NORTH EAST AND GOULBURN MURRAY
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1984
37 Rowan Street, Wangaratta 3677
APRIL, 2015
$1 at newsagents PAGES 18-20
Wodonga Beef Breeds Sale
PAGE 9
Productive Pastures
PAGES 12-16
Tallangatta Expo
Senate dices meat business Committee to examine the effect of market consolidation in red meat processing sector
EARLY YIELD: Stanley chestnut growers Dave and Helen McIntyre are early into harvest this season. Dave said at the end of March that they had picked and graded 2.5 tonnes of nuts from their ‘in-conversion’ organic orchard east of Stanley. They produce nine varieties, including ‘de Coppi Marone’, ‘April Gold’, ‘Bouche de Bétizac’, ‘Colossal’, ‘MP1’ and ‘Red Spanish’. At this stage of the season they usually have only harvested about 1.25 tonnes using their Tonutti vacuum harvester behind a Ferrari RS 75 tractor. “Everything’s earlier this year,” said Dave. Nuts from the McIntyres’ ‘Garden in the Forest’ orchard are traditionally sold in the major wholesale market but this season includes the launch of a new website for the McIntyre orchard with on-line sales capacity. The McIntyres will achieve full certification from the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia this year. They expect to produce between 11 and 15 tonnes of chestnuts this season. PHOTO: Jamie Kronborg
THE growing disparity between the farm-gate price of beef and the retail price has been referred to in a Senate inquiry after a motion successfully put by Nationals’ Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie. The move – following intensive lobbying by the Victorian Farmers’ Federation (VFF) and the NSW Farmers’ Federation (NSW Farmers) – authorises the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee to investigate the effect of market consolidation in the red meat processing sector. It was made in response to the alleged buyer boycott of the new Northern Victorian Livestock Exchange at Barnawartha, angering local producers about the ever-increasing market power of meat processors. According to Senator McKenzie, many local producers have been too afraid to speak out about what is happening in their sector through fear of reprisals from processors. “This inquiry will provide an open forum where we can have the discussion, where all
the issues can be thoroughly investigated and both producers and processors can have their say,” Senator McKenzie said. “We currently have a situation where processors and supermarkets continue to receive record prices for local beef, yet the producers’ returns are diminishing – this needs to be thoroughly looked at.” Australia’s largest farm lobby groups, the VFF and NSW Farmers, have been asking the Senate to fast-track the inquiry following Treasurer Joe Hockey’s decision to approve a takeover of Primo smallgoods by Brazilian agri-giant JBS for $1.45 billion. VFF livestock president Ian Feldtmann said that farmers were losing out as global meat processing giants take control of an ever-greater share of the industry. “The price gap is widening,” he said. “You only have to look at the massive growth in processor margins versus the almost stagnant pricing we face in the saleyards.”
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WODONGA BEEF BREEDS Barnawartha Annual Bull Sale 37th Friday, April 24 2015, 11am NVLX Saleyards
Wodonga’s Premier Multibreed Bull Sale Featuring...
ANGUS CHAROLAIS POLL HEREFORD
55 14 4
LIMOUSIN RED & BLACK 25 SIMMENTAL RED & BLACK 12 RED ANGUS 3
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BULLS TO BE SOLD
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