http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/battery-eggsunder-fire/2507886.aspx
BEN CUBBY, SMH
02 Apr, 2012 07:53 AM
A CAMPAIGN to put an end to battery-hen egg production in Australia will begin today, with environmentalists targeting supermarkets and asking consumers to boycott non free-range eggs.
A series of radio advertisements, organised by the group Animals Australia and voiced by the singer Missy Higgins, will point out that all 27 member countries of the European Union have outlawed practices that are still the norm in Australia.
The Australian Egg Corporation, the body representing most egg suppliers, defended the practices, which allow about 12 million hens to live out their lives in a space roughly the size of a sheet of A4 paper.
Banning battery-egg production could force the price of 12 eggs up to $10, and cost governments about $500 million to buy out caged-hen operators, the corporation said.
But environment groups believe a campaign to end battery-hen egg production is ''winnable'' and will eventually make all eggs free-range.
"Australians, by and large, are a nation of animal lovers,'' the campaign director of Animals Australia, Lyn White, said. ''If consumers are made aware that simply through choosing to leave cage eggs on supermarket shelves they can demand a better and kinder life for hens, we are confident they will do so.
"No ethical society can condone a method of production that confines birds so severely that they cannot even stretch their wings, and where they have no quality of life whatsoever.''
Animals Australia cited a 2006 report prepared for the EU, which examined scientific studies and concluded that battery cages led to sicker birds whose quality of life was impaired.
''The evidence from this report has, in the main, substantiated previous scientific knowledge that the welfare of laying hens is severely compromised in conventional cages,'' the report concluded.
The corporation said not all EU nations had been able to fully comply with the small-cage ban by its start date on January 1, and some were having difficulty meeting demand by using free-range hens or hens in bigger cages.
''Australians have a right to affordable and nutritious food like cage eggs,'' a spokesman for the corporation, Kai Ianssen, said. ''Some privileged ideologues want to take that right away.''
The corporation cited a recent University of Sydney study that found caged birds were no less stressed than free-range birds, though that study has also been criticised. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/wool/general/former-wool-leader-joins-qualitygroup/2505441.aspx
02 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
QUALITY Wool has appointed former wool industry leader Rod Miller as the company's new general manager.

The privately-owned woolbroker and exporter, which is based in Adelaide but also has operations in Victoria, NSW and across to Western Australia, has expanded in recent years to include livestock marketing business Quality Livestock and farm inputs and merchandise arm Quality Rural.
Mr Mill was previously executive director of South Australia's rural policy and extension unit Rural Solutions SA.
He will now manage the operations of Quality Livestock and Quality Rural in conjunction with managing director Mark
Dyson.
Mr Dyson said the appointment was a key step in the company's new direction to consolidate and grow its operations and brand in the rural market across southern Australia.
"Rod brings a high level of management expertise to the company and he has a proven track-record of performance in the wool industry,'' he said.
"He is well-known and respected across the wool trade, as well as to many growers throughout eastern Australia, and he has represented the industry in a range of official positions.''
In his role with Rural Solutions SA, Mr Miller has been managing a range of major agriculture and natural resource management projects in the State, as well as nationally and internationally, including export of Australian Hereford and
Angus breeding cattle into Russia and Kazakhstan. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/finance/duopolyinevitable-jock-munro/2504121.aspx
GREGOR HEARD
02 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
COLOURFUL campaigner for the single desk, northern Riverina grower Jock Munro believes the purchase of Viterra by
Glencore is just another step along an inevitable road.
"This is what those of us who fought for the single desk have always thought would happen in deregulation," the Rankin
Springs farmer said.
"Rather than all this choice of buyers, what's going to happen is we will be left with the industry in the hands of a couple of large multinational buyers, who have no concern about the Australian wheat industry.
"The big horticulture players are swallowing the smaller ones, and we will soon be left in a situation similar to the
Coles/Woolworths duopoly."
He said seeing Glencore acquire assets based in Australia, given its implication in the oil-for-food scandal in Iraq "made a mockery" of the Australian government’s action in doing away with the wheat export monopoly.
In terms of the Swiss-based Glencore buying Canadian-based Viterra, Mr Munro said the concern was not so much in terms of foreign investment, where he said "the horse had already bolted", but in terms of industry consolidation.
And he had a message for the Australian grains industry - there will be more consolidation to come.
"GrainCorp will be next, I am sure of that."
He said the current state of the Australian grains industry needed radical intervention, putting forward a left-field suggestion that the government could buy GrainCorp on behalf of growers, who could then convert it into a co-operative.
Mr Munro said the success of CBH showed a co-operative model could compete against larger businesses, however, the government was unlikely to be interested in his GrainCorp scheme given its stance on investment in private businesses.

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/regions/goulburnmurrayriverina/
Rice harvest underway
Laurissa Smith
Rice harvest has started in the Riverina and NSW Murray.
Production is tipped to fall from a million tonnes, to 900,000 tonnes because of recent flooding, cold weather and pest damage.
And if that's not enough, getting the crop off without getting bogged is also proving to be a bit of a challenge
As we discovered whilst in the header with Jerilderie farmer Bill Arnold.
Another wave of farm exits if basin plan is wrong
Warwick Long
Victorian government MP Paul Weller from the Nationals is warning of another wave of farm exits if the Murray-
Darling Basin Plan does not take water in the correct way.
Mr Weller says in the next drought it will be difficult for farmers to buy water if the federal government owns all the available temporary water.
He says the years where there has been minimal access to water are the years where the district loses the most farmers.
However Mr Weller believes that the proposal to return 2750 gigalitres to the environment is workable if it is achieved in the right way.
Wool markets fall slightly
Warwick Long
Wool markets fell slightly last week with the Eastern Market Indicator finishing down four cents to 1212.
Robert Ellis from Wool Growers Independent Selling Services says the fall was due to large amounts of wool that have entered the market.
Wheat market review
A new inquiry has been launched into the full deregulation of Australia's wheat export market.
The House of Representatives Agriculture, Resources, Fisheries and Forestry Committee - will examine a number of issues that have been raised by the grains industry and overseas buyers since the market was deregulated in 2008 and gradually moved to a competition-based model.
The inquiry will look into quality control for wheat exports, and whether quality assurance programs have been jeopardised by de-regulation.

It follows a review of the wheat export market by the productivity commission in 2008.
Submissions for this inquiry close Friday April 27. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/regions/riverlandmildura/
Monday, April 2, 2012
Latest Report
Fruit fly authorities brace for long weekend
Deb O'Callaghan, William Rollo
Fruit fly is an ongoing problem in Sunraysia, with around 15 outbreaks currently active and a new outbreak soon to be declared at Euston.
With many people visting the Sunraysia and Riverland districts over the Easter long weekend, the risk of travellers bringing in fruit increases.
State director for the Fruit Fly Response for the Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Gary Darcy, says there will more random be road blocks in Sunraysia leading up to the long weekend.
Manager of Plant and Food Standards at BioSecuritySA, Geoff Raven says outbreaks in Adelaide recently mean it's vital roads to the Riverland are monitored closely.
R&R time for farm animals
William Rollo
Imagine working hard all day, then bending over to pick something up. You hear a crack, and realise you've done something bad to your back.
After a couple of days in pain, you decide to do something about it - perhaps see a physio or get a massage.
You might also look at Bowen Therapy, a technique used by some football teams to treat sore muscles.
Heather Hartley is a Bowen Therapist who has taken the concept a little further, and treats hard working farm animals like yard dogs.
Foreign investment in food
Sarina Locke
Where do you stand on foreign investment in the production of our food?
Despite vocal criticism of the current laws by some politicians, the National Farmers Federation and the
Australian Government are urging an open mind - and a realisation that Australia relies on Asia as an export market, and a producer of many processed foods. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/regions/senswgippsland/

Monday, April 2, 2012
Latest Report
Download this mp3 file
Wool market reflects economic downturn in high end
Wool broker Ben Litchfield says the auction market is reflecting the global economic downturn for high end goods as there is less demand and strength in the prices for the finer wool as buyers choose the lesser priced broader micron wools.
He is also a director of AWEX, the national wool auction system, and says the data is being collated after the end to the national trial of a change to wool roster selling days that was requested by major buyer China.
Keva Gocher speaking with Ben Litchfield of AWEX, Shute bell and Monaro Wool Services.
Fruit and vegetable discounting
Is anyone the winner in the supermarket discounting of fruit and vegetables when there is a harvest glut.
Kath Sullivans found shoppers have mixed views; William Churchill from AusVeg says the data will come in over a year; and Choice's Ingrid Just says cheap items entice buyers into the store and they spend up on other nondiscounted items.
Weather update from the mountains to the sea for S/E Australia across Gippsland and S/E NSW
Abundant Abalone
The current highly regulated, quota driven abalone shellfish sector has evolved due to over fishing globally that makes Australia one of the last wild fisheries of the much prized seafood for export markets to Asia.
Ros Butt looks through her fathers ledges of the late 1960's when he diversified his Eden based fishing and processing business to enter the export market.
He took trucks to Gippsland to buy abalone from the divers at Mallacoota.
She told Keva Gocher he paid up to 33 cents a pound for the meat that can now sell for $100 each.
On one occasion he wrote of buying 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) in one delivery from the divers.
Livestock market trends for Gippsland and S/E NSW
Over M$2 generated from Friday's annual calf sale at Cooma for sellers through the Will Dixon sale. The annual sales continue with 3 more for Monaro, 4 more for Gippsland and 3 at Braidwood. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/regions/westernvicsoutheastsa/
Monday, April 2, 2012

Latest Report
Steep CFI learning curve
Lucy Barbour
CFI - no it's not the name of a television series.
It's the Carbon Farming Initiative.
The idea that farmers can earn money by storing carbon and selling it to emitters such as electricity companies.
But there's a fair bit of confusion over it.
Agronomist Harm Van Rees says farmers aren't alone in being confused by the CFI because no-one don't fully understand the implications.
Farmers still grappling with CFI ideas
Lucy Barbour
Farmers are trying to get their heads around the the Carbon Farming Initiative, but it's very complex.
Farmer Keith Fisher from Taylor's Lake in the Wimmera says he's very confused.
Mixed-farmer Steven Hobbs, Douglas says he's starting to understand the carbon farming but wouldn't be confident enough yet to apply it to his property.
Wool report
Lucy Barbour
Wool broker Andrew Partridge says the Eastern Market Indicator has dropped again. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/11/468011_opinion-news.html
Leslie White | April 11, 2012
THE cost of farming will rise no matter who wins the next election, writes LESLIE WHITE
Both sides of politics have policies that will hurt farmers' hip pockets.
But there's a possibility a Coalition victory at the next election could see farmers slugged much more than they would be under a carbon price.
The Government's carbon price will see $24.5 billion taken from Australia's 480 biggest polluters
(but not farms) by 2015.

They'll pay about $24 a tonne for carbon pollution in the first three years but after 2015 the price will become a floating price, likely much lower as carbon is $10 a tonne on the global market.
Polluters will pass the cost on - electricity is expected to rise 10 per cent in the first few years.
The money will go to compensate workers, exposed industries and to boost clean energy - but affected dairy processors will not be compensated.
The Australian Farm Institute estimates that the average Victorian dairy farm will fork out an extra
$6054 in year one, sending total costs up 1.4 per cent.
The average Australian beef farmer will face an extra 0.6 per cent in total costs - $1563, the average
NSW grains farmer a 0.7 per cent increase in total costs equating to $3384 and the average
Australian sheep farm an extra $1254, and 0.6 per cent increase in costs.
The Carbon Farming Initiative provides indirect compensation - through planting trees, fencing off native forest or burning methane.
But carbon traders admit it's only worthwhile for some.
Then we have the Coalition's maternity leave scheme: a 1.5 per cent tax on 3300 companies including many with power over farmers: electricity, supermarkets, fertiliser and fuel companies; transport companies and food processors.
The Business Council of Australia admits companies will pass this tax on. The money will go to maternity leave entitlements, matching the wage of mothers making up to $150,000 for six months.
Some of the big companies will pay about the same for the maternity leave plan as they would for a carbon price - on the 2010 figures, Rio Tinto will fork out about $130 million a year for each scheme.
And small dairy processors who escaped the Government's carbon price will probably have to pay the Coalition's maternity leave tax - Bega and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, for example.
We don't know how much it will cost the average farmer because modelling hasn't been done (the
National Farmers' Federation should make this a priority), but $4.5 billion a year has to come from somewhere.
Now consider this: Liberal Leader Tony Abbott is unlikely to be able to remove a carbon price even if he wins government - and he knows it.
So the reality is we'd probably cop a carbon price and a maternity leave scheme, inflicting costs on
Australian farmers.
Farmers will be forking out no matter who wins the next election.
•Leslie White is The Weekly Times' national affairs reporter http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/11/468021_opinion-news.html
Editorial | April 11, 2012

