Farming

The overall value of the agriculture sector is set to contract by 14% in 2023-24 due to drier than normal conditions after three La Nina years ... “Looking further ahead, it’s likely we will see either El Nino or a positive Indian Ocean Dipole in the coming months, which will reduce crop yields": Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville.

The independent, global Gender Representation in the Meat Industry 2023 report draws on international data from more than 50 major meat organisations ... Australia's OBE Organic - whose MD Dalene Wray is herself a notable woman in the meat business - featured as a case study in the report ... ARR.News asked some questions about women in the meat business of Dalene and Laura Ryan, Founder and Global Chair of Meat Business Women.

The NFF Horticulture Council has rung the alarm bells loud and clear that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is now heading toward calamity ... Horticulture Council spokesperson Rachel Chambers said it was increasingly clear relevant ministers aren’t working together to ensure the scheme meets the long-terms interests of the Pacific and Australian industries it’s meant to serve. 

Rockhampton Agricultural Show Program set to WOW crowds with stellar family entertainment line-up. The Rockhampton Agricultural Show is bringing some big names to the program for their 150th  Anniversary event on 14-16 June. Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said this is the biggest entertainment program the Show has delivered in recent years and rightly so for our 150th  celebration.

Farmers are calling on the Federal Government to implement competition reforms that will tackle cost of living pressures. NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle said the ACCC had made a number of recommendations in its 2020 Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry that would bring food prices down for consumers, but so far they had been largely ignored.

A fresh study on the environmental impacts of lab-grown meat has led an internationally recognised expert on the future of cell-based protein, Professor Paul Wood, AO, to confirm the economics of producing lab-grown meat at scale “just won’t work” and will be less sustainable than traditional red meat production systems. The new study from the University of California, Davis, argues the global warming potential of cell-based meat production could be up to 25 times greater than the average for retail beef.

The district around Richmond has a strong history of racing dating back to the early settlers. This is an iconic North West Queensland event that continues to draw crowds and looks set to showcase yet another exciting line up in its 38th year.

Australia is now grappling with a labour shortage across multiple sectors including health, aged care and agriculture. And our policymakers seem to continue to overlook retirees as part of the solution to the crisis.

Tasmania's feral deer population is costing the state more than $100 million a year. The peak body for farming in the state, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, says the deer population in Tasmania is exploding.

Just some of the entertainment at this year's Mackay Show includes :  

The nation is on track to plant an impressive 23.48 million hectare winter crop this year – up slightly on last year’s crop area – Rabobank says in its newly-released 2023/24 Australian Winter Crop Outlook ... overall harvest totals are forecast to be lower than last season, with expectations of drier growing conditions due to the likely transition to an El Nino climate cycle, the specialist agribusiness bank says.

Mount Larcom & District Show Society

A new partnership is taking action to promote greater awareness, vigilance and understanding of the different farm biosecurity risks caused by the current ‘explosion’ in pest animals – especially pigs ... (t)hese serious concerns are being addressed in a new campaign that’s taking positive action on biosecurity protections, with Grain Producers Australia (GPA) joining with the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA National).

South Australia’s tourism industry is well positioned to target the nation’s $17.4 billion Agricultural Tourism market – leveraging its reputation for premium produce to attract more visitors ... The State Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission is launching the South Australian Agritourism Sector Plan 2025 ... A number of demand-driving agritourism experiences already exist in South Australia, including pick-your-own experiences at Beerenberg Farm...

Northern Grampians Shire Council is appalled that widespread community opposition has had no material impact on Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) final recommended alignment for the controversial VNI West power transmission project ... “Landowners need clear and concise answers to the questions they have asked and not simply to refer them to some other arrangement as a reference to how it might work here": Mayor, Cr Kevin Erwin.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has slammed the Andrews Government’s decision to steamroll ahead with transmission developments in Western Victoria following the announcement of a new corridor for the proposed VNI-West project. VFF President Emma Germano said Victoria’s Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio is using extreme powers to come over the top of farming communities and force transmission towers to be built on their land.

Farm fertiliser "affordability" is starting to improve across the globe, with a likely recovery in application in some regions in 2023, Rabobank says in a recently-released report ... The report, titled Improved Affordability Ahead, says global fertiliser prices had begun to trend higher in 2021 due to supply chain constraints resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Autumn is the time of year that breeders start bringing in the foals born last season and assessing the development of those from the previous year. Foal shows provide an opportunity to not only give the youngsters some ring experience, but for the humans to meet up and have a natter as well.

Money ... It's time to pull stumps on Metronet and accept we are not New York or London ... Power ... exploring the unforeseen consequences of over-investing in renewables ... Guns ... no logic in capping firearm numbers for recreational shooters, sporting shooters or primary producers ...

Did you know: If you poured all the grain—canola, lentils, hay and silage—produced each year in the Buloke Shire into the MCG it would overflow? The BCG Buloke Farm Tours, launching this August, are a new initiative to showcase the produce, passion and dedication of farming communities in the Buloke Shire.