Supply chain

Farmers across the state are once again being hit by wild weather creating fresh concerns about food supply chains ... The impacts of the torrential rain are being felt out into the central west, and vegetable growers in the Hunter Valley have had paddocks drowned for a third time this year.

A new, online one-stop information portal for Lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) preparedness is now available to livestock owners and other industry stakeholders ... “With both LSD and FMD confirmed in Indonesia, the key to Australia’s defence is vigilance, early reporting and ensuring every Livestock Supply Chain enterprise in northern Australia has an updated biosecurity plan in place”: Minister Furner.

NSW Farmers is encouraging dairy farmers to work with processors to secure the best farmgate deal possible for their milk, with the deadline for processors to publish their supply contracts around the corner... “Sustainable relationships are important, and farmers should work with processors to position their businesses for growth on the back of these prices.”

Australians have changed the Government. Anthony Albanese is our 31st Prime Minister. The policy mandate is clear. More will be done on climate, anti corruption and cost of living. So, what does that mean for rural transport?

The early supply chain disruptions of 2022, including COVID-19 and floods, have not impacted the continued growth and strength of Australia’s feedlot sector, according to the recent results of the ALFA and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) survey.

RaboResearch general manager for Australia and New Zealand Stefan Vogel said, in particular, there are four specific impacts of the lockdowns in China that are set to have increasing ramifications for Australian agribusiness – disruptions to freight logistics, Chinese corn plantings, dairy demand and hog pricing.

A Charles Sturt University agribusiness expert suggests Australia can anticipate an increase in wheat exports to countries affected by the Ukraine-Russia conflict and should target those importing nations’ requirements.

The global wine sector is facing significant disruptions in different links of the supply chain. The common assumption was that these issues were transitory. Now there are increasing signs that some of these changes are structural and could even get worse, requiring more strategic responses.

Australia wheat farmers can expect increased farmgate prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although the local impact is not expected to match that seen globally. Together, Russia and Ukraine make up nearly 30% of global wheat exports. Ukraine’s military has suspended commercial shipping at its Black Sea ports, which is tipped to disrupt the supply chains of grain and oilseeds exporters.

In the aftermath of the flood, bread and milk have become important commodities. With delivery trucks from Brisbane delayed, dairy farmers Shane Hickey and Julia Curtis have stepped up to get milk to as many places as they can ... In the past few days, they have widened their delivery service ... Dave’s Bakehouse in Kyogle is flat out making bread ...

ThriveAgri, AgTrade’s livestock nutrition division, is expanding its operations through the acquisition of major fodder business, Hay Australia. The move will see ThriveAgri’s presence in animal nutrition boosted throughout the country, while also providing new opportunities to produces and buyers of hay products, with Hay Australia accounting for around 10% of Australia’s 1.35 million tonnes of hay exports in 2021.

The state’s peak agricultural body has criticised union calls to scrap the Ag Visa, saying it will only lead to further disruption in food supply chains. The Australian Workers Union waded into the political chaos this week claiming the Ag Visa had failed to attract workers to farms, ignoring the impact of COVID on international travel.

Australia’s agricultural sector is set for another profitable year ahead, with the gross value of agricultural production on track for a fourth consecutive year of growth in 2021/22, Rabobank says in a newly-released industry report.

"During COVID, supply chains almost ground to a complete halt and exposed Australia’s reliance on the import of key inputs including urea. Many Australians would be shocked to learn the nation imports 90% of its urea, the most commonly used fertiliser in agriculture. Without urea, crop production would fall 30-40%" : National Farmers Federation Chief Executive, Tony Mahar.

The Australian Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) has committed $255 million for critical infrastructure supporting the Perdaman Urea Project in Western Australia. The $4.3 billion project located 20 kilometres north-west of Karratha will convert Australian gas into approximately two million tonnes of urea per year.

Strike Energy Limited has been granted Major Project Status for Project Haber, its $3 billion urea manufacturing facility in the Narngulu Industrial Area, near Geraldton, Western Australia. The project will produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of urea from clean hydrogen and natural gas.

The fresh produce sector and supply chain in Queensland has agreed on four key fields of strategic interest to pursue over the first two years of its new industry plan, Future Fields.

The possibility of bare barbecues on Australia Day should be an alarm bell to all sides of politics, NSW Farmers says, with the major retailer supply chains continuing to struggle. NSW Farmers President James Jackson said ongoing failures to prevent anti-competitive behaviour had led us to a handful of companies controlling most of our meat supply, and called on the Federal Government to address the issue.

NSW Farmers President James Jackson said there were good production levels of fresh food despite the challenging weather of the past few months and urged shoppers not to panic buy. “Our growers are sending plenty of produce down to the Sydney Markets, and we’re working on making sure farm businesses can continue to harvest these crops,” Mr Jackson said.