AGRICULTURE seems to be an unwanted nuisance in the eyes of many bureaucrats.
From native vegetation laws to a new report into the impacts of stock on water catchments downstream, every government report seems to come from a biased position.
That position ranks agriculture a poor cousin behind almost every other interest group.
What is worse is this biased position masquerades as being informed by science.
Often, the science has not been done comprehensively, or governments have slashed research and development so a balanced scientific position is not presented.
This week, a new report into water quality was revealed, looking at the worst-case scenario risks involved with grazing stock in upper catchments.
In looking for the least-cost approach, the report recommends all young stock be removed from contact with any waterways.
Instead of canvassing the option of setting up water filtration plants, the report takes an idealist approach.
It calls for no livestock anywhere near a watercourse.
It wants wide native vegetation buffers planted and fenced off from the rest of the farmers' property.
Whether or not the farmer would be compensated for the lost production area, maintaining fencing and battling vermin and weeds that would also infest the buffer, is an after-thought.
Rutherglen farmer Ian Lobban is right when he says governments must listen to those who have a lifetime of knowledge about how Australia's ecosystem work.
He says we have to respect the hard-earned knowledge of farmers who have cared for the land and derived an income from it for generations.
If agriculture continues to be hamstrung by increasing levels of red tape, it might kill off the spirit of ingenuity and innovation that has sustained Australia's bush to date.
Maybe that is what the bureaucrats want. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/04/464501_opinion-news.html
Farming battles 'vote-buying'
April 4, 2012
Mine your business: Agriculture struggles to compete with political donations from big business, such as mining.
FARMERS must support Oakeshott's bid to change rules, writes LESLIE WHITE

Mining, supermarkets and forestry are slaughtering agriculture in the war to influence government policy.
These sectors are using direct lobbying; multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns and political
"donations".
But there's a window of opportunity to change the donation game.
The big end of town can afford to lobby directly by buying seats at political fundraising dinners and sending troops to Canberra.
The power they wield compels MPs to meet them.
For instance, Coles was in parliament recently justifying the fresh produce war and fuel "discounts" to Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig and Coalition MPs.
Mining billionaire "Twiggy" Forrest often wanders through the building, too.
Big industries and billionaires can also afford multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns.
These are used to mobilise voters against a government policy, to encourage the public to vote for a party friendly to the advertiser; or to sell the activities of, say, a supermarket or mining company to the public; quelling voter backlash.
Recent examples are Coles' ads starring Werribee vegetable grower John Said - aimed at giving the public a farmer-friendly impression of Coles - and the campaign against the mining tax.
Farm groups are hopelessly outgunned on this front, too, though the NSW Government recently capped political advertising by unions.
The third method of influence is direct and indirect political donations - but this could be changed.
Some $113 million was "donated" to the Coalition and $90 million to Labor in 2010.
Corporations and billionaires do not do this out of the goodness of their hearts.
Money is buying policy.
And this is where the playing field can be levelled.
Key independent Rob Oakeshott's agreement to support the Government requires political donation reform before the next election.
The National Farmers' Federation and other influential agriculture groups need to recognise the importance of this issue and push hard before the influence of the independents and Greens fades.
Australia's political donation laws are a disgrace.
Donations are not publicly revealed for up to 18 months and many are indirectly made via a third party so the real donor remains hidden.

Donations from corporations and unions should be banned and the true identity of all donors giving more than $1000 should be declared, similar to the new NSW system.
Perhaps a cap could be put on donations from individuals.
And donations should be made public so voters can decide what is driving party policies.
This would give us more open and informed policy debate.
The Government has a Bill before the senate, but it doesn't go nearly far enough.
The interests of mining, the supermarkets and forestry are often diametrically opposed to those of farming.
Mining projects are taking over farm land, keeping the dollar sky-high, costing jobs in agriculture
(according to its own research) and endangering ground water resources.
Wesfarmers and Woolworths wage price wars on farm produce and have replaced Australian produce with cheap imports.
The forestry sector's influence has seen managed investment schemes swallow farmland for 16 years.
And the coal sector avoided having to clean up its act when then PM John Howard banned farmers from clearing forest to save emissions instead.
Agriculture employs 3.3 per cent of Australians.
Mining employs about 2 per cent yet has more political influence.
Until political donation is reformed, rich sectors and big companies will continue to buy policy outcomes.
Agriculture does not have a Gina Rinehart to buy up media interests, a Forrest to fund advertising campaigns or a Clive Palmer to donate millions.
But it can fight for a fairer and more transparent political donation system.
If donation laws are improved, policy discussions may not be over before farm groups walk in the door. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/16/469521_grain-and-hay.html
GM crops inevitable: Farmers
| April 16, 2012
Backing GM: South Australian Farmers Federation president Peter White. Picture: Calum Robertson
GM crops in South Australia are inevitable because of the need to produce enough food for nine billion people in 40 years, farmers say.
South Australian Farmers Federation president Peter White said yesterday the only issue with GM technology in SA was the timing of its introduction.

"Worldwide, it is the fastest-growing new technology in the history of agriculture," Mr White said.
"If we are going to feed nine billion people we don't have much choice and the decision will be driven by economics and agronomic advantages."
His comments come as the GM-Free Australia Alliance meets in Adelaide with a panel of GM-free supporters and Senator Nick Xenophon holding a public forum tonight to push their case to maintain
SA's GM-free status.
Senator Xenophon says consumers are at risk until all GM ingredients are listed on every food label.
The SA senator is urging the State Government to maintain its GM ban on canola and other crops to protect SA's reputation, environment and public health.
"GM foods are not fully or adequately labelled so shoppers will be eating in the dark until all GM ingredients are on every label,'' the senator will tell the forum.
Gene Ethics executive director Bob Phelps will facilitate the forum and a question-and-answer session from 6.30pm at the Box Factory Community Centre, Regent St South, Adelaide.
Mr Phelps said a West Australian Supreme Court writ lodged by decertified organic farmer Steve
Marsh is evidence that GM canola contamination cannot be contained.
Mr Marsh claims his canola has been contaminated by a neighbour's crop, causing him to lose his organic farming status.
The forum will include Greens MLC Mark Parnell, Frances Murrell from MADGE (Mothers Are
Demystifying Genetic Engineering), Flinders University Associate Professor Judy Carman, Institute of
Health and Environmental Research director Dr Phil Davies and Network of Concerned Farmers spokesman Geoffrey Carracher.
Mr White said the introduction of GM crops would be relatively easy once the economic and agronomic advantages of GM crops became clear-cut.
"The pressure will be rapid and the argument to get rid of the moratorium will be overwhelming because you can't expect farmers to grow conventional crops and be disadvantaged," Mr White said.
"If we stay GM-free and take an agronomic and economic penalty we would have to be rewarded."
Mr White said South Australia was not getting any broader economic benefit from being GM-free, though Kangaroo Island farmers had latched on to specific markets. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/16/469581_business-news.html
Rural towns sacrificed in basin plan: councils
Sarah Scopelianos | April 16, 2012
THE Murray Darling Basin draft plan sacrifices rural Australia to satisfy city greenies, according to a collective of councils.

The Riverina and Murray Regional Organisation of Councils' submission to the draft plan outlines fears the region will fall into decline should the plan go ahead with the removal of irrigation water.
The council members include Albury, Balranald, Berrigan, Carrathool, Conargo, Corowa, Deniliquin,
Greater Hume, Griffith, Hay Jerilderie, Leeton, Murray, Murrumbidgee, Narrandera, Urana, Wakool and Wentworth.
The submission, to be hand-delivered to the authority today, outlines concerns that the plan will result in reduced food and fibre production, loss of Australian export income and further economic and social downturn in region communities.
The Federal Government is accused of having a lack of vision.
"Water is the lifeblood and by far the key economic driver for many parts of the southern basin region, and it is very difficult if not impossible to identify and attract alternative industries that can replace the severe loss of the economic and social fabric of those disadvantaged communities," the submission states.
"It is inconceivable that this Federal Government is simply prepared to sacrifice rural Australia as merely collateral damage, ostensibly to satisfy a political agenda of city-based extreme environmentalists, who have no concept of overall national interests."
RAMROC chairman Cr Terry Hogan told Weekly Times Now if the plan went ahead it would reduce the capacity of food and fibre producers being able to feed a growing global population.
"What our city cousins and politicans don't understand is it takes a huge amount of water to produce food, 135 litres for an egg, 40 litres for a slice of bread and 200 litres for a glass of milk," Cr
Hogan said.
"I always an optimist, I'm a half glass full type of person," Cr Hogan said when asked he if thought the authority was listening.
He said RAMROC and the Darling Basin Association were working together to produce a DVD to inform young people about the cycle of water.
Cr Hogan warned the flow on effects should the plan go ahead would result in less food being produced and increased prices.
"This will legislate a drought for the Murray Darling foodbowl and what for? So the minister can stand at the Murray Mouth and say the mouth has been open for nine out of ten years. What sort of legacy will that be?"
The submission calls for the draft's final adoption to be postponed for a review of the scientific research.
It also wants the authority to work with state governments, all environmental water buyback programs to be stopped, a plan of irrigation-based works to be identified and work to begin on projects to save water and a re-assessment of the current health of the river systems and the basin's catchments.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority has received more than 5000 submissions. The public comment period closes today. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/16/469531_business-news.html
Call for Aussie-made aisles in supermarkets
April 16, 2012
HIGH-profile South Australian businessmen, Glenn Cooper, has demanded supermarkets devote dedicated aisles to Australian-made food. He has demanded supermarkets devote dedicated aisles to Australian-made food to make it easier for consumers to buy local.
The chairman of Australia's biggest independent brewer, Coopers, wants laws to compel supermarkets to set aside a minimum quota of floor space for Australian-made food, which would help the nation's farmers survive in the face of cheap imports.
"It's not realistic for busy shoppers to read every label to see its country of origin before you put it in your trolley," Mr Cooper told the Sunday Mail from the Riverland, where he met with the region's growers as part of filming for Channel 7's Out Of The Blue program.
"So I think they (supermarkets) should be forced to have a certain amount of locally grown content and that it should appear in a clearly defined area designated for Australian-made products only.
"That may mean two milk areas, two butter areas but at least customers, when they choose something from that designated area, know they are buying Australian-made products," he said.
Mr Cooper, speaking in his role as deputy chairman of the Australian Made, Australian Grown campaign group, was confident his plan would not drive up shopping bills.
"Say, for example, it was 30-odd per cent," he said.
"Well, supermarkets may already have that level of Australian content of food as part of their normal stock but it's just not clearly defined as an area."
"Hopefully, enough people will get behind it to give some sort of leg up to our farmers who are, in many areas, being clobbered by imports.
"I've been told about a Mallee onion grower getting 4c/kg for his crop. These guys are continually under pressure to match cheaper import prices." Mr Cooper said he was not afraid to advocate for some level of protection for local industries.
"What is wrong with protecting our own industry to a certain degree?" he said. "I don't see anything wrong with that and most people would support it too, but our politicians, for some reason, don't want to."
His call for a greater representation of Australian-made food has been backed by the state's largest independent grocery retailer Roger Drake, who said he would consider rolling out such an initiative at 38 stores in South Australia.

"The plan might decrease supermarket margins but it shouldn't increase prices," he said. "We've got to keep our farmers and manufacturing alive and the way we're going with the chains bringing in goods from overseas we won't have any manufacturers or farmers in Australia left."
Ingrid Just, spokeswoman for consumer watchdog Choice, said the organisation supported providing clearer information to help shoppers choose Australian products.
"Consumers would like, where possible, to choose Australian products to support local growers," Ms
Just said.
"Consumers are certainly keen to understand where their food is from and it is important for that to be clearly on the label." http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/16/469431_business-news.html
Farms may need Asian labour: Report
April 16, 2012
AUSTRALIA will have to import workers and agriculture will be drained of knowledge as half the nation's farmers prepare to retire.
That's according to a report.
South Australia's Eyre Peninsula and the Mallee have been named in a KPMG submission to the
Federal Government as being among the hardest hit by retirees and workers leaving to take mining jobs.
Populations of two major South Australian farming regions, the Eyre Peninsula and the Mallee, have been named in a KPMG study as being among the hardest hit by retirements and young workers leaving to take jobs in the mining sector.
The KPMG submission to the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, warns that the average age of Australian farmers was 56 in 2011 and many had no succession plan or exit strategy.
The exodus of older farmers is also likely to lead to the listing of farms on the international property market and for sales to corporate investors and mining and resources companies as farmers look to boost retirement funds.
The dire predictions are supported by statistics gathered in 2008 when demand for labour in the agriculture sector was 407,000 workers, already 116,000 above supply.
The Productivity Commission also has conservatively estimated the sector will generate more than
32,000 new jobs annually.
''There is a considerable risk that there will be a lack of experienced farmers to train younger farmers who will be critical to driving productivity improvements and adapting to challenges such as climate change, increased competition and an increase on focus on the environmental impacts of farming,'' the report says. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/03/28/462121_opinion-news.html

Funding fairness eludes farmers
March 28, 2012
No help: Heinz is one of a number of companies whose closures have cost regional jobs.
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard must govern for all Australians, writes ANDREW BROAD
Why are we, the taxpayers of Australia, propping up a US-owned car manufacturer to the tune of
$215 million?
That's what Prime Minister Julia Gillard has "given" the US giant General Motors to keep its manufacturing plant operating in South Australia.
No one denies there's nothing more important to Australia's economy than jobs.
But what about the rest of us, especially in regional Australia, outside Adelaide's urban fringe?
What about the 340 workers who lost their jobs when Heinz Australia announced the closure of its food-processing plants at Girgarre, Wagga Wagga in NSW and Brisbane?
In the past two years we've also seen National Foods close its Berri juicing plant with the loss of 64 jobs and McCain Foods finally shut the gates at its Smithton vegetable processing plant in Tasmania with the loss of 115 jobs.
And most recently we saw SPC Ardmona close its Mooroopna factory forcing 150 workers out on to the street. All those pay cheques add up to a lot of money disappearing from our regional communities.
The point is the high Australian dollar, cheap imports, increased regulatory costs, restrictive labour laws and the carbon tax are crushing the food processing sector.
But does the PM and her team step in to help?
No. Labor's focus on the Holden plant is driven by one thing: votes.
General Motors' South Australian Holden plant sits slap bang in one of Labor's most crucial South
Australian electorates, Wakefield.
Wakefield was held by the Liberals until the Kevin '07 bandwagon rolled into town.
Look south of Wakefield on the Australian electoral map and you'll see a sea of pink ALP electorates:
Port Adelaide, Makin, Adelaide and Hindmarsh.
In fact look at the electorates surrounding Adelaide and you'll soon realise why Julia Gillard and her ministry give it so much attention. The ALP holds six of these nine urban and outer urban electorates.
It also helps explain why Victorian and NSW farmers struggle to gain Gillard's attention in the Murray
Darling Basin debate.

