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22 Dec 2006 | White Christmas reality for Australia
Weather forecasters are predicting the first white Christmas in Australia for more than 20 years with the possibility of snowfall on the Snowy Mountains and the central Tasmanian plateau. ...... FULL STORY
22 Dec 2006 | New group to legitimise bush food
Australian Native Foods, has recently been established to increase the acceptance of bush foods as legitimate produce. ...... FULL STORY
22 Dec 2006 | Riverland grape growers pool crop
Wine grape growers in the Murray Valley may pool their crop for sale through Vintage Traders Australia. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Growth for Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers has bought Bullivants, a New South Wales industrial company that supplies services and materials for lifting and rigging, for $50 million. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Dairy Australia gives feed options
Dairy farmers can now access an independent weekly grain and hay report to help them with their feed purchasing decisions. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Innovative farmers get $3 million
Australian farmers will benefit from a $3 million grant to increase the use of innovative and sustainable agricultural practices. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Cooler late summer in parts of the south-east, but hot elsewhere
The Bureau of Meteorology said there is a moderate to strong shift in the odds towards above normal daytime temperatures for the March 2007 quarter over much of eastern and northern Australia. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Drought severity only patchy
Incitec Pivot said it still hopes for a good winter cropping season next year. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | Drought drags down economic growth
The Australian Treasury yesterday published updated economic and budget forecasts for the 2007 financial year. ...... FULL STORY
21 Dec 2006 | GM wheat trialled in Victoria
Victoria’s government will support trial crops of genetically modified wheat. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Water low a threat to the economy
Melbourne’s water supply has hit a 21-year low as the State Government warns that Victoria will face an economic downturn due to the drought. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Fresh food prices soar
The continuing drought is affecting prices in all parts of the food and produce sector. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Doctors leaving bush
A new report has found that government incentives to encourage doctors to work in the bush are failing. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Aussie beef wins in Korea
An Australian meat product has been named the best food and beverage brand in South Korea for the third consecutive year. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Wholesalers seek to bypass code
Fruit and vegetable wholesalers sent letters to growers urging them to sign contracts that avoid adhering to "complicated written agreements and expensive administration". ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Meat margins on the block
The Federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran said he planned to publish the results late next month of an investigation by the nation's consumer watchdog on the meat prices at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Canola growing brightly in WA
The Australian Oilseeds Federation said it increased its estimate of canola production in Western Australia to 320,000 tonnes, about 60,000 tonnes more than its November forecast. ...... FULL STORY
20 Dec 2006 | Telcos chase bush broadband honeypot
Jockeying is underway for a federal government subsidy of $600 million to help fund investment in broadband in the bush. ...... FULL STORY
19 Dec 2006 | Lettuces off colour on recycled water
Vegetables grown using recycled effluent from the Werribee treatment plant in Melbourne have suffered discolouration and stunted growth. ...... FULL STORY
19 Dec 2006 | Lamb prices on the slide
The saleyard price of lamb is forecast to fall 15 per cent in 2006/07 as the drought forces farmers to sell livestock, and the saleyard price of beef is expected to slide 13 per cent. ...... FULL STORY
19 Dec 2006 | Score of aspirants to dethrone AWB
Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran has received 44 applications to export a total of five million tonnes of wheat, which is more than farmers have been able to produce during this year's drought. ...... FULL STORY
19 Dec 2006 | Drought shrinks farm incomes
Farm incomes have dropped to their lowest level since ABARE started its farm surveys almost three decades ago. ...... FULL STORY
19 Dec 2006 | Disease to hit sugar crops
Australia’s cane sugar crops are expected to be hit by a destructive fungal disease in 2007. ...... FULL STORY
18 Dec 2006 | Palm kernel extract a cheaper option
Dairy processor Murray Goulburn will start using fodder from Malaysia in mid-January to help feed their cows. ...... FULL STORY
18 Dec 2006 | WA runs out of rainwater
The drought is starting to affect areas in WA not serviced by the integrated water supply system, prompting talks to consider if action is needed to avoid major shortages later this summer. ...... FULL STORY
18 Dec 2006 | Most applicants to earn licences for wheat exports
Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran is preparing to endorse applications for wheat export licences from many - and perhaps all - of AWB's rivals. ...... FULL STORY
18 Dec 2006 | 193,000Ml of water wasted
