The Farmer January-February 2022

Not out of the woods yet

Transport & logistics

The great Canadian dry

Sparking innovation

The timber shortage crisis ramps up

COVID-19 has added to freight woes

Canada´s drought teaches us lessons

A lab in Orange changing things up

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JAN – FEB 2022 / $ 9.95

It´s happy days for dairy An industry on the bounce back

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JAN - FEB 2022

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Permit No ACT TP 21/01976

Contents THE MUSTER

TRADE: DAIRY

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

NEWS AND VIEWS

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR OUR

New wool group to cover shearer shortage; The Agriculture Commissioner’s report; Tourism is shining bright in the town of Hay; Illegal cacti to watch out for; The great timber shortage; Meet two NSW Farmers’ Chairs from the Economic and Trade Committee and the Sheep Meat Committee ��������������������������������������������� 10

DAIRY INDUSTRY

CANADIAN DRY

After a tough decade, the dairy industry has made a stunning about face ������������� 46

After the worst drought in history, Canada shows us how to bounce back from disaster ���������������������������������� 76

INNOVATION

COMMUNITY

SPARKING AND CULTIVATING INNOVATION

THE BIG PICTURE

SparkLabs Cultiv8 – an ag and food technology accelerator headquartered in Orange – is changing the future ������������� 52

THE PATHWAY BETWEEN PADDOCK AND PLATE

Inefficient supply chains have been furthered hindered by a bumper harvest season and COVID-19 ��������������������������� 28

THE BIG ISSUE

SPECIAL REPORT: HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE

With six properties operating in NSW today, the Field family have had fourth generations of farming family to lay some groundwork ������������������������������������������� 80 MEET A MEMBER

A profile on NSW Farmers’ member Joanne Gowen ��������������������������������������������������� 86

FARMERS: PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

FARM DOGS

Farmers who have survived the many storms of 2021 are planning ahead �������� 58

Meet Walker, the handsome dog from out west ������������������������������������������������������� 87 MARKETPLACE: SALEYARDS

DIGGING AWAY A RIGHT TO FARM

Farmers in the Western Division are seeking to balance a right to farm with an increasing number of mineral explorers on their land ������������������������������������������ 34

NEW GENERATION: THE FIELD FAMILY

INDUSTRY

Some great new products that we’ve rounded up for the summer months ������ 88

THE CHILLI EVOLUTION

THE TAIL END

Three NSW chilli producers with different tales to tell ��������������������������������������������� 65

Meet the author behind a delightful new book about cows of the world ���������������� 89

ENVIRONMENT MAPPING A PATHWAY TO 30 BY 30

NSW Farmers is continuing to map a pathway to a $30 billion ag sector in NSW by 2030 ����������������������������������������� 40

SPECIAL REPORT: SUMMER ANGUS A DEEP DIVE INTO THE ANGUS BEEF INDUSTRY

What’s happening now and what the future holds for Angus cattle ������������������ 68

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The days ahead for the dairy industry are looking brighter than ever.

www.activ8me.net.

au

From the editor

THE MAGAZINE

W

PUBLISHER James Wells EDITOR Michelle Hespe ART DIREC TOR Ryan Vizcarra

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EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

Michelle Hespe Email: mhespe@intermedia.com.au

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Ben Payne Email: bpayne@intermedia.com.au Phone : 0403 893 668

–CONTRIBUTORS Anthony Ong Dave Smith Emily Simpson Jeanette Severs Matt Beaver Michael Burt Rachael Lenehan Sandra Godwin Sheree Young Susan Gough Henly Tony Blackie NSW FARMERS

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@NSWFarmers THE INTERMEDIA GROUP

MANAGING DIREC TOR Simon Grover GM OF OPERATIONS Chris Baker FINANCE MANAGER Mina Vranistas PRODUC TION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper HEAD OF DIGITAL Pauline Grech HEAD OF EVENTS Beth Tobin The Farmer magazine magazine is published for the NSW Farmers Association (ABN: 31 000 004 651) by The Intermedia Group (ABN: 94 002 583 682) 41 Bridge Rd, Glebe NSW 2037.

All rights reserved. Printed by IVE Group. Getty Images were used throughout the magazine.

elcome to our first issue for 2022, and I truly hope that you are reading this with some fresh hope piled up for a great year ahead. The past couple of years have been so tough on so many, and my heart goes out to every one of you who has been affected by bushfires, drought, floods, mice, and of course, the ongoing pandemic. We’re not here to dwell on the past however – we are here to look ahead and to plan for a bright future.

This issue is once again packed with great features, but there are always a few that strike a chord with me, and this issue one of those is our International Influence story on the resilience and tenacity of Canadian farmers who have gone through one of the worst droughts in history. The lesson that our fellow farmers have learned will teach us much, and as the saying goes – necessity is the mother of invention.

Or you could say, from hard times come opportunities. However it’s phrased, the end result is a tonne of innovation.

On a really positive note, our story on dairy will put a smile on many faces, as it’s one industry that has had a rough trot over the years, and so many farmers have had to leave dairy farms, homes and businesses where they and their parents before them worked and lived. I’ve always gone the extra mile and do my best to seek out local producers of milk, cheese, yoghurt and all other produce, but when it comes to hard financial times, many of us don’t have a choice and simply have to buy whatever is most affordable. So now, if the big supermarkets up their prices on milk, a lot of people and their businesses will benefit, and some even saved.

Finally, it’s probably no secret by now that I love dogs. At present I am fostering

a lovely old English staffy whose owner is sadly no longer with us, and she needed a loving home. It’s been one of the best things I have ever done and I now have a little, rotund black shadow. And I also have the pleasure of editing stories from the mouths of many dog owners, where the dogs’ personalities shine through in our charming series called Farm Dogs. I think you’ll like ol' Walker’s story.

Enjoy the read, and don’t forget to fill out our survey and go in the draw to win $4,000 towards a brand new shed. Now that would be a nice way to kick off 2022!

MICHELLE HESPE

Editor PS: Yep, that's me on a Blue Mountains 4WD convoy trip – looking very pleased about being able to get out and about again in NSW. Hallelujah.

The Intermedia Group takes its corporate and social responsibilities seriously and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. We continuously strive to improve our environmental performance and to initiate additional CSR based projects and activities.

As part of our company policy we ensure that the products and services used in the manufacture of this magazine are sourced from environmentally responsible suppliers.

Not out of the woods yet

Transport & logistics

The great Canadian dry

Sparking innovation

The timber shortage crisis ramps up

COVID-19 has added to freight woes

Canada´s drought teaches us lessons

A lab in Orange changing things up

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This magazine has been printed on paper produced from sustainably sourced wood and pulp fibre and is accredited under PEFC chain of custody.

PEFC certified wood and paper products come from environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests.

Photo by Matt Beaver

JAN – FEB 2022 / $ 9.95

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DISCLAIMER: This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by New Zealand and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information.

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Copyright © 2022 – The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd

It´s happy days for dairy An industry on the bounce back

THE FARMER

JAN - FEB 2022

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The Muster

l NEWS

FarmFeed – a digital connection for NSW Farmers Members NSW Farmers has created a new digital community for Members from every corner of the state to connect and collaborate on a range of industry issues.

FarmFeed – which is an exclusive, member-only forum, was launched by NSW Farmers in October 2021. It’s already proving its worth amongst members, with many welcoming the opportunity to take part in digital discussions and have their say.

The online FarmFeed community and app allows members to ask questions, seek advice, initiate discussions, receive feedback and connect with industry peers and members.

NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle says Farmfeed gives growers and producers an opportunity to solve on-farm challenges, or discuss key industry issues.

“The FarmFeed forum is a great way to share knowledge and build expertise,” he says.

“It brings producers and growers together and provides an instant and timely way for members to communicate with each other and with the association's staff.”

NSW Farmers Member and Dubbo Farmer Shane Kilby is testing a new app that will be available next year for Members to have ‘on-the -go’ engagement on the Farmfeed platform.

“Using the app makes it accessible to engage in relevant discussions with other members while you are on the farm thinking about the things that matter to you and your local rural community,” Shane says.

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JAN - FEB 2022

Shane says Farmfeed allows members to be more proactive on issues and gain a better understanding of the Association and its advocacy efforts.

Mr Arkle said the FarmFeed community is also providing important member insights for the Association.

“Our members play a critical role in shaping Association policy and we believe every member has a right to be heard.”

“This online community has already given Association staff more clarity on member viewpoints and gives them the ability to respond to member queries in a timely fashion.”

Access to the exclusive digital community is included with all NSW Farmers memberships. To become a member of NSW Farmers or for more information about the FarmFeed portal, head to: community.nswfarmers.org.au/home

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The Muster l INDUSTRY NEWS

New wool group to cover the shearer shortage Words MICHAEL BURT

N

SW Farmers has established a new advisory group to reverse a decline in shearers that has accelerated due to state and trans-Tasman border closures.

NSW Farmers Wool Committee Chair Helen Carrigan said the new NSW Wool Technical Advisory Group or WoolTAG will provide the space for a cross-industry forum to discuss and develop solutions to current workforce issues by bringing together supply chain expertise.

“Over the past 10 years the number of shearers has dropped by about 30 per cent,” Ms Carrigan said.

“Factors such as drought and border closures associated with COVID-19 have considerably heightened workforce challenges, and we will work on attracting, training, and retaining workers to ensure the wool industry’s ongoing success.

“WoolTAG will also advocate for improved training courses for shearers and classers.

“The group will review training programs available and relevant to the shearing industry and engage with training institutions to forecast future workforce requirements.

“In the past, attempts to address this workforce issue have been siloed, but we need the NSW industry to work collaboratively.”

Ms Carrigan said other states had successfully established similar WoolTAG initiatives that delivered positive workforce outcomes.

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DOMESTIC WOOL PROCESSING – MORE THAN A GOOD YARN?

WoolProducers Australia has secured a grant to investigate the feasibility of domestic and diversified early-stage wool processing.

The grant will fund a project titled Ensuring a Sustainable Australian Wool Industry through market diversification and risk mitigation.

“Talking to woolgrowers from around the country, one thing that is continuously raised is the desire to process wool domestically,” said WoolProducers CEO, Ms Jo Hall.

“There is strong appeal to reinvigorate early-stage wool processing on home soil as it appears to tick so many boxes, including regional jobs, Emergency Animal Disease risk mitigation, market diversification and adding pre-export value to our agricultural products to name a few, however as an industry we need to ensure that it is feasible to do so.”

The feasibility study will aim to investigate market diversification options that will complement existing markets to ensure a sustainable wool industry.

“WoolProducers started looking into this concept in late 2020 and has put enormous effort into securing this grant.

“We would like to thank Minister Littleproud and the ATMAC program of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, for providing the funding for this important work,” Ms Hall said.

A Sydney-based firm, Planet Protector Packaging, has also won a $4.8 million federal government grant to establish a manufacturing facility to produce its innovative Woolpack packaging solution.

The grant comes on the back of a ‘Ewe Beauty’ campaign to re-establish wool processing in Australia.

“It’s time wool processing returned to Aussie turf and we innovate with this natural and sustainable fibre,” says Planet Protector Packaging CEO Joanne Howarth.

“Our innovative Woolpack is made from 100 per cent coarse waste wool for which there are limited applications. We don’t want wool going to landfill. We want to support our Aussie sheep farmers.” l

GOING D OMESTIC

CEO of WoolProducers Ms Jo Hall says that one thing that is continuously raised by woolgrowers is the desire to process wool domestically.

l RENEWABLES

Ag Commissioner's report: sharing the land pie Words EMILY SIMPSON

R

egional New South Wales is suddenly a very busy place. The agriculture sector is booming, regional centres are undergoing a revival, and the energy transition is well underway. But with all the buzz comes the risk of conflict as key land use interests vie for space.

The NSW Agricultural Commissioner, Darryl Quinlivan, has released his report on how the NSW planning system can accommodate key land use interests and minimise the risk of conflict. The Improving the Prospects for Agriculture and Regional Australia in the NSW Planning System report suggests that smart planning will play a central role, but conflict resolution will also need to be part of the equation.

Tenterfield farmer and Conservation & Resource Management Committee Chair at NSW Farmers, Bronwyn Petrie, agrees that the divergent interests driving agriculture, peri-urban development and energy generation necessitate a smart planning system to avoid or minimise conflict.

“Australia is growing more urbanised, and that trend is increasingly spreading to regional areas as one in five Aussies seek a quieter life outside our capital cities,” Ms Petrie said.

The report’s 13 recommendations have a central theme to develop a specific

policy on agricultural land use. This would include identification of higher quality agricultural land and a State Significant Agricultural Land (SSAL) map to be used consistently by councils and other agencies to inform strategic planning consistent with the State’s growth objectives such as renewable energy.

With five new Renewable Energy Zones set for New South Wales, the installation of renewable energy infrastructure and transmission lines will create a major land use interest for farmers to contend with. And with agricultural land often considered a ‘default zone’ for accommodating other developments, it’s a serious concern to be grappling with.

“Farmers are not opposed to the energy transition or the installation of renewable energy infrastructure, they just want a seat at the table in major land use decisions and assurance their assets will not be undervalued.”

For farmers like Bronwyn Petrie, the importance of forward-thinking land use planning is about more than avoiding conflict. It is about protecting the finite resource that is our most productive and valuable agricultural land.

“With more mouths to feed as the global population grows, we cannot afford to jeopardise the future use of our best land.”

This image: A NSW wind project; Top right: (L-R): Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh MP; NSW Ag Commissioner Daryl Quinlivan; NSW Farmers Coffs Harbour Branch Chair Paul Shoker.

Agriculture might be in a boom cycle with more investors looking to greener pastures, but agricultural land has slowly shrunk over the last few decades.

According to a 2019 Agrifutures report, Australia experienced a 14 per cent decline in land used for food and fibre production between 1973 and 2017, equating to a loss of around 106 million hectares.

When it comes to land use decisions, Bronwyn Petrie said the flow on effects for community must be front of mind.

In the consultation leading to this report, councils raised concerns around the complexity and inconsistency across various planning instruments, and rising incidence and severity of conflict about agricultural activities.

It is unsurprising, then, that stakeholders agreed that land use conflict and problems facing agriculture in the planning system warrant strong policy responses.

“Some of the damage has already been done and in that instance, we need clear conflict resolution processes. But looking to the future, we need to prioritise a smart planning system, and that starts with a whole-of-government approach which we believe will be orchestrated through the Agricultural Commissioner.”

Reassuringly, there are examples of agriculture and urban populations co-existing. In his report, the Commissioner cites the example of The Netherlands, which strategically planned for the use of rural land since 1945 and is now the world’s second largest agricultural exporter despite its small landmass. l

LAND USE IS SUES

Renewable energy and transmission line infrastructure present a major land use interest for farmers to contend with.