The bias extends to the Murray Darling Basin Authority, led by former NSW Labor Party heavyweight
Craig Knowles.
The Victorian Farmers Federation has been appealing to Mr Knowles to run a public forum on the draft plan in Victoria.
Those appeals have fallen on deaf ears.
But when the Greens and others recently called for a public meeting in Adelaide, Mr Knowles jumped to attention, promising to bring his staff to Adelaide on April 3.
Again the PM and her Environment Minister Tony Burke know Green preferences will be crucial to retaining those South Australian urban seats.
Julia Gillard needs to be reminded that she is meant to be governing for all Australians, not just the ones in Adelaide.
Every Australian worker, whether they work in a car-manufacturing plant or on a fruit-canning line in
Shepparton, needs support to maintain our diversified economy.
Regional communities feel their future is just as uncertain as those who are in marginal seats. To ignore regional Australia is short-sighted and damaging policy.
The Government will happily secure the next generation of Holden cars. But their commitment to the next generation of regional Australians seems much less certain.
•Andrew Broad is president of the Victorian Farmers Federation. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/12/466901_opinion-columnists.html
Future bleak for shedded wool
Brian Clancy | April 12, 2012 THE future looks bleak for ultrafine wool produced under housed or shedded conditions.
Not only has the price for the shedded fibre failed to cover production costs over the past two or three years, but the notion of housing sheep isn't something now supported by the Ermenegildo
Zegna Group, one of the world's major users and beneficiaries of the finest, softest and cleanest of
Merino wools.
Animal welfare concerns were paramount, said group chairman Paola Zegna, in Melbourne last week for the group's annual awards for superfine and ultrafine wool production.
While Australia's output of ultrafine 16.5-micron wool accounts for about 1.6 per cent of the total clip, housed ultrafine is down to less than 25 tonnes, with many producers opting to close down their sheds.
The awards, which this year included 750gm gold coin to Ed and Jill Hundy from Walcha, in NSW for their 10.6-micron fleece, are no doubt appreciated by the winners and, according to Mr Zegna, are designed to encourage production of the elite fibre.

That may be right, but most of the specialist producers would argue that the best encouragement is a sustainable and profitable market price.
"It is too big a word to say this market is in trouble," Mr Zegna said. "I know growers are complaining there is not enough price difference."
"My answer to them and Australian Wool Innovation is that specialty wools have to have a very special promotion," Mr Zegna said.
He said the group, which retails in 80 countries through more than 560 company and franchised stores, had recorded growth last year, despite the economic woes in Europe.
He said China was now their best market, although the US remained their biggest volume market.
While high-quality men's suits, which retail from $2500-$4500, have long been the hallmark of the company, Mr Zegna said its apparel market was now equally divided between formal and casual wear.
He said the group was the No.1 Woolmark licensee under the former International Wool Secretariat.
But despite 47 years with a continual licence, none of their garments carried a Woolmark label.
"Our brand is a little more ahead of the Woolmark," Mr Zegna said.
So why hold a Woolmark licence?
"It's to encourage wool promotions," he said. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/12/467611_opinion-columnists.html
Surge in canola price
April 12, 2012 LAST week's $30 a tonne surge in new crop canola prices has been sustained.
Canola and other oilseeds appear well supported at present.
The detrimental impact of the South American drought on soybean production has been well publicised, yet private analysts continue to downgrade their production forecasts.
Further to last week's price jump, contracts for next harvest are now an additional $3 higher at
$565/tonne delivered to the port of Geelong.
The soybean harvest is just starting in Argentina with about 6 per cent of the crop harvested.
Shipping activity appears to be affecting canola prices with old crop canola lifting $11 to $542/tonne delivered to Portland.
Prices paid for wheat by exporters and domestic end users were generally higher last week compared to the week before.
Notably H2 and AGP wheat delivered to Portland were both $3 higher at $210 and $186/tonne respectively.

The benchmark wheat prices on the US futures market fell 3 per cent or about $A7 last week.
This was in response to rain in the dry wheat production areas of Europe and a decline in commodity markets impairing the confidence of investors.
Looking back on the four months since harvest, coarse grain prices have changed little.
In early December, exporters were bidding $210/tonne for APW wheat delivered to Geelong.
At the same time, domestic feed manufacturers were prepared to pay as much as $208/tonne for
ASW wheat delivered to their plant in the Melbourne delivery region.
Since then prices have been flat.
Fortunate growers may have realised an APW price as high as $215 at port, paid by an exporter eager to fill a ship.
Also, domestic buyers have not needed to extend their prices too far from the prevailing base prices to secure supplies. The underlying market for ASW wheat is much the same as it was four months ago.
The sobering realisation has hit most growers that wheat prices are not likely to see a $20 rise any time soon.
While prices have not slipped away as much as they did in the same period up to April of 2009, 2010 and even 2011, the market has not worked in favour of those paying to store their grain in warehouse this season.
Grain sellers are about $5.10 worse off for not selling grain at harvest.
As wheat prices underpin the prices paid for all domestic energy grains in southeastern Australia, a similar trend has occurred for other cereal grains such as barley and triticale.
Looking back at the same four months over the past 10 years, prices for domestic stock feed wheat have risen as many times as they have fallen.
Interestingly, the 10-year average of the price change for this four month period has been a fall of
$6/tonne. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/12/467601_horticulture.html
Seed field days coming up
Sandra Godwin | April 12, 2012 AT LEAST four seed companies will hold open days and field walks across southern Victoria this month.
Clause Pacific will hold its open field-days at Templestowe on April 15-16.
Lefroy Valley will have about 120 salad lines on show on April 19-20, at 945 Dandenong-Frankston
Rd, Carrum Downs.

Fairbanks Seeds will also have a salad-mix field day on the property of Peter Lowe, at 298 Glasscocks
Rd, Lyndhurst, on April 19-20.
The Bejo open days will be held at 460 Hall Rd, Skye, on April 19-20.
Outbreak fear
CHEMICAL control programs are continuing across regional Victoria in a bid to control more than 100 outbreaks of Queensland fruit fly.
Most outbreaks are in North East Victoria, the Goulburn Valley and Sunraysia regions.
Citrus growers in the Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area affected by a QFF outbreak must apply for a
Department of Primary Industries permit to allow the movement of fruit out of the zone. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/vic/content/2012/04/s3478462.htm
Community wraps up its thoughts on Murray-Darling water reform
By Arlie Felton-Taylor, Laurissa Smith, Warwick Long,
Monday, 16 April 2012 Senator Bill Heffernan chairs a Senate committee into the management of the Murray Darling Basin in Mildura. (Deb O'Callaghan)
In southern Queensland the state's portion of the Murray-Darling Basin covers 15 per cent of the state and a quarter of the overall Basin.
It's known as the headwaters of the system is rich in grain, horticulture and livestock production - and often attracts attention for the headline grabbing water resources of cotton grower Cubbie
Station.
It's also home to the burgeoning - and controversial - coal seam gas industry.
For Queensland farmers, their views are as divided as the river systems that split the land and flow south into NSW.
Many feel they're unfairly blamed for the Basin's declining health - while floodplain graziers agree with environmental groups that the river systems are overused.
But in the latest round of consultations by the Murray Darling Basin Authority, the stoic notion of getting on with the job seems to be the view of most.
The will of Queenslanders appears to be to work with the Murray Darling Basin Authority - though whether the new state government will come to the federal party is another question.
In the Riverina of NSW - the southern part of the Murray Darling Basin - agriculture, including cotton, horticulture, rice and wine, is a billion dollar business.
So it's no wonder irrigation communities are so outspoken on water reform when livelihoods rest on the outcome.
In 2010, farmers in Griffith captured national attention when they burnt copies of the Basin Plan guide.

Tensions are still simmering a year on.
Alongside irrigators - community leaders, priests, doctors and school children - stood up to address
Water Minister Tony Burke at the most recent community meetings.
They told him the draft Basin Plan, was essentially a man-made drought - which would shrink their towns, cripple small business and send families away.
Lobby groups and irrigators say that detail is missing from the draft Basin Plan - and no one is happy.
Some want it scrapped, others want it delayed and those outside agriculture believe this once in a life time opportunity to fix the basin's environmental problems will be squandered with the proposed water returns.
In Victoria there's also farmer and government anger at the current proposed plan.
The Farmers Federation in that state wants more evidence - and a better explanation of the science.
The state government has joined its NSW counterpart in saying it won't commit to the plan in its current form.
For communities the limbo continues.
South Australia's irrigation region produces mainly citrus and wine grapes - but for several years it has cost more to pick these crops, than for what growers can sell them.
Regardless of prices, what irrigators here really want, is security.
South Australian River Communities was established two years ago, to form a united response to the
Murray Darling Basin Plan.
It feels South Australian irrigators should be rewarded in the plan, for being pro-active and efficient with water.
The state's water allocations were capped in 1969 - and as irrigated horticulture across the country grew bigger, South Australia remained stagnant.
To compensate, the state's irrigators led the way installing more efficient infrastructure - a path that's seen them miss out on Government money in recent years.
South Australian irrigators accept that under a Basin Plan, some communities will face water cuts and they want funding to help them adjust.
They also want a healthy river, but are leaving the figures to the experts.
How that will play out in a political sense is still unknown - while the New South Wales and Victorian government's reject the plan for returning too much water to the environment - South Australia's government wants more water, to restore the health of the Lower Lakes, Coorong and Chowilla floodplains http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3476737.htm

'Free to roam' chicken case in Federal Court
By Will Ockenden
Friday, 13/04/2012
Chicken meat company Baiada has defended claims from the consumer watchdog that it has been deceptive and misleading when labeling chicken meat.
Lawyers for the company have started wrapping up their arguments in the Federal Court in Melbourne, in the
ACCC's case against the term "free to roam".
Baiada sells chicken meat under the Steggles brand.
The ACCC claims that's misleading for consumers, as chickens are stocked in sheds at 32 kilos per square metre before they're taken away for processing.
Biadia's lawyers have told the court that chickens naturally cluster and that clustering doesn't mean they can't move around if they want to.
The ACCC has already settled with chicken mean company La Ionica, which admitted liability over the term last year. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3478460.htm
Coles finalises deal with Bega Cheese
By Sarina Locke
Monday, 16/04/2012
It's official - Coles brand cheese is made at the Bega Cheese factories, but Bega Cheese says the two products are different.
The two companies have finalised the deal which runs for the next five years.
It starts with 19,000 tonnes of cheese a year in a deal worth over $100 million a year to Bega Cheese.
The cheese will be largely Victorian, a product from the Coburg plant in Melbourne, and Bega Cheese says it will not be exactly the same product as its own Bega Cheese brands.
The cheese and butter company says the deal ensures 70 million litres of Australian, not New Zealand, milk is bought for the Coles cheese. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3478990.htm
Too dry for sheep farmers in western Victoria
By Lucy Barbour
Tuesday, 17/04/2012
Sheep farmers in western Victoria are having to buy in feed for their livestock because conditions have been so dry.
Some of the feed is turning blue, which means the grass is starting to go brown.
Farmer Tom Silcock, from Balmoral, says it'll affect his cash flow at the end of the year.

"We're buying a load of barley a week, so drive around the paddocks throwing dollar bills over our shoulder," he said
"We're in the vicinity of $5,000 or $6,000 a week we're putting out on our home property." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3476580.htm
All smiles for Gippsland farmers
By Kath Sullivan
Friday, 13/04/2012
This is the best autumn Victorian farmer Trent Anderson can remember.
He says his farm at Darriman, between Sale and Yarram in Gippsland, has never looked so healthy, with plenty of feed available, moisture in the soil and water in the dams.
He says after eight years of drought, the district's farmers are now all smiles, even if it means learning how to get out of a bog again.
"These are the seasons those old fellas talk about in the 50s, I think," he said.
"It's just a sea of grass, green all over, it's early in the year.
"We've had feed since early in the year and I think the biggest thing... last year we had feed but the stock weren't fat; this year everything is just mud fat." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2012/s3470216.htm
Grain dryer helps farmer grow more cornGrain dryer helps farmer grow more corn
By Warwick LongTuesday, 3 April 2012
A new grain dryer standing tall on a farm in the Goulburn Valley. (Warwick Long)
A family wanting to grow more corn in Victoria's Goulburn Valley has imported new equipment from
America to help them do so.
Craig Reynolds sees a future growing corn but the crop which grows over summer and is harvested in autumn, can be too wet when it needs to be harvested.
"It just doesn't get dry enough here," Mr Reynolds said.
That's why he decided to import a grain dryer.
The massive piece of equipment stands tall on his Goulburn Valley farm and for two months a year, will work hard to dry a precious harvest so it can be stored and sold.
The dryer has large gas burners at the bottom of a tall steel structure.
It works by burning gas and as the hot air rises (assisted by fans) it warms the grain and helps it to dry.

