an integrated refinery hub. $49 million will be allocated for Australian Vanadium to develop the nation's first vanadium mine with downstream processing.
It's not everyday Australia's richest man walks into your local pub for a chat. But that's exactly what happened recently at the Condingup Tavern just east of Esperance in the south east corner of Western Australia's grainbelt. Andrew Forest wasn't there on holiday.
He was trying to see if local farmers might lease him some land so he can build wind turbines and solar panels for a green hydrogen hub. Fortescue Future Industries' plans for the Esperance region are still in the early stages, but they are looking promising.
Andrew Forrest and fellow billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes have helped a company called SunCable raise $210 million, which will go towards its project that will send solar energy from the NT to customers in Singapore.
Imagine scooping 77 mice out of your swimming pool. That's what happened at the Pluschke's farm near Northampton in the Mid West.
Mice numbers seem to have built up in the grain growing areas, from the northern ag region all the way down to hot spots in Esperance. About a month, or less, out from seeding that's a worry for farmers.
Chinese authorities are saying this year's wheat crop could be the worst ever.
Ten million tonnes of wheat in Ukraine will be lost in the coming weeks if war affected grain farmers are unable to fertilise their crops.
David Falconer, a consultant with BusinessAg, says farmers need to be mentally, physically and financially prepared for change as the war continues in Ukraine.
Ukraine's farmers have become food processors as they work around the clock to keep their people fed. Surrounded by war, they're milling flour, making dairy products and canning meat to feed the army and people in the cities.
A commercial farming company, Sunpride Sheep Pty Ltd and a 36 year-old livestock manager from Applecross have been fined a total of $225,000 for animal cruelty offences, ordered to pay $20,000 in legal costs and banned from being in charge of livestock for life.
One of the largest producers and distributors of fuel to regional Australia expects diesel prices to rise by another twenty to thirty cents per litre over the coming weeks.
Rising fuel costs are just one of the problems facing Australia's trucking industry. It's also been hit by driver and spare part shortages along with all sorts of freight supply problems.
Oil and fuel prices are the big stories today, with the United States announcing overnight it will ban all Russian oil imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The US accounts for only about eight per cent of Russia's oil exports, but there's no doubt the increasing sanctions will see the price of crude oil rise further. And with that, fuel prices. Today, the average cost of unleaded in Perth will hit a record 208.9 cents per litre, and diesel $1.89. John Mitchell is the CEO of Mitchell's Livestock Transport. He says the rising diesel prices are a major concern for the industry.
CEO of WAFamers Trevor Whittington says there is an interesting correlation between the price of oil and the price of grain.
Long coleoptile wheat varieties are making a comeback and that could be good news for farmers in the drier growing regions of WA.
The war in Ukraine is certainly having an affect on global market prices. The nickel price jumped 60 per cent overnight!
It sounds like China's wheat crop may not be quite as bad as recent media reports would suggest. And that could have an impact on global prices.
The ACCC is targeting anyone advertising 'false green credentials'.
The head of an Australian plant-based meat company is encouraging investment in his industry saying there are lots of opportunities.
The WA government throws its support behind the emerging seaweed production industry. Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest is also getting involved.
Western Australian grown and harvested asparagopsis seaweed could soon be available as feed for livestock owners wanting to reduce methane emissions.
Will it be a bit easier to find workers now WA's borders are open?
Some glorious rain has been pelting down on pastoral stations in the Kimberley. David Stoate runs Anna Plains station, just south of Broome and tipped 68.2 millimetres of rain from his gauge this morning.
All the uncertainty about access to the Russian and Ukraine wheat crop is pushing up futures prices.
Skyrocketing farm input costs has some farmers weighing-up whether or not take a gap year and not plant a crop this season.
Farmers are making money like never before. The latest from the government analysts at ABARES forecasts the value of Australian agriculture has jumped to a record 81-billion dollars this financial year. Good weather and high prices mean the average farm income has risen by more than 40 per cent in some cases.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen commercial activity in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov grind to a halt. That means millions of tonnes of wheat and corn are now sitting in store and not leaving the docks.
As the world responds to the Ukraine war, trade between Russia and Europe is likely to be severely disrupted. For Europe, that means an impact to supply of commodities like coal, LNG, and also iron ore. So, is there room for Australia's producers to take advantage of the disruptions?
The Bureau of Meteorology is expecting ex-tropical cyclone Anika will re-intensify off the West Kimberley Coast today to a category one system. At the moment it's moving across the north-west Kimberley, and is expected to continue tracking south-westerly today. Duty forecaster, Rohan Smith, says residents in the West Kimberley and East Pilbara need to prepare for a category three cyclone later this week.
Around the world, leaders are condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That includes Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The PM has criticised China for lifting restrictions on Russian wheat and barley imports.
Western Australia's commercial egg industry is warning a tight local supply of eggs on supermarket shelves could last more than six months.
US wheat and corn futures responded immediately to the news yesterday that Russia had invaded Ukraine, with prices rising to their daily trading limits. As the market opened this morning, the prices soared again, but if and when those prices will flow onto the Australian market is yet to be seen and will probably depend on the length and severity of the conflict. Russia is the world's largest supplier of wheat and together with Ukraine accounts for nearly a quarter of total global wheat exports. So any conflict in this part of the world has significant consequences for the market.
There are growing concerns Russia will use its huge energy trade with Europe as an economic weapon in the war against Ukraine.
A new state record price has been paid for a Black Angus bull, selling for $72, 000. The bull was bred by the Coonamble Stud at Bremer Bay, on the state's south coast, about 180 kilometres north east of Albany. Noel Bairstow, a farmer from Lake Grace, is the new owner of the bull named Coonamble Frontman.
The state's main grain handler is calling on its grower members to help cart more grain to port to meet the current strong export demand for WA grains. The CBH Group says with tight transport resources in WA the co-op needs that fleet of farmer trucks on the road to help get the job done.
It's been more than ten months since Cyclone Seroja hit Western Australia's Mid West. There was lots of damage to farms and the clean up continues. But as farmers start to look at replacing damaged houses, sheds and other infrastructure, some are starting to find they're suddenly under insured. That's largely because the building cost, for labour and materials, has increased significantly in the last 12 to 18 months. Mullewa farmer Rob Kitto had six large grain silos damaged in the cyclone, but his insurance pay-out will only cover the cost of replacing two.
The warning signs have been around for a few weeks and today in the Perth metro area the price of fuel hit the two dollars a litre mark and it's hovering around that mark right across the state.
Veterinarians are continuing to assess livestock caught up in the bushfires that tore through several wheatbelt shires earlier this month. The latest figures from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development reveal livestock losses in the Narrogin/Wickepin area are now at 2, 200, Corrigin/Bruce Rock's tally is 1, 000 and in the south west Bridgetown has recorded 38 and Denmark 32.
Head of the livestock export shipping company Wellard says the current eyewatering prices for cattle, like feeder steer prices out of Darwin for $5.50 per kilogram, can't last forever. He thinks it could be as early as 2023 when those prices are starting at the two dollar mark, rather than the five dollar per kilo mark, as they are now. Wellard has just posted a US$500, 000 half year profit result, back in the black after a $1.6 million loss in the previous year's reporting period. Wellard says the result was driven by excellent vessel availability and utilisation, which helped offset falling cattle export numbers and rising fuel prices.
At its AGM on Friday the state's main grain handler acknowledged its biggest challenge for 2022 is exporting the recent record crop of 21 million tonnes. The CBH Group says WA grain is in high demand, but shipping capacity at its four port terminals is fully booked and the pressure is on to unlock every opportunity to increase transport and get more tonnes to port to meet market demand.
There's been confusion in Canberra about the number of foreign workers likely to be recruited on Australia's new agriculture visa.
Catch limits of iconic Western Australian fish, such as groper, pink snapper and dhufish would be halved under a new management proposal designed to stop an unsustainable decline in fish stocks.
The WAFarmers grain section president is calling on the CBH Group to improve freight train visibility and make railway crossings safer for motorists on country roads.
A market so uncertain, not even the traders are confident, that's the outlook for fertiliser from one the largest commodities trading companies in the world.
One of the other increasing expenses for farmers is wages. Stephen Smith is an economist with Deloitte and a guest speaker at this week's GRDC farm business updates. He says it will take up to three years before migration returns to pre pandemic levels and that means to secure a work force you're going to have to pay more.
The WA Government has appointed six members to its new Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. The panel was formed to give advice to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development on animal welfare matters. Among the appointees is the CEO of the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association Michael Sheehy and Joanna Williams who is on the board of the WA Meat Industry Authority. But WAFarmers president John Hassell says the appointment of representatives with affiliations to organisations like Animals' Angels Australia is concerning for agriculture.
Agriculture minister, Alannah MacTiernan, has confirmed DPIRD, WA Health and WA Police are working together to find a solution to allow muster workers to enter through Kununurra, and head straight to cattle stations to complete their quarantine.
Australian Wool Innovation says the shearer shortage is the number one concern for the wool industry and it's looking to support innovations that make it easier to get wool off the sheep's back.
A return to the office is expected to push up the price of wool this calendar year, according to Rabobank.
The Wagin Woolorama set to go ahead as planned despite the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Western Australia.
The Australian sheep flock is set for a growth spurt this year with the latest projections from Meat and Livestock Australia showing the flock will grow by almost five per cent to 74.4 million head in 2022, the highest level since 2013.
There are calls to change the way fly-in fly-out workers on remote mine sites are managed if they become close contacts of COVID-19 cases.
AusVeg's Tyson Cattle says farmers are not expecting an instant workforce to come from backpackers. He'd like to see more effort going into establishing a stable workforce through an agricultural visa.
With strong prices and demand, confidence in WA's mining industry is at a high and recent analysis has found investment in mineral exploration has broken records.
A potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine is causing volatility in the grain and oilseeds market with wheat prices up by $15 a tonne on Friday as speculation of a Russian invasion intensifies.
India has announced that tariffs on lentil imports will be cut from 11 per cent to zero effective immediately.
Farmers in the wheatbelt towns of Corrigin, Narrogin, Wickepin, Cuballing and surrounding areas, roughly 200 kilometres south east of Perth, are keeping a close eye on the weather, hoping to avoid any fire flare-ups this weekend. The losses from last weekend's fire are still being assessed. Up to 1, 700 sheep have been killed or euthanased in the Shire of Narrogin and in the same region up to 5, 000 pigs died or had to be put down at one of Westpork's grow out farms. In the Corrigin Shire up to 1, 000 sheep were killed or euthanased and those numbers may increase as vets continue to monitor the welfare of livestock in region.
Producers in Denmark and Bridgetown are slowly coming home after a volatile weekend, but it's not just fire damage they're worried about. Wine grape growers are looking for signs of smoke taint after winds blew from the weekend's fires onto neighbouring vineyards.
WA's fire commissioner says the weekend fire in the wheatbelt was caused by an approved burn-off which had not been extinguished before the difficult fire weather conditions arrived on Sunday. Darren Klemm says two burn-off permits were issued in the region last Wednesday and revoked on Friday. He says every effort was made to put out the fire and there was absolutely no malicious intent.
With so much ground-cover lost in the weekend fires there is an urgent need for agistment for surviving stock.
One of the first vets on the scene, after the fire in the wheatbelt over the weekend, says at this stage, as many as 1, 000 sheep have been euthanised after being badly burned or injured in the fire.
Troy Smith farms sheep and grain just east of Narrogin, just over 200 kilometres southeast of Perth. His farm was hit very hard by the weekend fires. 2,000 hectares of his farm was burnt.
The fires in the wheatbelt and south west of the state obviously bring up a lot memories for anyone who has gone through a bushfire. In December 2009 a bushfire went through Badgingarra, 200 kilometres north of Perth. Local farmer Ferret MacAlpine remembers it very well.
Up to 5,000 pigs have died or had to be put down after one of the weekend fires ripped through a property just east of Narrogin, about 200 kilometres south east of Perth.
Colin Pond is a retired farmer from Bilbarrin, 240 kilometres east of Perth, between Corrigin and Bruce Rock. He's never seen anything like the fire over the weekend. He's lost his house, but he's more worried about the topsoil that's going to be lost from those farms that have been burnt.
The weekend fires in the south west and wheatbelt obviously brings up a lot of memories for any community that's gone through a similar experience. In 2015, following the devastating Esperance bushfire, local vet Enoch Bergman and a team of Murdoch University vet students, went into the fire zone to help farmers triage and treat livestock caught up in the Esperance fire.
It's been a challenging weekend for firefighters who've been battling four intense bushfires in the south west and wheatbelt. At one stage all of the fires, in and around Denmark, Bridgetown, Corrigin and Wickepin were at an emergency level at the same time, forcing residents to evacuate. A lot of farmland has been burnt, sheds and other infrastructure destroyed and the number of sheep killed or badly burnt in the fire is still being assessed. Angus Armstrong farms at Nomans Lake, about 230 kilometres south east of Perth. He was fighting the fire on his farm Sunday afternoon and euthanizing sheep in the evening.
Steven Bolt is a cropping and sheep farmer at Corrigin, roughly 200 kilometres east of Perth and he spent all weekend fighting that Corrigin fire. He says his houses were saved, but the rest of the property has been burnt out.
The state's main grain handler has officially ruled a line under this year's harvest and is taking a moment to acknowledge just how many records were smashed over the season. Over 90 records were broken across the network which resulted in a total harvest of 21.3 million tonnes, beating the previous record of 16.65 million tonnes in 2016/2017. The challenge now is to get the crop from the receival sites to port and out to market.
It's been 50 years since the famous Lake Argyle in the Kimberley was built, and now it seems the lake's full potential is about to be realised.
As COVID cases and exposure sites continue to increase across Western Australia, many agricultural industries are placing orders for rapid antigen test kits.
State agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan says distribution of the RAT kits is yet to be determined.
In Carnarvon, 900 kilometres north of Perth, local mango grower and shire president Eddie Smith isn't waiting for the government to distribute the kits, he says the local shop has a plenty.
For the first time workers on Australian farms will be guaranteed a minimum rate of pay when changes to the Horticulture Award come into place on April 28. Late yesterday, the Fair Work Commission set the deadline for major changes to the Horticulture Award, having determined in November that a minimum rate of pay should be set for workers paid a piece rate.
Roger Fahl is the owner of the WA based table grape business Fruitico. The business grows grapes in the Peel region, just south of Perth and also in the Kimberley, at a new venture north of Broome. He says the changes to the Horticulture Award will mean a lot more administration work and a higher turnover of staff in the field.
It is a proud moment for the Yawuru people today, as they officially take over pastoral operations at Roebuck Plains Station, approximately 30 kilometres from Broome in the West Kimberley.
The latest projections from Meat and Livestock Australia has the national cattle herd growing by just over one million head to 27.2 million head in 2022.
One development that could eventually have a flow on effect for beef prices is China's ban on a growing list of Australian exporters, the latest being meat processing giant Teys Australia.
Covid has made its way into the resource industry for the first time since the pandemic started. Around 70 people are isolating at BHP's Yandi iron ore mine in WA's Pilbara after a contractor tested positive to COVID-19. The other case is at the Golden Grove Polymetalic mine near Yalgoo, which is operated by 29 Metals, that case is linked to Perth's Library Nightclub cluster. Meanwhile Rio Tinto has also confirmed it picked up a couple of COVID positive cases at the airport before the workers were due to fly to site.
Vivek Dhar is a commodity strategist from the Commonwealth Bank. He says if COVID was to have an impact on iron ore production in WA, it could result in a boost to prices.