JAN - FEB 2022

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The Muster l SMALL TOWN IN THE SP OTLIGHT

Heading out Hay way The south western NSW town of Hay, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, is experiencing an economic boom that hasn’t been seen for decades.

Photography RACHAEL LENEHAN

O

n the back of a series of good seasons and a spike in tourist traffic, the local economy in Hay has hit top gear.

“Agriculture is our most important economic driver, accounting for more than 30 per cent of all economic activity in the LGA,” says Ali McLean, the Economic Development Officer for Hay Shire Council. “It has taken us nearly 10 years to recover from the impacts of the millennium drought, but the last few years have shown just what an engine house agriculture is for the town of Hay.” Ali is also a local farmer, running a Dorper lamb operation with her husband Hugh at Booligal, to the north of Hay. “Agriculture is really driving our prosperity, but our tourism sector has become our quiet achiever.

If the millennium drought taught us anything it was that we needed to really diversify our economy and support alternative industries that strengthen Hay’s ability to be climate resilient,” she says.

“Tourism is now our second biggest industry and we want to do everything we can to support its continued growth.”

Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a good season for the tourism industry in Hay. “When the international borders were shut, and in between lockdowns, we saw our visitation numbers climb by over 35 per cent. It was as if Australians rediscovered their backyard.”

“We have always had a very reliable grey nomad market, but the pandemic reintroduced families to the great Australian road trip and Hay was one of the key destinations.”

“Coming from a rural town we understood that when the season is on you must make the most of it – and we certainly focused all our energy to making sure we capitalised on the momentum,” Ali says.

“The border restrictions between Victoria and South Australia had a significant impact on our visitation numbers, but we have looked to other markets, such as regional NSW and Canberra, to plug the gap. It is not unlike facing a drought, you can’t give up – you just have to turn your attention to other opportunities.”

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HAY, STRANGER!

The Great Aussie road trip renaissance has seen visitor numbers in Hay peak during the pandemic.

The town has country charm in spades, historic houses to explore (left), beautiful trails along the Murrumbidgee River (below), and epic sunset views across the plains (bottom).

Hay has certainly grabbed the road trip renaissance with both hands, investing in its attractions and promoting its unique selling point – the majestic Hay Plains.

Anyone who has ever travelled the Hay Plains can attest that the vast skies and grand uninterrupted vistas are a unique Australian experience. The Plains are renowned as being the flattest stretch of land in the southern hemisphere, and lend themselves to some of the most breathtaking sunsets in the country.

“We often hear from our visitors that they cannot get over how big the skies are in Hay,” Ali says.

The Sunset Viewing Area, 16km north of Hay, is one of the most visited attractions. The area attracts visitors and locals alike, who bring a few sundowners of an evening to witness the spectacular sunsets.

“I remember during the first lockdown, speaking to one visitor at the Sunset Viewing Area,” Ali says. “He was saying how moving the experience had been to witness the sunset on the Plains. He had recently returned from years of living overseas and had forgotten the very Australian light that we experience as the sun goes down, and the sheer enormity of the skies had made him feel surprisingly emotional. > JAN - FEB 2022

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The Muster He described it as feeling as though he had been part of a very Australian experience.”

While Mother Nature puts on a spectacular show each evening, visitors can fill their days with experiences as diverse as learning about Hay’s World War II Prisoner of War Camp to bike riding.

The Hay Visitor Centre invested in 12 bikes that can be hired free to explore the town.

“I would challenge anyone to find an easier town to explore by bike than Hay. The flatness really comes into its own!” Ali says. “Our bikes are one of our most popular attractions. We see everyone from young families to 80-year-olds relishing the freedom of cycling. They will often use the bike to visit our museums or wind around the river on the 5km track.

“We have formed bike paths that connect all of our attractions, and we just love seeing people enjoy Hay from a different perspective.”

Hay has also been fortunate to have had a dedicated band of volunteers preserve and curate its rich history over the past 50 years.

As a result, Dunera Museum – which tells the story of the Hay Prisoner of War Camp and Bishop’s Lodge Historic House (an architecturally designed sustainable house that dates from the 1880s) – presents a rich tapestry of stories for visitors to enjoy. The museum has recently undergone a complete refurbishment and the moving story of the camp remains one of the region’s major attractions.

However, as in many rural towns, the pool of volunteers who dedicated their time to the preservation of local history has diminished.

“Our volunteers have left us an incredible legacy,” says Ali. “The town of Hay will be forever indebted to our volunteers who put their time, effort and often money into preserving our history.

As a result, we have world-class museums that are an incredible asset to our visitor economy.” l

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ALONG FOR THE RIDE

Holidaymakers can rent bikes from Hay’s Visitor Centre to get around town (above).

With a thriving cafe culture (below) and boutique stores (right) to browse for bargains, Hay has plenty of attractions to entertain visitors of all ages.

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The Muster

l ILLEGAL CAC TI

The prickly issue of illegal cacti Illegal sales of certain species of cactus are causing a prickly problem for farmers, people, pets, and native animals.

Words MICHAEL BURT

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SW Crime Stoppers, Local Land Services and the NSW Department of Primary Industries have joined forces to tackle the trade of illegal cactus species.

Cactus plants are popular potted and garden plants. They have an appealing aesthetic, are easy to grow, thrive on neglect and are a regular sale item at community markets.

However, some cactus plants – such as prickly pears – cause nightmares for farmers, and their sharp spines and barbed bristles can injure people as well impale, infect, blind and even kill native animals, pets, working dogs and livestock.

When invasive cacti get out into the environment, they can form impenetrable walls of vegetation that prevent animals from grazing and from accessing shade and water.

Farmers in North West NSW have experienced this first-hand in recent years, with outbreaks of Harrisia cactus and Hudson pear, both introduced to Australia as ornamental species.

There are more than 27 species of prickly pear cacti known to be in

Australia. Eve’s needle, bunny ears, smooth tree pear and blind cactus are all illegal cacti species that are still being traded.

“Many people may not know the cacti they see for sale at their local market or online are illegal to sell or trade, so we have developed information to help people identify the types of cacti,” says NSW Crime Stoppers CEO Peter Price AM. “If you have any of these plants, do not sell or swap them. These cactus infestations cost millions of dollars to control. Stopping the spread is the only way to minimise the devastating impact these plants can cause.

“We are appealing to the public to be on the lookout for the trade of these plants, particularly online.

“Community awareness and action will be crucial in preventing the prohibited selling or swapping of these plants. We are asking anyone who sees these plants being sold online to report it to NSW Crime Stoppers.”

On-the-spot fines of $1,000 and penalties of up to $220,000 can apply if someone is found to be selling or swapping certain types of cacti in NSW. >

STICKING THE BO OT INTO THE SALE OF ILLEGAL CACTI

NSW Crime Stoppers, Local Land Services and the NSW Department of Primary Industries have joined forces to tackle the trade of illegal cactus species (above left). Cactus plants are popular potted and garden plants, but some species cause nightmares for farmers (main image). On-the-spot fines of $1,000 and penalties of up to $220,000 can apply if someone is found to be selling or swapping certain types of cacti in NSW (above right).

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The Muster

If you see illegal cacti being sold, report it to NSW Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000, or online at nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. The website also has a fact sheet detailing a complete list of plants prohibited from sale or swap in NSW. TINY INSECT EATS INTO HUDSON PEAR CACTUS

Farmers in North West NSW are winning the battle to control the spread of a prickly noxious weed thanks to a tiny insect.

With its Triffid-like prolific growth and barbed spikes that snare any creature unfortunate enough to walk into it, the Hudson pear cactus is like something out of a horror movie.

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SPINE CRUSHING

Top: Farmer Neil Warden undertaking one of his regular spraying missions to fight off the Hudson pear invading his Cumborah property.

Photo: Mardi Remond.

Above: The tiny cochineal insect agent Dactylopius tomentosus attacking a Hudson pear.

But this has not scared off the cochineal insect agent Dactylopius tomentosus, which was first released for the biocontrol of Hudson pear in November 2017 in NSW and Queensland.

Four years on, the tiny bug is rivalling the success of Australia’s most famous example of biological control of weeds in Australia – the use of a cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum, to control prickly pear cactus.

This success story is led by Dr Andrew McConnachie, a research officer in the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Weed Research Unit, and around 50 landholders.

Andrew says the DPI has been mass-rearing the biocontrol agent in laboratories, with farmers providing Hudson pear samples in exchange for samples infested with cochineal to plant back in an impacted area and let the bugs do their work.

“Now that the cochineal has dispersed so well through the landscape, farmers are battling to find any uninfected Hudson pear cladodes to collect,” he says.

“However, biosecurity officers involved with the project are still rearing and releasing high numbers of the cochineal to help boost its impact on Hudson pear.”

“The cochineal biocontrol agent is established at all 44 field sites across Western NSW. Natural

BY PHIL SOMERVILLE

“The cochineal insect is proving to be specific to Hudson pear and is having a marked impact on its spread,” continues Andrew. “Biosecurity officers have also reported a significant decrease in the use of herbicides over the last couple of years, due to the impact that the biocontrol agent is having.

“NSW DPI has provided face-to-face training to over 50 landholders, and new participants are constantly getting involved. This has included how to safely collect Hudson pear cladodes, how to swap and transport the cochineal biocontrol agent, and how to release it. We are always on the lookout for more participants.”

The company InFarm has been contracted to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach for detecting Hudson pear from aerial imagery, which is being used to assess spread and the impact of the agent over large areas and across inaccessible terrain.

“Once this high-resolution imagery dataset is captured, it will be run through a supercomputer with a custom algorithm to determine exactly where Hudson pear is located in a 200,000-hectare area,” explains Andrew. “This data will feed into the Hudson pear management plan.”

The Hudson pear biocontrol project is funded through the Federal Government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Rural Research and Development for Profit (Round 4) program, and is managed by AgriFutures Australia. l

The not-so-nice Hudson pear

dispersal means it has also spread to an estimated 20 additional sites where it has not been released.”

Hudson pear was first detected in Australia in the Lightning Ridge area during the late 1960s. It is believed to have spread from a cactus nursery at Grawin and has since infested around 100,000 hectares of land in the North West.

According to mapping by NSW Local Land Services, the Hudson pear cactus has the potential to invade up to 112 million hectares of arid land across Australia.

THUMB S UP

Community members examining a Hudson pear killed by the cochineal Dactylopius tomentosus (lineage californica var. parkeri) at a release site in Grawin, NSW. Photo: NSW DPI.

The Hudson pear is named after a resident of the Lightning Ridge area, Mr Hudson, who first brought the problem to the attention of the then Prickly Pear Destruction Commission.

Hudson pear has particularly vicious spines which are capable of penetrating footwear and even vehicle tyres.

The spines are encased in a detachable sheath, which can remain embedded in a wound even after the body of the spine is removed. The spines can cause serious injury to humans, livestock and working animals such as horses and dogs, and may present a severe impediment to mustering operations.

Hudson pear also poses a threat to native fauna and has been known to cause the death of native animals including koalas.

Infestations of Hudson pear cactus can also displace native flora and may have an impact on biodiversity.

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The Muster l SUPPLY CHAIN LO GISTIC S

Between wood and a hard place A two-year shortfall in timber supply caused by bushfire and flood damage has left the NSW timber industry struggling to meet demand from infrastructure projects and record levels of housing construction.

Words SANDRA GODWIN Photography ANTHONY ONG

A

recent report from Master Builders Australia and the Australian Forest Products Association estimates that the shortfall in NSW’s timber will reach the equivalent of 250,000 house frames by 2035.

Both organisations have called on the Federal and State governments to develop a national plan that encourages new plantings of “the right types of trees at the right scale and in the right places” to avert a crisis.

Most timber for house frames comes from commercial softwood plantations and the gap can’t readily be filled by hardwood, which is also in short supply.

But the hardwood shortage provides a golden opportunity for landowners with native forest on their properties, who aren’t yet actively managing it for timber or for conservation.

The Hurford Group director Andrew Hurford says that was how his grandfather, James, started the family business during the post-World War II construction boom, buying a small steam sawmill and a 400ha forest block at Bungawalbin, southeast of Casino.

“We still have that forest today,” he says. “It’s produced timber for my grandfather and it’s producing timber for me and my children.”

The Hurford Group now owns 5,000 hectares of hardwood plantations and farms for cattle and timber from private native forestry (PNF), as well as mills at Casino, Kyogle

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and Kempsey and a factory at Tuncester, west of Lismore.

Andrew, who is Chairman of Timber NSW, says the logs are turned into high value items like flooring, furniture, decking and cladding, and products where durability is needed, such as bridge timbers, piers, wharfs and public walkways.

“We still have that forest today,” he says. “It’s produced timber for my grandfather and it’s producing timber for me and my children.”

Hurfords processes its own timber and buys hardwood logs from other PNF producers across the Northern Rivers region. About half the logs come from state forests through the NSW Forestry Corporation.

Since 2018, NSW Local Land Services (LLS) has been responsible for providing advice and approving PNF plans, while the NSW Environment and Protection Authority retained its compliance and enforcement role.

PNF plans are governed by codes of practice, which set minimum operating standards and contain provisions to

ensure ecologically sustainable management. There are different codes for the four main regions: northern NSW, southern NSW, river red gum forests and cypress and western hardwood forests.

The NSW Government began a review of the codes in 2018. At the time it was estimated PNF accounted for 8.7 million hectares, or 39.7 per cent of the state’s native forests.

Andrew says one of the hurdles to any expansion of PNF is the overlapping and conflicting regulations that apply to different activities on those farms – from grazing cattle to fences, as well as firebreaks, weed and vermin control.

“There’s been some terrific initiatives,” Andrew says. “On the positive side, Local Land Services is well placed to give advice and assist landholders with getting the necessary approvals and knowledge. But on the flip side of that, you’ve got a potentially growing dual consent problem that stems from councils imposing the DA process on people whose land is already covered by LLS.” Central to the imbroglio is the much-loved icon of the Australian bush, the koala, which is endangered in NSW. When the PNF Code was introduced in 2007, it prohibited logging in core koala habitat and allowed councils to identify those areas under a Koala Plan of Management (KPOM).

By March 2021, there were > nine approved KPOMs across

GOLDEN OPP ORTUNITY

Andrew Hurford (right) says that the hardwood shortage provides a golden opportunity for landowners with native forest on their properties – who aren’t actively managing it – to move into timber production.

BY PHIL SOMERVILLE

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The Muster the state, in the Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Kempsey, Port Stephens and Tweed shires, and the cities of Campbelltown, Coffs Harbour and Lismore.