"The grain can be up to 22 or 23 per cent moisture and that needs to be dried straight away," he said.
"We need to get it down to 14 per cent."
Mr Reynolds first saw the grain dryer in a factory at Minneapolis in the USA on a grains industry study tour.
Already using a small grain dryer, he decided to get bigger and import the machine to help him grow more corn.
"There is a lot of land that is not doing at lot in the Goulburn Valley at the moment that has got water available," he said.
"People ask me about growing corn and I say it's good but if you can't dry the grain you can't really grow it."
The process to buy and build the grain dryer is estimated at $300,000.
By giving farmers the ability to grow another crop on a large scale it is believed it will pay for itself. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/finance/victoria-pushes-for-foreign-farmregister/2523757.aspx
Victoria pushes for foreign farm register
DARREN GRAY, THE AGE
17 Apr, 2012 09:00 AM
ALL proposed purchases by foreign buyers of farms valued at $5 million and above would be scrutinised by the Foreign Investment Review Board, under a proposed overhaul of foreign ownership rules being pushed by Victorian farmers.
The annual conference of the Victorian Farmers Federation, to be held this week, will debate the suggested $5 million threshold, along with a call for a register to list all Australian farmland and water assets owned by foreign people and enterprises.
Farmers believe that there is not enough information on how much farmland and water assets are now in foreign hands.
With considerable disquiet in the bush over the power of cashed-up foreign buyers in the market place, the proposed overhaul of foreign investment rules is likely to be one of the most intensely debated topics at the meeting. Federation vice-president Peter Tuohey said the proposed rule changes, generated by the VFF's farm business and regional development committee, would almost certainly be adopted as VFF policy.
Under current Australian laws, the investment review board only considers proposed private foreign investment in local agricultural assets when the asset is valued at $244 million and above. For prospective private buyers from America, the threshold is in excess of $1 billion.

However, all proposed purchases by foreign government-controlled entities are considered by the board, regardless of the asset's worth.
Mr Tuohey said farmers are worried that foreign buyers are artificially inflating the price of farmland, in some cases by as much as 20 per cent, because they have enormous sums of money to spend and a desire to buy high-quality Australian farms. Their deep pockets made it hard for locals, especially young farmers trying to buy their first farms, to compete.
''There's a huge amount of concern out there. And it all comes down to a lack of understanding of what's happening, I suppose, and again the implications of it. How it will affect their communities,''
Mr Tuohey said.
''We don't want to totally stop foreign investment, we just want to have a serious look at the impacts of foreign investment.
''It's where it's preventing local farmers buying that land and young farmers buying that land. So we're not totally against foreign investment, there's certainly a place and there will always be a place for foreign investment,'' he said.
A spokesman for the Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury, said the federal government understood
''that there are some community concerns about foreign investment in agriculture, which is exactly why we have already acted to boost transparency in this area.''
The spokesman said the government would expand the agricultural census and statistical data collection by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, to get more information on foreign ownership in agriculture.
''The government will continue to monitor foreign investment in agriculture to ensure that we continue to attract foreign investment and support Australian agriculture, while also ensuring that particular investments are not contrary to Australia's national interest,'' he said.
Last year, The Age reported that foreign buyers won investment review board approval to buy $650 million of Victorian agricultural, forestry or fishing assets in the 2009-10 financial year.
The cash splurge applied to just four proposed purchases. But in the four years prior to 2009-10, no board approvals were given for an agricultural, fishery or forestry purchase in Victoria. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/dairy/general/milk-war-gives-rise-to-morepermeate/2523729.aspx?storypage=1
Milk war gives rise to more permeate
MARIS BECK AND MARK HAWTHORNE, SMH
17 Apr, 2012 07:55 AM
AS THE milk wars between supermarkets have reduced margins for milk producers, industry sources say permeate is increasingly being used by producers to reduce the cost per litre.

Just how much permeate - which is cheaper than fresh milk and can be used to moderate fat levels - is used has been a closely held secret of the dairy industry.
In 2008 a number of NSW farmers accused the milk industry of adding up to 12 per cent permeate to milk to cut its production cost.
Internal documents from Australia's biggest supplier, National Foods - which makes Pura, Big M,
Dairy Farmers and supplies both Woolworths and Coles brand milk - reveal its milk now contains up to 16.43 per cent permeate. One document, labelled ''permeate cost savings'', reveals up to $22,960 can be saved by adding 16 per cent permeate to the production of 350,000 litres of whole milk. This shaves almost 16 per cent of the cost off the price of production, and does not have to be disclosed on the label.
In Australia, the food standards code allows producers to dilute milk with "milk components", such as permeate, as long as the total fat level remains at least 3.2 per cent (for full-cream milk) and the protein at least 3 per cent (for any milk). Natural milk has a fat level of 4 per cent.
There are no known health risks associated with adding permeate to milk.
Not only does its addition to milk reduce costs, but it eliminates the need to dispose of the permeate.
According to the industry consultant Dairymark: ''Increasingly stringent environmental regulations means that discarding the [permeate] material in waterways is no longer an option for most companies.''
A Dairymark report recommends the industry should change its view of permeate to "a rich source of dairy carbohydrate, rather than a more orthodox view on permeate as a waste stream that is proving problematic in disposal terms".
The chief executive of A2 Milk, Peter Nathan, who said none of his milk contained permeate, described the substance as a "lemony-green liquid substance; it's certainly not attractive''. He said consumers were "being led to believe that milk they are drinking is pure milk. It's not".
Mr Nathan said supermarket "milk wars" put pressure on producers to boost permeate levels.
The leaked documents, which cover 2007 and 2008, also show the percentage of permeate added varies each month.
According to the industry body Dairy Australia, permeate is green in colour because of the Vitamin B in milk.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said: "This is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. We contract our own brand milk to numerous suppliers around the country and we are confident that they are delivering a product that matches the nutritional panel."

A Coles spokesman said: "Coles brand milk is made to the same high standards as branded milk lines, and in no way has the quality of our milk been altered as a result of our milk price cuts in January
2011." http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/political/ghosts-of-green-schemespast/2523773.aspx?storypage=0
Ghosts of green schemes past
PHILLIP COOREY, SMH
17 Apr, 2012 08:45 AM
THE Greens leader, Christine Milne, has demanded the government reconsider the job cuts being imposed on the public service, saying it risked bungling the rollout of the carbon tax.
In an interview with the Herald yesterday, Senator Milne said the government's record in rolling out green schemes such as green loans and solar rebates was not good and it could ill-afford to bungle the biggest of them all.
''In the area of climate change we have just developed a huge, comprehensive, internally consistent package to respond to the climate crisis,'' she said. ''It has four pillars: renewable energy, energy efficiency, the carbon farming initiative and emissions trading.
''This is a highly complex field; it's going to be the biggest reform of this government and the one that in history will be looked back upon as a significant achievement of this term of government.
''Do not compromise our ability to roll it out in a robust way by reducing the workforce that enables that outcome, given the experience we have had with the rollout of many green programs, especially green loans.''
Senator Milne was referring to the so-called efficiency dividend imposed across the public sector at the last budget, forcing each department to cut its expenses by a further 1.5 per cent a year.
Next financial year that dividend will be 2.5 per cent, except for cultural institutions.
The public sector has begun shedding thousands of jobs.
The Department of Climate Change has said 300 jobs will go, and the Education Department has signalled 500 retrenchments.
Senator Milne said the education cuts flew in the face of the government's stated commitment to building the skills of the national workforce.
She said she would use her first leader-to-leader meeting with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, possibly today, to argue against the cuts, which are part of the government's drive to return the budget to surplus in 2012-13.
Senator Milne wants the dividend removed altogether for cultural institutions.

She said she shared the view of many mainstream economists that the surplus was a political target.
Turning a forecast $37 billion deficit for this year into a forecast $1.5 billion surplus next year would require cost-cutting so severe it could drive areas of the non-mining sector into recession, she said.
Treasury's growth predictions ''did not stand up'', and ''if you're going to take this level of spending out of circulation, several of the economists have warned of recession in south-east Australia''.
Senator Milne reaffirmed the Greens would not pass legislation granting a 1 per cent company tax cut. The Greens would block the benefit for all companies with an annual turnover of more than $2 million.
She said she would renegotiate this only if the government dropped its surplus ambition. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/finance/ag-not-invited-to-businessforum-table/2520998.aspx
Ag not invited to business forum table
17 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
The National Farme rs’ Federation (NFF) has expressed its disappointment at agriculture being excluded from the
Australian Government’s inaugural Business Advisory Forum, held in Canberra last week.
NFF president Jock Laurie said while the bulk grain handling and storage sector was invited to the table, the wider agricultural industry was a notable omission.
“The forum focuses on lifting productivity, driving investment, ensuring competition and progressing regulatory reform – all key issues that the agricultural sector, and the NFF, is focused on,” Mr Laurie said.
“Productivity growth, for instance, is of critical importance for our farmers. Historically, the growth in the farm sector in Australia has consistently outperformed other sectors
– but this has slowed in recent times, showing the urgent need for increased research and development to ensure our sector can meet the needs of the booming world population.
“And red tape continues to be an enormous issue for agriculture. The NFF is active in outlining areas of reform that can reduce some of the regulatory burden from our farmers – areas like freight transport of agricultural goods, environmental application processes for on-farm developments and reforms around chemical use approvals and food safety regulations – all of which are currently too cumbersome and complex.
“Farmers have much to contribute to a forum on business in Australia – and the decision not to include agriculture could be interpreted as the Government not recognising or valuing the contribution of farming to the
Australian economy.
“Australia’s farm exports earn the country some $32.5 billion a year, while the wider agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors earn the country $36.2 billion in exports. >From this perspective, we challenge the Government to find other industries that are more acutely affected by the highly Australian dollar than agriculture.
“If the Government is serious about a commitment to the food and fibre sector, then agriculture needs to be at the table. We have raised our concerns directly with the Government today, and we trust that it will not make this oversight in future meetings of the Business Advisory Forum
– or indeed, any other forum designed to influence the future architecture of the Australian economy,” Mr Laurie said. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/political/river-plan-a-drain-on-vicfarming/2522064.aspx
River plan a drain on Vic farming

DARREN GRAY, THE AGE
16 Apr, 2012 07:56 AM
AGRICULTURAL production in just three key sectors in northern Victoria could be slashed by almost $120 million a year if the water cuts proposed by the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan are implemented, the Victorian government has warned in its formal response to the plan.
The impact of substantial falls in the value of agriculture could cascade through the economy, threatening country schools, medical facilities and shops, it says. Towns would suffer as residents drifted away and unemployment would rise, the submission warns.
It also says that the most affected sector in dollar terms would be the northern Victorian dairy industry - rebounding after the drought with production rising and farms reopening - which could lose annual production of
$54 million.
Tens of millions of dollars could also be wiped from other sectors including mixed grazing ($38 million), and the grape industry ($24 million).
''These declines in agricultural production are likely to significantly reduce social cohesion, levels of income, access to other sources of finance, and human capital. This can in turn reduce productivity and capacity to manage agricultural land,'' it says.
''The Basin Plan is likely to result in significant shifts in service availability and use, such as reduced viability of some schools, shops, medical facilities and allied health services.
These effects could also be expected to be accompanied by a general decline in community confidence, optimism, health and perceived wellbeing,'' says the submission, which will be presented to the Murray-Darling
Basin Authority today.
The document does not estimate the impact of the draft basin plan on major horticulture industries such as citrus and stone fruit, but Victorian Water Minister Peter Walsh said that these sectors would also suffer.
While the submission estimates the production losses for three key agricultural sectors at almost $120 million, Mr
Walsh said the economic impact would be far greater than that sum, because the forgone $120 million would not be flowing through the economy creating a ''multiplier effect'' as it was spent again and again.
The Victorian government argues that the social and economic costs of the proposed plan - which proposes to boost environmental flows down the river system by 2750 gigalitres - are far too high. It says it rejects the plan in its current form.
The submission lists six key reasons why the Victorian government opposes the draft plan. They include the that the transfer of so much water to the environment each year would have ''too great an impact on regional communities and industries'' and the authority did not adequately investigate other options for achieving environmental outcomes with less water.
Public consultation on the basin plan closes today. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/grains-and-cropping/general/horsham-plots-forsuccess/2522898.aspx
Horsham plots for success
GREGOR HEARD
17 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
MANAGING a large scale trial plot is a complex task. There are thousands of trial plots being grown and data to be collected, all requiring time and effort.