Delays to the border re-opening is starting to raise major concerns for the start of planting in the Order Valley. New South Wales grower Matthew Stott owns and manages Mambijim farm, on the outskirts of Kununurra. At this stage he's going to have to plant and irrigate almost 800 hectares of cotton on his own and he says that's impossible.
One of the Kimberley's local melon growers is also thinking about cutting back production this season. He thinks any business struggling to find workers should be able to bring them into WA, whether they have specialist skills or not.
The state government is finally providing the agricultural sector some clarity around protocols to allow skilled seasonal workers into WA. The sector is worried the delayed re-opening of the WA border will make it impossible to get much needed overseas and interstate workers into the state to pick and pack crops and muster cattle. Agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan says agricultural workers with specialist skills will be given exemptions to enter WA despite the extension of the state's hard border.
Pastoral stations want the government to consider allowing seasonal workers to enter the state via Kununurra. The government will consider that option, but is reluctant due to the high number of unvaccinated indigenous communities in the region.
President of the grains section with WAFarmers Mic Fels says the state government's measures to allow seasonal workers into the state are the best news he's heard in two years.
Western Australia recorded 24 new local Covid-19 cases overnight. Premier Mark McGowan says 15 cases were recorded in the Perth metropolitan area - and one of those cases is currently unlinked to previous cases. He says the rest are in the South West - all linked to Albemarle's Kemerton Lithium Hydroxide Processing Plant - and is urging people to get tested if they feel unwell.
Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union state secretary, Steve McCartney, says the Albemarle plant failed to put in place appropriate COVID plans to make sure workers are safe.
The Cunderdin Shire President Alison Harris says a woman is self-isolating in the Central Wheatbelt after testing positive to the virus this week. She says the woman returned from the South West last weekend.
Overseas and with 100, 000 Russian troops near the border, the upcoming grain harvest is the least of worries for farmers in Ukraine. Tensions are soaring between Russia and western powers over fears Moscow is planning invade Ukraine, which is forecast to supply 12 per cent of the world's wheat. Adrian Ladaniwskyj is a senior market analyst with Mercado. He says Ukraine is incredibly significant on the world grain stage and any disruption to its harvest will have a flow on effect to prices.
In 2014 Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. The conflict put that year's harvest in jeopardy and global wheat prices spiked 20 per cent.
An Australian manufacturer of Adblue has reached a new milestone last week, producing more than three million litres of the anti-pollutant fuel additive.
WA's shadow minister for agriculture and food says the ag sector is in turmoil as it waits for the government to decide if skilled seasonal workers will be allowed into the state.
The state's apple and pear industry says the delayed border reopening is largely welcome because it will give producers more time to put in place pandemic protocols.
The body representing WA's gun dealers has met with the government to raise concerns about proposed changes to the state's firearms laws.
WA's pastoral industry is calling on the state government to allow workers with specialist skills into the state to keep their businesses ticking over and avoid any animal welfare issues. The call follows the Premier's late night media conference to announce the state's February five re-opening date had been delayed indefinitely due to concerns around the omicron variant.
Concerns about the WA border staying up indefinitely also has the agricultural sector worried about where it's going to find seasonal skilled workers.
An energy economist says a fracking proposal, submitted to WA's environmental watchdog, has the potential to become Australia's largest oil project.
2022 is gearing up to be a big year for nickel. In the past three months, BHP Nickel West started producing commercial quantities of nickel sulphate, Savannah shipped its first product since re-starting in the Kimberley and a merger was proposed between two of the state's biggest players - Western Areas and I-G-O. This week nickel reached a decade high price, hitting $23, 484 US per tonne, the highest price since mid-2011.
The state's meat processing sector is warning there will be meat shortages in supermarkets and animal welfare concerns on farm if the state government doesn't provide some clarity around the rules that will apply once the border opens on the fifth of February.
In an effort to try and ease some of the worker shortages the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that the Federal Government will rebate visa application fees for international students and backpackers.
Jason Jarvis, chairman of Pomewest, welcomes the visa rebate saying it will increase the size of the available workforce. But the potential benefits will be matched by equally big challenges when the border reopens next month.
The owner of Yarrie station, in WA's Pilbara, says mounting pressure in the meat processing sector could jeopardise the future of her beef brand Outback Beef. Annabelle Coppin says if the staff shortages and disruptions in the supply chain aren't addressed quickly there will be a lot of empty shelves in the meat section at your local supermarket.
WA's dairy industry is also anxious about the border opening next month and is already thinking about the potential impact of COVID-19 infection rates on its supply chain. In the last fortnight there has been a growing list of COVID exposure sites in the state's south west.
That's had a direct impact on WAFarmers dairy council president Ian Noakes, who farms at Forest Grove just south of Margaret River. He now has one worker in isolation waiting for the results of a COVID test.
A trial of super high oleic safflower has exceeded expectations and is showing real potential as a new commercial crop for WA's wheatbelt. SLR Agriculture is conducting the trials for GO Resources, the company that holds the rights to this super high oleic trait, that produces an oil that's used as an industrial lubricant and also in plastics, polymers, resins, cosmetics and biofuels.
Farmers who've been holding off buying fertiliser until the new year may have timed it perfectly, as international fertiliser prices start to ease.
The high cost of fertiliser has motivated one WA stonefruit grower to make his own fertiliser.
Hundreds of millimetres of rain has fallen in the east Kimberley overnight, thanks to ex-tropical cyclone Tiffany. Kununurra farmer Fritz Bolten received 55 millimetres of rain and couldn't be happier.
Worksafe is investigating the death of a shearer yesterday at Katrine near Northam in Western Australia's Wheatbelt. The man was reported to have been putting wool into a wool press when he became caught in the equipment.
The big story of the WA grain harvest is the record size of 21 million tonnes, but it could have been even bigger, if it hadn't been for some severe frosts. The Grain Industry Association of Western Australia says the frost events wiped off about two million tonnes of grain in WA, potentially worth up to one billion dollars.
It's been a big year for grain production across the country. In WA a record 21 million tonnes and in the east, not quite a record, but still a bumper crop currently sitting at 13 million tonnes.
Over the last few years John Nicoletti has been buying farms at Beacon and Newdegate and now he's decided to put them all on the market in a portfolio of 45, 000 hectares, worth potentially up to $100 million. John Nicoletti used to be WA's biggest grain grower, until 2019 when he sold his 200, 000 hectare portfolio of land, spread across the state's eastern wheatbelt, to the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company, in a deal worth an estimated $60 million. Since the sale of that property he's been on a farm spending spree through Beacon, 300 kilometres north east of Perth and Newdegate, almost 400 kilometres south east of Perth. Danny Thomas is senior director with LAWD, the real estate company handling the sale. He says the market is desperate for institutional scale assets and now is a good time to put the portfolio on the market.
Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has warned the supply disruptions affecting his company's supermarkets, and most others, will likely last at least another fortnight. Mr Banducci said the key problem for Woolworths was getting fresh produce and groceries through its distribution centres and out to stores.
Head of Market West in WA Rod McPherson says industry is keeping a close eye on what is happening on the east coast and making plans for when the border opens here on February 5th. He said at this point there has been minimal supermarket supply chain disruption due to COVID.
One of the countries biggest lamb and sheep meat processors, Fletcher International Exports, said COVID related delays and interruptions in the supply chain are the new normal and are actually creating closer customer relationships.
Pastoralists in the Gascoyne are still busy fighting fires that have now burnt through more than 195-thousand hectares. A bushfire watch and act is still in place for some of this remote pastoral land, in the shires of Carnarvon, Shark Bay and the Upper Gascoyne.
Chris and Tim Higham run Meedo Station. Chris said the fire had burnt through approximately 60 to 70, 000 hectares of her property and she's particularly concerned about several thousand head of sheep that would have been in the direct line of the fire.
The commercial fishing industry said it's under attack from a range of different directions and has decided to launch an advertising campaign to show the community how important the industry is to WA.
An historic moment at the Albany Port over the weekend, with a shipment of 30, 000 tonnes of sustainably certified malting barley heading to Vietnam on a ship powered by a blend of biofuel, or recycled vegetable oil.
Spud-King Tony Galati's 'Cream of the Crop' business has received approvals to build a chicken meat farm east of Lancelin. The farm will be permitted to grow 3,780,000 chickens each year, with capacity for 540,000 chickens at any one time.
Lowan Park Produce owner, Lucy Dodd, explains how she hopes her pastured chicken business will help combat climate change.
As the spot price of carbon increases to $50 per unit, interest in the carbon market across Australia is increasing.
Western Australia's native timber industry says the state government is failing to honour its commitment to meet sawlog volumes set out in current contractual obligations to the end of 2023.
The forestry minister has denied the Forest Product Commission is in breach of its contractual obligations.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services is preparing for a weekend of significant fire weather across Western Australia.
A book has been written about the development of Esperance as a farming region, and the history of Esperance Land and Development Company.
Kalyeeda Station leading hand Charlie Howarth might heil from the United Kingdom, but after just two years experience he has a reputation for his skill riding Saddle Broncs.
One bushfire volunteer was turned away from an emergency level fireground, because they did not have proof of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.
Rural land values have risen on average 20 per cent in southern parts of Western Australia, following a good grain season. One grower says he sold 400 hectares of land for more than double what he paid 10 years ago.
Australian Agritech Association has employed its first fulltime CEO.
The Australian Meat Industry Council is concerned about meat supply disruptions, following COVID-19 testing issues and processor closures amid the recent outbreak.
Iconic 80s wedding flower, Baby's-breath, is being used in a trial to help fix toxic boron levels on Australian farms.
Following three years of natural disasters including drought, flood, hail and fire, farmer Julia Foyster has authored a recipe book titled 'There Is A Story Behind Every Meal'.
The state's grain harvest has wrapped up for most growers, except in the Albany zone where some are still weeks away from finishing.
20,670,000 tonnes of grain has been received by Western Australia's main grain handler, CBH.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide are looking at a new, inexpensive method to detect lime in soil.
Brazilian meat giant, JBS, has completed its acquisition of pork farming and processing business, Riverlea Holdings. The $175 million deal means JBS will have control of three out of four export pork abattoirs in southern Australia.
Australia's domestic pistachio industry is expected to quadruple before 2030, to an estimated 10,000 tonnes.
Carnarvon's mango harvest has kicked off, with growers battling sun burnt fruit after a hot Christmas period.
There are changes expected in the makeup of Australia's working holiday makers, with more workers anticipated to come from Asian countries, instead of Europe, post the COVID-19 pandemic.
A South Australian farmer has helped to bring a group of Vanuatuan workers together to sing and attend performances, despite working hundreds of kilometres apart.
Wildlife Health Australia will receive almost $8.5 million in federal funding, to help with prevention, detection, and mitigation of disease.
Former CBH chief executive, Jimmy Wilson, received almost $300,000 payment following his resignation in June last year. The payment brings his total 2021 financial year contractual entitlements to $1.87 million, which has been described by a grower as "disturbing".
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership has come into effect, following almost one decade of negotiation. The multilateral trade deal includes 15 countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including China, Japan, and New Zealand.
Representatives from Australia's shipping industry respond to opposition leader Anthony Albanese's plan to introduce a domestic shipping fleet in Australia.
While the Kimberley region in Western Australia's north is enjoying ongoing rainfall, pastoralists in the Murchison, Gascoyne and Pilbara are crying out for more after another below average year of rainfall in 2021.
Around 700,000 head of cattle were exported from Australia last year, down about 30 per cent on 2020. Exports next year are expected to fall further.
Farm product bags - like seed bags - will now be collected as part of a bagMUSTER pilot, which is hoped will lead to a recycling facility in Western Australia.
Lychee prices have doubled to almost $40 per kilogram, which is bringing relief to growers facing increasing expenses.
Consumers in Western Australia are being warned to expect higher prices in 2022, thanks to an increase in freight prices being passed on.
Hydrogen has been lauded as the solution to future energy concerns, but the chair of the Green Hydrogen Consortium believes electrification will come first.
A look at the future of the global mining industry explains why mine sites are likely to become net zero generators of electricity.
As the world continues to attempt to reduce carbon emissions more large-scale solar farms will be built but very few of the panels are being recycled. We take a look at the growing waste problem in Australia.
A former 5-star chef from Sydney has swapped the city lights for a quiet life on a remote cattle station in Western Australia's Kimberley.
Colourful cauliflowers are growing in popularity and boosting vegetable sales, with consumers wanting to try something different.
Perth has just recorded its hottest run of weather ever causing sun damage to summer fruit.
After 15 years on the CBH board Kevin Fuchsbichler has decided it's time to step down.
Australian vegetable growers say they're grappling with dwindling margins because farm gate prices have not kept up with the rising cost of production during the pandemic
WA's main grain handler CBH has turned its attention to moving this season's harvest in time for the 2022 delivery season following a record production year
The Federal Government has struck a deal with a domestic fertiliser manufacturer to shore up supplies of a critical diesel exhaust fluid used by trucks across Australia.
With Christmas only a few days away, some pig farmers and animal welfare experts believe more clarity is needed to show shoppers how Australian pork is raised
The Grains Industry Association of WA has released it's latest crop report, which shows the state is still on track to record a record 22 million tonne harvest.
Big resource companies have introduced caps on the number of drinks workers can have at end of year Christmas functions. The caps come after a year in which sexual harassment at mine sites has been in the spotlight.
You won't be able to buy scallops from the Abrolhos Islands next year - A recent heatwave is to blame.
The Kulin /Kondinin footy club has just harvested 900 hectares of wheat and barley in 24 hours raising about $60,000. (It's on the hunt for a speedy midfielder)
Why aren't some of Australia's big sheep farmers and stud breeders interested in using a new grading system designed by Meat Standards Australia?
Research agronomist Michael Lamond was surprised and excited about how well some long coleoptile wheat plants performed after a severe frost this season.
Should Australia's seed industry be more transparent. The head of WA Farmers Grains section certainly thinks so.
Australians have switched from stock-piling toilet paper to...AdBlue. Today you'll find out if there are plans to sure up supplies of the pollution reducing diesel exhaust fluid.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, has reported a surplus of $133.8 million to the year ending September 2021, up from the $11 million result the previous year. CBH says the result has been driven by strong global demand for grain and an above average 2020/21 harvest of 15.1 million tonnes.
A Senate Inquiry into the Definition of Meat has held its final round of public hearings for the year and the committee will present its final report in February.
Clive Elson is a dairy farmer based at Karridale in the South West, which is where the main bushfire is burning. He said it's been a frightening few days.
The cattle industry's benchmark "Eastern Young Cattle Indicator," has consistently been in the headlines this year, as prices were rising, almost on a weekly basis. In January, the EYCI was sitting at 830 cents a kilogram carcass weight and this week it hit a new high of 1,147 cents a kilogram.
Those record cattle prices are not going to last forever. Tim McCrae is the chief economist at the digital trading platform, Auctions Plus. He said the EYCI is forecast to fall back to 875 cents a kilo by late 2022.
A new CSIRO study shows Australian cattle are very good at converting grass and grain into high quality beef protein for you to eat.
Some farmers in Western Australia's northern agricultural region have finished harvesting. That's the region that was damaged by Cyclone Seroja in April this year. Tom Powell farms just east of Binnu, which is between Northampton and Kalbarri. He finished harvesting a week ago and said not everything went according to plan, but overall it's still been a good year.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, has now received a total of 13.8 million tonnes and sites across the state are getting very, very full.
