Rabobank

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on 26 July 2023, shows food inflation slowing in the June quarter. Rabobank senior food retail analyst Michael Harvey said “Food inflation is at 1.6 per cent for March to June (unchanged from the last quarter), and 7.5 per cent year-on-year – slowing down from last quarter at 8 per cent”.

The George the Farmer story began in 2012 when founder Simone Kain was trawling the internet looking for farming books and apps for her farm-obsessed son George ... "I quickly discovered there wasn't a human farming character globally who was telling sequential stories about life on the land for children, let alone a modern Aussie farmer telling real, relatable yarns," she said.

CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) wheat prices soared eight per cent overnight, after Ukrainian ports were hit by Russian missiles and Russia’s Ministry of Defence warned that all vessels travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo. This was the highest trading level of CBOT wheat since a spike in mid-June and previously in February this year, Rabobank senior grains analyst Dennis Voznesenski said.

Global grain prices will continue to be volatile until the market is able to decipher the end impact of Russia withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to Rabobank senior grains analyst Dennis Voznesenski. The deal – which has allowed wartime Ukraine grain exports across the Black Sea – expired overnight Australia time after Russia confirmed it would not agree to its renewal.

Signs of weakening demand for dairy are spreading across markets. According to a new report from Rabobank, the cumulative effects of high food price inflation over the past 24 months, along with slowing economic activity in 2023, have translated into lower dairy demand in developed and emerging markets.

Startling findings from two different surveys have highlighted the devastating impact the proposed live sheep export ban is having in Western Australia, according to the country’s peak farm body. Data released from Rabobank shows that while confidence edged higher nationally, WA bucked the trend recording a further dip into negative territory.

Australian farmer confidence has improved marginally thanks to easing concerns about commodity prices and input costs, however it remains in negative territory overall. The latest quarterly Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, released on 13 June 2023, saw confidence lift nationally from -25 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 (the lowest level since late 2018) to now sit at -22 per cent.

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.

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.

So far in May, the S&P GSCI Agriculture Index has declined a modest 0.6% amid the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) and ample grain and oilseed supplies ... Losses across most G&O markets (-2.6% on average) were largely offset by gains across softs (+2.2%).