The farm supervisor at Horsham Plant Breeding Centre, run by the Victorian DPI west of Horsham, says, however, in spite of the differences, it is still a working farm.
Darryl Blair says the 520ha property, which has 190ha of irrigation, is run very much along working lines.
“We do a lot of trial work here, such as pulse variety trials, fungal disease trials and the FACE (Free Air Carbon
Enrichment) program, but to allow the trials to be accurate, we have to run the trial bays as you would paddocks.
“The trials cannot take place year after year on the same area, so part of my job is to manage the rotations and plant appropriate crops in the years between the trial work.”
Mr Blair said the breeding centre attempted to cost-offset by selling its products.
“We try and work like a commercial farm – so we will plant commercial crops in the areas not being used for a trial.
“It’s a way to recoup some of the costs of the trials.”
Mr Blair is responsible for allocating space to the various trial projects.
There are DPI trials, along with variety trials from private seed breeders such as AGT and Intergrain.
Bruce Holding, who is involved in pulse breeding work, said the site was crucial in creating new lines.
“We get a lot of feedback as to how promising lines will perform in the paddock out here in our trials.”
Mr Blair said there could be up to 150ha of trials planted in any one year, with 50ha of that irrigated.
He said different trials had different requirements, in terms of space, type of preparation and in-season management.
Generally, a rotation will run trial-cereal-pulse-trial.
“A fallow phase is also good, but because we are trying to cover costs it is often difficult to do this.”
Mr Blair said it was a difficult juggling act in getting every trial running smoothly, together with keeping stakeholders informed.
“There’s a lot to do, and there’s also a lot of paperwork!”
On the irrigation side, the centre is allocated 100 megalitres a month from the nearby treatment dam.
“We don’t really have too many problems with water, in fact we reduced our dam level over the summer so there’s room to store the inflows in winter. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/black-saturday-bushfire-suit-seeks-
22m/2523848.aspx
Black Saturday bushfire suit seeks $22m
ANDREA PETRIE, THE AGE
17 Apr, 2012 09:17 AM
THE Victorian government is seeking more than $22 million in compensation from an electricity company and its maintenance contractor it deems responsible for destroying or damaging schools, parks and roads in the deadly
Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire on Black Saturday.

The fire - the deadliest in the state on Black Saturday, and which claimed more lives than any other bushfire in
Australia's history - killed 119 people, destroyed 1242 homes and burned a total of 125,383 hectares.
In a writ lodged yesterday in the Victorian Supreme Court, the state government and several government agencies claim the power company, SPI Electricity, trading as SP AusNet, and its contractor, Utility Services
Corporation Limited, breached their duty of care by failing to maintain the power line which it claims caused the fatal blaze on February 7, 2009.
The Bushfires Royal Commission found ''electrical failure'' had caused the fire after a faulty fitting was used to attach it to a power pole.
The single-wire earth return (SWER) electricity line is believed to have been felled in high winds about 11.47am, igniting a fire in grassland adjoining pine plantations near Saunders Road, Kilmore East.
The writ claims that as the owner/operator of the SWER line, SPI Electricity had the ''ultimate responsibility'' and should have ''reasonably foreseen that a discharge of electricity from the SWER line could cause a fire … [which] could spread over a wide geographic area''.
It also states the contractor had a duty to take ''reasonable care'' when maintaining the power line to avoid the risk of damage to state property, but failed to inspect and maintain the power line with ''due care, skill and diligence''.
This failure caused the bushfire, the state alleges.
The royal commission found that the wire that broke was probably installed 43 years ago and a line inspection carried out in February 2008 had failed to identify an incorrect fitting.
The Kilmore East blaze was among five of the 11 major fires that broke out on Black Saturday that were caused by ''failed electricity assets'', the commission found. The others were in Beechworth-Mudgegonga, Horsham,
Coleraine and Pomborneit-Weerite.
The writ claims that multiple government-owned properties were affected by the Kilmore East fire.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is claiming almost $6 million, the secretary of the Department of Sustainability and Environment is seeking almost $8.5 million, Parks Victoria just over $2 million and VicRoads more than $6 million.
SP AusNet has denied negligence and instead, has blamed the Country Fire Authority and other government agencies for failing to contain the blaze.
The company says that its conduct was ''at all times reasonable, in compliance with technical regulations and reasonable in light of economic regulations applicable''.
The company is controlled by Singapore government-backed Singapore Power. Last year, SP AusNet reported a profit of $253 million.
Meanwhile, almost 1500 people have now joined a multimillion-dollar Black Saturday class action being run by
Maurice Blackburn regarding the Kilmore East blaze, which is scheduled to go to trial next January. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/calls-to-ban-new-fossil-fuelprojects/2521037.aspx
Calls to ban new fossil fuel projects
16 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
As Victoria faces a wave of exploration licences for coal seam gas (CSG), coal, and tight gas, there is growing opposition to this industry. “Community groups have formed across the ‘coal belt’ of southern Victoria, from the

Otways to Wonthaggi to Toongabbie” said Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator Cam Walker. “Clearly local farmers and residents do not want to see their lands and water sacrificed for short term fossil fuel development.”
“In Queensland and New South Wales there is a massive community backlash against the CSG industry” said
Merry n Redenbach, spokesperson for Quit Coal. “Elsewhere in Australia, governments and individual members of parliament are standing up against the growth of CSG exploration and new coal mining in rural and urban areas. Locally, the Bass Coast Council has called for a ban on mining and gas operations, and Liberal MP Ken
Smith has supported this demand”.
Mr Walker said “the only response from the government of Ted Baillieu has been to increase opportunities for further coal development. Just this week it was reported that the Baillieu government is working on a strategy to try to head off community objections to its plans to develop Victoria’s brown coal reserves.”
An alliance of 34 groups has today called on the Victorian government to ban all new on-shore coal and unconventional gas operations until there has been a thorough investigation into the likely impacts of this industry on: water resources, farmland and food security, local communities and natural biodiversity, and greenhouse emissions.
Sue Anderson, a dairy farmer from near Bunyip, said “the industry needs to provide guarantees for the integrity of aquifers and surface water before it is allowed to proceed. Blind Freddy could see that mining is detrimental to the production of food. In a competition between food and coal seam gas, food has to win.”
“In the specific case of our area in West Gippsland, any government that approves CSG operations where 15% of Melbourne's food is produced must be both barking mad and broke”.
Community member from Toongabbie, Tracey Anton, said “rural communities, state wide, are forming powerful alliances with environmental organisations against new mining explorations and development. Why? Because in our time of need, they are the only ones there to answer our questions. To prevent the social and economic erosion of our communities, will Government and Industry work with us or against us?"
“The government is pretending there is no problem with new fossil fuel developments in Victoria” said Mr Walker.
“Recent revelations that it is considering new coal allocations shows that they are out of step with community sentiment across rural Victoria. It is time they made their posi tion clear: will they support a call for a moratorium?” http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/dpi-cuts-could-swing-ruralvote/2519568.aspx
DPI cuts could swing rural vote
GREGOR HEARD
16 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
THE BAILLEU government will have to lift its performance in rural areas if it is not to suffer a Kennett-like swing against it in the next state election, according to VFF president Andrew Broad.
Speaking after the announcement of a host of cuts to the state’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) last week, Mr Broad said country residents were beginning to feel the government was not delivering for them.
“Patience is wearing thin in regards to the government continually looking at rural areas for budget cuts.”
“I acknowledge expenditure on public servants has blown out, but there is a return on investment in agriculture that is not there in other areas -
$8.1 billion worth of exports a year is testament to that.”

Mr Broad said the current government needed to show some leadership in regards to agriculture.
“The last State government did manage to put in place some good schemes for agriculture, including the first farmer grant, the Wimmera Mallee pipeline and they were good in terms of help with the locust plague.
“In contrast, there was very little help from the current government with last year’s mouse plague, and promised help regarding sta mp duty has actually seen a hardening of their position.”
Regarding the proposed cuts, which will axe 20pc of the DPI workforce, Mr Broad said DPI played a crucial role in areas such as biosecurity and extension work.
“We feel there needs to be adequate resources available should a biosecurity crisis arrive.”
In terms of extension, Mr Broad acknowledged the increasing role of private extension work through organisations such as Birchip Cropping Group and Southern Farming Systems, but argued this work needed to be augmented by public investment.
“If the Bailleu government are not careful they will be a one-term government.
“Looking at the polls on a Federal level, its likely the Coalition will win that, and I can see rural people looking to get some balance and voting out the state government.”
He urged the state government to showcase its vision for agriculture and also called on agriculture minister Peter
Walsh to start championing his portfolio.
“Peter is a strong man, but rather than delivering tough messages to the agriculture industry, we need him to be arguing our case in Cabinet.” http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/wool/general/national-success-for-vic-woolclassers/2521034.aspx
National success for Vic woolclassers
15 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
Holly Byrne, Bagshot, has proved she has an eye for fibre, taking out the inaugural AWEX National Graduate
Woolclasser of the Year competition during the Sydney Royal Easter Show on Saturday.
The AWEX National Graduate Woolclasser of the Year award acknowledges the skills required to be a professional woolclasser in today's wool industry.
In winning the competition, Ms Byrne received a "Golden Stencil" trophy, $500 and an invitation to attend a 2012
Masterclasser course.
AWEX chief executive officer Mark Grave said Ms Byrne's performance, along with the 11 other finalists, was outstanding.
"Holly displayed confidence under pressure and the ability to make effective decisions throughout the competition," he said.
"We're delighted at the high standard and evenness of the competition which highlights the depth of talent and skill of the next generation of Australian woolclassers.
"The wool industry today is a professional industry and one where woolgrowers should be using trained woolclassers to maximise their returns.
"This event will now be a permanent fixture in the Australian wool calendar and one that all graduate woolclassers can aspire to."

Runner-up went to Carmen-Lee Campbell, Dubbo, NSW, while third place was awarded to Thornall Burey,
Guyra, NSW.
The national competition initiated by the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) in conjunction with TAFE is aimed at raising the profile of woolclassing as an important Australian profession.
Finalists in the national competition were the best graduate woolclassers from around the country representing
Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and Western Australia.
At the same event, the Dennis Teasdale Perpetual Trophy, which recognises the college and trainer of the competition winner, was awarded to Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE (BRIT) and trainer Jim Field.
This trophy acknowledges the important contribution the college and trainer play in woolclasser education and the pursuit of excellence.
"This is an outstanding and deserved achievement for BRIT and Jim Field," Mr Grave said.
"The Bendigo region has a rich heritage in wool and it is a fruitful area for well trained and skilled people in the wool industry." http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/dairy/general/milk-destiny-rings-true-at-oldina/2518471.aspx
Milk destiny rings true at Oldina
LOUISE PREECE
13 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
MATT and Andy Jackman have always said being a price taker places you in the unforgiving firing line of milk price volatility. It is one of the main reasons the Jackmans decided to draft a business plan to process their own milk and cheese on-farm. But their property at Kerang had not been exactly profitable during the drought, which limited any future business decisions. "We just could not justify setting up our own factory back then," Mrs
Jackman said. So, at the pinnacle of the drought in northern Victoria, the couple made a hasty decision to pack their suitcases and move to the high-rainfall area of north-western Tasmania. They bought a 155-hectare farm at
Oldina, which has 120 megalitres of water and in a good year can clock up to 1600 millimetres of rain.
"Water politics is so different here – it's a lot simpler," Mrs Jackman said.
"Water is certainly plentiful around here."
Climate reliability appears to have been a huge saviour.
Three years on, the Jackmans' dream of opening a milk, cheese and yoghurt factory has come true.
Red tape threatened their goals but did not stop them.
"We're the sort of people who get a vision and go for it," Mrs Jackman said.
"You can't let bureaucracy stop you."
A base herd of 200 Aussie Red cows, which the couple shipped across Bass Strait, inspired them to name their brand Red Cow Dairy.
They've chosen to stick with the Aussie Reds, saying they are extremely adaptable animals.

"We are convinced they can adapt to any conditions, including the 40°C-plus temperatures in northern Victoria and the colder climate we get here," she said.
"They have a smaller frame, and they can convert pasture to milk efficiently."
After some background research, the Jackmans purchased a second-hand pasteuriser at $350,000.
Finances were approved by the bank to set up the factory.
"We did have a risk strategy in place – any milk not processed would go to Fonterra," Mr Jackman said.
Market analysis proved the couple were on to a winning business.
"It makes no difference that we are a Tasmanian brand, but Tassie people tend to be more loyal to their own brands," she said.
"It will help but our main branding is about being environmental, ethical and sustainable."
The Jackmans employ biological farming practices, including the use of micro-biological fertiliser.
"We have our own effluent pond and use that as fertiliser too," he said.
While organic farming is difficult to pull off in Tasmania, the couple largely follow those principles.
Calving takes place every two months.
And rather than sell bobby calves immediately, the Jackmans rear the calves and on-sell them locally to hobby farmers at about three months of age.
"Our heifers are rearedon powdered milk so thebull calves are fed excessmilk from the fresh cows," she said.
"It brings in an extra $20,000-$30,000 a year."
Production is sitting at about 1.3 million litres, with only a portion made into Red Cow products at the moment.
The 300-head herd is milked in an 80-swing-over herringbone dairy, with up to 1000L processed daily in the onfarm factory.
In the Jackmans' first year, they are hoping to get through 100,000L.
"We'll manufacture on Monday and Wednesday," Mrs Jackman said.
They are presently churning out full-cream pasteurised and unhomogenised milk, while the cheese range includes Persian fetta, camembert, triple brie, semi-hard types and washed rind.
"I'm still experimenting at the moment but getting some exciting results," she said.
Mrs Jackman is undertaking her final year of a Diploma of Food Science at the National Centre for Dairy
Education of Australia (NCDEA), which has taught her the art of cheese-making.
"It's a lifetime art and I'm having a lot of fun," she said.
Yoghurt is still in the pipeline as there is a ready market there for the product.
"There is a big demand for natural pot-set yoghurt," Mrs Jackman said, adding they would make a combination with Tasmanian-grown berries.