There have been a few header fires across the state's Great Southern, which is always a risk in very hot, dry conditions.
Some new modelling on the price of fertiliser reveals just how massive the increases have been in recent months and over the last year. Andrew Whitelaw from Thomas Elder Markets said the price of urea is up more than 230 per cent since last November. It means this time last year farmers were paying as much as $550 a tonne for urea and today they're paying above $1400 a tonne.
The transport industry is concerned much of Australia's trucking fleet could grind to a halt in the next few months, if a fresh supply of AdBlue can't be found. AdBlue is a chemical that removes pollution from the exhaust of diesel trucks. One of the key ingredients of AdBlue is urea, which is also used in fertilisers, and is currently incredibly expensive.
Billionaire businessman Andrew Forrest has reached an agreement to purchase prime farmland surrounding Australia's only monastic town of New Norcia, 130 kilometres north of Perth.
The price of canola has reached record highs this season, which is great news for the broadacre farmers that grow it. But bad news for fish and chip shop owners who rely on the oil to fry fast food. Skyrocketing canola oil prices are eating into already thin margins...and there are fears some small fish and chip outlets could be forced out of the industry.
Two fixed wing water bombers, an air attack supervision aircraft and a fuel truck are now stationed at Northam and Esperance until at least mid this month, on standby for harvest related fires. They're for rapid and early response to fires. The fixed-wing water bombers can reach speeds of 280 kilometres per hour, have the ability to drop over 3,000 litres of water and don't take long to refuel and reload.
A local minerals company in the Pilbara is worried a hike in royalties on potash production could put people off investing in the emerging industry.
SPECIAL AGRONOMIST DISCUSSION ON THE SEASON
For many WA grain growers, this year's harvest, is shaping-up to be a "once in a generation" season. The state is on track to harvest a record grain crop of 21 million tonnes, worth a record value of eight billion dollars. With good prices, good yields and good quality, for many it's a season out of the box. There have been areas of waterlogging and frost. For some of those farmers it has been devastating, one farmer at Moorine Rock said he has lost 90 per cent of his crop in a frost event.
One of the big considerations in planning for next season is the input costs. Fertiliser, chemicals, diesel are at extremely high prices and that's certainly on the minds of all farmers.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, has advised growers and contractors they need to have had their first COVID-19 vaccination by the end of this month if they want to enter a CBH site or office. Any visitors will need to be fully vaccinated the end of January.
Farmers in frost affected regions have been nervous this harvest, hoping damage wasn't as bad as first thought. Andrew Dunne is in that boat. He farms wheat and sheep on about ten thousand hectares at Beacon - about 320 kilometres north-east of Perth. His home block yielded 3.37 tonnes per hectare, which is a record.
A Western Australian company is building the state's first oat milk processing facility and it's going to be carbon neutral.
Brownes Dairy is going to pay its farmer-suppliers five cents per litre more for their milk from March next year. This is a significant announcement because the farmgate price usually only goes up by half or one cent per litre at a time. Natalie Sarich-Dayton took over the reigns as Brownes' CEO six months ago and she hopes this increase is enough to keep farmers in the industry.
Ian Noakes, dairy council president with WAFarmers, is thrilled with Brownes' decision to increase the farmgate price to its suppliers.
8, 296 dairy farmer across the country have left the industry over the last decade. But with better prices and improved seasonal conditions there is now some optimism creeping back into the milking shed and even some new players coming in.
Despite recent dramatic flooding in parts of the eastern states, Australia's winter grain crop is probably going to be a record. 58 million tonnes is the figure quoted in the latest report from ABARES, the Government commodity forecaster.
Rob Weinthal farms near Boggabri and he is an agronomist in that flooded Gunnedah region. He said it has been chaotic trying to save homes and infrastructure, livestock and machinery.
Mark Flannagan, farms at Pindar, about 140 kilometres east of Geraldton. He said this season has been one of their best, but also one of the weirdest, because it started with a cyclone.
There have been a number of harvesters destroyed by fire over the past few weeks across Western Australia's agricultural region. Ian Grant's harvester was one month old. It's now a pile of charred metal in his paddock at East Chapman, which is close to Geraldton.
The state's main grain handler the CBH Group has been flooded with grain in the last week, with more than 2.8 million tonnes delivered, bringing the total to nine million tonnes. That has the bins at the receival sites bursting at the seams and one site is expected to close later today.
There's been lots of rain and flooding in parts of New South Wales. Judy Chaffey says her farm at Gunnedah has received 320 millimetres in the last 20 days.
Mining veteran Peter McNally couldn't believe his eyes when his company unearthed an extremely rare 'double diamond' in the Kimberley's famous Ellendale province.
"My guess is we're going to see more people being injured and working longer hours because they don't have the labour." Safety expert Professor Franklin offers a word of warning for those in agriculture.
The Shire of Victoria Plains, about 160 kilometres north of Perth, is asking its bushfire volunteers to provide a copy of their record of COVID-19 vaccination. The shire has created an online form that allows volunteers to confidentially upload their vax record and then receive a vehicle ID certificate, to make it easy to identify volunteers who are fully vaccinated on the fire ground. This move follows a directive from the Chief Health Officer that by the first of December it will be unlawful for anyone to assist with a bushfire without at least their first vaccination or a valid exemption.
Woodside's announcement that it will proceed with its $16.5 billion Scarborough gas project has been met by criticism from environmentalists. But an energy expert believes we might see some more gas projects developed in the future.
The Western Australian Government has announced it wants to invest up to a $117 million to give the hydrogen industry a boost.
The shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs asked question after question in the lower house yesterday, trying to get some clarity on how WA's new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws will affect farmers. The shadow minister and member for North West Central Vince Catania had a lengthy debate with the Minister for Lands Tony Buti. It follows concerns raised here on the Country Hour by Liberal member for mining and pastoral Neil Thomson that the new laws will require farmers to seek approvals for a range of farm activities, possibility including the construction of dams, tracks and deep ripping.
Protest action is holding up activity at the Port of Newcastle, the world's biggest coal port. One of the protesters has been sent to gaol.
The full bench of the Fair Work Commission will today consider the legality of a vaccine mandate imposed on BHP workers at its mines across the country.
A multi-tiered wheat market has opened up in the last couple of weeks, with a huge spread in prices between top quality APW wheat and lower quality ASW. Prices ex Kwinana yesterday show APW was trading at $415 a tonne, while ASW was trading at $330 a tonne. That's a difference of $85 dollars and it's usually only a $10 to $15 difference. It's a sign the market believes a lot of low quality wheat is about to be harvested in Australia and it's sending a message that what it really wants is high quality wheat.
The minister for Aboriginal affairs Stephen Dawson has refused a request for an interview on the ABC Country Hour to address concerns around WA's new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws and how it will affect the farm sector.
The state opposition says lengthy delays to a business case for tier three rail lines could result in WA missing out on federal government funding to restore some of the lines.
Some Gascoyne properties received some much needed rain over the weekend. David Hammerquist is from Mt Augustus station which is around 500 km East of Carnarvon. 41 millimetres of rain fell into his gauge over the weekend.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the diesel fuel subsidy is calling for the government to scrap it. The diesel fuel subsidy or rebate is for industries that use fuel away from government maintained roads, so harvesting on your own farm for example. Fortescue Metals, Andrew Forrest says his company claims $300 million per year under the subsidy and wants the government to redirect it to green energy projects.
A pastoralist from the northern Goldfields says proposed changes to WA's Land Administration Act, will open opportunities for carbon farming in parts of the rangelands.
The state government has announced a more flexible form of land tenure, which will unlock millions of hectares of land for renewable and diversification projects. The proposed changes, to the Land Administration Act, will see WA better placed to expand carbon farming, wind farms, solar energy and hydrogen production on pastoral and unallocated crown land. It will also open opportunities for horticulture and tourism projects.
Will the west coast demersal fishing zone between Kalbarri and Augusta get shut down to give fish stocks a chance to recover? That's the question both commercial and recreational fishers are asking themselves today after yesterday's release of a a stock assessment report with some worrying results.
In state parliament yesterday, the agriculture minister was asked to clarify her comment that farmers should give up 20 per cent of their cropping land to plant trees.
Under WA's new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws, farmers will be required to seek approvals for a range of farm activities, possibility including the construction of dams, tracks and deep ripping. They're some of the concerns raised by the state opposition after being briefed on the Bill earlier this week. The new laws are aimed at preventing another Juukan Gorge disaster, which saw Rio Tinto blast a 46, 000 year old Aboriginal site.
The mining industry has welcomed proposed changes to the state's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws, saying it sets a high standard for industry in terms of engaging with traditional land owners.
One local Aboriginal leader has described the new laws as an opportunity lost. Dwayne Mallard is chair of the Wadjarri Yamatji Aboriginal Corporation. He says the laws do not go far enough to protect significant places, and too much power on final decisions still rests with government.
President of lobby group WAFarmers says the state government's decision to include volunteer fire-fighters in its mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy is stupid. Vaccinations will become mandatory for around 75 per cent of the state's workforce. Those in high-risk occupations, such as police and Department of Fire and Emergency Service workers, require both jabs by the end of the year. Initially emergency service volunteers were not included, but Health Minister Roger Cook now says they form part of the second group requiring full vaccination.
The latest survey by Western Australia's Regional Chamber of Commerce shows more than 40 per cent of country businesses believe they'll be adversely affected by the state government's COVID vaccine mandate.
Another sector which wants some more clarity about what the vaccine mandate will mean for its supply chain is the vegetable industry.
WA Police have investigated 23 reports of sexual harassment at mine sites across the state over the past two years, leading to four convictions. The figures were revealed at a parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the fly-in, fly-out mining industry. Of the 23 incidents, five are still being investigated, seven were withdrawn by the complainant and there was insufficient evidence for seven more.
A sustainability expert doesn't think Liquified Natural Gas has a long term future because the world is transitioning towards a carbon neutral future. The comments come after yesterday's announcement that Woodside has agreed to sell a forty-nine per cent stake in its Pluto Train Two project, to Global Infrastructure Partners.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has struck a deal to buy into an iron ore project in WA's northern Goldfields, further expanding her iron ore empire, which includes the Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara.
Member for Roe Peter Rundle is calling on the State Government to address growing concerns around the consequences of the Work, Health and Safety Act 2021, which is expected to be law in January.
The WA Health Minister, Roger Cook, has defended the Government's decision to include volunteer emergency workers, such as fire-fighters, under its mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy.
Federal Member for O' Connor Rick Wilson says it's completely "unreasonable" for farmers to be included in the WA Government's vaccine mandate.
The estimated size of the WA grain crop is a little bigger than it was a month ago, with the state now on track to harvest 20.5 million tonnes, a total value of seven billion dollars. The latest Grain Industry Association of Western Australia report says all crops are yielding better than expected due to the unseasonal cool conditions. It also says it's too early to get a sense of the full impact of the frosts across large areas of the central and southern grain growing regions.
The troubles at an embattled miner near Collie in the state's south west have gone from bad to worse. Australia's corporate regulator has levelled criminal charges against Griffin Coal over claims the company has failed to lodge audited financial accounts going back several years.
Exploration company Chalice is claiming a rare and scarce discovery of platinum on the outskirts of Perth.
Woolgrowers have voted resoundingly to maintain a 1.5 per cent levy on wool sales to fund Australian Wool Innovation. After the first round of voting, 47 per cent of votes favoured 1.5 per cent, and after distribution, that figure was 69 per cent. AWI had been urging woolgrowers to vote for a levy increase to two per cent, while Wool Producers Australia supported the status quo. AWI chairman Jock Laurie says the result means there will be some areas where the company won't be able to invest.
Overnight, the price of iron ore dropped below ninety US dollars per tonne. That's the lowest it's been in eighteen months.
Mother nature has delivered just about everything in her repertoire to Western Australian Grain growers this season.
Plane loads of seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands, have been a welcome sight for Australian farmers who have been desperate to find workers during the global pandemic. In the last 18 months, around 12,000 workers have come into Australia from countries such as Vanuatu and Samoa. But how many have stayed in the jobs they were contracted to do? ABC Rural has been told more than 1,000 of these workers have absconded, with many poached by labour hire companies that are not licensed to do so.
A number of contacts in the WA berry industry have today confirmed 25 of about 300 seasonal workers have absconded. None of those industry representatives want to discuss it though for fear of being targetted again by unscrupulous businesses poaching workers.
The Federal Government has launched a campaign targeted as Pacific workers and warning them of the consequences of absconding from approved employers.
General manager of research with the Kondinin Group Ben White says there's very little in the federal government's future fuels policy for the farming sector and it could be at least 50 years before the technology makes any significant inroads into broad acre machinery and equipment.
One of WA's largest pastoral companies is selling four of its Kimberley properties, in a deal that could fetch more than $70 million. An expression of interest campaign is underway for Yeeda Pastoral Company's iconic Springvale aggregation near Halls Creek.
The chair of a parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment in the FIFO industry says more needs to be done to improve women's safety in remote mining camps.
$90, 000 has been paid for the top-selling ram at the SheepMaster sale held near Albany. The second highest price was $85, 000. Neil Garnett is the founding breeder of SheepMaster. He says it's almost frightening how much demand there is now for shedding sheep.
Last week Australia's largest single vendor ram sale took place. Riverina-based Lambpro sold close to 1400 rams for a combined total of more than $5 million.
Cultured meat, cellular meat, lab-grown meat and even fake meat are some of the tags used to describe a relatively new and emerging alternative protein industry. Nick Beaumont is the head of a Brisbane-based company called Heuros, which is trying to develop a cell-based meat product. He says the tailwinds behind the industry are massive but he predicts the path to commercial success will be full of challenges.
WA lobby group, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association, is defending the performance of Australia's PM at the UN's climate change conference and his handling of recent stoush with French President Emmanuel Macron. PGA president Tony Seabrook says the PM is acting in Australia's best interest.
During a week where all eyes have been on Glasgow and COP26, let's take a look at the value of carbon credits, because around the world the price for this commodity is booming. In Australia, carbon credits reached a record price this week, but compared to other nations, our credits are still cheap.
A trial using insects to deal with large amounts of manure created by livestock is showing promising results.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled workers picking fruit on a piece rate, must be guaranteed a minimum wage under the Horticulture Award. The Australian Workers Union lodged its claim with the commission in December and argued that every worker should be guaranteed a minimum casual rate. The National Farmers' Federation had opposed the changes, arguing it could drive farmers out of business. AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton says the decision is monumental.
Australia's Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says the Fair Work Commission's ruling on the Horticulture Award could create upward pressure of fresh food prices.
Mark Scott farms at Nannup, 260 kilometres south of Perth and is president of Pomewest, the industry body representing WA's apple and pear growers. He says this decision by the Fair Work Commission to introduce a mandatory minimum hourly floor wage for workers hasn't come as a surprise to industry.
Queensland strawberry growers say the Fair Work Commission's ruling on piece rates threatens the future viability of farming.
An English backpacker who worked as a waitress in Sydney has won her battle over the Backpacker tax in the High Court.
One of the state's biggest vegetable producers says the ongoing worker shortage is significant, exhausting and becoming cut throat as businesses use incentives to poach staff.
A million tonnes of Western Australian grown grain has now been delivered to the state's main grain handler the CBH Group.
