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29 Oct 2004 | Electronic tags tracking tomatoes
Moraitis, one of Australia's largest fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers, will be the first in the country to test radio frequency identification tags on cases of tomatoes, in a bid to improve supply chain efficiencies. ...... FULL STORY
29 Oct 2004 | National Foods rejects Fonterra bid
Milk producer National Foods rejected a $1.62 billion takeover offer by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra. ...... FULL STORY
29 Oct 2004 | Cotton season kicks off
The Australian Cotton Industry Council estimated that between 300,000 and 320,000 hectares of cotton will be grown in the 2005 season, resulting in a crop of 2.3 million to 2.4 million bales. ...... FULL STORY
28 Oct 2004 | Records tumble in the beef industry
Demand from Asia for beef, along with cheaper feed grain, have helped set a new record for the number of cattle in feedlots. ...... FULL STORY
28 Oct 2004 | Oil lubricates sugar's recovery
The rise in the price of oil has helped restore the outlook for sugar farmers. ...... FULL STORY
28 Oct 2004 | Commission finds competition policy aids farmers
A draft review of national competition policy by the Productivity Commission found that the policy improved returns to farmers. ...... FULL STORY
27 Oct 2004 | Carcase questions delay resumption of US beef exports
It may take until mid 2005 before Japan actually imports much US beef. While Japan has agreed in principle to resume importing US beef, it may be months, not week's before the first shipments actually leave the US. ...... FULL STORY
27 Oct 2004 | Citrus growers seek consensus on canker counter
The federal government said it would consider a proposal to destroy all fruit trees around Emerald in central Queensland, the site of two outbreaks of citrus canker. ...... FULL STORY
26 Oct 2004 | Ridley makes excuses, but promises to do better
Australian stockfeed producer Ridley Corp blamed volatile climate patterns, various diseases, politics and commodity and currency volatility as the multiple causes of double digit declines in earnings in all its operating divisions. ...... FULL STORY
26 Oct 2004 | Queensland Cotton spins an increased marker share
Queensland Cotton said its net profit almost doubled to $4.2 million over the half year to August 2004, in a reflection of the easing drought conditions in Australia's cotton growing regions. ...... FULL STORY
26 Oct 2004 | Dairy Farmers on the Moove
The drought has not impeded a robust lift in profit at dairy co-operative Dairy Farmers, which reported a 28 per cent increase in EBITDA to $95 million, and a restoration in net profit, to $23 million, following a break even result in 2003. ...... FULL STORY
26 Oct 2004 | Product packages milks National Foods sales
Dairy company National Foods said it would launch 80 new products and packaging solutions this financial year. ...... FULL STORY
26 Oct 2004 | Beef exports hope to hold on to gains in Japan
Australian beef exporters say they are confident of holding a reasonable slice of increased sales to Japan, now that Japan will allow beef imports from the US once again. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | Cattle kings pay over the odds for stations
More than $1 billion in Queensland cattle property sales this year has one agent predicting that prices are overheated. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | Aussie labels aid buffalo meat scam
European Union and German officials are examining the use of false meat labels from Australia on potentially contaminated Indian water buffalo meat. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | AWB pays extra for preferred varieties
AWB said it would guarantee $5.00 extra per tonne to farmers next season willing to grow varieties chosen for bread or noodle making characteristics. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | Woolclassers get $80 per week pay rise
The Industrial Relations Commission granted the Wool Classers Association a pay rise of $80 a week, rather than the $100 a week requested. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | Sydney butchers make the switch to cheap and nasty
The NSW Food Authority are investigating more than 50 butcher shops in Sydney and the Hunter Valley over the alleged substitution of beef and lamb with cheaper meats. ...... FULL STORY
25 Oct 2004 | Orchardist offers to raze trees
The owners of Queensland’s largest citrus orchard have offered to destroy their trees in a bid to counter a fresh outbreak of citrus canker that threatens $200 million a year in citrus exports. ...... FULL STORY
22 Oct 2004 | Wool growers in a tangle over PETA campaign
The Australian Wool Growers Association has criticised rival industry bodies for refusing to negotiate with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over the welfare of sheep, and thus risking export markets in Europe and North America. ...... FULL STORY
22 Oct 2004 | Dairy Farmers quits National Foods
Dairy Farmers sold its 9.2 per cent holding in National Foods through several stock brokers, in an action that appears to end any aspirations Dairy Farmers had to merge with its rival in milk processing. ...... FULL STORY
22 Oct 2004 | Pork farmers face industry restructure
The pig industry's representative body, Australian Pork Limited is formulating a restructure plan for the billion industry. ...... FULL STORY
22 Oct 2004 | Japan may ratchet beef tariffs to 50 per cent
Japan is considering reintroduction of a so-called "snapback provision", under which the tariff on imported beef would increase from 38.5 per cent to 50 per cent if import levels rise by more than 17 per cent over any one year period. ...... FULL STORY