The NSW Government had underestimated the amount of water that had been saved within the system by irrigators from last year, resulting in severe over-allocations early in the season, and which led to forced cuts of more than 52 per cent. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Childcare subsidy system fails working mothers
Australia’s shambolic childcare subsidy system is the reason why up to 20 per cent fewer mothers work in Australia than overseas, according to a report last week by the House of Representatives committee on work and family balance. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Spot water at a high
The price of water in the Goulburn Murray system is trading around $900 a megalitre. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Drought Buses a success
The Australian Government Drought Bus program was launched with just one mobile service unit at the beginning of November this year. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Coles calls for specialist help
Coles Group will ask a meat industry expert to scrutinise contracts and practices in its meat department, amid concerns that the retailer may be wasting millions of dollars in exclusive contracts with suppliers. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Success grows on trees and bushes for new co-operative
Y.V. Fresh is a co-operative of seven family businesses, who between them have 250 hectares of crops in the Yarra Valley. ...... FULL STORY
15 Dec 2006 | Foreign Register Considered
In an attempt to stop agents who exploit workers on the so-called 457 visas, the federal government is considering introducing a register of foreign labour hire companies to bring temporary migrants to Australia. ...... FULL STORY
14 Dec 2006 | No buyers for scrawny stock
Thousands of sheep remained unsold at saleyards at Wagga last week due to their poor condition. ...... FULL STORY
14 Dec 2006 | Plenty of demand for export wheat
About a dozen exporters lodged applications to sell around three million tones of wheat with the agriculture minister, Peter McGauran. ...... FULL STORY
14 Dec 2006 | AWB service levy skyrockets
AWB is likely to increase the service levy on wheat by a factor of as much as seven, to about $40 a tonne of wheat, if other exporters secure the right to sell wheat, leaving AWB with a much smaller pool. ...... FULL STORY
14 Dec 2006 | Visa row over foreign workers
The Australian meat industry is trying to persuade the Federal Government to allow foreign workers to counteract labour shortages. ...... FULL STORY
13 Dec 2006 | Australian Meat Industry Super Trust goes public
The Australian Meat Industry Super Trust (AMIST) has gone public and will open its doors in early 2007. ...... FULL STORY
13 Dec 2006 | Races cancelled due to locusts
Yesterday a locust invasion caused the races at Mt Barker to be cancelled after stewards deemed it too dangerous. ...... FULL STORY
13 Dec 2006 | Grains Council wants AWB to cut fees
The Grains Council of Australia called on AWB to lower its base pool management fee again to halt a crisis in confidence among West Australian wheat growers. ...... FULL STORY
13 Dec 2006 | Japan open to free trade deal
Japan and Australia will start negotiations over a free trade agreement, though agriculture is sure to be a thorny issue. ...... FULL STORY
12 Dec 2006 | Joyce urges government mandate for bio-fuels use
Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Nationals senator, has urged the federal government to mandate the use of bio-fuels as oil companies continue to fall short of their targets. ...... FULL STORY
12 Dec 2006 | Cane farmers prefer mining
40 per cent of cane farmers in the Mackay area work in the region’s coal mines, even though the district has more sugar cane under cultivation than anywhere in Australia and sugar prices are at record highs. ...... FULL STORY
12 Dec 2006 | AWB unlikely to have much wheat to sell
GrainCorp has submitted an application to export 230,000 tonnes of wheat next year. ...... FULL STORY
12 Dec 2006 | Farmers look to 2007 cropping season
Subject to good rains, WA Farmers said they expected “massive” plantings next year in WA, the biggest grain growing state, after this year’s harvest which is expected to total just 6.3 million to 6.5 million tonnes when it is over in the next few weeks. ...... FULL STORY
12 Dec 2006 | Vegetable prices rising fast
AusVeg said it expected “serious shortages” of vegetables and said retail prices may rise 30 per cent in the two weeks to Christmas. ...... FULL STORY
11 Dec 2006 | Wool clip shrinks
The wool clip is expected to fall to a 20-year low. Australian Wool Innovation has slashed its forecast for shorn wool production by nine per cent for 2006/2007 on last year's 475,000 tonnes. ...... FULL STORY
11 Dec 2006 | Victorian fire losses exceed $100m
Around 300,000 hectares of bushland, including state forest but only some farmland, have been burnt in fires in northern and eastern Victoria in recent days. ...... FULL STORY
11 Dec 2006 | NSW farm dams one third below 2005 levels
Almost 93 per cent of the area of New South Wales is drought declared, with no firm prospect of plentiful summer rains. ...... FULL STORY
8 Dec 2006 | McGauran no soft touch for CBH
The agriculture minister, Peter McGauran, now holds the power of veto over wheat exports by anyone other than AWB, and he may plan to use it, at least to some extent, and thus disappointing alternative vendors such as CBH. ...... FULL STORY
8 Dec 2006 | NSW irrigators want compensation for lost water
The NSW Irrigators' Council has asked for $57 million in compensation for lost carryover water. ...... FULL STORY