Australian Wool Innovation says a number of growers are confused by some campaign material sent in the post by a number of candidates standing for election at AWI's AGM on the 19th of November. In the lead up to the election, candidates Steven Read, Michael Field and Don MacDonald have written to shareholders, and popped in a how to vote form, which looks like an official proxy form. AWI says it did not issue the forms and the official proxy form was provided to shareholders with the notice of meeting.
Western Australia's meat processing co-operative WAMMCO has recorded an $8.1 million profit for the last financial year. It's a big turnaround from the two million dollar loss WAMMCO reported last year.
The Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the central Kimberley recorded 49 millimetres over the weekend. It possibly broke a record for the most rain to fall in a single day in October.
The WA grains industry is concerned about the state government's policy on mandatory vaccinations for primary industry workers during a lockdown. It will be looking for clarity at an industry roundtable with the minister for regional development this afternoon.
Federal agriculture Minister David Littleproud is calling on Western Australia to be more open about biosecurity program spending.
Tasmania is on track to chalk up one of its wettest Octobers on record, with another deluge hitting the area on Friday.
In his first media appearance since Prime Minister Scott Morrison released a plan for Australia to reach net zero by 2050, Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says it was his party that ensured methane emissions from livestock won't be a contributing factor.
Geoff Pearson is the head of the WAFarmers livestock council. He's pleased the government has put a ring-road around methane emissions because there is a lot more work to be done on the science before it can be included in an emissions target.
Australia's peak meat industry body is calling for packing and processing workers to be prioritised to receive COVID-19 booster shots.
Grain grower Peter Leach is assessing the damage after a couple of hail storms passed over his farms yesterday afternoon. Peter farms at Corrigin and Kondinin, roughly 220 kilometres east of Perth. At this stage he's expecting 80 to 90 per cent damage in some of his canola.
Just west of Corrigin, at Bulyee, there was no hail, but there's certainly been some rain. Jackie Grylls says the rain has been great for finishing off the wheat and barley, but it's delayed plans to get the hay cut and baled and in the shed.
Jarrod King farms at Gairdner, about 500 kilometres south east of Perth. He says this late rain is perfect timing.
The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has today announced his governments approach to a net zero target by 2050. It includes an updated projection that the country will get to 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
The price of diesel is incredibly high at the moment, but industry says it will continue to rise for at least the next few months.
The Foreign Investment Review Board has given the green light for Brazilian meat processing company JBS to take over Tasmanian salmon giant Huon Aquaculture.
Following another week of negotiations, the National Party has given in-principle support to back a target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Simon Wallwork is the chair of WA based climate action group AgZero. He says the Nationals in-principle support is the bare minimum.
WA grain growers are wanting more detail and clarification about the implications of the state government's decision to introduce mandatory vaccination for most WA workers.
Australian grain growers are being told not become complacent about the future of barley prices without China as a major customer.
Farmers desperate to recruit workers this harvest will be pleased to hear the federal agriculture minister saying the government is a step closer to welcoming foreign workers, under the new agriculture or ag visa.
As the world gets closer to a net zero emissions target, farmers want to know all about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for their businesses. The chance to discuss it took place UWA this week, at an event organised by the WA based climate action group AgZero.
The WA farm sector is trying to get its head around the implications of the state government's decision to introduce mandatory vaccination for most WA workers. The new measure applies to industries covering about 75 per cent of WA's workforce and employers and employees face fines if they don't comply. The Premier Mark McGowan says the move is to prepare the state for community transmission of COVID-19.
Rabobank's Cheryl Kalisch Gordon believes this season's national harvest of winter grains, oilseeds and pulses could end up breaking records, not for volume, but for total value.
The Forest Products Commission will soon be making offers to purchase land in the state's South West. Forestry Minister Dave Kelly says the FPC is on the hunt for up to 33, 000 hectares of land for pine plantations.
Cara Peek has been announced as the 2020 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award recipient. The Broome-based lawyer and advocate was awarded for her work in driving employment opportunities for First Nations people in remote Australia through the organisation Saltwater Country. Saltwater Country is an Indigenous-led not-for-profit that uses rodeo sports and country music events to re-engage at-risk Indigenous youth with their pastoral history.
The unseasonal cold front that started coming through yesterday dumped as much as forty millimetres of rain to farms in the Northampton shire north of Geraldton. But there was also lots of wind overnight.
Corey Folezzani is at Windsor Station, which is 80 kilometres east of Mount Magnet. He has lost half the roof off his homestead, and says the wind coming through was like a tornado.
Western Australian Senator Dean Smith is calling for Rio Tinto to face a judicial inquiry over the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters. In May 2020, the mining giant blasted two 46,000-year-old rock shelters in WA's Pilbara region, despite traditional owners, warning of the site's cultural significance. A parliamentary into the blast has just concluded saying Rio Tinto's actions were "inexcusable and an affront, not only to the PKKP but to all Australians" and recommends new laws to protect thousands of sacred sites across Australia. Dean Smith was part of that parliamentary inquiry, but says the incident warrants the scrutiny of a judicial inquiry.
The Cairns District Court has cleared Queensland pastoralist Scott Harris of breaching cultural heritage protection laws, on his property in the Cape York Peninsula.
A series of community information sessions have been held along WA's south coast to discuss the state government's plans to establish a marine park in the region. A marine park is a type of protected marine area to help conserve marine habitats and biodiversity, while at the same time allowing a range of sustainable activities including fishing, diving, boating and tourism. At this stage the marine park will be located somewhere along the coast between Bremer Bay and the South Australian border.
The Esperance Professional Fisherman's Association is worried the process is being rushed through in order to keep a promise made by the Premier to increase marine parks in WA.
A growing number of Indonesian fishing boats operating within the Rowley Shoals Marine Park, 300 kilometres off the coast of Broome, has prompted outrage from local fishermen and tour operations. WA Fisheries minister Don Punch says the commonwealth needs to do more in Australia's northern waters.
Despite the lack of useful rain over the last few months, the quality of grain coming off in the northern agricultural zone is far better than expected. The latest Grain Industry of Western Australia crop report shows the state is now on track for a grain harvest of just over 19 million tonnes, worth around $6.5 billion dollars.
The CEO of Pulse Australia says some exporters to China have until next Friday to register with the Department of Agriculture in order to meet new Chinese customs requirements.
The western demersal fishery closes today - and on the south coast, locals are bracing for an influx of recreational fishermen. Bremer Bay fisher Graeme Drew says recreational bag limits need to be reduced to curb overfishing and spawning fish should be protected.
Speaking at the National Press Club today, Fortescue Metals Group founder and green energy advocate, Andrew Forrest was clearly frustrated that Australia is yet to announce an emissions target. He went as far as saying the Prime Minister should tear up the coalition agreement if the Nationals continue to debate whether to support Australia signing a net zero emissions target.
The energy crisis gripping much of the Northern Hemisphere is proving lucrative for Australian gas producers. Gas prices have reached stratospheric heights in recent weeks.
Fertiliser prices are set to remain very high with news coming though last night that a number of key ports in China are now refusing to export the product, a ban that could be in place until mid next year.
Grain growers still searching for workers to help get the crop off this season will be pleased to hear about today's launch of Harvest Force. Grower group GrainGrowers has joined forces with three big agribusinesses, Nutrien, Elders and CSBP, who have agreed to release some of their staff to work on the harvest.
The lack of skilled farm machinery operators this season means many farmers are spending time training new workers how to do the job.
Grain growers have certainly got their challenges this season - the big crop, the lack of workers, difficulties getting trucks and drivers to cart their grain to the bins and now some unexpected roadworks in the central wheatbelt.
The head of the WAFarmers grain section Mic Fels has called on the state government to refer the ongoing industrial dispute at the Port of Fremantle to the Fair Work Commission.
In breaking news, transport minister Rita Saffioti has written to the Fair Work Commission asking it to look at intervening in the industrial action at Fremantle Port.
A Pilbara pastoralist is calling for firearm law reform across Australia, to put an end to the reckless behaviour of shooters that are a danger to his workers and livestock.
Farmers are insisting the federal government needs to compensate landholders who helped Australia reach earlier emissions reduction targets if it is to win the industry's support for a net zero emissions economy.
The WA Nationals held its annual state conference at the weekend. A motion to support net zero by 2050 was eventually passed with a minor amendment.
New safety standards requiring rollover bars on new or imported second hand Quad bikes are now mandatory.
A mothballed abattoir in WA's north west is expected to reopen next year, because ownership is being restructured into a cooperative
WA's main grain handler, the CBH Group, is increasing freight rates by an average of 18 per cent for the 21/22 season
Conservationists slam a decision by the WA Government to grant an exemption to a Kimberley-based fracking project to export gas
A farmer in the Esperance region has just spent almost $60,000 of his own money to upgrade an airstrip on his property ahead of bushfire season
Soaring land prices are making it almost impossible for new farmers to enter the business, while established farmers are getting out of game in order to capitalise on current opportunities.
Machinery dealers say it could be several weeks before agricultural machinery reaches WA farms because industrial action has disrupted shipments to Fremantle Port.
The canola cash price has reached a record high of around $1000 in Western Australia.
Record attendance at the 2021 Kulin Bush Races after a COVID prompted the cancellation of last year's event.
Late season rain is being welcomed by some WA grain growers who say it will boost yield potential head of harvest.
Market volatility and a high shipping freight rates has claimed another small iron ore miner in WA's Midwest.
The CBH Group has told shareholders there will be no rebates offered to growers this year.
Australian wool exporters have been advised by their Chinese customers they may have to cut milling production by as much as 30 percent due to government-imposed power restrictions.
A working dog has sold for $29,000 at South Australia's first ever working dog auction.
14,000 Brazilian cattle have been exported to Vietnam, marking the country's first foray into the market.
Worksafe commissioner Darren Kavanagh explains how new Work Health and Safety legislation will impact volunteers, including regional firefighters.
Station kid Gordon Homewood might be only 5 years old, but his ear tag collection has grown to impressive numbers, with new additions from across Australia and the world.
Western Australia's grain harvest is officially off and running. A load of canola was delivered to the CBH Group's Geraldton terminal yesterday.
WA grain growers can expect a big hike in their freight rates this season. At the CBH Group's pre harvest bin meetings, currently underway around the state, growers are being told freight rates will be up in excess of 20 per cent on the current rate. For an average grower producing 4, 000 tonnes of grain the rates will rise between four to six dollars per tonne, depending on how far your farm is from port. That's going to add at least $20, 000 to each growers' freight costs this season.
The struggle to find workers for this season's grain harvest was put to the Premier Mark McGowan on the ABC's morning show today.
Volunteer bushfire officers and regional shires in WA are concerned the threat of jail or large fines under new West Australian workplace legislation could see fewer people volunteering to fight fires in rural areas this summer. The WA Government's Work Health and Safety Bill — which introduces industrial manslaughter as a crime — passed through parliament in November last year. It is expected to come into operation in January next year. Regional shire staff, farmers and volunteer fire coordinators have flagged concerns the new workplace rules of the act could make them liable as individuals for large fines or jail time if someone is hurt or injured while volunteer fire fighting in a regional area.
Matt Holland is the Acting District Officer for Carnarvon's DFES branch. Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He's recently back from spending four weeks fighting bushfires in British Colombia in Canada.
A junior iron ore miner has suspended trading of its shares amid speculation it will shut down operations due to falling commodity prices. GWR Group transports ore more than seven-hundred kilometres from the Wiluna West in the northern Goldfields to Geraldton Port.
The costly trucking operation has only been possible due to high iron ore prices, which are now in freefall. Resources analyst Tim Treadgold says he believes the price could slip to 70-dollars a tonne, down from more than two-hundred six weeks ago.
Horticulture production is set to significantly expand in WA's Gascoyne region, after the State Government released more than 270 hectares of farmland.
The Australian Table Grape Association wants to secure full access to the Japanese market by the start of the 2022/23 season.
Another couple of cold mornings in some parts of WA's agricultural region over the weekend. There will definitely be more frost damage from the weekend events, although not as widespread as the previous ones this month and mainly affecting pockets in low lying areas. At this point, the damage from the severe frost in early September is now clearly visible in affected grain crops. Ty Henning is an agronomist covering the eastern central wheatbelt. He's just finished inspecting crops for his clients and says the cold mornings and dry conditions have been brutal.
There's been a really positive response to Operation Grain Harvest Assist, which uses facebook to link retired defence force personnel with farmers looking for workers to help with this year's harvest.
The severe frost events earlier this month have wiped $250 million worth of value off the state's estimated grain crop. That's a total of 700, 000 tonnes damaged by frost. The latest Grain Industry Association of WA crop report has the WA harvest sitting at just over 19 million tonnes. But that estimate could be ambitious considering the frost forecast for tomorrow morning and the lack of spring rain.
Drought and above average temperatures, continue to reduce the size of Canada's canola crop.
WA based grain trader James Foulsham wasn't surprised by this week's announcement of a reduced Canadian crop. He says it will confirm to the market there will be a shortage of oilseeds for some time.
One the state's biggest shearing contractors is worried the shortage of shearers could lead to a serious flystrike issue this season.
A warning today, that Australia's new defence partnership with the US and the UK, known as AUKUS, is likely to create further trade headaches for Australia's agricultural sector.
Lobby group WAFarmers says the State Government's plans to change the way Upper House MPs are elected to Parliament will disenfranchise country people.
Head of the WAFarmers livestock section, Geoff Pearson, is calling on DPIRD, to reveal more detail about the location of properties, potentially affected by the cattle wasting disease Bovine Johne's. On the Country Hour yesterday the state's chief vet revealed BJD had been found on a cattle property in southern Western Australia and could now be on 400 or more WA farms. Up until now, WA has been trading on a BJD free status, but that looks likely to change, as eradication appears unlikely.
Esperance based based vet Enoch Bergman believes bovine Johne's disease has been in WA for some time and it was only a matter of time until it was found.
The cattle strain of Johne's disease has been found on a cattle property in southern WA. Johne's disease is a chronic, incurable bacterial disease that causes progressive diarrhoea, weight loss and eventually death. While the sheep strain of the disease is endemic in the WA sheep flock, up until now the cattle strain was not thought to be present in WA. To keep it that way WA has a cattle control program in place, which includes border controls to reduce the risk of cattle with the disease getting in to WA. Eradication now seems unlikely and the border may be about to come down.
Removing border restrictions and managing risk at a property level has been welcomed by Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association chairman David Stoate. "We finally may see some common sense," he said. Mr Stoate said state based control had restricted access to genetics from outside of WA, and had cost the northern beef industry 'a lot' of money.
Woolgrowers will today be able to have their say in WoolPoll 2021.The poll is a chance for woolgrowers to work out what percentage of their wool income they'd like to hand over to AWI to invest in R&D and marketing. The current levy is one-and-a-half per cent, but Australian Wool Innovation would like that to rise to two per cent. Lobby group WAFarmers supports a vote for one-and-half-per cent. The Pastoralists and Graziers Association is suggesting wool growers don't vote for more than one-and-a-half per cent.
Dave Vandenberghe farms north west of Esperance at Scadden. He's a mixed farmer with sheep and cropping and would be happy to see a two per cent levy get up for AWI.
For the first time ever, the WA Meat Marketing Co-op is transporting lamb all the way to Brisbane to access shipping services bound for north American markets.
Sky-high iron ore prices have fuelled Western Australia's record $5.6 billion budget surplus, making it the best performing economy in the nation. While the budget includes a $30.7 billion infrastructure program over the next four years, the timelines for 16 major projects have been significantly pushed back due to the significant workforce and skills shortages.