THE HURDLES OF GOING PRIVATE

Patience is an essential quality for anyone involved with PNF, which is traditionally less intensive than commercial plantations. It is predominately done in conjunction with livestock production on farms and provides a valuable source of income Just ask Tenterfield farmer Bronwyn Petrie who last cut timber from the family’s PNF before the codes of practice took effect in July 2007.

Bronwyn raises Angus cattle southeast of Tenterfield with her ex-husband Bill and their son Tim, who is the sixth generation of the family to fell timber.

“Timber harvesting was a regular activity for us but when they introduced the current code, the rules prohibited the co-existence of livestock. Even though we’ve been working that area for over 100 years, it meant we had to choose whether we’re stock people or timber people.”

Bronwyn says bureaucrats visualised that farmland was utilised in zones assigned to a single purpose, such as cropping, grazing or forestry.

“Very few farmers do that with PNF. In our case, the timbered country is really good for grazing in winter,” she says. “And it’s also good in the drought because that’s where we’ve got multiple creeks and the cattle keep the undergrowth down.

The codes are overly prescriptive, it’s like someone wants it to sit very neatly on a computer, which doesn’t necessarily work in the paddock.”

As Chairman of the NSW Farmers Conservation and Resources Committee and a member of the National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council, Bronwyn has spent years lobbying for common sense changes to the rules.

Some of the impediments have been removed, but Bronwyn and others have been waiting for new PNF codes of practice to be released.

The review of PNF codes of

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practice that began in 2018 was due for completion by September 2019. But it was delayed and became entangled in the 2020 political dispute dubbed the “koala wars”.

[See breakout box] During last year’s budget estimates hearings, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall was quizzed about progress on the PNF review.

Mr Marshall said LLS and the Environment, Energy and Science division were still working on it, and the Natural Resources Commission would be asked for advice before the codes came back to him and then Environment Minister Matt Kean for assent.

Asked whether this would take 12 months, Mr Marshall said he hoped not because he wanted “the changes to be in ASAP”.

He also said he had made it clear to LLS staff that any amendments to the code must include an increase in approval periods for PNF plans from 15 to 30 years and removal of dual consent requirements for PNF. “They are absolutely key to not just the continuation of that industry but the growth of the private native forestry industry,” he told the hearings on November 1.

Bronwyn Petrie says it was frustrating enough waiting and lobbying over more than a decade for the review.

“The new code should have been released two years ago, but it got tangled up in the Koala SEPP which is really unfortunate because the timber is our bank,” she says.

“And then of course, we had fires go through which wiped out a lot of our good standing timber. Now it comes down to argy bargy between departments and ministers to get this thing rolling.”

Andrew Hurford says PNF is not just about cutting timber.

“It’s enjoyable to sit in the backyard of an evening and listen to koalas calling or to see a platypus in your creek,” he says. “They’re iconic species and, if you manage your native forests well, being able to have and enjoy them on your own property is wonderful.” l

The koala wars The stoush between NSW National and Liberal MPs followed Cabinet approval in December 2019 of a new State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) to protect koala habitat, known as SEPP 2019.

It was signed into law on December 20, without consulting affected parties, such as farmers, landowners and timber industries, who were in the midst of battling the Black Summer bushfires.

The new SEPP implemented in March 2020 was given the power to override the Land Management Code and became the fifth piece of legislation designed to protect native wildlife habitat.

SEPP 2019 increased the list of tree species to be protected as koala habitat from 10 species they feed on to 123 species they use.

It also included maps that identified large swathes of the state as potential habitat, triggering requirements for landholders to pay for expensive koala surveys and seek development consent for many routine farming and PNF activities.

“The maps were highly inaccurate and included farmhouses, the Newcastle CBD foreshore and farmers’ sheds, dams and irrigation channels and would force farmers to obtain vegetation approvals from local councils under the non-rural vegetation SEPP instead of Local Land Services,” Bronwyn said.

Then-National Party leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro threatened in September to break the coalition if the SEPP wasn’t changed to remove its overreach.

Eventually a peace deal was brokered.

The 2019 Koala SEPP was repealed in November 2020 and replaced by SEPP 2020 which largely reinstated the measures under SEPP 44 that had applied from 1995 to 2019.

In March 2021, John Barilaro, Planning Minister Rob Stokes and Environment Minister Matt Kean announced in a joint statement that land zoned for farming or forestry in regional NSW would be exempt from a new Koala SEPP. Other provisions included removing the ability of councils to rezone agricultural land to an environmental zone and eliminating dual consent provisions for PNF in local environmental plans.

Interim measures were put in place until new land management and PNF codes of practice were ready.

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The Muster l COMMITTEE PROFILE

Getting down to business Meet our Business, Economic and Trade (BEAT) Committee Chair, Bill McDonnell 1. WHAT DOES YOUR FARM BUSINESS PRODUCE?

In partnership with my brothers, we run a mixed farming operation with a self-replacing Poll Merino flock and winter cereal crops.

2. HOW DID YOU BECOME A FARMER?

I was raised on the farm, then moved into manufacturing, experiencing a very different lifestyle. I then had an opportunity to return to the family farm and have been a full-time farmer for 30 years. I am so fortunate to have had that opportunity.

3. WHAT IS IT ABOUT BEING A FARMER THAT GETS YOU UP IN THE MORNING?

6. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEAT

To be able to work in nature, see seeds grow to maturity and harvest; and to develop a strong breeding program – especially to see lambs grow to maturity.

The challenges that farming exposes me to make me a stronger person.

COMMITTEE’S RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS?

4. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME A NSW FARMERS MEMBER?

I have an interest in the issues that affect all farmers and I want to contribute to the industry. This has taken me on a journey of learning and understanding of how the ag sector functions. Farmers need to be actively contributing if they want to address the many challenges and drive the solutions.

5. WHY DID YOU TAKE ON THE ROLE OF THE BEAT COMMITTEE CHAIR?

To work with members to ensure their concerns are heard, and make sure Association policy is acted on and addresses the issues that matter most to our members. It feels good to be part of the solution, working with a group of passionate farmers who are seeking to really drive forward solutions to address barriers to productivity.

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The Committee has been effective in raising member concerns with the NSW Government about the business impacts of rising land valuations, council rates, and the proposed NSW property tax.

We have also been working closely with Transport for NSW to improve compliance requirements for primary producers.

Removing access restrictions on the Newell Highway and the duplication of the Great Western Highway will deliver strong benefits to farmers. The Government’s commitment to expand onshore storage for crude oil, the Productivity Commission’s review of right to repair, and proposed changes to unfair contract terms legislation should achieve positive outcomes for members in the long-term.

7. WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES FOR 2022?

• Improve business resilience and preparedness for drought and natural disasters, especially access to finance.

• Reduce/remove inefficiencies in transport infrastructure (road, rail and port access) to improve productivity and drive down costs.

Name: Bill McDonnell Committee: Business, Economics and Trade (BEAT) Farm location: Lockhart Local branch: Lockhart

• Improve access to international markets for all agricultural products.

• Maintain advocacy to improve domestic market access and address barriers to competitiveness.

8. IF YOU AREN’T ON YOUR FARM, WHERE WOULD YOU BE?

Visiting family and friends is important to me, seeing different places and chatting to people – they have so much to tell you!

Or a good game of AFL, particularly if the Swans are playing.

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE STORY (BOOK, MOVIE OR TELEVISION SHOW) ABOUT FARMING/AGRICULTURE?

A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey. This autobiography is a simple tale of resilience that offers a valuable perspective for today. He lived the frontier life of a sheep farmer in Western Australia, survived Gallipoli, raised a family through The Depression, and was married for 60 years.

Facey’s story is the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man.

l COMMITTEE PROFILE

4. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME

A world of sheep

A NSW FARMERS MEMBER?

Meet our Sheep Meat Committee Chair, Jenny Bradley

1. WHAT DOES YOUR FARM

In one word: security. Security in the knowledge that you are supported by a professional group that understands the complex business of farming. The right to farm has and will continue to be controversial, thanks to the divide between those that understand the need to farm and those that choose not to.

NSW Farmers is the united voice for those that choose this field as the industry they want to be involved in.

7. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE COMMITTEE’S RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS?

It’s vital. Farmers are relatively small in number compared to other sectors, hence the need for a united voice through NSW Farmers. We can advocate as individuals, but being part of an organisation really helps in getting your issues heard.

We provided input into the development of the Sheep Sustainability Framework, feedback on the Livestock Production Assurance Future State paper and responses to SheepProducers Australia on the CIE and SAFEMEAT reports on traceability and eIDs. The committee has worked alongside the NSW Farmers Wool Committee to support the workforce needs in shearing, consulted with MLA and DPI on lamb survivability.

6. WHY DID YOU TAKE ON THE ROLE

8. WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES FOR 2022?

OF COMMITTEE CHAIR?

In 2022 the Sheep Meat Committee will be focused on a variety of topics that manage risk across the industry, as well as supporting business continuity and profitability. This includes working with our industry partners to progress biosecurity and traceability enhancements, establish and promote best practice for animal welfare across the supply chain, and put a focus on sustainability and how as an industry we are measuring our environmental impact. Lastly, the committee will look to advocate for high quality and relevant livestock research and development.

BUSINESS PRODUCE?

‘New Armatree’ is approximately 1800 hectares and run as a mixed farm. We have a Merino flock producing first cross lambs and a Border Leicester stud on improved pastures. We also grow wheat, barley and oats in rotation with faba beans, lupins and chickpeas.

about and involved in. All the other Sheepmeat Committee members are exceptional individuals who also have that common goal, and are leaders within the industry. These attributes make working with this committee such a positive experience.

5. WHY IS ADVOCACY IMPORTANT FOR AGRICULTURE IN NSW?

2. HOW DID YOU BECOME A FARMER?

By default! No, not really – as long as I can remember I have had a passion for the land and farming. The pathway was never clear as I was the second daughter of three girls, back when females were not considered potential succession material for the property.

I undertook a double diploma at Wagga Agricultural College at CSU in Secondary Agricultural Science Teaching as the closest alternative, with holidays allowing a greater involvement in the business.

I eventually returned home to work, then progressed to running and owning the business – and now my family are fully involved. It’s been an extremely rewarding journey. The succession pathway for the next generation regardless of gender is now, thankfully, much clearer.

I am genuinely interested in good governance and achieving positive outcomes for an industry I am passionate

9. IF YOU AREN’T ON YOUR FARM, WHERE WOULD YOU BE?

On holidays with my family sitting on a headland sipping drinks at sunset, after spending the day at the beach or fishing.

3. WHAT IS IT ABOUT BEING A FARMER THAT GETS YOU UP IN THE MORNING?

Who would not want to be involved in agriculture at the moment, with so many opportunities? Most of the state is experiencing two consecutive outstanding seasons combined with strong commodity prices. It’s exciting times for the agriculture sector. Even through the drier times, applying the business technologies that drive and improve our business is rewarding.

Agriculture or farming has challenges; being flexible enough to meet and overcome those challenges gets me up in the morning.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE STORY (BOOK, MOVIE OR TELEVISION SHOW) ABOUT FARMING/AGRICULTURE?

Name: Jenny Bradley Committee: Sheep Meat Farm location: Armatree, Central Western NSW Local branch: Castlereagh

I must admit to enjoying books and movies that are not about agriculture after spending a huge part of the day living and breathing it! My favourite book is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, and I’m a big Fleetwood Mac fan when it comes to music.

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The Big Picture

THE PATHWAY BETWEEN PADDOCK AND PLATE

P ORT OF CALL

The Port of Newcastle has railway-to-port connectivity but no container terminal.

Meanwhile NSW’s major container ports are mired in traffic.

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NSW’s antiquated and inefficient supply chains have been barely keeping up for years. Throw in COVID-19 and a bumper harvest to match, and the wheels have started to fall off.

–

Words DAVE SMITH

E

stimates by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences say good weather across the country will see farmers produce a whopping $73 billion worth of produce this financial year – up 9 per cent compared to the previous 12 months, which was already a bumper year. NSW has been riding the crest of the wave, but heavy rain and flooding in November did downgrade what was to be another bumper winter crop.

The bulk of it – $54.7 billion worth, around 75 per cent – is slated for export. But a surge in demand since the lows of the coronavirus recession has seen the cost of sea freight jump up to six times since the start of the pandemic. “That’s the equivalent of a Big Mac going from $6 or $7 to about $35,” National Farmers Federation trade manager Ash Salardini told the ABC, describing the disruption as “once in a generation”.

Stakeholders at the coalface interviewed for this special report argue the dominant narrative – that COVID-19 linked disruptions to global trade are the root cause of our high export costs – hides many inconvenient truths about inefficient and antiquated supply chains. Deloitte’s most recent global Sophistication Index confirms that, ranking Australia’s economy in 37th place in the world. The index also highlighted significant underinvestment in agriculture, despite it being a source of “historical wealth” and having, along with mineral resources, “the greatest future potential” for growth.

“Part of the problem is about the challenges of operating efficiently in a pandemic-constrained world,” NSW Farmers policy director Kathy Rankin explains. “But the cost of getting produce off farms is significantly higher than international comparisons.”

OFF THE RAILS

Ed Colless is a wheat farmer in Walgett, and a NSW Farmers Executive Councillor. His personal audit of the state’s supply chains is difficult to stomach – and raises more questions than it answers.

“COVID-19 has certainly exacerbated the problem, but it’s not just about COVID-19; it’s about infrastructure,” Ed says. “Right now I get paid about $220 a tonne for the wheat I grow. But to get it to Newcastle on a train costs me $98.50 per tonne, whereas transporting it by road would cost me $55 to $60 a tonne – if I could find that many trucks. >

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“What this shows is that the existing supply path through the railway system in NSW is inefficient, and there’s no viable competition. Grain farmers in Northern NSW have had to build more storage because we can’t move the grain we grew in 2020, let alone what we grew in 2021.”

“Last year I had to send my chickpeas to Gladstone all the way in Central Queensland to get them on a ship. It cost us $130 a tonne.”

“What makes all of this even more unfortunate,” Ed says, “is that there’s a huge shortage of wheat in the Northern Hemisphere because of the drought in Russia, Canada and the US. But half of our crop may as well be on the moon because we just can’t get it there within an appropriate timeframe, and when it does move it’s inefficient as hell. Our last droughts masked the problem because there has not been much grain to move. But now that we have bumper harvests, the wheels have fallen off.”

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REALLY USEFUL ENGINES

Walgett wheat farmer and NSW Farmers Executive Councillor Ed Colless (right) says transporting his crop to Newcastle by train costs $98.50 per tonne. It’s a far lower cost by road, though in terms of volume rail is much more efficient.