And with the factory having been in action for more than a month now, Red Cow products are being sold at local farmers' markets.
"We want the best price we can get," she said.
"We will be expanding as soon as we know we can achieve reliable sales."
The Jackmans will focus their sights solely in Tasmania but breaking into the mainland market is a long-term goal.
For the moment, the couple are building their brand and making sure they practise their philosophy of being sustainable and ethical.
"We are about to invest in renewable energy," Mrs Jackman said.
"We have monitors up comparing wind and solar energy and we are hoping the entire factory can be run off solar power."
Automatic milking machines are also on the cards.
"We are looking at setting up robotic milkers which will be connected to the factory," Mr Jackman said.
"It just makes sense to go down that path."
In six months' time, they hope to have four additional coolrooms up and running, which will allow for an expanded cheese range.
And with the Jackmans' enthusiasm clear, it will be interesting to watch their Red Cow Dairy venture grow.
"There are some huge opportunities in the Tasmanian dairy scene and we've decided to capitalise on that," she said.
"It's going to be a lot of work but we're feeling confident." http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/political/labor-call-to-ban-fracking/2519020.aspx
Labor call to ban fracking
ADAM MORTON
12 Apr, 2012 08:07 AM
THE state opposition is calling for a moratorium on new coal-seam gas exploration.
It has warned of doubts about the safety of the ''fracking'' process, which are yet to be fully investigated.
In one of its first policy statements since losing the 2010 election, the Labor Party says it will push for a freeze on new exploration licences for coal seam and other ''unconventional'' gas projects while a parliamentary inquiry is held.
Victoria does not have an active coal seam gas industry, but has granted 24 current exploration licences. Another eight applications await a decision.
While few exploration licences evolve into full mining approval, opposition energy spokeswoman Lily D'Ambrosio said there were growing concerns about coal-seam gas projects. ''New evidence has emerged that raises questions about the safety, health and environmental impacts of coal seam gas exploration, and it's important these concerns are fully investigated,'' she said.

Fracking involves injecting water, sand and chemicals into a coal seam at high pressure to force cracks and increase the amount of gas released.
It has been most controversial in the US, where the shale gas industry has been accused of contaminating groundwater reservoirs.
Labor's stance comes as 35 environment and community groups call for a ban on new land fossil fuel projects until there is an investigation into the impact on water resources, farmland, food security and greenhouse gas emissions.
The call has the backing of some farmers, but not the Victorian Farmers Federation. It follows a Bass Coast Shire resolution last month opposing new coalmining and unconventional gas extraction.
The government said a ban was unnecessary. A spokeswoman said mining and agriculture had co-existed in
Victoria ''for centuries'', and that the state already had stringent regulations.
Friends of the Earth campaigner Cam Walker said anti-fossil fuel community groups had formed across the ''coal belt'' between the Otways and Gippsland.
The Victorian Farmers Federation said its main concern was ensuring farmers were aware of their rights. The
Minerals Council of Australia said exploration was still at an embryonic stage in Victoria. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/livestock/sheep/on-farm-benefits-from-electronic-sheepidentification/2518175.aspx
On farm benefits from electronic sheep identification
12 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
ELECTRONIC sheep tags can help improve biosecurity and productivity for sheep meat producers and wool growers, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said. During a visit to a wool and sheep meat producing farm near Ararat, Mr Walsh said he saw first hand the on-farm use of the electronic National Livestock
Identification System (NLIS) technology.
“It is clear from what I saw that electronic tags can provide real benefits for sheep meat producers and wool growers,” Mr Walsh said. “They can be read accurately in a fraction of a second, so electronic sheep tags simplify the recording of fleece weights, live-weight changes and information about the health and reproductive performance of sheep.
“Sheep tags now cost 90 cents each, making them an attractive option for producers who are interested in measuring the performance of sheep on an individual animal basis in order to improve the productivity of their flocks.
”
The NLIS (Sheep & Goats) is currently based on the use of a visually readable tag attached by the breeder, and paper records provided by the consignor when sheep/goats are traded.
“There is ample evidence that improvements to the current system are neede d,” Mr Walsh said. “Victoria needs an efficient identification and tracking system for sheep and goats to protect our livestock industries from the devastating economic consequences that would result from the spread of a serious exotic disease such as foot and mouth disease
(FMD).”
The Matthews Report into Australia’s preparedness for an FMD outbreak was released by the Commonwealth
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in late 2011.
“The report demonstrates the current paper based
ID system would likely fail under the strain of an FMD outbreak, putting sheep and cattle industries at long term risk,” Mr Walsh said. “Victoria’s dairy and beef producers have gained an international reputation for the development and introduction of the ‘best practice’ NLIS system for identifying and tracking cattle for biosecurity and commercial reasons.
“It is pleasing to see Victoria’s sheep producers are now capitalising on the on-farm flock management opportunities associated with the technology.”

http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/climate-change-study/2505446.aspx
Climate change study
JUSTINE SEVERIN, BCG
04 Apr, 2012 03:00 AM
DESPITE advances in technology, agronomy and farm machinery, the climate continues to be the biggest factor impacting food production, farm businesses, farm families and rural communities.
Exactly how the weather affects farmers in the Wimmera and Mallee on a practical, economic and emotional level was discussed at a "Weathering the Future" forum held in Birchip last week.
At the event's conclusion the message was clear to move forward, farmers need to look back.
While the prolonged "millennium drought" then the high summer (harvest) rainfall and flooding in 2010-11 has been particularly difficult for farmers, speakers at the forum argued that the climatic challenges had motivated adaption, and as a consequence, improved efficiencies on many of the region's farms.
John Bennett, who farms at Lawloit in the western Wimmera, said the drought had prompted him to examine his system and consider how he could continue to be profitable despite less rain and rising input costs.
"One thing we did is we adopted a more conservative approach to our urea application," he said.
"We cut back on what we were putting out front, preferring to top dress according to rainfall.
"Controlling summer weeds is also something we do better now (to preserve moisture stored in the soil).
"And we continue to closely adhere to the adage 'there's only two times to sow before time and on time'."
From a practical perspective, BCG consultant Harm van Rees said growers should review the performance of their enterprises as well as all their costs each year so they could make informed decisions about the next season.
"Growers need to be careful about how they plan their year (and) consider the up and down nature of their systems," he said.
The importance of reflection was reiterated by University of Melbourne research fellow Lauren Rickards who launched the latest Critical Breaking Point publication last Thursday the culmination of a four-year social research study into the effects of climate variability, climate change and other pressures on farm households.
Through sharing the stories of those who had lived through prolonged drought and crop-destroying summer rain,
Dr Rickards revealed how reflection and adaptation was linked to resilience, physical and psychological health and the viability of the farm business.
"There were a lot of learnings that came from these difficult times, and from reflecting back on it," she said.
"The key messages were that the drought was hard for everyone, the impact of the wet was mixed, but both exposed strengths and weaknesses in systems. How adaptive farm families were often determined how well they coped.
"Among the key lessons learned were to expect the unexpected, to understand your system and be aware of risk.
"We have learned that climate adaptation is as much about flexibility of the farming system as it is about climate." http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/political/need-to-look-at-all-options-for-goulburnmurray-water-mp/2509977.aspx

Need to look at all options for Goulburn Murray Water: MP
03 Apr, 2012 11:13 AM
ACCORDING to Federal Member for Murray, Dr Sharman Stone, an overhaul of Goulburn Murray Water is well overdue, as thousands of Northern Victorian irrigators, the food manufacturing industry, the transport industry and small town communities depend on the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the local irrigation system.
“There are a lot of issues facing GMW including staffing levels, debt levels and the need to integrate NVIRP and the foodbowl modernisation process into their business as usual,” Dr Stone said.
“The Minister for Water, Peter Walsh, has requested a review of GMW management and operations. This follows replacement of the Board and the resignation of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
“It is very important that options for the future management and operation of the irrigation system include models adopted long ago and working well in the rest of Australia," Dr Stone said.
The MP said there is a lot to lose if all of the options are not put on the table and properly aired.
“Irrigator owned water supply systems do not mean privatising water. Elsewhere in Australia, the model is an irrigator cooperative that focuses on what is best for maintaining, sustaining and pricing the water supply to ensure the future viability of irrigators.
“In response to requests from many irrigators, I have now organised an information session with representatives of irrigator cooperatives in NSW, namely Mr Trent Gardiner from Coleambally and Mr Ted Hatty from Southern
Rivernina irrigators, and as well, travelling from Harvey Water in Western Australia, board member Charlie
Marino. All of these men are both experienced irrigation system operators and farmers,” Dr Stone said. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/no-water-ordered-from-desal-plant-thisyear/2508614.aspx
No water ordered from desal plant this year
03 Apr, 2012 03:00 AM
THE Victorian Government has placed a first water order of zero gigalitres from the Wonthaggi desalination plant for the coming financial year.
Water Minister Peter Walsh said Melbourne’s water storages were at 64.8 per cent, thanks to good rainfall and the water saving efforts of Melburnians.
“Melbourne’s dams are holding almost 1200Gl and we are coming into the winter/spring filling season with wet catchments,” Mr Walsh said.
“It’s also clear that the plant will not be fully completed by the original completion date of 30 June 2012.
“AquaSure has advised the plant is not expected to be fully completed and have passed all reliability tests until
February 2013, well into the financial year, although the plant will produce water until reliability testing is complete,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Walsh said the contract signed by the former Labor Government locked water users into paying an annual security payment once the plant was fully commissioned.
“Under Labor’s contract, Melbourne water users would be required to pay $654 million in the 2012-13 financial year if the project was complete by 30 June 2012,” Mr Walsh said.

“The cost of purchasing water taken from the plant is in addition to the annual security payment,” Mr Walsh said.
Under the contract, each year by 1 April the government must place a water order of either 0 GL, 50 GL, 75 GL,
100 GL, 125 GL or 150 GL for the coming financial year.
“It would cost an extra $25 million to purchase 50 GL from the plant, while an order of 150 gigalitres would cost
$109 million,” Mr Walsh said.
“Given we don’t need the water and we are already contractually obliged to pay for water produced during commissioning, we believe the most responsible course of action is to save this money.”
Water orders are determined based on a range of factors including the cost to customers and the need to manage water security through the analysis of supply and demand, water storage levels and management, and a range of future weather scenarios. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/political/vff-calls-for-dpis-frontline-staff-to-beprotected/2508389.aspx
VFF calls for DPI’s front-line staff to be protected
03 Apr, 2012 03:00 AM
THE Victorian Farmers Federation has requested immunity for key agriculture-related public service jobs following Premier Ted Baillieu's plans to cut thousands of public sector jobs for the State government's privatisation plans."Farmers have called on the Victorian Government to protect front-line staff, as it prepares to cut the Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) workforce by up to 20 per cent," the farm industry group said.The
VFF said it wanted to reiterate the need to maintain D PI’s role in underpinning the state’s food supply and $8 billion of agricultural exports.
VFF president Andrew Broad said one of the key programs supporting that productivity was the Future Farming
Strategy.
“We’re aware the strategy is coming to an end and are looking forward to the government implementing its replacement,” Mr Broad said.
The goals of the $205 million Future Farming Strategy, which was launched by the Labor Government in 2008, have been to:
•Boost productivity through new technology and changes in farming practices
•Build skills and attract young people to farming
•Understanding and managing climate change
•Strengthening land and water management
•Help farm families to secure their futures
•Develop new products and securing new markets
•Transport products to market
The VFF’s pre-budget submission called on the government to restate its commitment to the agriculture industry through a new program that replaces the Future Farming Strategy, which is in addition to normal DPI operating budgets.
“Increased productivity is an important goal for any government and leads to more jobs, better use of infrastructure and increased state level income,” Mr Broad said.
The VFF said it had also called on the government to allocate $2m for a pilot “Applied Innovators Grant” to assist farmers work with DPI to develop their own on-farm research programs to boost productivity.
“There are plenty of farmers with great ideas out there who’d jump at the chance to test those ideas,” Mr Broad said. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/political/ag-not-immune-from-privatisationplans/2506638.aspx
Ag not immune from privatisation plans

30 Mar, 2012 11:01 AM
AS the Victorian Government flags a privatisation spree to inject some capital back into the ailing state, large parts of the public service sector stand to be outsourced to the private sector, a nd the agriculture sector won’t be immune.
According to media reports today, the Department of Sustainability and Environment is tipped to lose about 200 jobs, while the Department of Primary Industry will lose about 400 positions. Community and Public Sector Union
Victorian secretary Karen Batt told media that the government’s moves are about “taking the public out of public service.”
What has been described as a “privatisation agenda” is likely to have an impact on agriculture, information technology, human resources, finance, corporate services, legal services and government reporting service.
Ralph Edwards of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said Premier Te d Baillieu “has finally done something… Unfortunately he’s done the wrong thing.”
The Premier has said he is “not shy” about selling assets to fund an “infrastructure agenda.”
While not officially on the table, the Premier has also not ruled out the sale of the Port of Melbourne, which could net $2.4 billion.
Comparisons have also been drawn between Victoria's plans and the deposed Queensland Labor government’s largely unpopular spate of privatisation, which involved the $2.1 billion sale of the Port of Brisbane. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/river-plan-a-big-drain-on-farming-20120415-1x1oc.html
River plan a big drain on farming Darren Gray
April 16, 2012
The impact of substantial falls in the value of agriculture could cascade through the economy. Photo: Darren
Seiler
AGRICULTURAL production in just three key sectors in northern Victoria could be slashed by almost $120 million a year if the water cuts proposed by the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan are implemented, the Victorian government has warned in its formal response to the plan.
The impact of substantial falls in the value of agriculture could cascade through the economy, threatening country schools, medical facilities and shops, it says. Towns would suffer as residents drifted away and unemployment would rise, the submission warns.
It also says that the most affected sector in dollar terms would be the northern Victorian dairy industry - rebounding after the drought with production rising and farms reopening - which could lose annual production of
$54 million.
Easter fails to stop falls in lamb prices
By Kath Sullivan
Tuesday, 17/04/2012
The Greek Easter celebrations didn't bring the resurrection in lamb prices that farmers were hoping for.
The price of lamb is continuing to fall around Australia, with saleyard prices well below last year's records.
Victorian abattoir owner Rob Radford says the high Australian dollar means the market for by-products, such as skins, has dropped, decreasing the lamb price.