8 Dec 2006 | Goulburn water $780/megalitre
The price of temporary Goulburn water hit $780 a megalitre last week. ...... FULL STORY
8 Dec 2006 | More farm chemicals on control list
Another 94 chemicals, many of them for agricultural use, face new controls as part of the government's anti-terrorism regulations. ...... FULL STORY
7 Dec 2006 | Economic growth dragged down by the drought
The rate of economic growth in Australia for the 2006/07 financial year will be about half a percentage point less than the budget forecast of 3.25 per cent the Treasurer, Peter Costello, said. ...... FULL STORY
7 Dec 2006 | Farm income down 72 per cent
The drought will reduce Australia's agricultural income by 72 per cent to $2.6 billion in 2006/07, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated. ...... FULL STORY
7 Dec 2006 | AWB admits pool estimate a chimera
AWB said pool returns may fall and that upgraded price estimates of $250 a tonne were dependent on receiving four million tonnes of wheat. ...... FULL STORY
7 Dec 2006 | Cattle prices at four year low
Cattle prices fell 27 per cent this year to the lowest in almost four years as producers reduce herd sizes and contend with higher feed prices. ...... FULL STORY
7 Dec 2006 | Murray-Darling inflows dire
The Murray-Darling Basin Commission said that just 610 gigalitres of water flowed into the Murray River system between June and November, 56 per cent of the previously recorded low in 1902. ...... FULL STORY
6 Dec 2006 | Cotton and rice crop in decline
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics predicted that whilst this summer will feature average rainfall, the impact of the drought so far will severely reduce cotton and rice crop yields for this season. ...... FULL STORY
6 Dec 2006 | Winter crop 60 per cent less than in 2005
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the winter grain crop will be over 60 per cent less than last year and the smallest in 10 years. ...... FULL STORY
6 Dec 2006 | Minister takes AWB veto power on temporary basis
AWB has lost its monopoly powers over wheat exports, with its former power of veto given now to federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran for at least six months while the government works out future policy of the management of wheat exports. ...... FULL STORY
6 Dec 2006 | Driest spring since 1900
Late winter and early spring have been the driest August to October period since 1900 across most cropping districts in Australia. ...... FULL STORY
6 Dec 2006 | Aphids hit Yarra vineyards
Fosters said it found aphid phylloxera at some Yarra Valley vineyards at Coldstream. ...... FULL STORY
5 Dec 2006 | All clear for Kiwi apples
Biosecurity Australia proposes to allow the import of apples from New Zealand. ...... FULL STORY
5 Dec 2006 | Cargill imports GM canola seed
Grain trader Cargill said it had imported canola seed because of a sharp drop in Australian canola production caused by the drought. ...... FULL STORY
5 Dec 2006 | Increase in milk price for some dairy farmers
National Foods will lift the price it pays for raw milk by two cents a litre from January for six months. ...... FULL STORY
5 Dec 2006 | AWB lifts pool price
AWB raised the price it will pay farmers for wheat under its pooling system by between $2 and $3.50. ...... FULL STORY
4 Dec 2006 | FNQ cane farmers cranky with CSR
Cane farmers in north Queensland are seeking compensation from sugar mill operator CSR for delays that they say extended the crushing season for the second year in a row. ...... FULL STORY
4 Dec 2006 | Maryborough sugar crush a record
Maryborough Sugar Factory said it produced 132,387 tonnes of raw sugar this season, compared with the previous record of 128,880 tonnes. ...... FULL STORY
4 Dec 2006 | Grapes back in demand
Wine grape growers are receiving around $400 a tonne up from $150 a tonne last year. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Graincorp predicts loss and objects to AWB plan
Graincorp says that the proposed spin off of AWBI from the parent company still retains the veto power of the single desk within the framework of AWB. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Growers to pay AWB for loss of single desk
AWBI will have to compensate AWB for the loss of its single desk under an arrangement agreed to in 2004. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Agribusiness to benefit from Malaysia FTA
PM John Howard is in Kuala Lumpur for bilateral talks including discussions on the establishment of a free trade agreement between Australia and Malaysia. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | New Zealand apples approved for import
Biosecurity Australia released its final risk assessment on the importation of apples from New Zealand yesterday, ruling that the 85 year old ban be lifted for imports to every state except Western Australia. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Live export trade faces renewed court actions
Animal rights groups, including Animals Australia, have won the supprt of leading barristers to work on new court actions against the live export trade. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Summer locust warning for Victoria
Rain in early November has prompted widespread hopper hatchings in central Victoria leading to warnings by the Victorian DPI of possible locust plagues this summer. ...... FULL STORY
1 Dec 2006 | Murraylands harvest disappointing
Most Murraylands farmers are getting disappointing results from the current harvest although grains planted early were showing promising yields. ...... FULL STORY
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