THE BIG PICTURE

“Grain farmers in Northern NSW have had to build more storage because we can’t move the grain we grew in 2020, let alone what we grew in 2021.”

–

for a minimum TAL of 25 tons across the state – an upgrade that could reduce the cost of transporting grain to port by $10 per tonne, according to estimates by the CSIRO – but with little result.

“We have to be strategic in targeting investment in high-TAL full connectivity as this will make the biggest difference to productivity,” says NSW Farmers treasurer Rebecca Reardon. “It just isn’t efficient to have a grain train that can only be partially loaded because one tiny section of the trip is on tracks with a low weight limit.”

“Inland Rail is supposed to fix a lot of this, but instead of going to the Port of Brisbane the line will finish at a container terminal at Acacia Ridge, 40km away. We need rail going right alongside ports to avoid double-handling and reduce transport costs if we want to have a best-practice supply chain. Most of our existing railways were designed by the colonial office in London more than a century ago, with different gauge sizes in different states, and the system has been held together with sticky tape and wire. Throw in COVID, and it all adds up to big transportation costs that are gouged out of farmers,” he says.

And the icing on the cake? Australian railways also have wildly different TALs (tonne axle loads) that range from 19 to 30 tons. NSW Farmers is lobbying

A STRANDED PORT

ED COLLESS – NSW FARMERS EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR

WE ARE HERE WHEN IT MATTERS

NSW’s major ports of Port Botany, Sydney, Port Kembla and the Port of Newcastle are its trade gateways to the world. Our ports provide a critical link between the landside and seaside elements of the supply chain and play a key role in supporting the growth in all import and export trade. But the roads in and out are some of the most congested in the country, while cargo that goes on a train has to compete with more profitable human traffic. Plus Port Botany doesn’t have rail-alongside-port.

Sydney’s never-ending traffic also hinders access to NSW’s third port at Kembla, 100km south of the state’s capital. It is far from strategically placed for croppers in the north, who are much more

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involved in the full supply chain compared to say graziers in the state’s south and central west, whose produce is usually sold to food processors and other intermediaries.

It is just one of many reasons NSW Farmers is pushing for a container terminal at the Port of Newcastle, which has railway-to-port connectivity.

A study commissioned by the port’s operators found a container terminal would save farmers $16 to $22 per tonne on rail freight, adding up to cost savings of $2.8 billion over the next 30 years. A terminal would also decrease the average distance freight travels by up to 40 per cent, create 4,600 new jobs and engender $800 million in additional exports.

“Having a container terminal at Newcastle will mean a shorter trip for a lot of freight that currently goes straight past to Sydney, will avoid Sydney bottlenecks and congestion, will avoid doublehandling at intermodal terminals and decrease trucks on the road,” Rebecca says.

Another reason NSW Farmers is pushing so hard for a container terminal is that Newcastle has a channel deep enough for new maxi cargo vessels, which can carry up to 20,000 shipping containers – three times as much as the average cargo ship. “There isn’t a container terminal in the country today that can take new container ships, so everyone is missing out,” says Ian Doherty, an executive at the Port of Newcastle.

But there’s a snag, and again, it has nothing to do with COVID-19. “There has been no pandemic

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END OF THE LINE

Work on the Inland Rail project between Melbourne and Brisbane (above) began in 2018, but isn’t slated to finish until 2026. Even then, the line will stop short of the Port of Brisbane, meaning freight will need to be transferred by road (above right).

impact to our operations,” says the port’s media officer Kristie Carter, pointing instead to a highly contentious section of the deed signed by the state government when it sold Newcastle, Kembla and Botany in 2013 and 2014 – a deal that fetched the state a whopping $5.1 billion.

But the money came at an even higher price.

A clause in the deed of sale stipulates the Port of Newcastle has to compensate the operators of Port Botany and Port Kembla if traffic at Newcastle surpasses a specified cap until the year 2064, effectively doubling the cost of freight.

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC says the clause is anti-competitive, and took NSW Ports to the High Court to have it nullified.

“We alleged that making these agreements containing provisions which would [go into play] if Newcastle developed a container terminal was anti-competitive and illegal,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said at the time.

The court case was not successful, but the ACCC has appealed, arguing the Port of Newcastle will become a stranded asset if it isn’t allowed to build – and profit from – a container port once the economy transitions away from coal.

“We took this action to remove a barrier to competition in an important market, the supply of port services, which has a significant impact on the cost of goods,” Rod says. “Such barriers damage Australia’s productivity performance.”

THE BIG PICTURE

NOT JUST-IN-TIME AT ALL

On the flip-side of disruptions to exports, many of the foreign inputs Australian farmers depend on are being delayed or costing many times more than they did at the start of the pandemic. “Our suppliers have had a very difficult time trying to get some of the packaging we use, especially the stuff that comes on containers from China,” says Fiona Hall of Biteriot, an orchardist and packer for 21 other growers in the Mount Canobolas district near Orange.

“Today a supplier told us they won’t be able to get a particular size of apple trays for a couple of months.

Getting machinery parts is difficult, too. We didn’t do any capital upgrades this year, but if we did, we’d have another serious problem on our hands.”

Such problems, says Ed Colless, stem not from COVID-19 but Australia’s obsession with just-in-time inventory: a management system where inputs are

“We have to be strategic in targeting investment in high-TAL full connectivity as this will make the biggest difference to productivity.”

– REBECCA REARDON – NSW FARMERS TREASURER

ordered from suppliers as close as possible to when production is scheduled.

“Just-in-time has allowed major Australian businesses to diminish their holding and capital costs.

But when things go pear-shaped as they did with COVID, it causes many shortages and breakdowns,” Ed says.

“For example: Australia has a massive shortage of agricultural chemicals. Last year with the bumper crop fertiliser prices rocketed – the price of urea doubled. The same thing happened with fuel prices after lockdowns ended last year, because Australia doesn’t hold strategic inventories of fuel.

“It’s the same thing that happened with toilet paper at the start of the pandemic, because toilet paper is a bulky item and nobody in the supply chain wants to hold too much of it. When demand spiked, it ran out.”

Ed says he prevented himself getting caught in the same trap by forward ordering inputs, and is currently using fertiliser he originally ordered back in 2017.

“Australia’s rush towards globalisation where you capture competitive advantage is all very good in a perfect world,” he says. “But by moving so much of our manufacturing offshore, it has exposed us to a huge amount of risk that was exposed by COVID. I’m not saying we should bring it all back, but we need to develop alternative resources. Holding large stocks of inventory is a good way to do that.” l JAN - FEB 2022

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Digging away a right

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THE BIG ISSUE EXPLORATION RIGHTS

to farm

Farmers in the Western Division are seeking to balance a right to farm with an increasing number of mineral explorers wanting to dig holes on their land.

–

Words MICHAEL BURT

> JAN - FEB 2022

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P

enne and Tas Clarke are enjoying a good spell on their 48,000-hectare farm between White Cliffs and Tibooburra in the far west of NSW. Rain in late 2021 produced a flush of feed, prices are high for their Merino sheep and rangeland goats, and a three-year land regeneration project is producing a host of environmental benefits.

But it is also good times for gold and mineral prices, which has spurred an explosion in exploration activity in the far west of the state. And while Penne and Tas’s good spell is the result of years of hard work, it takes an outlay of just two dollars to set up a company and apply to explore their farm.

Six different companies currently have exploration rights on the Clarkes’ property,

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Kayrunnera Station. Penne and Tas are reluctant to sign access agreements with all but one, believing the financial and environmental risk to their business is too high.

“We are not so concerned about the impact of drilling a few holes, it is the constant vehicle movement that has an impact in this rangeland country. Their tracks remain long after they have gone and this leads to erosion when we have rain,” Penne says.

“We have funding from the LLS and the Environmental Trust to do land rehabilitation works, while I have explorers running around that could potentially destroy it.”

Mining, Exploration and Geoscience (MEG), which sits in the Department of Regional NSW, issued more than 220 exploration licences in 2021,

THE BIG ISSUE EXPLORATION RIGHTS

UNDERMINING REHAB

Western Division farmers Tas and Penne Clarke (right) are concerned that increased mineral exploration activity could harm land regeneration works at their property.

Kayrunnera Station is undergoing rangeland rehabilitation works, including installing mesh filters and soil banks in gullies to reduce water flow and improve water infiltration in soil.

the highest number since 2008. The Mining Act 1992 enables companies with a $2 capitalisation to apply for an exploration license. Once licensed, the company can then approach farmers to access their land through access agreements, which Penne describes as “complex legal documents”.

“We’ve had exploration on our property going

back 30 to 40 years, so we are used to it,” Penne says.

“But then there was a massive influx of explorers putting licences over us in the early 2000s, and some of them were very aggressive. It was like – ‘sign this or we will take you to court’. ” Penne started researching the risks of signing exploration licences and discovered that most of the explorers were either small companies or individuals with a capital value of $2.

“We saw that as a risk to our farm business.

Farmers are entitled to the recovery of legal costs and compensation for any damages incurred in an access agreement, but many of these companies have no financial capacity to compensate for anything.

“Their structure means that in the event of any compensation being due, or legal proceedings, they can fold or bankrupt the company. No money can be paid out as there isn’t any. This structure poses a massive risk to family farms.

“Everything below the ground belongs to the Crown, so the only rights you have as a landholder are surface rights, which means it’s about negotiating with explorers on how they enter your property.

“If you refuse to negotiate, the explorer can take you to arbitration and then to the Land and Environment Court, which is what happened to us in 2009,” she says. “It was a pretty awful affair. The Land and Environment Court did grant them access, but the commissioner agreed that a $2 company was a risk and required they back their personal wealth into the court.

“In our case, I thought it was unreasonable, and the court backed us up on that. So why is it still happening?” > JAN - FEB 2022

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THE BIG ISSUE EXPLORATION RIGHTS

That decision in 2009 inspired a crusade for change from Penne that continues to this day. It has gained momentum in 2021 with the Country Women’s Association of NSW passing policy to call on the NSW Government to cease the practice of offering Mineral Exploration Licences to $2 companies. Penne and other NSW Farmers members are also progressing this policy through the NSW Farmers Western Division Council.

“A l l m i n i n g c o m p a n i e s , including explorers, must also lodge a rehabilitation security deposit, which covers the full cost of all rehabilitation and closure activities that may be required by the NSW Government if an entity defaults on their rehabilitation obligations.

The minimum amount for a security deposit is $10,000,” a Department of Regional NSW spokeperson told the Farmer.

“We’re talking vast tracks of land here so that amount is barely enough to float heavy machinery out from the nearest town let alone get it off the truck,” Penne responded.

"The Department say quite openly in their documents that they want to make NSW the number one destination area for exploration in Australia,” Penne says.

OVER IN WHITE CLIFFS

White Cliffs farmer Annette Turner strongly supported the policy motion, which was passed at the CWA of NSW 2021 AGM. “These under-resourced speculative mining companies have extraordinary powers over agricultural land,” Annette says.

“They have the potential to cause economic harm to landholders as they may not be able to fulfil obligations to pay compensation or legal fees.”

Penne says other landholders have also been bending the ear of local MP Roy Butler.

Roy says the practice of granting Exploration Licences to companies with no financial or technical capacity must end.

“When you have a $2 company, how can the landholder ever have

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faith that they will be compensated if something happens? They can’t.”

Roy says.

“At the end of the day, the prospector can close the company and walk away, and the landholder is left with all the problems and costs. It’s another example of bureaucrats failing to take in the real-life experiences of people like Penne and adapting their practices.”

Mining, Exploration and Geoscience (MEG) recently sought feedback from community stakeholders on proposed reforms, collectively known as the ‘Exploration Package’.

The suite of operational and policy reforms aims to “encourage high-quality exploration in NSW and to ensure that exploration is undertaken responsibly and efficiently to maximise the benefit of the state’s resources”.

“They are saying quite openly in these documents that they want to make NSW the number one destination area for exploration in Australia,” Penne says.

“They don’t take into account how some of these explorers can be incredibly rude and aggressive, as our neighbours recently found, and the stress it can cause for a family farming operation.”

Penne says some explorers are understanding and are willing to work with farmers on fair access agreements. “They have the right to explore every day if you agree to access arrangement,” she says. “We decided to only work with one of those, because the rest threatened us with legal action.

“So we do have active exploration happening on our place because they were willing to work with us. If you both behave reasonably, you can do it.

“I am not anti-mining or antiexploration, but I think the two should be sustainable and realistic and well regulated. I don’t have an issue with the right to explore. It is about bringing the pendulum back to the middle for the Mining Act, and the right to farm. The way these people are walking into farmers’ kitchens and thumping the table has to stop.” l

Rangeland regeneration – African style A rangeland rehabilitation system developed in sub-Saharan Africa is proving effective in reducing soil erosion and improving the ecosystem at Kayrunnera. The Clarkes’ property is one of more than 30 in the Western Local Land Services (LLS) region to have adopted the Ecosystem Management Understanding or EMU™ to slow the flow of water and encourage rainfall retention.

With the assistance of landscape ecologist and geomorphologist Dr Hugh Pringle and Western LLS rangelands rehabilitation officer Paul Theakston, the Clarkes have implemented various EMU strategies since 2016.

Water ponds were designed to reinstate a floodplain, and mesh filters were installed across the heads of gullies to address erosion issues.

The filters slow the movement of water by blocking debris and form banks of soil over time to prevent loss of topsoil.

Tas says there has been a noticeable increase in vegetation, which can be attributed to increased water infiltration over time, and an improvement in soil structure in erosion areas.

“Rangeland rehabilitation and EMU have been game changers for us,” Tas says.

“With better understanding of how the landscape functions we are reading the land in a different way and using practical tools to help rehydrate our landscape. The benefits of this are healthier vegetation, healthier soils, greater seed banks and stabilised landscapes.”

Paul, who has more than 20 years of experience supporting landholders to make improvements to their properties and the landscape, says there was strong landholder interest in the EMU system and the LLS’s own rangeland rehabilitation program. He says the program is an important ongoing project for the Western LLS. “It is always pleasing to see new landholders, many of whom have not undertaken substantial rehabilitation works before, wanting to participate in these programs,” Paul says. “The landholder’s knowledge provides the foundation for the process, and then we help build a baseline assessment of the property.”

Paul also assists with designing erosion control works, marking out contour lines and supervising earthworks. For further information about the Western LLS rehabilitation programs contact Paul on 0428 259 231 or paul.theakston@lls.nsw. gov.au.

sales@redearth.energy

https://redearth.energy

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ENVIRONMENT 30 BY 30

Mapping a pathway to 30 by 30 NSW Farmers is continuing to map a pathway to a $30 billion Ag sector in NSW by 2030, with new partnerships and direct feedback from farmers across the state.