"Domestic lambs are making from 450-470 cents per kilo, export lambs are probably down to about 430 a kilo," he said.
"Compared to 12 months ago, you might have been looking at well over $6 for domestic lambs and $5.80 or
$5.50 or $5.60 for export lambs, so it's a fair bit cheaper.
"It doesn't matter which part of the business - wholesale, retailing or exporting - the meat industry is very very soft at the present." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3479105.htm
Autumn worm warning
By Keva Gocher
Tuesday, 17/04/2012
South-eastern Australia's cooler autumn weather is bringing a new worm threat.
Black scour worms are increasing in sheep after the long summer where farmers treating sheep for barber's pole worm.
A NSW district vet estimates 5 per cent of sheep have died in the paddocks due to heavy worm burdens on lush pasture during the good growing season after drought.
Ian Lugton, from Bega, says producers can avoid becoming 'worm farmers' by using the new triple acting drenches on sheep, and also rotating cattle and sheep through paddocks to reduce worm larvae on pasture.
"The worst thing for worms is set stocking where you say 'this is the sheep paddock and the sheep are going to live in it', and before they know it, they have got significant barber's pole (worm) issues because the sheep just go up the top end of the paddock and graze 10 per cent of the pasture in a good season like this, and contaminate it with lots of faeces and lots of worm larvae."
Mr Lugton says producers can introduce cattle into lush paddocks to eat down the grass to a level that is useful for sheep.
He says this has two benefits as it prepares the grass to a length the sheep can deal with, and the cattle graze off the worm larvae that sheep ingest.
Mr Lugton says this method also helps cattle health, as the sheep reduce worm larvae when they eat grass that is contaminated by worm larvae left by cattle.
He says using triple acting drenches on sheep, and rotational grazing, will set the farm up for less of a worm burden during the next spring growing season http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3479054.htm
VFF to consider ear tags for sheep
By Will Ockenden and Lucy Barbour
Wednesday, 18/04/2012
1The national peak body for sheep producers is worried about a proposal to mandate the use of electronic ear tags.
A group of farmers from eastern Victoria wants electonic RFID ear tags to be compulsory, to aid tracking animals in case of a disease outbreak.

The proposal will be voted on tomorrow at the Victorian Farmers Federation's annual conference, to decide whether it should be official policy.
But Ron Cullins, from the Sheep Meat Council, says the current system which tracks mobs works fine.
"I think it is really important that the debate be about today's need for the sheep industry," he said.
"Today, RFID is not going to satisfy our tracability requirements."
"We all should be reflective of the sorts of changes that are going to occur over time and we can deal with that, but right now we want the visual mob-based system to operate to its maximum."
The peak body for livestock and property agents has slammed the proposal that's before the VFF.
The Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association has sent out a public letter, arguing that farmers and agents will be hit hard by the costs of radio frequency identification.
Victorian chairman of the association Warren Clark says his is the only state pushing for a compulsory system.
"Why is Victoria, when basically every national organisation in our industry is quite happy with the system we've got?" he said.
"And it's only two organisations in Victoria - the Victorian DPI and the Livestock Saleyards Association of Victoria
- (who) are pushing furiously at trying to get mandatory RFIDs for sheep and lambs." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3480166.htm
Should wool growers pay lower levies, as revenue rolls in to AWI?
By Will Ockenden
Wednesday, 18/04/2012
The wool industry's marketing and research company Australian Wool Innovation is sitting on a proverbial goldmine.
High wool prices mean farmers are paying more wool levies than expected to AWI, and its cash stockpile is growing every week.
Some wool growers are now pointing to the mountains of money, arguing the levy rate should be reduced.
AWI takes a compulsory levy of 2 per cent from farmers for every kilogram of wool sold.
Half of the money must be spent on research, and the other half on marketing.
AWI's chief executive Stuart McCullough said at the company's last annual general meeting that there was much more revenue than expected.
"In levy terms, our levy was up, not because of volume, but because of the value of the Australian wool clip."
For last financial year, AWI raked in 52 per cent more in levy revenue than what it budgeted for.
And more levies equals more cash in matching funds from the Federal Government.
Revenue from other sources, including government, was up 30 per cent on what was expected.
The Australian Wool Growers Association is wondering if growers should pay less in levies given revenue has jumped.

The group's acting chairman Shane Edwards says AWI should release figures on where they want to spend the money.
"If they've got a very good cash reserve and they are struggling to spend the current levies they're receiving, the question's got to be asked is there a need to maintain the current two per cent levy?"
Wool growers around the country will vote later on the year how much of their cash goes to AWI.
They have the option to vote for a levy of zero, 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 per cent.
AWI says in a statement its board will provide a clear position on the company's expenditure to 2016 as part of the WoolPoll process.
"Of paramount importance to the company is an orderly growth in project expenditure during the current and next strategic periods," the statement reads.
"Expenditure precisely in line with company's strategic intent and the removal of funding volatility remain our highest concern.
"The audited reserves currently held by Australian Wool Innovation stand at $95.6 million, as published in the
2010/11 Annual Report.
"This figure is expected to grow modestly by the end of the current financial year.
"However it is important to note, AWI is obliged to hold a certain level of reserves ($37.4 million) for a potential exotic disease response and to expedite an orderly closure of the company including projects and operating costs should a 0% levy vote be returned at WoolPoll."
"The intangible asset of the Woolmark brand ($10 million) should also be deducted from these reserves." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3480357.htm
Farmers going deaf
By Lucy Barbour
Wednesday, 18/04/2012
3The National Centre for Farmer Health is worried about the number of farmers reporting hearing loss.
The Centre is conducting noise audits on farms in western Victoria to help people manage noise levels on their properties.
Centre director Susan Brumby says shearing and milking sheds, as well as motorbikes and machinery, all contribute to the problem.
"There's reports and published articles saying that it's up to 60 per cent (of farmers reporting hearing loss)," she said.
"That's when people have actually been tested. And certainly our experience throughout the farm families (study) is that around 48 per cent were reporting some hearing loss, so we suspect that that is probably an underestimation."
Sheep farmer Paddy Fenton, from Vasey in western Victoria, is taking part in the noise audits.
He has a new woolshed and says there's not much more he can do to reduce sound levels.
"So I think it's probably up to the individual shearers," he said.
"We had one guy a few years ago who was shearing and he was wearing ear plugs and I thought that was fantastic, but then he had a ghetto blaster and he had that turned up, so that defeats the purpose a bit."

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3480041.htm
Thai food giant investing big in Australia
By Sarina Locke
Wednesday, 18/04/2012
5A Thai food company plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Australian food and processing in the next five years.
CP Group has supermarkets and poultry and fish farms in Thailand, as well as producing ready meals.
The company has opened an office in Melbourne to start buying red meat and grains and set up a salmon farm in
Australia.
General manager of CP Group, Richard Lovell, says the plan is to spend $100 million this year on Australian produce and recruiting staff.
"And over the next three to five years to looking at doubling every year for sure and within the next three to five years looking into upstream into factories - whether that's a farm, processing, whether that's ready made meal manufacturing," he said.
"It's really something that develops in the next three to five years." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3480040.htm
Livestock agents attack VFF call for compulsory tagging
By Lucy Barbour
Wednesday, 18/04/2012
The peak body for livestock and property agents has slammed a proposal from a group within the Victorian
Farmers Federation to make electronic tagging for sheep, goats and lambs compulsory.
The Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association has sent out a public letter, arguing that farmers and agents will be hit hard by the costs of radio frequency identification.
Victorian chairman of the association Warren Clark says his is the only state pushing for a compulsory system.
"Why is Victoria, when basically every national organisation in our industry is quite happy with the system we've got?" he said.
"And it's only two organisations in Victoria - the Victorian DPI and the Livestock Saleyards Association of Victoria
- (who) are pushing furiously at trying to get mandatory RFIDs for sheep and lambs." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3480008.htm
Citrus growers advised to ignore smaller fruit
By Deb O'Callaghan
Thursday, 19/04/2012
Citrus growers in the Murray Valley are being advised to leave the smaller fruit on their trees this harvest, to maximise their returns.
The majority of export markets want bigger fruit, and with the Australian dollar still so high, some say it will be unprofitable to pick and pack the smaller fruit.
Harvest on the summer navel crop has commenced.

Mary Cannard, from the Murray Valley Citrus Board, says while fruit size is larger this year, it will still be a difficult decision for growers.
"You've nurtured your crop all season long and to leave it hanging on the tree just to watch it drop on the ground would be a very difficult thing for growers," she said.
"For your profitability, you really need to make that decision." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3481085.htm
Prospect of more stable dairy prices
By Kath Sullivan
Thursday, 19/04/2012
0International dairy prices are continuing to fall.
A key dairy indicator, the Global Dairy Trade auction, fell by 10 per cent on Wednesday, its largest fall this year.
The head of dairy at Westpac, Roddy Brown, says the drop was caused by increased milk production around the world.
But he says the result is a short term indicator and long term sales contracts are more stable.
"We've seen New Zealand come up from last year, up by 10 per cent on production," he said.
"Australian production is back to normal levels given the recovery or rebound of Northern Victoria, so hopefully the start of the European season will see some of that product move and we should see some more stability back in the price http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3481028.htm
Milne says free trade deal would hurt apple and pear growers
By Leone Knight
Thursday, 19/04/2012
0The Greens leader says the proposed Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement would put the Australian apple and pear industry at risk.
Christine Milne is touring regional and rural communities, and has met horticulturalists at Orange in the central west of NSW.
Discussions included the plan to set up a Pacific free trade zone of nine countries, including Australia, New
Zealand and the United States.
Senator Milne says she supports Apple and Pear Australia's request for $22 million of research and development funds.
"So what we now have to do is pour money into apples and pears to make sure they can continue to compete with the imported product," she said.
"It's one of the issues with the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement; we have to make sure in those agreements that you've got environmental compliance and labour standards, or else we are just not going to be able to compete." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3481022.htm
VFF avoids making decision on sheep tags
By Will Ockenden

Friday, 20/04/2012
1The Victorian Farmers Federation livestock group's vote on the mandatory introduction of electronic sheep tags has been shelved until next year, after an inconclusive debate at the VFF annual conference in Bendigo.
The vote was extremely close, with the vote being held and counted twice to make sure.
Final numbers were different from the two votes. The first vote was 26 for, 25 against. The second vote was 24 for, 25 against.
A procedural motion was proposed, and accepted, that the initial ear tag motion be "laid down on the table" and shelved until next year's conference.
Incoming livestock group president Ian Feldtmann took the unusual step in urging the group to not make a decision either way until an outcome was clearer.
Former president of the Sheep Meat Council Kate Joseph proposed the procedural motion.
The debate before the vote was polite and subdued.
"I would have thought there'd been some more interest in this," outgoing VFF livestock group president Chris
Nixon told the meeting.
Wool grower Geoff Fisken supported the motion.
"Imagine if we got foot and mouth disease in Australia. The initial cost to us is far far less if we got an outbreak," he said.
Another farmer backed Mr Fisken's comments.
"If we had a foot and mount outbreak tomorrow, a good traceability system is needed to track where the animals have gone. The current system doesn't allow this."
Kate Joseph spoke against the motion, worried the costs of the electronic tags will be shifted back onto farmers.
Bill Bray, from the VFF Gippsland branch, supported the resolution, arguing many reports show the current system is lacking, and the beef industry still operates successfully with a compulsory RFID system.
One speaker was against the motion because it doesn't include all sheep, saying the lamb direct to slaughter exemption creates a loophole.
"It's a bit like the Vicar of Dibley, everyone says 'no no no no no' then finally say yes," mused one speaker.
The vote will happen again next year, so the lobbying between members will continue. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3481242.htm
Pricing gap for GM canola widens
By Will Ockenden Add your comment
Monday, 23/04/2012
Campaigners against GM canola say a price difference between GM and conventional varieties is proof the genetic modification experiment in Australia has failed.
The price difference between the two is up to $30 per tonne, with conventional varieties getting a price premium from the European market.