21 Oct 2004 | Forecast for wheat harvest slashed
Australian Wheat Forecasters said that it reduced its forecast for this season’s wheat harvest by 3.6 million tonnes to around 21 million tonnes. ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | China may curtail milk imports
The Dairy Association of China is making plans to introduce a fresh milk identification system in major Chinese cities ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | Co-op's milk profits skimmed
Tatura Milk reported a slight increase in profit in the year to June 2004 of $384,000 on sales of $249,000, or a margin of only 0.15 per cent. ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | El Nino threat lessens
The prospect of an El Nino weather event this summer has receded, though the season will still be hotter and drier than average in most places. ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | Processors squeeze orange price
Orange growers appear to have conceded to orange juice processors, and accepted prices below the farmers’ target of $300 a tonne. ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | Commonwealth buys wool traders from Macquarie
Commonwealth Bank said it would buy some of the wool futures trading operation of Macquarie Bank, ten weeks after Macquarie closed down. ...... FULL STORY
20 Oct 2004 | Organic farmers mostly play by the rules
Andrew Monk, chief executive officer of the of the Biological Farmers of Australia says that his company removes the certification on average of about one farmer every year for breaches of the industry standard. ...... FULL STORY
19 Oct 2004 | Few cane growers willing to leave the land
Just 16 sugar cane growers have taken up the federal government's offer of $100,000 each to leave the industry. ...... FULL STORY
19 Oct 2004 | Farmers seeks $500m compensation
Hundreds of farmers will sue the Victorian government for $500 million in compensation allegedly due to the bushfires that ravaged north eastern Victoria in January 2003. ...... FULL STORY
19 Oct 2004 | Panel targets the costs and conflicts over wheat’s single desk
The 2004 Wheat Marketing Review Panel’s examination of Australia’s wheat export system highlighted the need for greater independence between AWBI and AWB Limited at board level, as well as at corporate and operational level. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | Grain harvest yields a promising start
Farmers in the northern NSW grain belt are scrambling to their harvesters amid signs of a promising early harvest. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | Dairy co-op fails to realise its price promise
The newly formed Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative is struggling to get its related processing company in New South Wales to pay farmers more for milk. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | WTO limits European sugar subsidies
The World Trade Organisation ruled that the European Union's sugar production subsidies were illegal. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | Beef exporters missing US quota
Australian beef exporters appear unlikely to fill the quota to the United States this year, even though exports are at record levels. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | Drought conditions ease in NSW
Drought conditions eased in New South Wales over the last month, with four per cent of land now classified as "satisfactory", up from nil last month. ...... FULL STORY
18 Oct 2004 | Cracked wheat export tow stymies Grain Direct joint venture
CBH Group in Western Australia says that AWB is no longer willing to support a joint venture that CBH believes would make storage and handling cheaper. ...... FULL STORY
15 Oct 2004 | Top orchardist backs Ardmona takeover
Stuart Pickworth, the owner of Pickworth Orchards Pty Ltd and one of SPC Ardmona's largest shareholders and fruit suppliers said he supported a takeover of the company by dairy processor National Foods. ...... FULL STORY
15 Oct 2004 | Record fine for wetland cleared for wheat
Ron Greentree, one of the nation's biggest wheat farmers, suffered a $450,000 fine for clearing and ploughing significant wetlands on his northern NSW property near Moree. ...... FULL STORY
15 Oct 2004 | Locusts take to wing in early heat
Plague locusts have taken to wing in parts of western NSW and also in northern Victoria. ...... FULL STORY
15 Oct 2004 | Vaile waves a stick at dairy processors
Trade minister Mark Vaile has questioned the prices paid by dairy processors to farmers. ...... FULL STORY
14 Oct 2004 | China trade deal in demand
The Grains Council of Australia says a free trade deal with China should be Australia's highest trade priority, and want the negotiations completed by July 2005. ...... FULL STORY
14 Oct 2004 | Dry spell dampens grain yields
Grain growers in South Australia fear that yields may drop by at least 40 per cent in late harvesting areas and by around 20 per cent in early harvesting areas. ...... FULL STORY
14 Oct 2004 | Fertiliser prices take off
Fertiliser prices have jumped by 50 per cent in four months. ...... FULL STORY
13 Oct 2004 | Top end mango growers picking Timor labour
Mango growers in the Northern Territory are lobbying for working visas for labour from nearby East Timor. ...... FULL STORY
13 Oct 2004 | Court imposes stiff fine for land clearing
A Queensland court handed down the most severe fine yet for illegal land clearing, with a Gracemere farmer ordered to pay $100,000 as a sanction for clearing almost 12,000 hectares of land on Moray Downs, Clermont. ...... FULL STORY
13 Oct 2004 | Lamb no longer so prime