–

Words EMILY SIMPSON AND MICHAEL BURT

JAN - FEB 2022

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F

armers have identified improving business resilience and environmental performance as key on-farm priorities to help double agricultural output in NSW in the next eight years.

Hovering between $12 billion and $15 billion annually, the agriculture sector makes a mammoth contribution to the NSW economy. But NSW Farmers thinks those figures pale in comparison to the sector’s potential, which the Association has pinpointed as being $30 billion in farmgate output by the year 2030.

To help map the 30 by 30 pathway, NSW Farmers has teamed up with the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre and the University of New England to conduct a survey of farmers on the future of farming in NSW. The survey is part of an aptly named Putting Farmers at the Centre joint project that seeks to understand the 30 by 30 goal from the most important perspective – the farmers of NSW. Survey analysis was ongoing at the time of writing, but early results indicate that farmers see opportunities to support their farm’s resilience and environmental goals.

These include improving freight and logistics infrastructure, increasing access to domestic and international trade, improving internet connectivity and development of regional processing hubs and value-adding enterprises.

While world leaders were touting net zero targets at COP26 in Glasgow, farmers were also thinking

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about carbon farming opportunities as another means to support the growth of agriculture.

NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle says ‘30 by 30’ is an ambitious but important aspiration as we enter an age of targets and ideals.

“Goals such as net zero emissions are deservedly in the spotlight, but in the mounting discourse and hype, there’s another global imperative we cannot forget about: food security,” Pete says.

The ‘30 by 30’ aspiration is therefore not just economic. Pete says it is about fostering the sustainable growth of one of Australia’s most important sectors; and about committing to the provision of quality food and fibre as the global population bulges to a projected 8.5 billion by the decade’s end.

Professor Derek Baker, the project leader at the University of New England, noted the relationship between farm goals, opportunities for growth, and actions farmers are already taking in their business to meet their goals.

“As well as areas of ongoing development such as workforce training, trade opportunities and freight and logistics infrastructure, farmers are increasingly aware of challenges and opportunities in digital connectivity, regional value-adding, and meeting the demands of climate change,” Derek says.

The next stage of 30 by 30 input from farmers for the Putting Farmers at the Centre project will come from focus groups.

“We’ll need farmers to join in small focus groups across NSW for a structured review of the survey

ENVIRONMENT 30 BY 30

findings to gather ideas to drive the 30 by 30 goal and increase the rate of adoption of Future Food Systems CRC program outputs,” Derek says.

Several farmer focus group sessions will be held in February and March 2022.

VALUE-ADDING OUR WAY TO 30 BY 30

SURVEYING THE LAND

Researchers at the University of New England (left) are conducting research into the future of farming in NSW (above and right). The survey is part of the joint project Putting Farmers at the Centre with NSW Farmers.

The Future of Farming survey results show a clear recognition of the opportunities lying in local processing and value-adding.

Farmers see a range of benefits from valueadding, minimising waste to maximising business profit, and the retention of value from food and fibre as part production in regional communities.

In a report authored by the Australian Farm Institute (AFI) and commissioned by NSW Farmers, regionally based processing is identified as part of the pathway to a stronger agriuculture sector and stronger regions.

Released in October last year, the Stronger Ag Stronger Regions report points out that manufacturing near food production offers significant logistical and efficiency advantages to the agri-food sector, while bringing more jobs to the regions.

“While government has an important role to play in kick-starting these value-adding projects in regions via grants, tax incentives, planning laws and the provision of infrastructure, long-term private investment will be crucial to ensure sustainability,” the report states.

Pete Arkle says he hopes the report will prompt governments to further invest in rural and regional communities and the future of agriculture.

“Value-adding and investment in regional processing is a win-win situation. It also enables farmers and other members of food and fibre supply chains to capitalise on growth trends.”

According to research by the Commonwealth Growth Centre for Food and Agribusiness Ltd (FIAL), a growing appetite for healthier convenience meals is one of those trends. FIAL has projected massive growth in demand for goods with verified nutritional and quality attributes, with most of the new demand in Asia.

Food Innovation Australian Limited predicts that by 2025: • The global market for foods catering to demand – such as trusted fine foods, Indigenous foods and nutritious convenience meals – is projected to be worth $2.7-$3.6 trillion per year.

• The health and wellness category – which includes plant-based protein, organic foods and foods catering to those with allergies and on special diets – is forecast to be worth $3.4 trillion per year.

• The emerging market for targeted eating – product reformulation to reduce fat and sugar content; functional or fortified foods; and personalised products designed to address specific nutrient needs and health concerns – is projected to be worth $690-$770 billion per year.

Source: The Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre > JAN - FEB 2022

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GREEN PATHWAY TO 30 BY 30

Another key part of the 30 by 30 equation is the question of how farmers will be supported in meeting the challenges of climate change.

Participating in carbon markets and environmental stewardship schemes have emerged as priority areas for farmers, who are at the coalface of climatic variation and stand to be impacted by inaction more than most.

Pete stresses that growing the agriculture sector does not need to be at the expense of lowering emissions; if anything, the 30 by 30 survey results indicate an appetite in farmers to adopt measures that reduce emissions and grow the farm business at the same time. What is key, he says, is that agriculture is not inequitably targeted in national efforts to reach carbon neutrality.

The ‘Technology not Taxes’ plan for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 touted by the Coalition government has put soil carbon and renewable energy in the spotlight.

According to Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor, the carbon storing capacity of soil presents a great opportunity for Australian farmers, if the cost of measurement can be minimised.

Last September Minister Taylor released the Federal Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap, which highlighted soil carbon as one of five priority technologies to benefit from $18 billion of government investment.

Minister Taylor said the roadmap sets a goal of reducing the cost of measuring soil carbon by around 90 per cent, to less than $3 per hectare per year.

Pete says that the energy transition can also benefit farmers and regional communities if the right foundations are put in place. Lower energy prices, diversified energy sources, and more jobs for regional communities are some of the projected upsides of renewables in regional NSW. But he warns that our best and most strategic agricultural land must be identified and protected lest it be lost for good to renewable energy infrastructure, including transmission lines.

TECHNOLOGY: THE BIG 30 BY 30 DISRUPTOR

The ability to adopt new technology will have a disruptive effect on a wide range of industries, including agriculture.

In the Stronger Ag Stronger Regions report, AFI has predicted that the full adoption of digital technology could increase Australian agriculture’s economic output by about 25 per cent, or $20.3 billion.

But this eye-watering figure comes with a catch: rural and regional communities must overcome access, affordability and skill constraints to unleash the potential of technology.

With McKinsey and Telstra digital indices ranking agriculture as the sector with the lowest digital capability, there is a lot of work be done.

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DARE TO DISRUPT

YOUNG FARMERS ON THE RISE

Alternative practices such as hydroponic or vertical farming (top), renewable energy generation such as wind turbines (top right) and eating plantbased food such as the Earth range of plantbased frozen meals by the founder of Coco & Lucas, have been identified as target areas for meeting the 30 by 30 goal.

Young farmers may only make up a small proportion of the farming population, but they will pack a punch when it comes to helping meet a production target of $30 billion by 2030.

That’s according to Mitch Highett – a young farmer from the Central West and chair of the NSW Young Farmers Council. “Our age bracket is very punchy when it comes to productive management of farms,” Mitch says.

“Because of the large capital investment needed to buy a farm, many of the young farmers of today have off-farm income through working in the Ag sector, so they are bringing a range of skills to grow the farm business.”

“Those that are coming in from a non-farming background also bring different business skills and ideas, and are willing to invest in their farms to improve production and environmental incomes.”

ENVIRONMENT 30 BY 30

According to the Trends in the Australian Agricultural Workforce Nov 2020 ABARES report, around 10 per cent of Australian farm owneroperators in 2016 were under 35 years of age.

More recent data is not available, but farming groups like NSW Farmers and the National Farmers Federation are hearing anecdotal reports of more young people taking on the challenge of making a living off the land.

Some are returning to the family farm and some are newcomers wanting a nature escape or ‘treechange’ after extended lockdowns in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

Mitch says an increase in new landowners presents an opportunity for young farmers to expand their business or a pathway to purchasing a farm.

“Some of the new owners are happy to enjoy the peace and quiet and lease out land to farmers like myself to graze livestock and build the capital to buy a farm.”

Mitch runs his own farm management business and has adopted leasing and agisting arrangements for fattening beef cattle as final stepping stones to reaching the goal of owning a farm.

With farmland prices experiencing the same steep increase as real estate in regional towns, Mitch says purchasing your first farm is a daunting task.

“It takes a huge capital investment for a young farmer to purchase land and transform it into a business that supports a family. You also have to have the capital reserve to face the first drought, flood, fire or mouse plague.

“Even if you inherit a generational farm, there are still huge costs in running the business and adjusting it to new markets.

“That’s why the NSW Young Farmers Council is advocating for first-time farm buyers to be exempt from stamp duty as one support measure in managing the risk of buying a farm.”

The council – which consists of eight young

CLIMATE FOR CHANGE

Farmers stand at the coalface of climate change, and are among the people most likely to be impacted by inaction. The UNE survey indicates an appetite in farmers to adopt measures to reduce emissions.

farmers from across the state – has its sights set on several policy initiatives to assist with farm ‘start-ups’ for young people.

“We want to lead discussions with state and federal government and relevant industry stakeholders to provide young farmers with affordable and sustainable start-up finance.”

The Council also supports continued funding for the Young Farmer Business Program to enhance the upskilling of young farmers to increase farm business profitability.

“A lot of our work is around assisting young farmers to be bank ready to purchase a farm, and to take part in exciting times ahead for local food and fibre production,” says Mitch. l JAN - FEB 2022

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The future is bright for our dairy industry 46

THE FARMER

JAN - FEB 2022

TRADE DAIRY

I

t’s been a while since confidence, optimism and certainty were used to describe the dairy industry as low milk prices, price clawbacks, the $1 a litre era, drought, and bushfires forced many out of the industry. But it appears the sector is rounding the bend.

The economics of supply and demand are favouring dairy farmers, the Australian dollar has settled and a mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct which was introduced in January 2020 is giving farmers a stronger voice in processor contract negotiations.

Long-term minimum price contracts are increasing the appetite for investment.

Favourable seasonal conditions are boosting production. Dairy Australia figures show New South Wales dairy farmers bucked a national trend with milk production up around three per cent in the first three months of the 2021/22 financial year.

If this continues, NSW will outstrip the national average which Dairy Australia predicts will rise by up to two per cent, with 8.8 to 9 billion litres forecast for the national milk pool.

Global and domestic demand is strong and farmgate prices are up.

Stock feed is plentiful and cheap, although higher grain and fertiliser costs are offsetting these gains. Labour shortages continue to be an issue, as is concern about mice and disease impacting crop yields.

Whilst times are good, the spectre of the hard times hover and that is why NSW Farmers is overhauling its Dairy Committee and recruiting a dedicated Dairy Manager who will ensure the issues of dairy farmers are prosecuted at a state and national level.

A GOOD CHANGE FOR US

After a tough decade, the dairy industry has made a stunning about face with positive seasonal conditions and high farmgate prices giving farmers confidence to invest.

–

Words SHEREE YOUNG Photography MATT BEAVER

Malcolm Holm is a multi-generational dairy farmer at Finley in the Riverina region. He’s also the Vice Chairman of the NSW Farmers Dairy Committee and sits on the Australian Dairy Farmers National Council.

He witnessed firsthand the difficulties dairy farmers faced as the compound effect of years of low prices meant they didn’t have the financial strength to survive the drought.

Thankfully this is changing.

“We are still seeing people exiting the industry, but we are seeing existing farmers who are wanting to grow and expand,” Malcolm says.

“In this area we’ve had two or three large sheds go up and farmers are continuing to expand their herd. This is probably reflected by the strong market for dairy cattle but even though the cow prices are high, there is also an equally strong demand for dairy cattle.”

Labour shortages exacerbated by COVID-19 > JAN - FEB 2022

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TRADE DAIRY

“In real terms dairy farmers in the southern milk pool are now seeing a 33 per cent increase in the price of milk. We’ve gone from 2016 where every litre of milk was being produced at a loss to now actually having some reasonable margins.”

– MALCOLM HOLM - VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE NSW FARMERS DAIRY COMMITTEE

remain a key issue, along with higher input costs and delays in receiving machinery and other supplies. But conversely Malcolm’s farm and others in his region have received a full water allocation which helps offset these costs.

“In real terms dairy farmers in the southern milk pool are now seeing a 33 per cent increase in the price of milk. We’ve gone from 2016 where every litre of milk was being produced at a loss to now actually having some reasonable margins,” Malcolm says.

“In real terms dairy farmers in the southern milk pool are now seeing a 33 per cent increase in the price of milk. We’ve gone from 2016 where every litre of milk was being produced at a loss to now actually having some reasonable margins,” Malcolm says.

“It is challenging as those inputs are now starting to bite, but there is positive cash coming through our businesses now. I think the mandatory code has half stopped all the pricing games that used to happen.

There is still a bit of that going on, but there is a lot less of it.

“Dairy farmers know on the first of July how much they are going to get, whereas previously they might not have known the minimum price their processor was going to pay until the end of July which made it very difficult for them.”

Malcolm says the turnaround is a welcome change after some tough years.

“We’ve got full allocations of water so that sets a good base for us and there has also been good quality silage, the cows are producing well, and milk prices are pretty reasonable,” he says.

“Labour continues to be a worry and I think some of the input prices around fertilisers and chemicals have increased, but this is being offset by lower water prices, so the cost of growing summer crops is similar to last year.

“Having said all of that, this is still one of the better times in the last 10 years so things are looking pretty good which is a good change for us.”

NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chair Colin

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Thompson acknowledges there are positives in the industry but says there’s no time to rest in supporting farmers to ensure the right operating settings are in place.

“Seasonal conditions have played a big role in the turnaround, and we are seeing reasonable and good milk prices, but we still have the impacts of $1 milk and unfair competition in terms of supermarket monopolies,” he says.

“These issues tend to subside, and other areas improve, but they are still there, and they are still very real. They are still things we have to do deal with.”

Australian Dairy Farmers CEO David Inall notes a lift in optimism, but adds this doesn’t mean hard times will not return.

“We do get a sense that most farmers are feeling quite upbeat about the season and about prices and this is all very good for confidence which provides

DELICATE BALANCE

Malcolm Holm (above) says that labour continues to be a worry. “I think some of the input prices around fertilisers and chemicals have increased but this is being offset by lower water prices, so the cost of growing summer crops is similar to last year.”