Oilseeds Federation executive director Nick Goddard says customers in Asia are still demanding GM canola.
"I think what we're seeing is the market demand playing its role," he said.
"At the moment, we're seeing strong demand out of Europe for non-GM [canola] and that is driving up the price of non-GM.
"That's great for Australian farmers, but I think in time the situations we're seeing that are driving that demand will be the poor crops in Ukraine and Europe." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483516.htm
SA uni seeks ag students from Victoria
By William Rollo
Monday, 23/04/2012
0Adelaide University may look to the Victorian Mallee to boost student numbers at its Agriculture school.
The Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture says most universities are seeing a slight increase in enrolments, but at Western Australian and South Australian universities, enrolments have remained around the same.
Professor Amanda Able, from the University of Adelaide, says there's potential to target more students from western Victoria.
"We could probably try to target to increase numbers from actually some of the Victorian market, particularly the people that live in the Mallee and in that area, because a number of our students actually come from that area already http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483477.htm
New VFF president could cut membership fees
By Lucy Barbour
Monday, 23/04/2012
0The new president of the Victorian Farmers Federation will consider reducing membership fees to attract more people to the organisation.
Grain and wool grower Peter Tuohey, from Pyramid Hill in the state's north, was elected last Friday.
He says he wants to work more collaboratively with governments and businesses to help solve farmers' problems.
"Certainly I would like to work on a win-win situation and finding a solution to a problem, not just whingeing or complaining about something, which is not right," he said.
"We need to find an answer that makes it good for everybody," he said.
34-year-old grain farmer David Jochinke, from Murra Warra, in western Victoria was elected VFF vice-president.
He hopes to improve the rail system in the Wimmera in the state's west.
"We have a lot trucks going down to port where rail facilities could be accessed, so re-utilising some of the assets we've got there and investing in the future of our area is what I'm really passionate about," he said. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483196.htm
More olive growers struggling with cheap imports

By Jo Prendergast
Monday, 23/04/2012
Australian table olive growers are being threatened by cheap overseas imports.
Eagle Vale Olives is Western Australia's biggest producer of green table fruit.
Co-owner Eric Dixon says it's not just the oil industry that is struggling against imports from subsidised European olive growers.
"The only thing we can sell against is on quality, we can't take the European produce on on price, it's just not possible," he said.
"We're hoping that the Australian dollar comes off its highs, and that one day maybe the government starts to look at the farming industry and industries like ours and starts to put counter-tariffs on." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483404.htm
Chinese company seeks more superfine wool
By Sarina Locke
Monday, 23/04/2012
1China's largest wool and suit producer has indicated it wants more superfine wool for the luxury market.
Superfine wool growers have welcomed the move, with a certificate of membership to the Australian association for the company Shandong Ruyi.
It follows the Chinese company's purchase last year of a sheep station in Victoria for $14 million to grow more superfine wool.
Madame Ding, vice-president of Shandong Ruyi group, says demand for the luxury suits is growing at 30 per cent a year.
"However, Ruyi has a special Royal Ruyi line, featured in luxury suits with the end use production in addition to the 20 million (metres) to 500,000 metres per year."
Superfine wool growers have welcomed Shandong Ruyi as the newest member of the Australian Superfine
Woolgrowers Association.
They hope it will stop farmers giving up growing the specialist fibre.
Andrew Ledger, at the Mullion near Canberra, says the price is in the doldrums.
"There was a 13.2 micron wool that sold a few weeks ago for 3900 cents per kilo, whereas a couple years ago that would have been making 20,000 to 25,000 cents per kilo. It's a massive drop," he said.
"People are becoming very despondent and rather apathetic and a lot of people have decided that's it.
"People with shedded sheep are turning their sheep out and it's a very sad state of affairs at that end of the market, and hopefully we can turn that around." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483403.htm
NFF calls for register of all farmland and water sales to foreigners
By Anna Vidot Add your comment
Monday, 23/04/2012

The National Farmers Federation wants the government to introduce a register of all rural land and water that's sold to foreign investors, regardless of the size of the sale.
The farm lobby group wants the register to be compulsory and retrospective, and to be introduced as soon as possible.
NFF president Jock Laurie says it's the only way to get clear and accurate information about the extent of foreign investment in Australian agriculture.
And he believes there's no reason why the Federal Government shouldn't adopt the policy.
"If the government resists that, then I think you'll find there'll be continual calls to make a whole range of changes in regards to this area, so I wouldn't think it'd be a very wise move to just ignore it," he said.
"I think they really need to give it serious consideration and I imagine I'll have heard [from them] in due course." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3483473.htm
Better corn varieties encourage more crops
By Virginia Tapp
Tuesday, 24/04/2012
0A US researcher says corn acreage is on the increase in Australia.
Dr Kendell Hellewell says improved eating quality in hybrid varieties has increased market demand.
He says that's encouraged more Australian farmers to plant the vegetable.
"We have a couple of hybrids that are performing well," he said.
"The main hybrid that we sell here is Passion. It's a yellow sweet corn that has shown good performance with really good eating quality.
"I think the acres are growing as people start eating more sweet corn." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3487527.htm
British demand for cheap wine pushes down prices
By Sarina Locke
Tuesday, 24/04/2012
1A penchant for cheap supermarket bottled wine in the United Kingdom has helped drive Australian wine prices down overseas.
Wine exports have dropped by value and volume over the 12 months to March.
Wine Australia's report shows that in the year ended March 2012, the volume of Australian wine exports declined by 7 per cent to 705 million litres, valued at $1.9 billion.
While the value of bottled wine exports grew slightly, by 13 per cent, bulk wine exports outgrew the higher value drink.
That's forced the overall value 1 per cent lower to be worth $2.65 per litre.
Private labels in UK supermarkets and the strong Australian dollar are being blamed for the price fall. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3487824.htm

Green snails reluctant to come out of their shells
By Warwick Long
Tuesday, 24/04/2012
0An outbreak of green snails in Victoria is moving at a snail's pace.
The pest was discovered in September last year on five properties near Cobram, close to the NSW border.
Authorities were expecting the pest to be on the move during a wet autumn, but the snails aren't going anywhere.
Bill Ashcroft, from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries, says this is good news, but it does slow down the eradication process.
"You can't do a lot when they are all buried and dormant in the soil," he said.
"But if we get a period where they are all active and up and about then we will be treating accordingly with baits and chemicals." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3487770.htm
Sun shines brightly at last on dried fruits industry
By Deb O'Callaghan
Tuesday, 24/04/2012
0Dried fruit industry leaders say if Australian growers can hang in there, the future looks bright.
Sunshine and strong prices have saved the season for many dried fruit growers in Victoria's Sunraysia, after heavy rains threatened to destroy crops for the second year in a row.
Chair of Dried Fruits Australia, Mark King, says good weather ripened fruit just in time, and the record prices have given the industry hope.
"All the countries that we speak to are pulling dried fruit out, they are going to something else, whether it's pomegranates, olives, almonds, you name it," he said.
"So the demand is still going to be there but the production is not.
"So while supply isn't meeting demand, I think prices will be around like they are for three to five years at least." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3487645.htm
Murray Goulburn gives a cautious milk price rise
By Warwick Long
Wednesday, 25/04/2012
0Dairy farmers getting a price rise for their milk now are being warned next season could be tough.
Murray Goulburn Co-operative has announced a step-up in this season's milk price, lifting the value of milk solids higher than farmers had expected.
But managing director Gary Helou says while the company is raising prices now the outlook for next financial year is not so good.
"All the big producers, Australia, New Zealand, the EU and the US, are registering strong growth in production," he said.

"That will put pressure on world prices.
"So the combination of excessive supply as well as a strong Australian dollar would put a dampener on the price outlook for next year."
The price rise by Murray Goulburn is 8 cents a kilogram for butterfat and 20 cents a kilogram for protein, leaving the average price for milk solids paid by the company at $5.35. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3488637.htm
Flathead a fancied fish
By Kath Sullivan
Wednesday, 25/04/2012
0A Victorian fishmonger says low supply and high demand have caused him to charge top dollar for flathead this year.
Rob Fairbrother runs a fresh fish cafe at Sale in Gippsland, and has been in the business for 25 years.
Despite being close to Bass Strait, he says he's been forced to charge close to $50 a kilo for the popular species.
"It's about $42 a kilo, boneless and skinless. That's not a whole fish, it's boneless and skinless," he said.
"It was about $48 at Easter, and I consider that very high. It is the most I've ever charged." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3488635.htm
Big interest expected in tiny technology
By Sarina Locke
Wednesday, 25/04/2012
0Australia's chemical authority is preparing for a number of applications to use nanotechnology in agriculture.
The Agricultural Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority says it's highly likely that agricultural and veterinary chemicals containing nanotechnology will come to Australia, probably from Asian companies.
A nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre, and particles have already been developed to treat cancer in humans.
A visiting professor of nanotechnology, Ken Dawson, from University College in Dublin, is encouraging Australian scientists to develop it for farm use.
"I think we should begin to use natural nanoparticles that degrade safely in the environment, and use them to encapsulate persistant chemicals, reducing enormously the amount that we need, and protecting them from water run-off," he said.
"I think we should look at protecting animals from disease." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3488602.htm
Growers say consumers should pay more for apples and pears
By Tony Briscoe
Thursday, 26/04/2012
1Apple and Pear Australia says consumers are are getting it too good at the moment.
Chairman John Lawrenson says they need to pay more for fresh produce because growers are suffering.

He says he's getting constant calls from producers who say the current prices are not sustainable as the supermarket war continues.
Mr Lawrenson believes consumers are prepared to pay more.
"Consumers are very fair people, they're prepared to pay a fair price for a good product, so we're seeing prices artificially low," he said.
"And if they were raised and we could move them up, consumers would willingly pay." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3489395.htm
Five charged over alleged abuse of pigs
By Kath Sullivan
Thursday, 26/04/2012
2Five people have been charged following an investigation into allegations of animal abuse at a Victorian abattoir last November.
The Victorian Department of Primary Industries carried out its investigation after video footage showed pigs being killed with a sledgehammer at the L.E. Giles abattoir at Trafalgar in Gippsland.
The abattoir was forced to close after the incident.
The DPI says it won't comment further on the animal cruelty charges, as the matter is before the courts. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3489373.htm
Farmer worried copper exploration is causing salinity
By Lucy Barbour
Thursday, 26/04/2012
0A western Victorian sheep farmer is concerned about proposed expansion of copper exploration in western
Victoria.
Mining company BCD Resources has been drilling on Paul Brady's property at Stavely since 2008.
He says salt water has risen to the surface and run up to 40 metres through his paddock.
"We don't even know where we stand or what sort of compensation we get or anything, and they only thing they told me is they just cut off a portion of the land they wanted and leave us with the rest," he said.
"Plus it'd be an open-cut mine and we'd be stuck next to an open-cut mine. No one will want to buy a farm beside an open-cut mine."
Chief executive of BCD Resources Peter Thompson says his company wants to keep landholders as happy as possible.
"The water in the ground is of very low salt levels and we do our best to keep the water in the ground and not at surface, so I hope it's not a significant issue going forward," he said.
"Generally it's just a question of considering and understanding what can be done." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3489230.htm
Gippsland Lakes fish restrictions lifted
By kath Sullivan

Friday, 27/04/2012
0Commercial fishermen from Victoria's Gippsland Lakes are relieved that health authorities have lifted restrictions on selling lake fish.
For four months fishermen were required to gut and gill fish caught in the Lakes because of a blue green algae bloom.
Dale Sumner from the Lakes Entrance Fishermens Co-op says the restrictions have been labour intensive and expensive.
"It has been a hard, long summer. Many of the fishermen have incurred significant costs, both financially and personally, because of that increased workload.
I'd say we are down about 50 per cent because a lot of the fishermen were actually restricting their catch. They couldn't catch what they would normally do because of that processing requirement."
A warning against eating prawns, mussels and crabs caught in the Lakes remains in place. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3490240.htm
Mice trouble Victorian croppers
By Deb O'Callaghan
Friday, 27/04/2012
2Mice numbers are on the increase across Victoria's Mallee and Wimmera.
The state experienced a severe mouse plague last year, and this year farmers are already baiting their canola crops this sowing season.
Banjo Patterson from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries says it's normal to find a bit of an increase numbers at this time of the year, but they are higher than normal.
"It's really a combination of having plenty of feed about whether it's weed seed, or whether it's grain that's still on the ground."
"There's a number of paddocks where we've got those higher numbers where they've got both shelter either from self sown crops or from stubble from last year." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3490330.htm
Mixed results from GM canola trials
By Lucy Barbour
Monday, 30/04/2012
2Trials of genetically modified canola have found the controversial technology isn't always meeting promises of higher yields.
The Birchip Cropping Group in western Victoria trialled 27 varieties of the oilseed, including conventional, triazine-tolerant and GM canola.
It found little differences in yield between the conventional and round-up ready GM varieties.
For the highest-yielding types, GM canola had the lowest gross margin, while triazine-tolerant had the highest.
Roundup Ready had a lower margin because of higher freight and seed costs.
Research agronomist Simon Craig says the most cost effective was the triazine-tolerant canola.
"We've always assumed that TT varieties will always yield less than the other three groups - conventional, clearfield and round-up ready," he said.
"However, the newer varieties within the TT have started to improve in yield and we're starting to say select a canola variety based on the herbicide group, because you can pick an equally performing variety in terms of yield in each of those groups." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3491750.htm
Job freeze damages dog control program
By Warwick Long

Monday, 30/04/2012
A Victorian Government job freeze has left farmers in the state's north-east without vital support from wild dog controllers.
One controller has left and another has been promoted, and with a Department of Primary Industries' job freeze, neither is being replaced.
Peter Star, a sheep and beef farmer from Granya, east of Wodonga, says the State Government has told him it could be up to a year and a half before they are replaced.
"It's not acceptable," he said.
"You know, 12-18 months could mean the difference between some producers staying on board with sheep and others throwing their hands in the air in frustration and saying 'look, we've had enough'." http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3491664.htm