Lamb prices have taken a tumble from the buoyant levels in the middle of the year, with saleyard values dropping by around 30 per cent. ...... FULL STORY
12 Oct 2004 | Japan’s non tariff barriers tough to crack
Australian exporters complain that Japan is failing to remove obstacles to imports. ...... FULL STORY
12 Oct 2004 | National Foods targets SPC Ardmona
Dairy processor National Foods has begun discussion with cannery SPC Ardmona about a merger. ...... FULL STORY
11 Oct 2004 | Elders increases stake in BWK
Futuris Corp said that its rural services subsidiary Elders would contribute another 16 million euros ($28 million) into German wool processor Bremer Woll-Kamerei under a restructure that gives Elders a controlling interest. ...... FULL STORY
11 Oct 2004 | Bonlac lifts milk price
Bonlac Foods announced a price increase of nine cents a kilogram for butterfat, and 20 cents a kilogram for protein, for all milk supplied since July. ...... FULL STORY
11 Oct 2004 | Cracked wheat owner still a mystery
Ownership of a planned but illegal shipment of 20,000 tonnes cracked wheat from Perth early this month remains in dispute. ...... FULL STORY
8 Oct 2004 | Australia beats US to Iraq contract
AWB has won a contract to supply a million tonnes of wheat to Iraq in a deal worth around $300 million. ...... FULL STORY
8 Oct 2004 | GM Canola trials no secret
A farmer near Horsham identified himself as a grower involved in a trial of Bayer CropScience genetically modified canola. ...... FULL STORY
8 Oct 2004 | Cotton planters look to yield recovery
Two-thirds of this year's cotton crop in New South Wales will be planted with Bollgard II, a genetically modified insect resistant cotton developed by Monsanto. ...... FULL STORY
7 Oct 2004 | Wool wins US tariff concession
Australian Wool Innovation said that the US government had agreed to extend tariff-free access for 18.5 micron and finer wool and wool products throughout 2005, up to an agreed quota. ...... FULL STORY
7 Oct 2004 | Tractor sales chug along
Statistics from the Tractor Machinery Association paint an optimistic picture for farmers, with dealers on track to sell a record 10,000 units nationally, worth $1.5 billion. ...... FULL STORY
7 Oct 2004 | Takeover talk no distraction for SPC Ardmona
SPC Ardmona said that any takeover of the fruit processor would be difficult, and would need to be made at a full price. ...... FULL STORY
7 Oct 2004 | Barley Board likely to live on
South Australia may not implement plans to disband the “single desk” system for barley marketing, with any decision dependent on changes to federal government competition policy and the allocation of some state grants as so-called competition payments. ...... FULL STORY
6 Oct 2004 | Fertiliser supply tightens
Demand for fertiliser may outstrip limited supplies for the 2005 growing season, Bob Hoeft, a soil fertility specialist with the University of Illinois said. ...... FULL STORY
6 Oct 2004 | A2 Milk in administration
The owner of Queensland dairy company A2 Milk called in an administrator. ...... FULL STORY
6 Oct 2004 | Wool prices struggle
Higher oil prices are helping to make wool more competitive against synthetics, but not against cotton. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Mandatory code of conduct for horticulture industry
A coalition government would enforce a code of conduct for the horticulture sector. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Get used to a sugar price of $260 tonne
Canegrowers chairman Alf Cristaudo warned Queensland sugar growers that they must survive on a raw sugar price of around $260 tonne. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Many Woolmarks on Finnie’s agenda
Eric Finnie, general manager of The Woolmark Company said the Woolmark was in danger of becoming outdated and desperately needed to be revamped in a different form. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | NZ threatens WTO action over expected apple ban
New Zealand apple growers are cranky at the apparent reversal of plans to allow their fruit into Australia. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Pig meat analysis angers pork industry
Pork producers want a review of plans to allow more pork imports. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Single desk sugar exports planned
Queensland’s government may establish a voluntary “single desk” for sugar exports, according to the new chairman of grower association Canegrowers, Alf Cristaudo. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | Live cattle export numbers slump
Fewer live cattle were exported in August but the value was higher, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. ...... FULL STORY
5 Oct 2004 | NuFarm chief ploughs on
Doug Rathbone says he will stay on as chief executive of agricultural chemical maker NuFarm. ...... FULL STORY
1 Oct 2004 | Timber firms chip in
Two timber industry operators will merge, with Launceston-based Forest Enterprises revealing plans to take over Geelong-based forestry company Midway. ...... FULL STORY
1 Oct 2004 | Court fines dairy distributor over milk claims
Queensland milk distributor A2 Dairy Marketers received a $15,000 fine in the Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday for making misleading health claims for heat treated milk. ...... FULL STORY
1 Oct 2004 | New Zealand apples off the table
Australia may lock out New Zealand’s apple growers for a few more years, with the Coalition saying it will ignore the draft risk analysis for imports. ...... FULL STORY
1 Oct 2004 | Coalition vows to expand rural banking
The coalition said it would provide further funding to Australia Post to extend its banking services further into rural and remote areas. ...... FULL STORY
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