Times are changing A fresh approach to the dairy industry will ensure Aussie consumers can enjoy the milk, cheese and yoghurt they love long into the future, with NSW Farmers playing a leading role in advocating for farmers.

NSW Farmers was crucial in ensuring calls for price fairness were heard in kitchens and breakfast tables right around the country, and the association is now adding a new Dairy Manager role to deliver specialised policy advice and advocacy, coinciding with the release of the state government’s NSW Dairy Industry Action Plan. The Action Plan, developed by NSW Fresh Milk & Dairy Advocate Ian Zandstra with input from NSW Farmers, was aimed at creating a fairer system while also investing in the future of the sector.

NSW Farmers Dairy Chair Colin Thompson said the association was a key part of reshaping the leadership of the dairy industry at state and federal levels, and this new Dairy Manager role would ensure farmers would continue to be involved in the implementation of those plans.

“The dairy industry has had a number of challenges and setbacks over recent decades, from drought to absurdly low milk retail prices,” Mr Thompson said.

“The dairy industry needs coordinated advocacy as it faces old and new challenges, from processor and retailer relationships to competition from plant-based alternatives, high energy prices and environmental changes.

“It’s time for meaningful action and NSW Farmers looks forward to the chapter ahead.”

Mr Thompson welcomed the emphasis on research, development, extension and adoption programs aimed at unlocking higher productivity and profitability, de-risking the dairy industry, and developing new markets.

“NSW Farmers has been a key player in the development of this Action Plan, primarily through our advocacy and our role on a state industry advisory panel,” Mr Thompson said.

“We pushed for the installation of a NSW Dairy Advocate, and we were successful in seeing that come to fruition in 2019, and now NSW Farmers will be one of the handful of stakeholders on the Dairy Action Implementation Panel, established to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan.”

some impetus for investment and growth,” he says.

“But there are still pressures out there, particularly fertiliser out of China is becoming very expensive. Labour is also a big concern. We would be looking for government support to stimulate labour back into the dairy industry. There is always work to be done and we never want to lose sight of that.”

BEGA CHEESE TRIUMPH

ASX-listed dairy processor, Bega Cheese, has triumphed through the hard times.

In February 2021 it acquired Lion Dairy and Drinks from Kirin Holdings for $534 million and added Farmers Union and Dairy Farmers branded milk, chilled juice, and yoghurt to its stable while also expanding its very own manufacturing and distribution footprint.

It was yet another high-profile win for Bega > JAN - FEB 2022

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TRADE DAIRY

Cheese which earlier returned all time favourites – Vegemite and Peanut Butter into Australian hands after a period of foreign ownership.

Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin says it has been a fantastic year for the company, which started as a farmers’ co-op in 1899, and he is also pleased to see cheerier times for farmers.

A dairy farmer himself, Barry agrees the situation is positive, adding the serious on-farm dairy infrastructure investment taking place in the Bega Valley is proof.

Beyond traditional milk revenue streams, Barry sees huge potential in sustainability initiatives like carbon sequestration, adding technology will play an increasing role in boosting productivity.

But he admits increasing productivity is a long game to play.

“I’ve been a dairy farmer for a long time, and it takes a long-term strategy to significantly lift your own farm’s supply, and out of that will come confidence. I think we are beginning to see the first shoots of optimism,” Barry said.

“It is not just about one thing. I think it is about a number of things, but it starts with how upbeat farmers are feeling about their industry and how confident they feel about the future.”

Whilst Bega Cheese wasn’t among the processors to implement price clawbacks, Barry says that he

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INDUSTRY CONFIDENCE

Malcolm says that most farmers are feeling quite upbeat about the season and about prices.

“This is all very good for confidence which provides some impetus for investment and growth.”

supports anything that promotes confidence in the dairy industry.

“From a Bega Cheese point of view, we are very happy with the mandatory code. We had no problem in complying with it because it reflects our behaviour.

Bega never initiated a clawback that created the need for the code, and we weren’t the only one,” he said.

“It was a couple of unfortunately very large companies that did this, and the sad truth is the processing sector got tarred with the same brush over something that we disagreed with as strongly as the farmers did.”

Looking ahead, Barry points to strong competition for milk with genuine growth in milkbased beverages, yoghurt and cheese.

“At the moment global supply and demand is in pretty good balance. If anything, demand looks a bit stronger than supply and this has its inevitable outcome as it improves the return you get for milk, so this is a good story for farmers,” he says.

“There will still inevitably be some volatility as it occurs around the world with good seasons in the northern or southern hemisphere, but supply and demand are balanced.

“I’m not an economist, but you could say that some of the market indicators are good domestically and they are good internationally, but circumstances can change.” l

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SMART FARMS ARE THE WAY OF THE FUTURE

This BioScout platform tracks airborne diseases.

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INNOVATION STARTUPS

Sparking and cultiv8ing innovation In case you’re under the impression that Australia’s business and finance powerhouses are all located in either Sydney and Melbourne, think again.

–

Words SUSAN GOUGH HENLY

S

parkLabs Cultiv8 is a global agriculture and food technology accelerator headquartered in Orange, but it is part of a world-wide network of SparkLabs accelerators that stretches from Seoul and Singapore to Beijing and California.

Founded in 2017 by Australian investment experts Jonathon Quigley and Malcolm Nutt in association with SparkLabs Global Ventures co-founders Seoul-based Jimmy Kim and Frank Meehan, SparkLabs Cultiv8 offers its chosen founders access to more than 65 global mentors as well as 13,000 hectares of experimental farmland in four different climatic zones across NSW. To date, its portfolio of diverse companies has raised $200 million in capital made up of 38 direct investments that will help them to enter the next phase of commercial growth.

It has a 50-50 portfolio of Australian to international start-ups, and according to AgFunder, the company was voted the third most active Ag and Food Tech Accelerator on the planet in 2021.

“We can offer global reach for Australian start-ups through our international networks. In addition, given Australia’s time zone and proximity to Asia, we can be an effective portal to that market as well,” explains Jonathon Quigley. >

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“Australia’s Cultiv8 is the only SparkLabs accelerator focusing on the agricultural space and it’s helping the founders access the same global opportunities.”

‘The Australian market is also reflective of the US, UK, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Australia is a large producer of grains, pulses, oilseed and wine, so we can offer additional crop trial work (due to the Northern Hemisphere seasonal differences) to double the pace of product development.”

Cultiv8 traces its roots back to 2010 when Malcolm Nutt met engineer Jimmy Kim in Singapore, and helped raise some capital for one of SparkLab’s funds.

It has since partnered with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) on the Agricultural Institute site in Orange, which is a 500-acre farm with 120 researchers.

“When they wanted to expand in Australia we suggested focusing on the agricultural and food area,” says Jonathon. “Half of our funding comes from Korea and half is domestic.”

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GRAS SRO OTS INNOVATION

Clockwise from top left: The FutureFeed team; Freeze dried Asparagopsis; A cow in FutureFeed's research centre.

Korea is emerging globally against its Asian peers as a key startup hub. Kim realised that early-stage entrepreneurs there had trouble scaling up so he founded SparkLabs to help them go global. There are now seven interconnected SparkLabs around the world.

Jonathon explains that the base in Orange is ideal because it is close to a wide range of large-scale broad-acre agriculture, viticulture, fruit, vegetable and livestock properties.

“The base makes it perfect for trialling pilot projects and which will certainly benefit from any agricultural innovation,” says Jonathon.

“We formed an association with DPI’s Global Ag-Tech Ecosystem so we could work together as an innovation hub to fast-track adoption of agricultural research and development to increase productivity

INNOVATION STARTUPS

and, as such, we have access to their 25 agricultural research stations across NSW.” Australia’s Cultiv8 is the only SparkLabs accelerator focusing on the agricultural space and it’s helping the founders access the same global opportunities.

Cultiv8’s five-member committee regularly reviews its portfolio and strategic objectives to ensure the company has a diversity of technologies spanning agricultural and food industries as well as apps in the consumer space.

The committee selects companies at different stages: some may be just ideas on a page but have a particularly strong founder while others are already down the path of developing a business model.

“We evaluate about 350 start-ups a year before selecting 10 to support annually,” explains Jonathon.

“The decision must be unanimous.”

The selected start-ups are given a cash investment of $100,000, the opportunity to work with scientists and engineers in a wide array of research labs and agricultural trial sites as well as access to expert mentors, top-tier venture capitalists, angel investors and partner entrepreneurs across the globe.

“We focus on helping our start-ups build something so enticing that adoption is a fait accompli.

We push founders to focus on offering solutions to real problems facing farmers, for instance,” says Jonathon.

“Our model varies depending on what companies are doing and what stage they’re at. We’ll do workshops on branding, product market fit, sales and marketing and investor readiness. We also regularly offer one-on-one guidance for each startup.”

To that end, Cultiv8 has worked with a diverse

A GREENER FUTURE

Top to bottom: Harvesting the Romano Deluxe variety of capsicum at Salicrop; Salicrop wheat trials.

range of Australian founders developing innovative solutions for Australian agriculture and food resources as well as start-ups in Israel, India, Singapore, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States that have come up with novel farming and food solutions.

Here are some examples of the ones that made the cut: FUTUREFEED

Canadian scientist Dr Rob Kinley in conjunction with the CSIRO, MLA and James Cook University has discovered that tiny amounts of two types of asparagopsis red seaweed can reduce methane emissions of ruminant animals by over 80 per cent.

This has been scientifically proven for the feedlot market and research is currently underway with open JAN - FEB 2022

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grazing animals. CSIRO recognised the potential for the technology and spun off FutureFeed as a commercial entity last year and is in the process of developing a certified trademark and licensing seaweed growers to sell into the livestock market worldwide.

“The mentors we accessed through Cultiv8 helped us during critical early growth stages,” says Eve Faulkner, head of marketing and communications.

“The networking and access to industry experts has been phenomenal as we start building an entirely new industry. We anticipate early supply from our seaweed growers to hit the market in early 2022.”

ZETIFI

Wagga Wagga-based network engineer, Dan Winson – the CEO and founder of Zetifi – had a light-bulb moment when he envisioned how Wi-Fi might go into low-power receiver mode that could wake up when needed. He filed a patent and built a team of 15 engineers who are now developing reliable, affordable, off-grid wireless networks that are specifically designed for people in rural and remote areas.

The team proudly uses the term “ruggedized” to describe the unique mix of farm-tough hardware and resilient networks with backup data connections that have become the hallmark of the company’s solutions. The company have a federal grant to move into mass manufacture in Wagga Wagga over the next 12 months.

“Cultiv8’s introductions to the biggest and best farming operations enabled me to access industryspecific insights to solve the right problems, which are critical for a start-up. Early on I realised that the reality of deploying networks to remote areas is that

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INSPIRED BY NATURE

Asparagopsis growing in tanks; Andrew Dumeresq and Luke Brodrick from Zetifi.

you can’t rely on having a network engineer to finish the job, so designing the hardware and software to enable installation by local electricians has been key to our success,” says Dan. “The support of the Cultiv8 team gave me the confidence to aim higher and consider solving rural and remote connectivity issues worldwide, not just around Wagga Wagga. Jonathon put us forward when Cornell University approached him regarding

“The support of the Cultiv8 team gave me the confidence to aim higher and consider solving rural and remote connectivity issues worldwide, not just around Wagga Wagga.”

INNOVATION STARTUPS

the Grow-NY business competition and we came in second, winning $500,000. We’re about to set up a team now in Rochester, New York, which I couldn’t possibly have envisioned when I began this journey.”

BIOSCOUT

Sydney University engineering PhD candidate and one of the Australian Department of Agriculture’s 2019 Young Scientists of the Year, Lewis Collins, and colleagues have developed fully autonomous sensors that provide world-first airborne disease tracking capacities two weeks before symptoms show in crops.

Initially working with drones, they’ve now created fixed sensors that operate year-round and have active pilots with farmers in wheat (to detect stripe rust and Septoria Tritici blotch), barley (net form net blotch and powdery mildew) and wine grapes (powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis) and are currently starting commercial deployments.

“After going through other start-up incubators and learning the ropes of running a start-up, we were still looking for mentorship in the agriculture space.

So, when Jonathon approached us about joining Cultiv8 we jumped at the opportunity,” say Lewis.

MEET THE TEAM AT BIO SCOUT

Colleagues who developed fully autonmous sensors that provide a worldfirst airborne disease tracking system that detects symptoms two weeks before they show up in crops.

L-R: Henry Brindle, Thomas McMenamin, Lewis Collins, Kithsiri Jayasena (Research Scientist, WA-DPIRD).

“They brought us much more into the agricultural fold and made some great introductions. It’s helped us do a much better job of solving farmers’ realworld problems.”

SALICROP

This Israeli-based company has developed sustainable, non-GM seed treatments, based on proprietary know-how, which induce crops to grow well in stress conditions like heat, drought and highly saline soils or when irrigated with brackish water, all of which have been exacerbated by climate change.

“We’re working with rice in India, corn in South America, and tomatoes in Spain and Morocco,” says CEO Carmit Oron.

“SparkLabs Cultiv8 is a great partner for us working with wheat in Australia. They’ve given us some wonderful strategic connections, most notably with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), and we plan to be in Western Australia in April 2022 to conduct large field trials with our treated wheat seeds for the next sowing season. I’m sure the team will continue to support us with our next funding round.” l JAN - FEB 2022

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SAID HANRAHAN

BY JOHN O ’BRIEN, 1919

“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.

The congregation stood about, Coat-collars to the ears, And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, As it had done for years.

“It’s looking crook,” said Daniel Croke; “Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad, For never since the banks went broke Has seasons been so bad.”

“It’s dry, all right,” said young O’Neil, With which astute remark He squatted down upon his heel And chewed a piece of bark.

And so around the chorus ran “It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.”

“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out.”

“The crops are done; ye’ll have your work To save one bag of grain; From here way out to Back-o’-Bourke They’re singin’ out for rain.

“They’re singin’ out for rain,” he said, “And all the tanks are dry.”

The congregation scratched its head, And gazed around the sky.

“There won’t be grass, in any case, Enough to feed an ass; There’s not a blade on Casey’s place As I came down to Mass.”

“If rain don’t come this month,” said Dan, “And cleared his throat to speak – “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “If rain don’t come this week.”

A heavy silence seemed to steal On all at this remark; And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed a piece of bark.

“We want an inch of rain, we do,” O’Neil observed at last;

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But Croke “maintained” we wanted two To put the danger past.

“If we don’t get three inches, man, Or four to break this drought, We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out.”

In God’s good time down came the rain; And all the afternoon On iron roof and window-pane It drummed a homely tune.

And through the night it pattered still, And lightsome, gladsome elves On dripping spout and window-sill Kept talking to themselves.