The leader of the opposition says the state government's announcement to end logging in native forests by 2024 is a direct attack on an industry that can be sustainably managed. Mia Davies, a former state forestry minister, says it's appalling the government made a decision like this with zero consultation.
Forestry minister Dave Kelly says he'll work with industry as it transitions towards the 2024 date to end logging in WA's native forests.
Countries that don't grow much barley are signing up to watch Australia's case against China at the World Trade Organisation. Australia has taken China to the World Trade Organisation over its decision last year to place tariffs of 80 per cent on Australian barley. Jeffery Wilson, a research director of the Perth US Asia Institute, says a number of countries are pulling up a chair to watch it all unfold.
Yesterday's announcement by the WA government follows the Victorian Government's announcement in July that it has plans to end the harvesting of native forests by 2030. This has the Australian Forest Products Association worried other states will follow suit.
After growing in plantations for almost twenty years, the harvest of native Australian sandalwood has begun in the wheatbelt.
The WA government has moved to end logging in native forests by investing in softwood timber plantations, a plan Premier Mark McGowan says will save around 400,000 hectares that would otherwise have been at risk of being felled.
Jessica Beckerling, campaign director of the WA Forest Alliance which has long lobbied for an end to native logging in the South West, described the ban as a "historic moment".
Forest Industries Federation of WA executive director Melissa Haslam told ABC Radio the industry was in a "total state of shock".
Shadow Forestry Minister Steve Martin said the government's announcement had come "out of the blue" and without meaningful consultation with industry.
The state government has announced a new $50 million fund to drive renewable hydrogen industry development in Western Australia. In the latest round of funding BP Australia will receive $300, 000 to progress its Kwinana Clean Fuels Hub proposal. Hydrogen minister Alannah MacTiernan is confident WA can become a pioneer in the hydrogen industry.
Trials are underway in several Australian states to see how hydrogen could fit into the agriculture sector as an alternative energy source.
The latest ABARES figures are out and it looks like a record of more than 23 million hectares of winter crop has been planted this year.
'A fair amount of crop is going to be damaged.' - That's the bad news coming out of some of WA's grain growing regions after last week's frosty mornings.
It looks like Australia's livestock industries might benefit from the recent discovery of mad cows disease in Brazil.
Temperatures below freezing were recorded right across the grain growing region this morning, from Mullewa in the north to Cascade in the south. The coldest place recorded was Westonia, which got down to minus five degrees.
As reports of an incoming frost were flagged yesterday, one farmer took the issue into his own hands, setting fires to provide smoke cover for his fragile barley crops.
The state government says it is proving too difficult to bring in skilled machinery operators from the northern hemisphere to help harvest this year's grain crop. The proposal was to quarantine between 300 and 600 workers from the UK and Europe at Bladin Village in the Northern Territory before coming across the border to WA to get the crop off.
Western Australia wants access to federal government funding allocated to the Murray Darling Basin Plan. Water minister Dave Kelly says WA deserves a piece of the basin's one-and-a-half billion dollar, off-farm efficiency program, designed to return water to the environment throughout the Basin. Federal water minister Keith Pitt says it's bizarre that WA thinks it should have access to that funding.
WA water minister Dave Kelly says the federal government has a bias towards water projects in the eastern states. He says over the last decade the federal government has spent over $14 billion on water infrastructure on the east coast and virtually nothing in WA.
The CEO of the Brazilian meat processing giant JBS says while some people like to make a lot of 'noise' about animal welfare standards, it prefers to deal in facts and the fact is JBS's animal welfare standards are gold star. Brent Eastwood is head of the Australian division of JBS and his comments follow a recent call from mining billionaire Andrew Forrest challenging JBS to commit to "no pain no fear" animal welfare. It's all part of the battle for control of the Tasmanian salmon company Huon Aquaculture.
Woolgrowers are about to receive their Woolpoll 2021 voter information kit, which will help them decide how much of their wool income they'd like to direct to AWI to invest in R&D and marketing. Australian Wool Innovation runs the Woolpoll every three years. The current levy is set at 1.5 per cent, but AWI is recommending a two per cent levy rate.
In 2018 the federal government pledged to plant a billion plantation trees across Australia this decade. It's been exactly three years since that promise and so far, tree plantings have totalled less than one per cent of that figure.
In the Northern Territory, Australia's biggest mango producer has arranged for his seasonal workers from Vanuatu to quarantine here in WA.
One of the state's largest citrus producers says it's about thirty per cent behind on its international export program, due to delays in global container shipping.
Covid restrictions don't seem to hampering mineral exploration in Australia. The latest figures show it's up thirty three per cent on last year. Warren Pearce is head of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies and is confident the growth will continue.
The parents of a pearl diver who died in 2012 on his second day of work off the coast of Broome say they're extremely disappointed proposed new safety regulations have not been adopted by the pearl diving industry.
WA's biggest crop dusting business Dunn Aviation has secured approvals for three pilots to enter WA and help keep up with the demand from grain growers. A lot of the demand is for aerial drops of mouse baits, but there are also a lot of calls for aerial applications of insecticides and fertiliser.
Farmers not only need to be keeping an eye out for mice, there are also some locusts about this season. Svetlana Micic is an entomologist at DPIRD. She says the locusts should be hatching now and are likely to be found across a huge part of WA's agricultural zone.
It's been talked about for years and now it's become a reality, with confirmation that Brazil has loaded a live export ship with about fourteen thousand bulls, bound for Vietnam.
The federal government will extend assistance to Australian exporters that rely on air freight to deliver fresh produce to the world, until at least the middle of next year. The International Freight Assistance Mechanism was introduced when Australia closed its borders last year, heavily constricting the number of flights in and out of the country.
Jamie Michael is one of WA's largest strawberry growers, and international exports are a big part of his business. He says the IFAM system has been a lifeline.
WA grain growers are frustrated with the time it's taking to finalise costings to quarantine several hundred skilled harvest workers from the northern hemisphere at Bladin Village in the NT.
Retired servicemen and women are being called into service again .. this time to help harvest the grain crop. It's called Operation Grain Harvest Assist and two Facebook pages have been created, one for WA and SA and one for Queensland, NSW and Victoria, to link former ADF personnel with grain growers struggling to find workers to get the crop off. Grain Producers Australia chairman Andrew Weidermann says the response from the ADF has been overwhelming.
Meanwhile the state agriculture minister is still pursuing the Bladin Village option in the Northern Territory as a possible solution to quarantine workers from the northern hemisphere to help with the WA grain harvest. Alannah MacTiernan says Bladin Village could cater for two or three planeloads of people, or between 300 to 600 workers. She says the sticking point at this stage is finding the appropriate staff to run the facility.
In the lead up to this season's grain harvest, there's a call today for a "No Jab No Tip" policy at grain receival sites throughout the wheatbelt.
Western Australia's largest citrus producer has welcomed news that WA mandarins and oranges could soon be exported to United States. After ten years of negotiations, the US's plant health inspection service has agreed to review its requirements for importing fresh citrus from Australia and that could open the door for WA fruit.
Wheat Quality Australia has announced the first new milling wheat class since deregulation in 2008.It's called Australian White Wheat and it's perfect for making instant noodles.
There is a new world winter barley yield record. Tim Lamyman from Lincolnshire in the UK has recorded a yield of 14.2 tonnes to the hectare, beating the old record of 13.8 tonnes per hectare by New Zealander Warren Darling.
The livestock export transport company Wellard has recorded a Net Profit After Tax of $1.9 million US dollars, up from a $200, 000 profit the previous year. It's been a challenging year for the WA based agribusiness with one vessel, the MV Ocean Ute, in extended dry dock and the sudden, temporary closure of the New Zealand live export industry, after the tragic sinking and loss of life on the Gulf Livestock 1. The downturn in cattle exports from northern Australia to Indonesia and Vietnam, also resulted in Wellard shipping a lot more breeder cattle to North Asia in the 2021 financial year.
The National Trade Lamb Indicator broke through the 950 cents a kilo barrier, eclipsing the 949 cent high point recorded in 2019 and 2020.
Australia could soon have a new agriculture visa but WA's grain farmers are not confident it will help get this year's crop off.
The big Fitzroy Crossing bull sale has been described as the best ever with record prices paid across the board.
Western Australian businessman Andrew Forrest has decided to hop on the front foot. He has taken out full page advertisements in prominent newspapers accusing meat processing giant JBS of not doing enough to improve animal welfare and the environment.
He has also made a pitch to work with the WA government to develop a land based Yellowtail Kingfish aquaculture precinct in Western Australia.
Today you'll get an insight into what he is up to.
The proposal to bring hundreds of skilled machinery operators from the northern hemisphere to WA for this season's grain harvest has taken another step forward. The federal agriculture minister says he's paved the way for WA to negotiate with the Northern Territory to allow up to 700 workers to quarantine at a former detention centre near Darwin.
The NT's Agriculture Minister says the Bladin Village deal is not locked in. Nicole Manison says WA's labour shortage issue is not the NT's top priority.
Queensland's horticulture industry is calling for the new ag visa for ten South East Asian Countries to meet the needs of small to medium growers.
Mice are on the move in WA's grainbelt. For Michael O'Callaghan at Marchagee, south of Coorow, they are a novel problem. He's baiting for the first time ever in his farming career. But he's not going to let the mice take the shine off an extraordinary season.
Michael Lamond writes the Grains Industry Association of WA crop report and says mice are shaping up to be a real problem this season.
BHP and Woodside Petroleum have announced a 20-billion dollar merger of their oil and gas businesses to form one of the world's biggest energy companies.
In the medium to longer term, the Bureau of Meteorology is fairly confident there will be an early start to the wet season this year.
Broadace farmers in WA's grain belt are waiting several weeks to secure aerial crop dusters to spray and fertilise paddocks due to extreme wet conditions and a lack of pilots. The unprecedented demand has prompted one WA company to apply for exemptions to allow more crew and aircraft into the state. But Helispecs chief pilot Brent Nottage says the state government has knocked back his application several times, despite there being no infections where the pilots are currently based in regional Queensland.
John Young farms at Calingiri, 135 kilometres north-east of Perth in WA’s Wheatbelt. He said he was facing the prospect of ‘significant yield loss’ in his canola if he can’t source a crop duster soon.
Some farms in Western Australia's southern coastal zone have been so water-logged they're now being re-seeded. For most of these farmers, this is unchartered territory.
The rapid advance in the size and cost of ag machinery rolls on in Australia this month, with the arrival of demo models of John Deere's new harvester.
It's been a strong year so far for live export prices, with the price for feeder steers ex-Darwin to Indonesia not dipping below four dollars per kilogram.
Broadacre farmers now have the chance to form producer committees, after the Agricultural Produce Commission Amendment Bill 2021 passed through state parliament. Over the past 30 years producer committees have been formed, and a fee for service charged, to research the performance of pigs after weaning, commercialisation of the Bravo apple and paying compensation to Carnarvon banana growers after cyclone Olwyn. Now, for the first time, broadacre farmers are also able to participate.
Despite significant water-logging in many southern grain growing regions this past month, the Grains Industry Association of WA is still predicting a 20-million-tonne harvest.
Some farmers in WA's southern coastal region have had such serious water-logging problems, they have decided to re-seed.
The plan to quarantine hundreds of skilled machinery operators from the northern hemisphere on Christmas Island to help with this year's grain harvest has taken another step forward. The State Government has now sent a formal proposal to the Federal Government.
A Kimberley fracking proposal has come under fire from environmentalists, following the release of a report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which says global warming is unfolding more quickly than feared and is a "code red for humanity."
ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh says "it's never found a plant-based meat label to be misleading, despite receiving thousands of complaints."
A WA farm lobby group believes the Australian grains industry needs its own sustainability certification scheme, or risks losing access to important on-farm chemicals, such as glyphosate. WAFarmers say existing requirements under the current go-to scheme, the I.S.C.C., or International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Scheme are perfectly fine. It's future changes to those regulations that really worries the grain grower members. Mark Fowler is vice president of the WAFarmers grain section. He has several concerns with the current scheme, starting with the fact it's based on and driven by the European Union.
More heat, droughts and flooding rains. That's the forecast from the latest UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The Australian National University's Professor Mark Howden is Vice Chair of the IPCC. He is is one of the co-authors of the report and says Australia's farmers are going to have to deal with more extreme weather events and conditions.
The WA Government says it's considering legislating its commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But Premier Mark McGowan has not committed to stopping new oil, coal or gas exploration, or infrastructure, in the wake of the United Nations report.
Meat and Livestock Australia launched a campaign today, to try and debunk some myths about the environmental impact of red meat production in Australia.
Australia's biggest meat processor JBS has decided to add fish to its portfolio. It's put in an offer to buy Tasmanian company Huon Aquaculture.
The state's main grain handler is gearing up for a big crop, with plans to add an extra one million tonnes of emergency storage to the network this season. These plans need local government approval and at this point just under a million tonnes of storage has been given the green light across 13 sites, spread across five zones.
On the other side of the country, the big east coast bulk handler, Graincorp, is also finalising plans for this year's harvest. It too will need extra storage capacity for this season's harvest.
The state's main grain hander the CBH Group has selected Aurizon as its preferred rail service provider. Under the agreement Aurizon will be responsible for rail logistics planning services including train planning and scheduling, tracking, maintenance, inventory control and crew management. The new deal with Aurizon comes at the end of a ten year contract with Watco, the North American based company that set up shop here in WA when that contract was first signed.
Labor's national ag spokeswoman Julie Collins has had a crack at the Federal Government, over its proposed agriculture visa.
Despite Labor's criticism, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says the Government will deliver an agriculture visa by the end of the year to help solve the worker shortage.
In what's thought to be an a Australia first a food processor has announced it will require all its staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of the year. Fruit canner, SPC has told its 450 staff they have six weeks to book their first dose vaccination or risk being barred from the site. All staff will then be required to have two shots of vaccine by the end of the year.
The Federal National MP that represents the Shepparton region supports food processor, SPC's move to make vaccinations mandatory for all of its staff.
Fletchers International owner Roger Fletcher said he's confident his workforce will be fully vaccinated by the end of the year, without having to make the jab mandatory.
Avery weak positive case has been detected in a FIFO worker, who may have been infectious in the community in Perth.
There's a new wheat variety in town, it's called Valiant and it was launched in Perth this morning. It's been developed by InterGrain, which is funded by the WA Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The new variety is geared to early sowing and adaptable to seasonal variability.
A massive corporate aggregation of 50 properties centred in south west Victoria has hit the market with a price tag of $350 million.
Tens of thousands of pigs will be slaughtered in the Dominican Republic over the coming months due to a major outbreak of African Swine Fever.
Gusty winds in recent weeks have caused some significant fruit losses for avocado growers in the South West. Trevor Bendotti farms at Pemberton, about 320 kilometres south of Perth. He says he's lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fruit in the last week.
Agri-chemical manufacturer Bayer will stop selling its glyphosate-based products in the United States residential lawn and garden market by 2023.
The WA Fishing Industry Council is calling on the State Government to release the results of a fish stock assessment in the West Coast Demersal Scalefish fishery.
Head of the WAFarmers grains council says the Federal Government has forgotten about Western Australia and is paying lip service to its concerns about the shortage of workers to help get the crop off this season. Mic Fels says the entire Australian economy is screaming for access to some skilled foreign workers and the fact it's falling on deaf ears is incredibly frustrating. A proposal to quarantine about 1, 000 skilled machinery operators from the northern hemisphere on Christmas Island is still sitting with the Federal Government, and Mic Fels says that's not good enough.
