Trevor Whittington, CEO WAFarmers

Some older farmers will remember the Australian superphosphate bounty of $12/tonne that was on offer between 1964 to 1974. Some might have even been at this Perth rally when farmers roughed up Gough Whitlam after he said he was pulling the plug on the bounty ... more hard policy decisions should have been made to cut tariffs and industry support right across Australia to put an end to the endless drip of governments ...

With the state's year 12s soon to start their mock exams, I thought it opportune to go back and have a look at how our country high schools are performing. Some may recall an article I wrote in 2020, ‘Country High Schools = F Fail’ and I wondered if there has been any improvement.

This story is about the impossible challenge of feeding a growing world population while staying true to net zero emissions targets ... Something strange happened in June this year when two of the world's most bullish emissions reduction advocates, Germany and Britain, panicked at the huge spike in grain prices and called for temporary waivers on biofuels mandates to combat soaring food prices.

It’s not just the ‘it’s time’ factor, nor the furore around Allanah MacTiernan's recent comments linked to Foot and Mouth disease, nor her failure to get her Department to operate effectively, or even the fact she has been captured by the unscientific religion of regenerative agriculture, that she has to go. No, it’s simply the fact that farmers have stopped listening to someone who prefers to lecture rather than listen.

This opinion piece is all about the failure of our Ag Minister to understand the importance of elevating biosecurity to the top of DPIRD’s list of things to do ... With the arrival of Foot and Mouth Disease in Indonesia, DPIRD needs to be up to the task of stopping it at our borders or wiping it out within the 3-4 months that a recent CSIRO report claims is possible for localised outbreaks.