It pelted, pelted all day long, A-singing at its work, Till every heart took up the song Way out to Back-o’-Bourke.

And every creek a banker ran, And dams filled overtop; “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “If this rain doesn’t stop.”

And stop it did, in God’s good time; And spring came in to fold A mantle o’er the hills sublime Of green and pink and gold.

And days went by on dancing feet, With harvest-hopes immense, And laughing eyes beheld the wheat Nid-nodding o’er the fence.

And, oh, the smiles on every face, As happy lad and lass Through grass knee-deep on Casey’s place Went riding down to Mass.

While round the church in clothes genteel Discoursed the men of mark, And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed his piece of bark.

“There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man, There will, without a doubt; “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out."

SPECIAL REPORT POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE

Farmers: planning for the future The past few years have thrown up challenges for the farming community that would even make Hanrahan feel he was living in a rural paradise.

Hanrahan may have thought that we would all “be rooned” but he didn’t figure on the resilience and strength of farming Australia.

–

Words TONY BLACKIE

D

espite increasing delays in the supply of goods with the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) reporting that 30 per cent of Australian businesses have experienced major supply chain disruptions in 2021, farmers are continuing to plan for the implementation of infrastructure purchases.

Not deterred by a decade of drought, followed by massive bushfires, then a global pandemic, and then floods and a mice plague, crises that would have been more than most businesses could handle, the rural sector is capitalising on two years of rain to plan ahead. >

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Farmers know that Hanrahan was right. There will be floods, fire and drought, but with good planning and the right infrastructure, they will get through.

The global pandemic has added a few more hurdles such as massive global supply chain disruption causing upheavals in the buying and selling of goods. But this too has helped farmers to plan ahead, as product ordered can take months to arrive instead of weeks. Spur of the moment purchasing decisions for everything from trucks and tractors to silos and technology just doesn’t work.

Forward planning is now becoming the name of the game.

LA NIÑA SETS THE COURSE

For many, heavy rainfall and flooding did setback what was to be a bumper grain and some horticulture crops were spoiled. But, commodity prices are strong, particularly in the livestock sector, and there is plenty of water to store. That has meant – cash in the bank and a chance to look to renewal and repair of important farm infrastructure.

The need for planning is critical as there will be many more challenges on the horizon as we experience more frequent and more severe climate events. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says a La Niña period has set in having become established in the tropical Pacific. This is having a major impact on

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A SHED BUILT TO LAST

Preparation prevents poor performance. By planning and having quality infrastructure, farmers will be able to see disasters through with far less financial and emotional impact.

weather patterns with higher than average rainfall throughout summer of 2021-22. BOM’s climate models indicate La Niña is likely to be maintained until late summer.

According to the BOM, Australia’s temperature and rainfall variability are also influenced by global warming caused by human activities. Australia’s climate has warmed by around 1.44 degrees centigrade for the 1910 - 2019 period. Rainfall across northern Australia during its wet season (October April) has increased since the late 1990s. In recent decades there has been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity short duration rainfall events, especially across parts of northern Australia.

In line with those predictions, eastern NSW has already experienced much higher than average rainfall and a very wet summer, the rainfall with the bursts of sunshine has made everything grow. And it doesn’t take an ag scientist to tell you that – all you have to do is look over the fence. Reports of record grain harvests, bumper crops all round are arriving in silos, sheds and warehouses across NSW. OPTIMAL GROWING CONDITIONS

Kirk Harberger, is the CEO of the family owned and operated Harberger agribusiness which supplies and implements premium equipment and facilities for the farming community.

SPECIAL REPORT POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE

He says that while there has been a series of extreme events, many farmers have been very grateful for the rains and optimal growing conditions.

“Some farmers are looking back on a couple of good years and they are now in a position to upgrade,” he says. “Some of the big guys I have spoken to are looking to create some efficiencies on their farms.”

Kirk says that many grain growers are recognising that being able to hold their own grain on farm after harvest can be financially beneficial.

He says farmers who have their own silos on farm save time not having to line up to deliver their grain to central silos and this translates to a major reduction in fuel and transport costs.

Increasingly, Kirk claims, the larger buyers of grain are pushing for on-farm storage and in some cases even providing monetary incentives so farmers will erect their own silos.

“In many cases harvest prices are the worst.

That’s because there is a lot of grain available and that pushes prices down. As we come out of harvest they pick up. So, if you are able to hold your grain, you tend to average a better price,” he says.

Harberger is an end-to-end provider of infrastructure such as silos. They do the planning and the construction. >

Australian designed, engineered and manufactured bulk solids storage and handling solutions for Australian conditions

Walla Walla, NSW (02) 6029 4700

www.kotzur.com

Toowoomba, QLD (07) 4634 4622

info@kotzur.com

“We are a direct importer of infrastructure with our own building crews.”

While Kirk admits that availability of some materials have slowed down because of the pandemic causing shipping and ocean freight delays, the demand has continued to rise for a wide range of farm infrastructure.

“A large part of our program is almost full for next year on the building side,” he says.

Kirk believes that more and more farmers are planning ahead for their farming needs, in a more competitive and constantly changing domestic and global marketplace. He says many farmers are planning one to two years ahead as they realise that getting the infrastructure and equipment they need cannot be purchased in a short time frame.

“Farmers are very hungry for technology which will help them to be more efficient. It’s the way it has to go.”

Kirk says that the difficulty in getting labour, particularly skilled labour means that farmers are looking for more tools that will allow them to farm with fewer employees.

“Most farmers are happy to pay for good skilled labour. When you think that some equipment, like a header, is very technical and can cost up to $1 million, you don’t want someone who is not skilled driving it into a fence.”

He says that the technology being applied, like automated satellite controlled driverless machinery, Artificial Intelligence software that can help to increase

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output and maintain product, such as grain monitors, is much sought after.

“There has been a culture of change growing in the farming community that has been needed for some time.”

THE TIMBER SHORTAGE

Ian MacArthur, of Norwood Products, says that despite the bumper crops across many parts of Australia, a lot of stock such as timber is extremely hard to get.

He says there are even suppliers who are approaching Norwood Products to get product. But part of the reason for the scarcity is, according to Ian, due to the fact that the building industry is going crazily well.

Established in 1992 – Norwood Products is an Australian owned business, providing quality outdoor timber products including morticed timber post and rail fencing, gates, bollards, landscaping timbers supplying individuals and large scale operations such as the building and construction industry.

Norwood supplies to contractors, councils developers, management committees and individual clients.

Ian says that that most farmers are aware of the supply constraints and are prepared to be patient.

“If you are building a fence and using a contractor, there can be a 12 month wait,” he says.

But despite that, contractors he has spoken to are still taking orders.

REACH FOR THE SUN

Above left: The sun is a constant and free energy source making it a reliable avenue when farmers choose to move into renewable enery solutions says Jeremy.

Above right: Many farmers are planning one to two years ahead as they realise that getting the infrastructure and equipment they need cannot be purchased in a short time frame.

SPECIAL REPORT POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE

Many farms are now replacing fences washed away in recent floods or damaged by the fires in 2020.

IMPLEMENTING RENEWABLES

One of the key areas for infrastructure upgrade is the implementation of renewable energy supply.

For many farm operations, the cost of diesel is, alongside labour, a sizable and growing impost. With farmers being one of the first sectors in Australia to embrace emission targets, the adoption of renewable energy such as solar, batteries, wind and hydrogen power is rapidly increasing.

Red Earth Energy Storage Solution is an Australian company, using mostly Australian manufactured equipment to deliver solar powered battery solutions.

Jeremy Whaley, Red Earth’s head of engineering, says farmers increasingly need reliable, scalable energy supply.

While Jeremy does not dismiss other renewable energy solutions he says that at this time, the sun with constant free energy is the best and most reliable option.

“We have moved exclusively to Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries and we provide a very modular and scalable solution,” he says.

sales@redearth.energy

https://redearth.energy

SPECIAL REPORT POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE

Working with a farmer to work out exactly what their most efficient mix of power supply needs might be is an important part of Red Earth’s implementation strategy. That way the farmer gets the most cost effective solution but always with an upgrade path and an eye to the future and potential for growth.

“We work with the farmer to find out first what their kilowatt or power requirement would be and secondly what kilowatt hours, or storage, is needed.

So, we audit and assess power usage such as how many fridges are on the farm, how many machines need to be powered and then we can work out system size.”

As businesses across the country move to reduce their carbon footprint in order to reduce costs and to comply with growing global demand for low emissions production, more and more farmers are assessing their power needs.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Andrew Kotzur of Kotzur Silo says the past two years of good growing conditions means that the Australian agriculture sector is “going gangbusters”, but despite there being more cash available for vital infrastructure upgrades, everyone has been forced to look ahead due to supply issues. “We are all learning to be patient,” Andrew says.

Kotzur Silo is a family owned operation which has manufacturing sites in Walla Walla, near Albury and in Toowoomba, Queensland. The company makes silos of all sizes and is an end-to-end supplier.

Andrew says that there have been some issues with scarcity of materials but he argues that because his company uses almost exclusively Australian

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LO OKING AHEAD IS KEY

Andrew Kotzur says that the past two years of good growing conditions means that our agriculture sector is “going gangbusters”, but despite there being more cash available for vital infrastructure upgrades, farmers have to look ahead due to supply issues.

product and because the company is a large scale producer, there have been few problems meeting customer demands.

“We have a preference to use Australian made steel where we can. Some of our heavier materials are not made here and we are seeing more imported materials than normal. But, because we are a significant user, we have supply chains in place,” he says.

“Some of the smaller components can be a problem for example, one major component we use in the fans is imported and the factory that supplies had been hit by COVID-19. We had to scramble to find another supplier.”

Andrew explains that there have been some issues with components such as printed circuit boards from Europe, and with delays due to the pandemic, he has had to fly the components out from Germany in order to keep manufacturing on schedule.

Kotzur makes silos up to 12,000 ton capacity.

He says demand is now very high due to the good cropping of the past two years.

He predicts there will be several stand out issues in 2022 which have to be solved for the rural and general business community.

“We are all a bit gun shy about making predictions given what has happened over the past few years,” he says. “But clearly labour force optimisation is vital in the effort to provide higher efficiency in farming.”

Andrew says that issues such as pricing and production, changing weather, supply chain management and efficiencies in bulk handling and road efficiency linked to a national heavy vehicle regulation and accreditation are all issues of concern for the coming year. l

INDUSTRY CHILLIES

The chilli evolution Chillies may well be the fastest-growing vegetable category in Australia. But turning them into a value-added product is hit and miss, especially during a pandemic.

–

Words DAVE SMITH

D

emand for chillies in Australia is growing exponentially. According to market research firm Tridge, last year we imported 834 metric tonnes of the vegetable (nearly a third more than in 2019) and exported 476 tonnes – 14 per cent more than in 2019.

“Heat is now almost everywhere – from grocery store shelves to upscale dining establishments. Consumers crave it,” flavour maker McCormick said in its recent annual Flavour Forecast report. “Heat and spice offer a sensory experience and enjoyment like no other.”

However, growing chillies commercially is not easy. It's extremely labour intensive

– everything needs to be planted and picked by hand, and chillies are such easy game for fruit flies, worms and birds that crops need to be no more than a few acres in size, and covered in nets. And the only way to make money from this kind of micro-farming is by value-adding: becoming an inventor, manufacturer and marketer all in one.

Here are the stories, warts and all, of three farmers in NSW who have given chilli farming a go – with very different results.

A MIDAS TOUCH

“My mum was an Aussie war bride and I’m an immigrant from California,” says John Boland of Byron Bay Chilli Company.

“I was a rancher, so when we moved out here in the early 1990s, I bought my tractor over from the United States.”

John’s has a long-held love for chillies and Mexican food. “During earlier visits to Australia I noticed there wasn't much available at the supermarkets, so I brought 10kg of chilli seeds with me when we moved from the US. I thought the rich red soil of the northern rivers would be perfect to grow them, and turns out it is! The jalapenos we grew here were the biggest I had ever seen.”

John’s small team took the first harvest to a market in Brisbane but only managed to sell one of about 40 cases. “So on the way back home we bought a few 200-litre drums and ended up sitting on the veranda cutting up all the chillies and pickling them. It worked quite well – we supplied all the local Mexican restaurants and started making our own salsa sauce and selling it at the Byron Bay Markets.” > JAN - FEB 2022

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Why are chillies hot?

Humans have cultivated chillies for at least 6,000 years and enjoyed the intense, addictive sensory taste for even longer. But we didn't figure out why chillies evolved to give off heat until 2008, when American food scientists studying 15 different sub-species of the plant in Bolivia discovered the hotter the chilli, the better its defences against funguses.

Mammals are obviously turned off by it too.

Interestingly, birds are not bothered by capsaicin, the neurotoxin responsible for most of the burn in chillies, which allows them to eat the vegetable and help the parent plant disperse its seeds through bird droppings.

Within a year John was approached by Coles and suddenly they could not make it fast enough. “I had to find a contractor and packer who could produce it in large quantities, and we stopped being farmers and became marketers,” John says. “It all happened so fast, and now we sell several million units a year.”

John wasn’t surprised by the growth of the popularity of chillies in Australia.

“When we had a little taco shop in Byron Bay there would often be a queue of people out of the store and down the street,” he says. “Within a couple of years, there were eight shops like it in town. And it’s not just about Mexican food. Indian food, Middle Eastern food, kebabs – they all need a lot of chillies.”

THE PERFECT STORM

“We started nine years ago mucking around with chilli and making beef jerky in my garage,” says Gary Scard of Flamin’ Good Chilli in Kempsey on the Mid North Coast.

“Eventually we bought a little 20-acre farm and started growing our own chillies. We don’t sell the crop. We dehydrate them and infuse them into rock salt, which is our specialty – chilli salt. But we do all different kinds.”

The company’s sales were doing phenomenally well, but then last year Kempsey became one of the first places to be hit by the bushfires.

“I had some foresight that it was going to happen, so I did a lot of clearing on the land,” Gary says. “My wife wasn’t happy about it, but when the fires started, she was stoked; it probably saved our house. But still, there was so much damage and we hadn’t recovered when COVID-19 began.”

Then this year Kempsey was hit by the floods.

“It’s really been one thing after another – first we had no water and then we had too much,” Gary says.

“This will be the second year we have not planted anything and even if we could, the markets and chilli festivals where we sell a lot of our product aren’t going ahead again this year. Online orders slowed down too because people are being more careful about what they spend.”