WA's biggest sheep meat co-operative WAMMCO says the two biggest challenges facing the business are shipping delays and to a lesser extent the shortage of workers. Despite some of the curve balls that the COVID pandemic has throw at the industry, the co-op has announced it will pay two million dollars in bonuses to its sheep grower members here in WA.
More than 18 months on from the start of the pandemic, dairy farmers are starting to feel the labour pinch. WAFarmers dairy section president Ian Noakes says some producers are close to burnout.
Sales and slaughter of Australian sheep to an importer in Jordan have been suspended indefinitely, following reports of non-compliance with Australian animal welfare rules for live exports. A statement, released by Perth-based, Australian company Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) said a third-party, Animals Australia, had reported “non-compliant handling and slaughter” at an unnamed facility in Jordan. LSS also described the conduct as “unacceptable” and said it was “committed to understanding why the facility operated this way and rectifying the issues”.
Parts of WA's Great Southern region are now suffering significantly from water damage. Kim Parsons farms at Jerramungup and Ongerup, roughly a hundred and fifty kilometres north-east of Albany. He says his Ongerup property has been hardest hit with almost the entire crop being affected and about sixty per cent completely ruined.
In the last few weeks the Esperance region has also had some waterlogging problems along with frost and even hail.
Member for the agricultural region Steve Martin has joined calls for the State Government to reduce the amount of wild sandalwood being harvested from WA's rangelands.
Head of the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association is concerned the banks' refusal to service livestock exporters may eventually flow onto pastoralists and farmers. Agribusiness Wellard revealed in 2018 CBA and all other major Australian financial institutions refused to service the company, not allowing it to open even a simple everyday trading account. John Klepec says there's not a doubt in his mind the banks refused to do business because of the type of industry Wellard represents and he says it highlights the banks' rank hyprocrisy. “The flow-on effects are potentially endless. Presumably they’ll start targeting producers like me who are involved in live export. “Where are they going to stop with these sorts of issues? Will they stop providing finance for farmers who use glyphosate, because some people are concerned about that causing cancer? If you keep going with this sort of activism it’s never going to stop and they won’t be financing any farmers.”
The WA based agribusiness Wellard has written a scathing account of how it was treated by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth. Wellard is listed on the ASX and owns and/or operates three livestock vessels and has been shipping or exporting livestock around the globe for 40 years. In its submission Wellard says in 2018 CBA told the company that within 12 months, it would no longer extend credit to Wellard. In addition, Wellard was required to close its everyday banking facilities, including trading accounts and credits cards at CBA. Wellard says "It is incredibly frustrating that these financial institutions effectively become a moral arbiter, refusing to do business with legitimate, legal businesses."
Nationals MP George Christensen is the chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth. He says financial institutions shouldn't be able to pick and choose who they will and won't service.
The amount of interest a Queensland beef business pays on its bank loan will vary according to how well it treats its animals, staff and the environment. It's been been described as a first for Australian agriculture. A sustainability linked loan signed by a company called the Stockyard Group which runs a 20, 000 head feedlot on the Darling Downs. While many of the specific details are confidential, managing director Lachie Hart says meeting new sustainability targets will save the Stockyard Group tens of thousands of dollars.
The Federal Government has just handed over nearly $700, 000 to help Australia's cotton industry find new markets.
One regional council is trying to address the worker shortage and find ways to bring more foreign workers into Australia.
Western Australia has a new pest and it's been found near Kununurra in the Kimberley. It's called the American serpentine leafminer. The invasive pest eats all sorts of things including most vegetable and legume crops, as well as cut flowers.
State agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan is calling on the Federal Government to allow skilled overseas grain harvest workers to quarantine on Christmas Island and then help get the crop off. The minister says the federally run facility is the perfect spot to quarantine as many as 1, 000 fully vaccinated skilled machinery operators from the northern hemisphere. Alannah MacTiernan says other suggestions, such as hotel or on-farm quarantine, are not an option.
Federal agriculture minister David Littleproud says he hasn't seen a Christmas Island quarantine proposal from WA. If he receives one it will assessed just like the proposals from other states.
The Premier says special precautions need to be taken for any cargo ships coming to the state from Indonesia, which has now overtaken India and Brazil as the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.
The rain has been relentless for a couple of weeks along parts of the state's south coast. Herma Mosterts produces hydroponic lettuce, broccoli and herbs between Albany and Denmark. She says the conditions are really taking a toll on some of her lines of lettuce.
A group of grain industry advocacy groups has presented the WA Minister for agriculture with a proposal to allow workers from the northern hemisphere into the state for this year's grain harvest. The minister suggested the 1000 northern hemisphere workers should quarantine on Christmas Island and will take that proposal to the Federal Government.
Australia's live export industry is getting worried about what's going on in Indonesia at the moment. Indonesia has overtaken India and Brazil as the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The Australian Livestock Exporters' Council says cattle exports are down almost thirty per cent on this time last year.
The state's main grain handler the CBH Group wants to increase its capacity to transport grain to port by more than half a million tonnes per month over the next decade.
A farmer in the south west of the state is reeling and extremely concerned for the welfare of some calves that were stolen from his property.
Sad news for the WA grains industry with the death of Harry Walter Gayfer, who was know to most of you as Mick. Mick Gayfer was CBH's longest standing Chairman and a true visionary for the co-operative. He served as a Grower Director on the CBH Board for 37 years (1959 – 1996), and for 25 of those years he served as the Chair. The CBH Group said "Mick Gayfer was known as a hard worker, brave and incredibly courageous, and some of his long-term strategies included not only the Kwinana Grain terminal but also the Metro Grain Centre, and the rationalisation of receival points in the 1970s."
The massive floods in Germany and Belgium have caused deaths and billions of dollars of damage. The floods will also reduce the German wheat harvest opening market opportunities for the Australian industry.
Canada is in the grips of its worst drought in two decades. Farmers there say crops across millions of acres won't even be worth running the header over.
The latest research from the University of Western Australia shows the average WA grain farmer could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year if glyphosate and paraquat get banned. Alison Walsh modelled the outcomes of losing the popular herbicides in WA's central wheatbelt. She says in every scenario considered, it wasn't good news for 'conventional' farmers' profits.
Some of Australia's biggest fruit growers are determined to keep the current piece rates system used to pay workers. That's despite claims from the union saying some farmers use the system to exploit workers.
Cattle prices in Australia are now in unchartered territory. This week the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator hit a record 988 cents per kilogram. Six weeks ago the Western Young cattle Indicator hot a record high of 1042.25 per kilogram.
The wool market finished on a high note in Fremantle yesterday ahead of a four week recess in wool sales. The Eastern Market Indicator was up eight cents to close at 1428 cents a kilogram clean and the Western Market Indicator up 20 cents to close at 1462 cents a kilogram clean.
A group of WA grain industry advocacy groups have joined forces to make sure there are enough workers to get the crop off this season. A joint proposal to bring in workers from the northern hemisphere will be presented to government later this month.
The worker shortage is also causing headaches in New Zealand, with every one in four farms across the country short of one worker.
An international consortium plans to build the world's biggest renewable energy hub along the south coast of Western Australia. The Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) would stretch across 15,000 square kilometres and could produce up to 50 gigawatts of energy. If it goes ahead, it would produce 3.5 million tons of zero carbon green hydrogen, or 20 million tons of green ammonia each year, for both domestic and export markets. The group behind the proposal includes Intercontinental Energy and CWP Global and will work in partnership with local traditional owners.
Hot, dry weather in Canada is driving up futures contracts for canola and that's having a flow on effect to prices here in Australia. Non GM canola ex Kwinana is currently trading at $755 per tonne and genetically modified at $720 per tonne.
Mutton prices are also on the rise, with the indicator, at the close of trade last week, sitting just under 700 cents a kilogram. It's not an all time high, but not far off it.
Despite coming from a different species, one meat analyst is declaring lamb to be the new wagyu as the meat of choice to a richer middle class.
The strongest cold front this year is making its way across parts of the south west land division this afternoon. The BOM expects squally weather and possible damaging winds with gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour along the west coast and south west regions of WA. There will be some rain, but nowhere near the intensity of the rain that fell on Friday.
Theodore Cunningham farms at Cranbrook, about 330 kilometres south east of Perth in the Great Southern, where it's already pretty wet. He would rather have no rain for the next few days.
The Fair Work Commission will this week consider amendments to the Horticulture Award which could change the way workers are paid.
The latest assessment of Western Australia's grain growing region shows things are still on track for a record harvest.
Is five year old Gordon Homewood from Wondinong Station, WA's premier cattle tag collector?
The number of indigenous people employed on cattle stations is on the decline. Is that a good thing? A PHD researcher says a lot of indigenous people she chatted to got a sense of purpose from working on stations.
Our grain farmers are starting to get worried they won't have enough staff to get this year's bumper crop off in time.
The state government has increased fees and charges for firearm owners, dealers and repairers by 7-15 per cent. Is that fair?
Australia's banks are now obligated to take extra care with farmer customers in extenuating circumstances. Is that happening? The banking code of practice is being reviewed and Australian Banking Association wants your feedback.
Is it a big deal to stop a grain ship from berthing at a WA port based on COVID concerns?
Genetically modified safflower could soon be grown all over Australia to produce biodegradable engine lubricant.
Speed camera technology is being used to fight weeds. The light detection scanners map the surface of crops and track where weeds will pop up.
The Western Australian government is offering up to $100,000 to help landholders overcome financial barriers to entering the carbon market.
Australia's wheat exports for May reached a record value. Today grain market analyst Malcolm Bartholomaeus offers his thoughts on why and what the future holds for grain prices.
Challa Station in WA's Murchison region is having a wet winter for once and the owners can't stop smiling.
How to add value to the honey industry is the key focus of this week's Australasian Honey Bee Conference. The two day event was due to be held in Perth and was set to be one of the largest gatherings of honey researchers in Australasia. But COVID restrictions changed those plans and the conference was held online. DPIRD says when it comes to honey exports, WA punches well above its weight.
Australian Wool Innovation has a new chair at the helm with the appointment of Jock Laurie. He's been on the board since 2015, is a past president of the National Farmers Federation and the NSW Farmers Association and farms at Walcha on the Northern Tablelands in NSW.
Key players in the farm sector believe labour shortage issues are about to get worse, with changes to the working holiday maker visa. Under the changes, from March next year, visa holders can extend their stay for a second or third year by taking on a job in tourism or hospitality in remote parts of the country.
If you haven't locked in all of your fertiliser, you've probably noticed the price of urea has skyrocketed, and some long wait times to get your hands on some product. It's all due to the ongoing freight and logistics challenges for sea freight, high coal and gas prices, which are used to manufacture urea and the very strong demand.
A team of international scientists has found a way to possibly increase barley yield in hot, dry conditions using genome editing.
The WA grains industry says the worker shortage has farming families stretched to the limit and there are real concerns about the health and safety of staff working around the clock to maintain the crops through to harvest.
Tight global supplies and strong demand won't be enough to drive canola prices back to recent record highs. That's the view of Senior Grains and Oilseeds analyst at Rabo Research Cheryl Kalisch-Gordon.
WA Premier Mark McGowan says the government will support an inquiry into the safety of women working on mine sites. It comes after two BHP workers were charged with sexual penetration over separate incidents, and FMG revealed it was assisting police investigating an incident of alleged indecent assault.
The future of the proposed Southern Forests Irrigation Scheme is now uncertain with the CSIRO saying the water modelling that underpins the scheme is outdated and falls short of today's scientific understanding of climate change. The CSIRO review was an election commitment, by the McGowan Government, in response to ongoing community concern about the project. The $70 million proposal involves damming a tributary of the Donnelly River near Manjimup, about 300 kilometres south of Perth, in a bid to increase food production in the region. Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan says the government is now reviewing the report to decide whether the scheme will go ahead as is, be reworked, or scrapped.
WA grain growers are concerned about the damage they're seeing in some crops ... and believe it's the result of spraying with the new pre-emergent herbicide Overwatch. The growers say barley crops have been hardest hit although there's also damage to off-target crops such as lupins and some pastures. Despite the concerns, WA grain growers are backing Overwatch, saying it's a brilliant product.
Robust debate over a couple of agricultural issues in the legislative council at parliament house in Perth yesterday. The opposition questioned the government about its commitment to developing three business cases for the tier three grain lines in WA. The other hot topic of debate was about amendments to the Agricultural Produce Commission Act. The APC allows producers to form committees and charge a "fee for service" which can be used for a range of things like compensation in a natural disaster, to control pests and diseases, research and to expand markets. Up until now it's mainly been used by the horticulture industry and broadacre and pastoral areas are excluded. Under the amendments, as recommended by lobby group WAFarmers, broadacre will now be included, with an opt out clause.
Western Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest has purchased a $20 million stake in Tasmanian fish farming giant, Huon Aquaculture. Documents lodged with the ASX late yesterday say Mr Forrest's Tattarang Agrifood purchased a seven-point-three per cent stake in Huon late last week. Huon was badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In February, the company reported a statutory loss of $95 million for the first half of the financial year. Mr Forrest has aquaculture interests in Albany and Carnarvon.
Carnarvon growers are frustrated over delays to flood recovery support which was promised almost four months ago.
Barnaby Joyce will return to the nation's second-highest office, marking a political comeback three years after losing the deputy prime ministership to scandal. Queensland Senator Matt Canavan moved a spill motion to bring on the leadership vote at a partyroom meeting this morning. Sources have told the ABC Mr Joyce defeated Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack in a very close contest this morning after years of seeking a return to his party's leadership. Mr Joyce resigned as leader and deputy prime minister in 2018 after facing sustained pressure. He was accused of sexual harassment — a claim he strenuously denied. Speaking before the vote, Nationals MP Dr Anne Webster said she thought some female voters would not support Mr Joyce replacing Mr McCormack. "I've had people write to me about this of course and some would be very unimpressed," she said. "They are issues for Barnaby Joyce should a change occur, that would be for him to sort through."
Should a sausage be called a sausage if it's not made out of meat? Is a burger a burger without the beef? These are questions a Senate inquiry will investigate as it looks into the labelling of non-animal proteins across the meat and dairy industries. The inquiry has been announced by Queensland Nationals senator and former butcher Susan McDonald. Lobby group WAFarmers has welcomed the inquiry saying the makers of plant-based proteins are immoral in masquerading their products alongside naturally-grown livestock products.
Media outlets in Argentina are reporting this afternoon, the nation's 30 day beef export ban is about to be lifted, but with restrictions.
Australia's sheep flock is rebuilding faster than expected and is likely to hit 75.4 million head by 2023, that's up 18 per cent on the 2020 numbers.
Western Australian pearl farmer James Brown is Australian Farmer of the year. The third in a line of a family of pearling pioneers, Mr Brown is the first pearl producer to be honoured with the Australian Farmer of the Year award.
China's decisions around its agricultural policy are becoming increasingly murky with news of arrests, secrecy, and claims of cover-ups. Independent analysts who report on China's grains industry have reportedly been arrested and their online businesses shut down to stop them from telling the truth about the country's below-average crop.
Lobby group WAFarmers is urgently calling on the state government to allow 1000 skilled agricultural machinery operators into the state to help harvest this year's crop.
A new farm work visa will be offered to residents from 10 South-East Asian countries to help Australian farmers harvest their crops, but the nation's peak farm lobby insists it will only believe it when it sees it.
The deal has been brokered alongside the UK free trade agreement, which will end a requirement for British backpackers to work on Australian farms for 88 days.
