Trade

Delivered through Hort Innovation using industry levies and funds from the Australian Government, some of Australia’s top scientists partnered with the avocado industry to develop phytosanitary data that shows the health and safety of Australian Hass avocados is in line with India’s import requirements.

The latest ABARES Snapshot of Australian agriculture shows the industry continues to grow and perform strongly in a number of key areas including exports, incomes and risk management. Industry production and export values are forecast to hit record levels in 2022-23, with broadacre and dairy farm cash incomes remaining well above historical benchmarks.

According to a new report from Rabobank, participants all along the dairy value chain are being squeezed. Producers’ milk prices have tumbled from 2022’s lofty levels while feed prices are at record highs.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has fined 14 furniture importers over $186,000 last week because they didn’t act to minimise the risk of importing illegally harvested timber. Head of Compliance and Enforcement at the department, Peter Timson said Australia has strict requirements for importing timber and it is essential to hold importers to account.

The liquid ‘drinking’ milk market remains of key importance to Australia’s dairy sector – with improved domestic retail pricing and opportunities for further export growth – Rabobank says in a newly-released industry report.

The release of the Primary Industries Scorecard 2021-22 illustrates the resilience of the sector in overcoming Covid 19, extreme weather, floods and bushfire events, the Russian invasion of Ukraine along with Chinese trade tensions to generate a revenue of $17.3 billion in 2021-22, an increase of 12% and accounting for 51% of the South Australia’s merchandise exports: Claire Scriven.

Whilst we are seeing positive changes with international freight capacity returning to levels pre-COVID-19, productivity issues at major Australian container ports identified in the latest Productivity Commission report cost the Australian economy an estimated $605 million annually. These inefficiencies directly impact Australian farmers and if not addressed soon will be a compounding cost for all primary producers as well as exporters more broadly.

The sale of walnuts is the most common and most criminal business in rural areas of Ukraine. Anyone can make money on nuts. Make it easy. Many walnuts grow on lands without an owner. And dealers buy nuts of any quality in every city market. Not surprisingly, even 15 miles from the site of the fighting with the Russians, the business of selling nuts is booming.

Australian exporters will see faster export documentation and easier access into Singapore’s markets, as certification between Australia and Singapore moves towards paperless trading ... “Using electronic export certification (eCert) means the relevant information is sent directly to overseas government agencies almost instantly, allowing for quicker clearance times so producers can get their goods to market faster”: A/g Deputy Secretary Nicola Hinder.

Trade between Ukraine and Australia is actively developing. The total sales of Australian goods and services are growing faster than Ukrainian ones. Australian farmers are also increasing sales faster than Ukrainian farmers. However, this was not always the case. 2023 may strengthen the position of Ukrainian farmers.

Australian consumers are seeing significant price increases across dairy products – based on the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) data – with milk prices having risen at the fastest rate since records began, according to a new report by agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank. In its Global Dairy Quarterly Q4 2022 – Walking the Tightrope into 2023, Rabobank says while the Australian consumer has shown resilience in the face of cost-of-living pressures, signs of dairy demand weakness are emerging as a willingness and ability to spend on discretionary items softens.

New forecasting showing record Australian grain production numbers – despite impacts of severe weather and flooding during a delayed and disrupted harvest – makes good news for today’s papers. However, Grain Producers Australia says the headline numbers mask some serious structural issues faced by growers on the ground, which impact productivity and need to be urgently addressed.

Animal protein producers and processors face an “inflection point” with a need to respond to structural changes in the market even with production levels and prices likely to remain elevated next year, according to a new report by agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank.

“Crops in Western Australia and South Australia benefitted the most from spring conditions, with total production in both states forecast to reach new record levels. Total production in Queensland is forecast to reach the second highest on record, despite parts of the Darling Downs missing out on plantings after being impacted by the floods. In other parts of the country, the results are mixed with both flooding and water-logging impacting winter crop production": Jared Greenvillle, ABARES.

Premium South Australian wine continues to gain recognition in key Asia-Pacific markets after the latest group of international wine ambassadors was assembled in Hong Kong. Eight of Hong Kong’s leading wine importers have been hand-picked to raise the profile of South Australia’s best wines in their own regions and boost trade demand with our state.

The US – the world’s second-largest importer of beef after China – is likely to be looking for even more beef from global markets over the next three years, as its own domestic production declines, Rabobank says in a newly-released report. And – while Australia is among the major global beef exporters that could help fill the gap – its own supply constraints mean it will be challenged to find additional export volumes.

A two-part ABARES Insights series on Australian agriculture draws attention to how changes in the sector over past decades have led to its current success and what will shape its future performance. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said farmers have made the most of exceptional growing seasons and high global prices to achieve unprecedented industry production and export values over the last three years.

Australia is set to pioneer a new era of sustainable sugar exports when the first-ever shipment of fully traceable, sustainably produced raw sugar is loaded for export at the Port of Townsville this week. In a world first, the sugar, produced from cane grown by Smartcane BMP accredited growers, will be traceable through the supply chain to the end user in South Korea.

Australian engineers from global company RingIR will visit the US Department of Agriculture in Boston next month, to test whether their revolutionary technology can be used to ‘sniff out’ pests that attach themselves to containers or other cargo (known as hitchhiker pests).

Australia is on track to harvest a near-record winter grain crop of 61.9 million tonnes, according to Rabobank’s 2022/23 Australian Winter Crop Forecast. But what will be a record for some farmers will be heartbreak for others, due to the impacts of excessive rainfall on grain volume, yield and quality in parts of the country.

A teenager was ensuring the blacksmithing trade was front and centre for the millennial generation at the Good Old Days Festival in southern NSW. Joe Reedy, of Wallabadah in northern NSW, donned his leather apron and was kept busy working the hot forge and hammering out draught horseshoes and fire pokers for an appreciative audience at the festival at Barellan on October 1-2.