Agriculture

Given the high escalation in the price of pedigree pups, pay rises are certainly well overdue for dogs who are renowned for being the hardest workers. A Working Dog Auction being held at the 2022 Rabobank Expo & Ram Sale should help push up purchase prices ... Known as the largest Merino event in Western Australia with over forty studs on display, the addition of a working sheepdog auction will boost visitor numbers to the annual show.

WAFarmers Livestock Council advises members of an update in policy on the implementation of EID tags for sheep and goats. The council has a standing policy to support EID tags for traceability in sheep and goats based on government funding to assist in the implementation of a national database to manage a national standardised process.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has released its regulatory priorities for FY 2022-23 and has set its sights on the irrigated agriculture industry in the Murray, Murrumbidgee and the Far North Coast ... “Our regulatory priorities identify and target problem activities, areas and industries that may have high levels of non-compliance with water laws or the potential to cause harm to the environment or surrounding community”: NRAR’s Director of Regulatory Initiatives Ian Bernard.

The Australian Government has ramped up its efforts to prevent foot and mouth disease (FMD) spreading to Australia ... Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said it is great to see the message about the seriousness of this disease overseas getting through to travellers ... Mr Littleproud has also called for the immediate offer of 3D X-ray technology at Indonesian airports ... Shaughn Morgan, co-CEO eastAUSmilk, advocates for all other shoes being carried by passengers to be inspected and disinfected as necessary. He also believes travel restrictions would be a sensible approach.

Australian livestock producers are hoping that tighter restrictions can limit the risk posed by Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) ... Local dairy and beef farmer, Matthew Searle, is keeping a keen eye on the developments. “If it was to get here, it would cripple us, ” he said. With control measures like ‘Stamp Out’ (the destruction of infected stock) the Searles, like many producers, dread an FMD outbreak wiping out decades of investing in the genetics and health of their stock.

Many Australian farmers are still battling to get grain crops planted due to wet conditions, while the global wheat outlook price remains elevated and buyers will be hoping prices will ease as the northern hemisphere supply comes to market.

Australia will need to both consume and export more avocados as the nation’s growers navigate a period of soaring production growth over the coming five years, specialist agribusiness bank Rabobank says in a new report. This year alone, ‘per capita (person) supply’ of avocados is estimated to be up 26 per cent on the previous 12 months to 4.8 kilogram – equating to 22 avocados per Australian.

Blueberry and avocado growers on the Coffs Coast are concerned about the arrival of Varroa mite in the region. Local NSW Farmers Coffs Harbour Branch Chair Paul Shoker said Varroa mite had been detected in hives near Nana Glen, and were linked to the Newcastle outbreak. “It’s a bit of a worry for our farmers as we approach pollination time, without bees we can’t produce avocados or blueberries, or a lot of other crops for that matter,” Mr Shoker said.

A 12 month trial on a cotton farm just outside the rural town of Goondiwindi Queensland in Australia has shown it’s possible to divert large amounts of cotton textile waste at end of life from landfill with no harm done to soil health or cotton yields. Project collaborators are confident that with a solid business plan and more research, returning shredded cotton products to cotton fields could soon offer benefits to soil health, and a scalable solution to the massive global problem of textile waste.

The SA Opposition is calling for additional biosecurity officers to be stationed at Adelaide Airport as fears grow over foot and mouth disease (FMD) potentially getting into South Australia which would have devastating consequences for the economy, jobs and cost of living. An urgent biosecurity staffing boost would allow for the luggage of every traveller from Indonesia to be individually inspected, creating an extra ring of protection for SA’s livestock industry while Labor governments sluggishly roll out disinfectant mats.

Just back from three weeks overseas ... I thought I would write a few lines about booze overseas: quality, range and distribution ... Our first stop was the US ... We used to drink wine on our visits to the US ... Spent the first day in London walking the “Monopoly board”, stopping for a reviver or two in beautiful pubs.

Amid Australia’s first Varroa Destructor Mite outbreak, the grower-owned research and development corporation Hort Innovation has joined forces with the University of Sydney to develop a world-first hormone-based pesticide that is safe for honey bees but fatal to Varroa mite. As part of the $1.2M initiative, scientists will create molecules that selectively bind to and interfere with the hormone receptors of Varroa mite and fellow honey bee pest, small hive beetle, interfering with reproduction, development, and behaviour.

The Commonwealth Government has established Biosecurity Response Zones at international airports, another strong measure in response to the Indonesian outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) ... “These zones strengthen and widen the powers of biosecurity officers to direct passengers to use foot mats and other biosecurity control measures such as the cleaning of shoes ... I also announced the deployment of sanitisation foot mats at all international airports as an additional layer of protection for returning travellers from Indonesia" : Minister Watt.

Members of the state’s peak agricultural body have voted to support the development of a national electronic tagging system ... NSW Farmers Biosecurity Chair Ian McColl said while electronic tagging could be helpful, it would not be a silver bullet for the threat posed by FMD.

Following the release, the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) - Major Event Review of the 2019- 2020 bushfires, the peak national organisation representing over 1,000 forest scientists and professionals have called for active and adaptive forest management to be implemented as a matter of urgency. President of Forestry Australia, Bob Gordon said the organisation has been calling on all governments to prioritise and invest in a year-round active and adaptive management approach to forest management, regardless of tenure.

“The Mulloon Institute heartily welcomes the Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s calls for structural reform and new environmental legislation,” said Mr Gary Nairn AO, Chairman of the Mulloon Institute and former Federal Liberal MP. The Institute restores degraded landscapes across Australia for improved agricultural productivity, enhanced environmental outcomes, improved biodiversity including habitat for threatened species, and greater community resilience to drought, bushfire and flood.