National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson said the government had long promised an ag visa but was yet to deliver it. "We've had these promises for years now. It's time to deliver."
WA based lamb exporter WAMMCO says the UK FTA does open increased opportunity in the market, but wonders whether those opportunities will ever be as lucrative as other premium export markets.
The National Party says it's done a deal to get more farm workers come to Australia. But it won't confirm if it is an ag-specific visa, just yet. The news comes as an in-principle agreement for a free trade deal between Australia and the United Kingdom has been reached.
Australia's largest tea grower is keen to take advantage of that FTA with the UK.
Unions NSW is calling on the Federal Government to scrap piece rates - that's where a worker gets paid according to the amount picked or packed. The union is also calling for the removal of the eighty eight day rule that drives many tourists to do seasonal work to extend their visa. The organisation has just released a survey of thirteen hundred horticulture workers it says shows exploitation is widespread.
A WA based international freight forwarder says the current delays in global shipping won't improve until early next year. Brian Hack is the director of operations at E-E-S Shipping which exports and imports products by air and sea freight. He says the shipping industry is in disarray and has been since the start of the pandemic.
Shipping prices and high global demand are pushing up the price of fertiliser.
A bumper mandarin crop out of Queensland means there is too much fruit on the domestic market to make a good return this season.
A near perfect start to the WA grain growing season could produce a record crop. The latest Grain Industry Association of WA crop report says the similarities to 2016, which produced a record crop of just over 18 million tonnes, is striking. A crop in excess of 20 million tonne is not out of the question this season.
A forum at Muresk this week tackled the question 'How can we change the way we farm in WA to meet future climate, market and investment challenges?'
Some Exmouth locals say more than 200 millimetres of rain came down in just a couple of hours yesterday morning.
Efficient use of phosphorous fertiliser is becoming crucial on Australian farms because the finite resource is running out. Phosphorous is vital for plant health. It's the 'P' in the traditional fertiliser term, NPK. Phosphorous comes from Phosphate rock. Currently five countries hold about 85 per cent of the known phosphate rock reserves and as supply starts to run out, phosphate prices will climb.
In the mid west of the state, construction has started on a new mineral sand mine that's expected to employ 150 drive-in-drive-out workers over the next two decades. Strandline Resources will establish the Coburn Mineral Sands Mine in the Shire of Shark Bay about 250 kilometres north of Geraldton. Chief Executive Luke Graham says the first five years of product is already sold.
A number of Australian businesses are now taking brand new diesel vehicles and converting them to electric for underground mines. The vehicles are being snapped up right across the world.
Federal trade minister Dan Tehan says incredible progress has been made in the last six weeks towards finalising a free trade deal with the UK.
The federal trade minister believes the UK FTA is very close to a done deal. The main sticking point appears to be around the use hormone growth promotants and some veterinary medicines that are allowed in Australia, but not allowed in the UK. The argument being that gives Australia a big advantage. Trevor Hinck uses growth promotants at his feedlot at Hyden, four hours east of Perth. He says Australian beef is different to UK beef, but it has very little to do with hormones.
University of Sydney Adjunct Professor Ian Lean specialises in animal science. He says hormone growth promotants are overall better for the environment and the animal and they do have an impact on the eating quality of beef.
The pig industry is set for a shake up with the largest meat processor in the world buying a major Australian pork producer for $175 million.
Australia's farmers have planted more hectares of grain this winter than ever before. The latest crop forecast, by government forecaster ABARES is out today, and as economist Peter Collins explains, nationally it could reap about 47 million tonnes of grain.
The national crop probably won't suffer much damage from the mouse plague in the eastern states. But that doesn't mean some farmers won't be significantly affected by the pest. Ant Martin farms in the central west of NSW and says he was shocked to see his entire sorghum crop completely destroyed by mice.
The latest auditor general's report concludes, Australia's farming and tourism industries are extremely vulnerable to the threat of pests and diseases.
It's been 10 years since the Federal Labor Government enforced a snap ban on the cattle trade to Indonesia, because of animal welfare concerns. The decision, by then Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, brought northern Australia's cattle industry to a halt. It was a pastoralist from Western Australia who picked up the phone and broke the news about the snap ban on ABC radio. Michael Thompson from Mundabullangana Station, 100 kilometres south-west of Port Hedland, was preparing to start mustering, when he got the word that cattle weren't being loaded at the port.
At this stage, no one has received compensation, except for the Brett family in the Northern Territory, who were the lead claimants. Tracey Hayes, the former head of the NT Cattlemen's Association, says the class action is still open to other claimants.
Morawa grain growers are frustrated with the standard of their receival site and CBH's refusal to start work on upgrades that were promised two years ago. Growers have complained for years that the site's weighbridge sample hut is in the wrong position, causing lengthy delays with trucks queuing and spilling out onto a busy public road. Growers are now worried Main Roads will close the site this harvest to keep the road clear and safe. At a meeting in Morawa yesterday CBH's COO Ben Macnamara told growers there are no plans to upgrade the site for at least five years. Local grain grower Grant Chadwick says that's not good enough.
For many Australian exporters, trade barriers are making access to the Chinese market difficult or even impossible. But a by-product of the diplomatic strains between Canberra and Beijing has been a resumption of the so-called grey, or informal, trade in lobsters. Australia's lobster industry has been perhaps the hardest hit by China's trade sanctions, which all but stopped official exports in November. Scott Waldron is a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland and he says the restart of the grey trade in lobsters is a sign of the times.
The world's biggest meat processor JBS has confirmed the majority of its abattoirs across Australia will be back online by tomorrow, as the recovery from the cyber attack continues.
The state government says it's going to modernise the Animal Welfare Act to better protect and promote the welfare of animals. The move follows the release of an independent review of the Animal Welfare Act 2002 led by WA barrister and regulatory law specialist Linda Black. State agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan says there will be five key areas of reform to ensure the welfare of animals.
The stolen wages class action on behalf of Aboriginal workers in Western Australia is now set to go to mediation. It's taken nearly two years to get to this stage in the legal action being taken by Shine Lawyers on behalf of former domestic staff, stockmen and farm hands against the State Government. Up until 1972, the state could legally withhold up to 75 per cent of an Aboriginal person's wage.
One of Australia's biggest live export companies has gone into voluntary administration, in a sign of how much pressure the industry is under. The North Australian Cattle Company, was started in 1980 and for decades was run by Elders. Four years ago the business was sold to Chinese interests.
The world's largest meat processing company has been crippled by a cyber attack. JBS Foods has 47 facilities across Australia. It operates the largest network of production facilities and feedlots in the country and has processing facilities in North and South America, Brazil and Canada. It's understood the company's information systems have been targeted, halting operations around the world.
Meatworks, livestock transporters and farmers all the way down the east of Australia have been affected by this cyber attack. Gabrielle Coupland farms on the southern NSW border. She was about to send some of her sheep to the JBS plant at Brooklyn just outside Melbourne.
Caitriona Forde is a cyber security expert based in Perth and says Australia's small to medium sized organisations are most vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Widespread weekend rainfall reached most of the state's grain growing regions and even got into parts of the state's northern and eastern areas. Aggie Forrester, from Winning Station, 250 kilometres north of Carnarvon, poured 66 millimetres out of the gauge said the rain is fantastic. Demand for some canola seed varieties has increased by as much as thirty per cent this year.
An innovative feral pig trap, designed in the United States, is being trialled in far north Queensland.
New figures show Australia is only slightly behind China as the world's biggest gold producer.
The big grain growing business Merredin Farms has just exported its first shipment of wheat to Saudi Arabia. Merredin Farms is the Australian arm of SALIC, the state owned Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company. The property totals 211, 000 hectares. 100, 000 hectares is dedicated to cropping and it also runs approximately 50, 000 sheep. SALIC purchased the property from the Nicoletti family in 2019.
Farmers in both the United Kingdom and Australia are nervously watching as their countries negotiate a free trade agreement.
Australia's peak farm lobby has been meeting with its UK counterparts to discuss the free trade deal. President of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson says she can definitely understand the frustrations from the UK perspective.
As the free trade agreement with the UK nears its completion, Australia's biggest cattle company is watching on very closely. AACo's chief executive, Hugh Killen, says while the UK market might be small, it could be lucrative.
It's not just the big players eyeing off the opportunities that might pop-up in a free trade deal with the UK. Nicola Kelliher produces clover-fed beef from her farm at Wandering, 130 kilometres south-east of Perth. She says there's a great story to tell about premium Western Australian beef ... and she can't wait to share it with British customers.
The farm lobby leadership in WA is divided on the extent to which the agricultural sector in this state should commit to Australia's emissions reduction effort. It is not unusual for the state's two main farm lobby groups, the Pastoralist and Graziers Association and WAFarmers to have very different opinions on an issue! But on this issue there's also dissent within the ranks of the WAFarmers membership and the group is taking a long time to formulate a carbon policy. At the national level, the peak lobby group the National Farmers Federation, is right behind Australia's efforts to address climate change and has thrown its weight behind an aspirational economy-wide target of net carbon zero by 2050. The NFF says the Australian farm sector is already a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and this new policy could well make the sector a global leader in low emissions agriculture.
An Esperance based shed builder has become the first person in Western Australia to be jailed for gross negligence, under tougher workplace safety laws introduced in 2018. Executive officer of Safefarms WA Marie Gooch says the sentence is a timely reminder to farmers to get their safety procedures in order, ahead of new industrial manslaughter laws set to come into place later this year.
A WA company has purchased the mothballed Merlin diamond mine near Borroloola in the North Territory for $8.5 million. The Lucapa Diamond Company is based in Perth and has operations overseas in Angola and Lesotho. In a statement to the ASX, Lucapa says it's agreed to buy the Merlin project and will now look to raise $20 million to develop the mine and conduct further exploration work. If the project is successful, it will be Australia's only operating diamond mine, after the famous Argyle mine closed late last year.
Western Australia's agricultural community is in shock after a tragic accident claimed the life of a well known farmer over the weekend. Trevor Badger, died on the weekend when the ultralight aircraft he was flying crash landed on his farm at Pingrup, about four hours south-east of Perth.
Australia's relationship with China is certainly a contested space as the two countries go tit-for-tat in trade strikes... but there's been relatively little tension between the major parties in Canberra. That appears to be changing, as Federal Labor starts to push back against some of the language being employed by the Coalition towards Beijing. Madeleine King is the shadow trade minister and thinks it's time for the mega-phone diplomacy to stop.
New workplace safety laws have motivated some regional businesses to take up drug testing. But together with the ongoing labour shortage, the policies are making it harder than ever for those businesses to find and retain staff. When workers at an Albany pet food production business were told they'd be tested, a third admitted they recreationally smoke cannabis. Two of the workers said they are happy to stop smoking cannabis in order to keep their jobs.
Australia's biggest wheat farmer is heading to Western Australia taking up new land in the Ord Valley, with plans for a large-scale development to grow cotton. Ron Greentree has a lot of wheat country in New South Wales and has also been growing cotton at Strathmore Station in Queensland's Gulf Country. He says he's getting out of Strathmore and heading to west to join forces with the big Chinese backed developer Kimberley Agricultural Investment or KAI.
Australia's biggest beef producer has posted an operating profit of $24.4 million, just over nine million dollars more than the previous year. The ASX listed Australian Agricultural Company, or AACo owns and operates properties, feedlots and farms across 6.4 million hectares of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, which is roughly one per cent of Australia's land mass. CEO Hugh Killen says this year's profits are largely the result of record high cattle prices.
The shortage of workers is one of the hot topics of conversation at the Northern Australia Food Futures Conference on in Darwin this week.
The Canadian owners of the Ravensthorpe nickel operation have just sold a thirty per cent stake in the mine to a large South Korean steel making company called POSCO.
Argentina's Government has announced a 30 day ban on all exports of beef, in a decision that will have ramifications for the global trade. Argentina is one of the world's largest beef exporters, last year moving roughly three-billion-US-dollars worth of product, mostly to China. Meat analyst Simon Quilty says it's all driven by politics.
Federal Minister for Resources Keith Pitt says the $20 million Global Resources Strategy, announced in the budget, will strengthen and diversity market opportunities for the sector.
An Albany pet food producer says in the last five years he's had almost a ten fold increase in business, taking unsaleable livestock from farms and turning them into pet food.
A farming couple from WA's central wheatbelt believe agriculture must be part of the global push to make the industry carbon neutral. Fourth-generation farmer Cindy Stevens and her husband Simon Wallwork grow grain and run sheep and cattle on their farm at Corrigin, almost three hours east of Perth. Together they've helped set up a group called AgZero 2030 and believe making their farm carbon neutral could actually save them money and ensure they have access to international markets in the future.
The Australian government may not have set a firm target for zero carbon emissions but last week's federal budget allocated money for a biodiversity stewardship program.
The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework says in the past 15 years the beef industry has managed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half.
After nearly four years with the state's main grain handler the CEO Jimmy Wilson has decided it's time to move on, with his resignation effective on June 30.The former BHP Billiton executive was appointed CEO in September 2017. CBH chair Simon Stead acknowledged Jimmy Wilson for his achievements at the co-operative “There has been an emphatic focus on the core of the business, with CBH adding 2.5 million tonnes of additional storage to the network, completing 80 throughput enhancement projects and over 200 sustaining capital projects over the past three years."
One year ago today, Australia's grain growers started hearing strange rumours their barley was going to be hit by huge tariffs from China. That rumour turned out to be true, and in the following weeks and months other commodities were affected, as agriculture became the whipping boy for growing tensions between China and Australia. But a year on there's been some remarkable turn-arounds and important lessons.
Western Australian pastoralists are celebrating a win after convincing the Valuer-General to reduce proposed increases in pastoral lease rents. In 2019 the state government announced stations in Kimberley would face a rent increase of up to 325 per cent, that's now been adjusted to an increase of 104 per cent. There was a total of 103 objections to the rent hikes and after a lengthy investigation and re-evaluation by Landgate all of them have been upheld and adjusted.
Western Rock lobster fishers have again been granted an extended season of eighteen months to catch their quota of lobster.
What was announced in last night's federal budget? Today we will try to find out what was in it for rural WA.
Some women in NSW are trying to improve the wool industry's public image.
In a bid to fight off rural crime, Gingin Police has reinstated its rural crime watch unit. About 70 people gathered in Gingin, just north of Perth, recently in what was the first step towards creating a rural-specific, crime prevention and information system for landowners in the shire. There have been a few crimes reported in the Gingin area lately, mainly around stealing or people trying to steal cattle.
Meat and Livestock Australia thinks cattle exports will fall by a whopping 26 per cent this year to around 750,000 head. That's a big drop, but it has nothing to do with falling demand. Overseas customers still want Australian cattle, but supply across northern Australia is very, very tight.
Livestock exporter Rural Export and Trading Western Australia, or RETWA, is busy getting as many shipments as possible to the Middle East before this year's three month moratorium starts on the first of June. RETWA's general manager Murray Frangs says having the supply chain as full as possible is critical to reducing the impact of the moratorium on long term Persian Gulf customers, who rely on the supply of fresh sheep meat in their diet.
Farmers are on a shopping spree. Good seasonal conditions and strong commodity prices are creating a real appetite for investment and a host of government tax incentives are kicking the spending into over-drive.
A rare combination of early seasonal rainfall, above average levels of sub soil moisture across most of the grainbelt and good prices for all grains, particularly canola, all makes for a brilliant start to the WA growing season. That's the headline in the Grain Industry of Western Australia's latest crop report that has just been released.
