Farming

John Lloyd, Agribusiness Australia. This is not a critique of the National Farmers Federation’s laudable $100 billion aspiration. Agribusiness Australia’s own ambition is built on continuity with the NFF platform, and also to ensure it becomes reality. But it’s just a matter of seeing trend against target.

NSW Farmers and the Country Women’s Association of NSW (CWA of NSW) are alarmed by a proposal that would stifle community consultation on the Inland Rail project. It comes as the NSW Minister for Planning the Hon Rob Stokes MP has issued an order declaring the construction of the Inland Rail in NSW as a critical state significant infrastructure project.

Australian farmers are forecasting another productive and profitable year ahead, with rural sentiment still at historically-high levels thanks to “perfect” summer conditions in much of the nation’s east and exceptionally strong commodity prices.

Researchers at The University of South Australia have developed a cost-effective new technique to monitor soil moisture using a standard digital camera and machine learning technology.

For the first time, researchers have established a baseline understanding of the prevalence, cause and cost of kid loss in the Australian goatmeat industry through a project funded by MLA.

The NSW State Government announced on 10 March 2021 that The Minister for Planning will issue a new section 9.1 direction (to the Koala SEPP) to ensure that only the Minister, and not councils, will be empowered to rezone land used for primary production to an environmental zone (E zone), or to rezone land currently in rural zones 1, 2 and 3 to other rural zones.

Demand will take the driver’s seat in 2021, as global dairy markets look towards a “palpable return to familiar consumer patterns” by mid-year, the latest Rabobank global Dairy Quarterly report has found.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has applauded the Federal Government’s announcement on the extension of the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) to 30 September 2021.

Last year’s world-first discovery that smoke dose is directly linked to the level of smoke taint in wine was an ‘absolute gamechanger,’ according to Professor Ian Porter. ‘We discovered that provided the burn is not right next to the vineyard, it actually takes a lot more smoke to cause smoke taint than we originally thought’, Professor Porter from La Trobe University said.

The NFF say today’s release of the much-anticipated National Agriculture Workforce Strategy comes as farmers seek immediate and longer-term answers to crippling worker shortages. NFF CEO Tony Mahar said the strategy unfortunately did not provide a silver bullet but outlined wide-ranging practical measures that if implemented, could increase agriculture's labour pool for the future.

In yet another blow to the state’s intensifying harvest labour crisis, NSW has missed an opportunity to be part of a DFAT-run program that enables seasonal workers from Fiji and Vanuatu to work on local farms. National fruit and vegetable crop losses resulting from the workforce conundrum now exceed $50 million, and the outcomes of today’s National Cabinet meeting confirm NSW is lagging behind other states and territories in developing a short-term solution.

“In the past, land-owners needed vehicle registration details to apply for a pre-approved class 3 livestock permit. They usually don’t know vehicle registration details before engaging a carrier so it was always the carrier’s job to obtain the permit. It can take up to 28 days to obtain a permit that could only be used by one carrier on one job. We don’t have time to wait and it is pointless gathering dozens of single use permits,” Mr Beer said.

Insect protein is creating a global buzz, with demand for the fast-emerging ingredient in the animal feed and pet food sectors expected to reach half a million metric tonnes by 2030 – significantly up on today’s estimated market of 10,000 metric tonnes, according to agri banking specialist Rabobank.

Adam Marshall, Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Western NSW, Media Release, 5 March 2021 The NSW Government will lift the ban on the use...

Grain growers in Western Australia’s low rainfall zone (LRZ) have access to a new resource to assist them to maximise the potential of canola – an important break crop – in their unique environment. The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has released the publication Golden rules for canola in the low-rainfall zone.

Ali Bohn. Part of the appeal of raising kids in the country is the freedom and wide-open spaces they get to enjoy in what (we hope) is an adventurous but safe environment. For these Cohuna brothers, a regular weekend means heading out to the farm with their dad, Dave Toohey, to do cattle work. They have lived and breathed farming since before they could walk, so at 9 and 10 respectively, Charlie and Hunter are "pros" at farming.

NSW Farmers supports a decision to lift the moratorium on Genetically Modified (GM) crops, provided farmers have a choice and that any genetically modified organism has been approved by an independent, science-based Australian regulator. The NSW Government will lift the ban on the use of GM crops by allowing an 18-year moratorium to lapse when the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Act 2003 is due to expire on 1 July 2021.

When Leeville farmers Greg and Sheila Galea lost their contract to grow meat chickens for Inghams Chickens, they decided to switch enterprises and diversify ... There are two ways for farmers to grow their business, says consultant Rose Wright. "Get big or create layers of value."