Prostate cancer feature continued. President of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association Tony Seabrook and nurse practitioner, sexologist and cancer counsellor Melissa Hadley-Barrett talk about the importance of early detection through a PSA blood test.
Surging world corn prices are expected to tempt some Asian feed grain importers to incorporate more wheat and barley into the mix and that's only going to drive wheat prices even higher. The International Grains Council has just released its monthly supply and demand report and it forecast global wheat production was unchanged but global wheat consumption is set to increase. The upshot is that the new crop price for Australian wheat is at $325 a tonne. Grains analyst Lloyd George says it's not every day you see prices like that at this point in the season.
Large portions of Western Australia's Pilbara and Gascoyne received decent overnight rainfall and so too did the majority of the grain growing regions in the south west land division. It's been years since Lake Grace had some decent rain, so farmers there are elated to see up to a hundred millimetres fall since yesterday afternoon. Lake Grace is about 340 kilometres south-east of Perth. Just south of there is Pingrup where Kelvin Holmes runs 15, 000 sheep. He has been carting water for years so he was over the moon when he realised 40 millimetres had fallen on his farm.
This week on the Country Hour, the spotlight is on prostate cancer and that's because farmers and men in the country, seem to have a higher rate of this cancer. The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia says a recent national study into the incident, mortality and survival rates of this cancer, found that men living in rural and regional areas, who were diagnosed with prostate cancer, were 24 per cent more likely to die within five years of being diagnosed, compared to men in urban areas. So what is it about life in the country and being a farmer that could make this group more susceptible? One thing is for sure, men in rural and regional areas of Australia get less prostate specific antigen or PSA blood tests done. But there's also a controversial suggestion of a link between on-farm chemicals and prostate cancer, it's a suggestion or theory that has never been proven.
The Federal Government has committed $1.3 billion in next week's budget to more than 20 projects across Western Australia. It includes $350 for Metronet in the city, but there's also funding for regional projects, including $160 million for the WA Agricultural Supply Chain Improvements.
Western Australia's only northern based abattoir will remain closed for the year, due to a combination of record high cattle prices and reduced demand for meat products in restaurants and cafes. Mervyn Key is the executive chairman of the Yeeda Pastoral Company, which owns the Kimberley Meat Company processing plant, about an hour north east of Broome. He does have plans to re-open the abattoir in March next year under a new co-operative model, but at this stage, economically, it doesn't make sense to keep the facility open.
The latest figures from the Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee highlights there has been a significant number of WA breeding ewes trucked to the east coast. In Western Australia the number of sheep shorn during 2020/21 is forecast to be down 14.3 per cent and shorn wool production down 11.3 per cent. Nationally, shorn wool production will be up two per cent to 290 million kilograms greasy, while the number of sheep shorn is forecast to fall by 4.5 per cent to 65.5 million head.
Farmers in the WA grain belt are making last minute changes to their cropping programs to take advantage of the ten year record high prices for canola. Taking a look at yesterday's prices ex Kwinana, old crop canola was fetching $657 a tonne and new crop $755 a tonne, that's a $40 premium on the best prices on offer for canola around the world. The latest GIWA crop report has canola plantings well over 1.4 million hectares, that's already a record for WA and likely to increase in the updated crop report, due out next week.
Australia's lobster industry is struggling without its main customer, China. Prices have dropped from around $70 a kilogram to now sit between $16 to $26 a kilogram. So it might sound surprising to hear that a long time Kalbarri fisherman is preparing to go back fishing, after spending seven years leasing out his quota. Terry Ash steamed from Kalbarri to Geraldton yesterday to get some repairs done to his boat, after it was damaged when Cyclone Seroja hit Kalbarri.
A report released by think tank the Australia Institute - looking at the cost of fossil fuel subsidies in state and federal budgets - has prompted calls for measures such as the fuel tax credit scheme to be phased out. The group says the scheme costs a lot of money, almost eight billion dollars in the federal budget and it reduces the incentive to cut fossil fuels, so it has to go. On the other hand farmers say it's not a subsidy, it's a rebate and without it the cost of production would sky rocket.
One of the WA farmers who had sheep for sale in last Thursday's AuctionsPlus national sheep sale, is shocked he didn't receive any bids to buy the livestock. In fact there were no bids placed for any WA sheep. Tony York farms with his family across Tammin and Kellerberrin, about two hours east of Perth, in the central wheatbelt. He's a big fan of AuctionsPlus and regularly sells sheep through this online digital trading platform. He believes a lack of follow-up rain in south eastern parts of Australia has contributed to the lack of interest in WA sheep.
The big Pilbara wagyu company, Pardoo Beef Corporation, has finalised a deal to sublease two highly sort after stations from Traditional Owners in the Kimberley. The deal involves a 20 year sub-lease over a portion of the Yarranggi and Yuwa pastoral leases, formerly known as Leopold Downs and Fairfield Station. The properties have been highly sought after by major cattle operators since 2012, including billionaire Kerry Stokes's Australian Capital Equity group. Pardoo has been agisting a small herd of 5000 cattle at Yarranggi for the past 18 months. Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation director Joe Ross said he thinks this partnership is a good fit for traditional owners.
Newdegate farmer and former chair of the CBH Group Wally Newman has unfinished business at the state's main grain handler and wants to get back on the board. He's put up his hand to run in the grower director by-election in district four. Shortly after last year's AGM Wally Newman quit the board, just weeks after being re-elected for another three year term.
The National Oat Breeding Program is entering a new era and has a new home right here in WA, at the commercial breeding company InterGrain, which is owned by the state government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation
The clean up from Tropical Cyclone Seroja is continuing in the Mid West and it is going to be a long process. Farmers are trying to juggle cleaning up sheds and houses, getting seeding gear out and into the paddock, and also looking after themselves and their livestock, which are now without fencing and have had feed washed out.
As the livestock export season ramps up in the north of the state, pastoralists are taking home record prices for cattle going to Indonesia. For the first time, Kimberley cattle are fetching $4.10 a kilo on a shipment loading in Broome Port today.
The CBH Group has set aside $250 million to spend on its network infrastructure this year and most of it will be spent on upgrading existing assets, rather than spending a lot of money on any expansion and storage facilities. Only $80 million will be spent on expansion and enhancement projects in 2021 and that will take place at Brookton, Dale and Hyden, which were promised last year, but then shelved, when the annual spend was significantly cut back.
A Commonwealth funded scheme designed to help fruit growers install netting has been slammed as "too risky".
Green hydrogen is being billed as a game-changing energy source. It's not cheap but it's very clean. And proponents say it could create a jobs bonanza in regional Australia if it can be used to make so-called green steel.
A Kimberley pastoral family has been left gob smacked, after finding some of their cattle in a "butchered" state on the side of the road. Kurt Elezovich runs Country Downs station which is about a hundred kilometres north of Broome. He was shattered when he found out two of his animals had been shot. One of them blinded by a gunshot wound.
The Margaret River Wine Association is begging the state government to find a new quarantine hotel for a charter flight of seasonal workers from Tonga, due to arrive in Perth late next month. As you heard here yesterday, WA's Chief Health Officer has already knocked back approvals for a charter flight of 150 Ni-Vanuatu workers, bound for Perth on the 7th of May. The reason being there is not enough hotel quarantine room for the workers on that flight with all the Australians returning home from overseas.
The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, has suffered extensive damage to grain and infrastructure in the Mid West after several grain sites were hit by ex Tropical Cyclone Seroja. Up to 170, 000 tonnes of grain has potentially been exposed to rain after tarps were ripped from grain storage bulkheads. CBH has also declared force majeur for Geraldton and parts of the Kwinana port zones, which means due to unforeseen circumstances, that is TC Seroja, CBH won't be able to fulfill some contracts.
In the darkness as Tropical Cyclone Seroja crossed the state on Sunday night it was impossible to predict just how much damage it was causing on farms in the firing line on WA's mid west coast. But in the light of day, the next morning it was crystal clear. Trees had been flattened, power lines and fences down, rooves off sheds and silos built to withstand strong winds simply lifted up and dumped on their sides in a tangled mess of metal. That's what Daniel Koric can see as he looks across his farm at Allanooka, 40 minutes south east of Geraldton.
Cyclone Seroja has certainly made its presence felt over the last 24 hours, battering communities as it crossed the state's mid west coast overnight and headed east. Rainfall has been widespread and so has damage, with many reports coming in of lost roofs, walls, entire homes and sheds. The cyclone red alert has now been reduced to include only Kalbarri and Northhampton, reflecting the significant damage that has occurred in the two towns. Tens of thousands of homes remain without power.
While some farmers assess the damage ex tropical cyclone Seroja left behind this lunchtime, others will be firing up the tractor to get seeding. Decent summer rainfall across many grain growing regions means the top up today will be a near perfect start.
Lengthy delays in WA's grain shipping schedule is already costing WA farmers, who are being offer grain prices $20 to $30 a tonne below some of the current prices on offer on the international market.
The CBH Group says a shortage of truck and train drivers is making it really difficult to get grain to port on time to meet shipping commitments and the problem is likely to be causing headaches for a couple of months. Some industry commentators are saying in some ports, namely the Geraldton Port, the average four day turnaround for a grain ship is blowing out to weeks and in some cases a month. It is costing a lot of money and potentially damaging the state's reputation as a reliable grain supplier.
Today we'll try to find out why a new GM canola variety has been recalled, just as WA's seeding season gets underway.
And researchers are starting to come up with some more tools to help farmers combat the destructive Fall armyworm.
In the last few months you will have heard a lot about questionable conduct towards women in the nation's parliament. So today's question - how is our agricultural industry fairing with attitudes towards women?
A biopesticide has just been given an emergency use permit to help farmers in the battle against the Fall armyworm.
Chris Reichstein is about to hand over his entire farm to a foundation he has created. He wants the future profits to be used to help his local Esperance community.
About 162 workers from Vanuatu are about to land in Kununurra, just in time to help harvest melons.
A Western Australian agronomist thinks it would be a huge loss if the herbicide Paraquat ends up being banned in Australia.
It's state of origin time! Nothing to do with rugby league. This is a labelling request from WA's Fishing Industry Council.
The WA Mines Minister Bill Johnston officially open a new nickel mine in the Goldfields today. The Cassini underground mine is the first new nickel development at Kambalda in two decades and is part of a $98 million plan to restart the region's once-booming nickel industry.
Two people are due to appear before the Carnarvon Magistrate's Court today, charged with a range of offences in relation to an ongoing cattle theft investigation by WA Police. The investigation, known as Operation Topography, relates to the theft and sale of 803 cattle valued at approximately $800,000.
Winemakers and grape growers expect China will lock in - and increase - hefty tariffs applied to Australian wine in coming days.
An emerging global diamond explorer is set to takeover the Ellendale project in the Kimberley, which once produced half the world's fancy yellow diamonds. Burgundy Diamond Mines has signed a $6.7 million deal with Gibb River Diamonds to acquire tenements around the mothballed mine, where exploration resumed last year.
The grower-funded Australian Wool Innovation has given a commitment to change a major strategic document that identifies North Korea as an emerging market. Trade sanctions currently prevent the sale of most goods from Australia to North Korea. Under questioning from Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie, AWI boss Stuart McCullough attempted to explain how the research and development group came to consider North Korea as a potential market for Australian wool.
More than 100 thousand Australian farmers have a grower warehouse agreement with grain handler GrainCorp. But last year competition watchdog the ACCC was asked to investigated the terms and conditions of the agreement. Now, GrainCrop has agreed to make 19 amendments to the agreement, which the ACCC says will make for a fairer deal.
It appears Australia's hay industry has been caught up in the trade tensions between Australia and China. There are 28 registered Australian facilities that export hay to China. Australia has exported hay to China since around 2010. The registration period is a four year term and in the past re-registration process has been automatic. Not this time.
An industrial dispute over the way farm workers are paid is heating up, with the federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese throwing his support behind a union push to amend the piece rate. Under the Horticulture Award the piece rate works by paying workers according to the amount of produce they harvest. Farmers says it's a great way to motivate workers and boost productivity. But a national study by Unions New South Wales, released today, says the piece rate has allowed some workers to earn less than two dollars an hour working on Australian farms.
The Premier Mark McGowan has announced the details of his new look Cabinet. The Premier will take on the role of state Treasurer in his new ministry and Alannah MacTiernan keeps agriculture and food, regional development and is the Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development for Hydrogen.
WA grain growers say it has been difficult to find workers to help with seeding this year's grain crop. Those that have managed to find staff say they don't have the same level of experience as the workers they usually employ and wages have had to rise in order to secure staff.
Australia's claim that China breached international trading rules by imposing tariffs on barley has reached the next level in the dispute process.
What does the Labor party's historic victory in the WA election mean for rural and regional parts of Western Australia?
WA farmers and pastoralists have identified a range of issues they would like the new state government to address following Saturday's election. Water, roads, labour shortages, rail infrastructure, red tape, childcare, relief for regional volunteers and a more streamlined and cost effective application processes for access to underground water supplies to open diversification opportunities in the north were a few of the key issues that rural WA would like the new government to prioritise.
WA Police say further arrests are imminent in the ongoing cattle theft investigation known as Operation Topography. Rural Crime Squad officers have already charged a 43 year old man and a 37 year old woman from the Upper Gascoyne region with the theft and sale of 803 head of cattle valued at around $800, 000. The pair will appear in the Carnarvon Magistrates Court on Monday.
Rabobank has just released its index of agricultural commodity prices and it's risen by 50 per cent since the middle of last year. It's partly due to weather, speculators and the weakening US dollar, but Rabobank analyst Charles Clack says the main factor is rising demand from key importers.
Within just a few days, you will know the name and make-up of your next WA State Government. If the polls are any guide, Labor is on its way to a landslide victory on the back of Mark McGowan's popularity as Premier and his stewardship of the State during the pandemic. That situation has some analysts speculating that Labor may see this an opportunity to go for some sort of electoral reform to reduce the weighting given to country seats in Parliament's Upper House.
The gates are open and the 49th Woolorama is underway today and tomorrow and this year's them is all about celebrating and congratulating WA.
A storm system across a large stretch of the state has delivered some rainfall totals that will help set up some farmers and pastoralists for the season ahead. SJ Farms which has properties around the Northam - Toodyay area has had 120 millimetres since four o'clock yesterday and further north in the Murchison region Twin peaks station tipped out 59 millimetres this morning.
The government's commodity forecaster says farmers are killing it! This year, the agriculture sector is expected to bring home $66 billion, an 8 per cent increase on last year and $5 billion more than the second most valuable year in 2017-18.
Wool exporters are the latest casualty in the worldwide crisis in the shipping industry. A bottleneck in Australian ports and in ports like Singapore means that wool is taking up to 90 days to get to Europe or 40 days more than usual and an extra ten days to get to China. The shipping delays have a direct flow-on effect to wool exporters.
The CBH Group's grain grower members have rejected the board's proposal to make significant changes to a couple of key governance rules. At the CBH AGM in Perth last night the resolution to reduce the number of grower directors on the CBH board was defeated and the resolution to limit board tenure to nine years was also defeated. The growers passed a resolution to allow direct voting and virtual meetings and also supported the ratification of the appointment of independent Alan Mulgrew.
Russia's decision to restrict exports of grain and impose a tax on wheat exports is already contributing to the increasing price of wheat, which is sitting at or above $300 a tonne delivered port in Australia.