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INDUSTRY CHILLIES

HEATING THINGS UP

Top left then clockwise: Chilli Con Carne is a popular dish in Australia; Chillies grown and picked at Disaster Bay Chillies; Disaster Bay Chillies wine (held by Letitia and Les) is incredibly popular; Byron Bay Chilli Company is now producing more than a million units a year Disaster Bay Chillies.

Gary says that right now the business is dead in the water, and that they’re offsetting assets just to survive. “I know there are a lot of people worse off than us but honestly, I feel a little bit broken.

I’m playing things one day at a time,” he says. “We still have a loyal customer base so hopefully this season we can get back into the swing of things, start growing chillies, restart the seed bank and somehow push through to the other side.”

WATER INTO WINE

Disaster Bay Chillies in Eden was established in 1999 and Letitia Cruikshank bought it a year ago. It’s set on an 11-acre property with two acres of planted chillies in 12 different varieties. “We mostly grow jalapenos, because our chipolata sauce is full of smoked jalapenos, and we also grow manzanas for our tabasco-style sauce,” Letitia says.

“But our biggest selling product is unique – it’s a wine made entirely from chillies. People have tried to copy it but nobody has been able to master it.”

The farm’s original owner Stu, along with a friend, experimented with the wine for years to get

it right. “It was a success from day one,” Letitia says.

“They had big contracts in the UK and Japan, and they were just about to move the product into China when COVID-19 started.”

For now, the wine is just sold in Australia, for $16 to $25 a bottle in shops and on the company’s website.

Letitia is often asked why she and her partner Les invested in chillis in the middle of a pandemic.

“We wanted a bit of a lifestyle change as we’d lived in the Middle East for 12 years,” she explains. “The idea of creating a quality product on the land had plenty of appeal, and now our son and daughter and son-in-law are all working here too.”

Letitia admits that it’s been a big learning curve.

“Last year with the bushfires, the chillies didn’t get sun for quite some time and so didn't ripen. So we had to bring in chillies from Queensland, but they didn’t have the same heat as ours. We’ve done very little marketing but people love our wine and keep coming back for more. We’re thinking about expanding and making a port as well as ‘limonchilli’ – a limoncello with chillies.” l JAN - FEB 2022

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Beefing things up A combination of breeding ingenuity and data is underpinning the capacity of Angus cattle to adapt to changing climate and consumer demand.

–

Words JEANETTE SEVERS

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SPECIAL REPORT SUMMER ANGUS

T

he sales of Angus bulls in the past couple of years have created opportunities to showcase how local and imported genetics are building the domestic herd.

It’s also demonstrated a stronger focus on using Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) to identify best performers – and Angus Australia is using technology to enable commercial and stud breeders to make those decisions, based on their individual business strategy.

There have been some high priced bulls sold in recent years, as buyers chase genetics with guaranteed performance. In 2020, Dunoon stud sold Prime Minister at $140,000 and Texas Angus sold Powerplay P613 for $108,000. In 2019, Paratrooper sold for $160,000 at Millah Murrah stud’s annual bull sale.

Last year saw records tumble further for stud breeders. In July 2021, Texas Angus stud sold Iceman R725 for $225,000 – which was then an Australian record for Angus bulls. The bull was purchased by Macka’s Black Australian Beef, in Gloucester, NSW, in partnership with Genetics Australia.

Stud principals, Ben and Wendy Mayne, were also pleased to see Iceman’s half-brother, Top Gun R66, bought by Mundarlo Angus in conjunction with Worldwide Sires Australia.

In a chart topping performance later last year, Millah Murrah Angus stud’s sale of Rocket Man R38 at $280,000, and the subsequent purchase of exclusive worldwide semen rights

by ABS Australia, demonstrated the continuing emergence of Australia’s global genetics potential.

Texas Angus stud also presented lines of cow families in a female sale and saw the Undine heifers and cow and calf batches snapped up – Top Gun, Iceman and Powerplay were all out of Undine cows. It’s one example of how much commercial and stud breeders are chasing performance values, with breeding decisions reflected in the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI), which is being driven by feedlot demand.

The EYCI – an indicator of young cattle prices – sat at 1135c/kg in mid-December, after steady rises throughout 2021. That’s 344c above the same level a year previously. Feedlots are purchasing 60 per cent of the EYCI-eligible offering, with re-stockers paying premiums to purchase replacement cattle.

The ABARES Agricultural Commodities report for the December quarter forecasts an agricultural gross production value of $78 billion, an estimated $5.4 billion higher than predicted.

Higher cattle prices are entrenched within the value of Australia’s agricultural exports, which was revised up $6.5 billion to a forecast $61 billion as livestock prices continued to rise. > JAN - FEB 2022

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SPECIAL REPORT SUMMER ANGUS

A TONNE OF BULL

Of just as much value as high prices is commodity volume. Bull breeders are selling their entire contingents. Among the next generation of breeders, Becc and Tim Brazier, with Choice Angus, sold their entire crop, much as did Texas Angus and Millah Murrah principals.

Choice Angus stud was created out of a partnership split, when Becc and Tim purchased 300 stud cows from the existing breeding enterprise and moved to the Upper Horton district. This year, they sold 50 bulls in their sale and 25 yearling bulls privately.

“About 10 years ago when we came into the partnership, we pretty much changed the genetics,” Becc said. “The heifers coming through now are medium framed, quiet and good doers. We’re not chasing anything too hard.

“The bulls graze and forage to get their weights at 600kg as yearlings, with a balance of good bone and muscle, and good feet. We use some of our yearling bulls in our own stud.”

The couple invests in Canadian, New Zealand and Australian genetics to grow their commercial and stud herds.

“It depends on what suits our operation,” Becc said. “We use indexes and Estimated Breeding Values to look for female EBVs and we look at the animal and other progeny. The numbers have to match with what you see in the paddock.”

It was a similar story at Booroomooka Angus stud, run by Hugh and Sinclair Munro. Last year, Booroomooka Angus stud sold 232 bulls at their annual sale, including 207 two-year-old bulls and 25 yearling bulls.

Consolidated Pastoral Company, Australia’s largest privately owned beef agribusiness, bought a Booroomooka bull this year for its Newcastle Waters Brahman breeding enterprise in the west Barkly region of the Northern Territory. CPC was already using Angus bulls in its composite sire breeding program for its Queensland properties, where steers are weaned at five to seven months for fattening as Jap Ox. CPC invests in genetics to utilise hybrid vigour, increase herd fertility and wean calves at greater weights, and to improve carcase yield. Angus sires are part of their decision making, investing in stud bulls – Brahman, Angus, Boran and Wagyu, to breed and use composite sires for the commercial herds.

Booroomooka Stud’s Sinclair Munro said buyers as far south as Tasmania and King Island, and north into Queensland and the Northern Territory, were attracted to what they were achieving in live weights in their own herd.

“In our commercial herd, we’re turning off 14-month-old steers at 450kg average,” Sinclair Munro said. “We’re researching performance because we and our customers want to turn off animals at younger ages and higher weights, while maintaining eating quality.

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MEETING EXPECTATIONS

Top to bottom: Bulls bred by Tim and Rebecca Brazier, (from Choice Angus) to meet a growing expectation from customers that they will get guaranteed performance genetics; Booroomooka Quilpie that sold for $40,000.

“Our buyers are interested in producing very high carcase weights and quality, in animals that are grass fed.

“Angus cattle are going into feedlots for Coles and Woolworths supply chains. Angus meat is sought for export markets.

“Our buyers are using Angus in a terminal breeding program in Northern Australia, where people are able to put Angus genetics over Brahman cattle.”

The demand is helping him shape the stud’s breeding program, identifying lines that finish better on grass, or can withstand tropical heat, or the parasite burdens common among northern cattle.

“We’re researching traits for those northern breeders – coat type, doing ability in the hotter weather, resilience traits. It’s part of what we do every day. We also research different production systems, so we can measure how Angus bulls and their progeny perform,” Sinclair said.

“The value of Angus bulls joined to Brahman is in breeding a composite terminal sire. There’s only so >

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SPECIAL REPORT SUMMER ANGUS

much environment we can adapt the Angus to, and I believe a lot of animals will have Angus in them, as breeders.

“We’ll see increased use of high quality Angus bulls to breed cross-bred bulls and use them as sires. We’ve been doing a lot of research as an Angus breed, to identify cattle that can handle that hot and parasitic environment but still produce weight for age progeny.”

In another example of how much Angus cattle are being sought for diversified markets, eight Texas Angus bulls were bought by Fucheng Investment Australia in 2021, for breeding Angus feeder cattle in Queensland. The cattle are finished in the nearby feedlot owned by Fucheng Investment, ready for export as meat.

In Western Australia, Harvest Road is using Angus bulls in breeding programs that also follow the supply chain from breeding to finishing and distribution.

Cattle are bred on New Norcia Farm and finished at the nearby Koojan Downs Feeding Facility, in an integrated system focussed on export markets. A focus of Koojan Downs is finishing 100-day Angus and Wagyu lines of cattle.

“The Angus is a very popular and useful breed because the cattle work for all along the supply line, from breeders to customers. From farm gate production to the consumer, they are proven profitable cattle,” Sinclair Munro said.

CATTLE INDEXING

Sinclair Munro is also Chairman of Angus Australia’s Genetic Evaluation Committee. In the last 12 months, the Committee spent most of its time refining the selecting indexes for cattle. It looked at the profitability in genetic terms of an animal – including calving ease, growth, feed maintenance, and carcase quality – and quantified that data against the value of that animal.

The Angus Education Centre is an initiative by Angus Australia to provide information that helps breeders explore world leading genetic evaluation technologies to enhance the value and profitability of their cattle throughout the beef supply chain.

In December 2021, Angus Australia released new selection indexes, replacing the Angus Breeding, Domestic, Heavy Grain and Heavy Grass selection indexes. A revised set of EPDs for imported American and Canadian Black and Canadian Red Angus genetics was also published.

Using technology and science to improve the integrity of the pedigree and adaptability of Angus cattle is the longterm and ongoing aim of breeders.

They are supported in this by projects supported

by Angus Australia, including the Angus Parentage Assurance program, the Angus Sire Assured and Heifer Select programs.

The Angus Heifer Select program is a genomic selection tool that identifies replacement heifers with at least 87.5 per cent Angus content, in a commercial breeding program, and complements other sources of information, including EBVs, pedigree information,

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phenotype and insight into the genetic potential of heifers. Angus Sire Assured guarantees sires have been DNA verified. Angus Parentage applies to cattle with sire and dam DNA parentage verified.

Sinclair said the size of the Angus gene pool in Australia now meant benchmarking programs produced beneficial information that commercial and stud breeders could rely on to predict progeny performance at a younger age.

“The Angus sire benchmarking is a progeny test program with benefits for the entire breed because it produces a whole lot of data that validates testing and developing genomic tools to identify traits of animals at a younger age,” Sinclair said.

“There’s been a lot of gains made through testing animals and collecting data in the past five years, that help us identify animals that are superior in certain traits at a younger age.”

Sinclair is applying that science in the Booroomooka herds.

“Our bulls are all genomically tested and we’re identifying animals in our herd at a younger age, because we can more accurately predict what those animals are doing for us. Our bull buyers have access to that information because the amount of genomic and performance data collected means it’s an accurate tool for them to rely on,” he said.

“We’re also able to identify potential sires in other studs, in Australia and overseas, because we can more reliably predict what those animals are able to do for us.

“And because we can use the data to select animals younger, we can increase genetic progress.

GENETIC S AND DATA

Angus cows bred by Booroomooka Angus stud principal, Sinclair Munro, from a wide genetic data pool.

“Breeders are ensuring consistent carcase development and maternal productivity, continue to improve fertility, and reliably use data to select animals that support producing high quality beef with less feed. So, the age of turnoff becomes younger and the meat quality stays up.”

THINKING AHEAD

There are also climate emissions gains to be made.

Angus Australia is investing in research to measure the impact of using genetics to identify early maturing cattle.

“There’s potential for ensuring an improved carbon footprint for beef, because feeder cattle are being grown out and finished at younger ages," Sinclair said.

The industry body is not alone in pursuing research that meets consumer demand. In recent years it’s become apparent that consumers are expecting commercial and stud breeders and those along the supply chain to be responsible for reducing climate emissions and their livestock production footprint, and improving animal welfare.

The renowned AACo – Australian Agricultural Company – has committed to develop recognised Animal Health and Welfare certification standards for beef production by 2024. It will do this by investing and commercialising scientific research into supply chains. l

OUR NEXT SALE WILL BE FRIDAY 26TH AUGUST 2022

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www.choiceangus.com

AUSSIE WHITES TAKE THE STAGE If anyone in agriculture hadn’t already heard about Tattykeel and the Australian White sheep, they would have paid attention when the stud sold a ram for $165,000 at the 2021 annual sale.

Words JEANETTE SEVERS

What many people don’t realise, is that the losing bidder on the record-breaking ram purchased another Tattykeel Australian White ram for $150,000 outside of the sale. The purchaser, Neil Garnett of SheepMaster, has considerable experience in the sheep industry with Merinos and his own composite shedding breed, the SheepMaster.

The current demand for the Tattykeel Australian White sheep is a just reward for the innovative Gilmore family, whose members have spent 15 years developing the new breed of haired sheep for Australian conditions.

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SUPREME INTERBREED BREEDERS GROUP, SYDNEY ROYAL 2019

James Gilmore, Graham Gilmore, Jacey Massey, Lee Wilson, Dawn Wilson and Rach Wheeler being presented with trophy from the Judge and RAS officials.

ADVERTORIAL

Graham, Martin, Ross and James Gilmore

The idea for the Australian White sheep came to Tattykeel stud principal Graham Gilmore when he was in South America and saw haired sheep more than 20 years ago. To him, it was a lightbulb moment. “With the cost of shearing ever increasing, the lack of shearers and the waning price for strong wool, the time was ripe to develop an easy care, non-shearing meat sheep,” he says.

During the development of the breed, animals were selected for – full haired coat, shedding ability, high lambing percentages, being polyestrous, good milking, black feet, high growth genetics, and the ability to thrive in a range of environments.

“Having been developed in the highaltitude country at Black Springs, we know that if the sheep shed well here, they will shed anywhere,” says Graham.

By chance, rather than design, they also recognised the unique eating qualities of the meat in the early years of the breed’s development and engaged the services of Associate Professor Aduli Malau-Aduli (then of the University of Tasmania), to look for the science behind the eating quality. This research identified that some lines of the breed had significantly lower melting points of the intramuscular fat (IMF) and elevated levels of naturally occurring long-chain omega-3s, allowing the stud to identify

and select animals on their genetic eating quality traits in its breeding programs over the ensuing years. The result is a consistently high-quality lamb which they have recently developed into a premium branded lamb product called “Margra”.

The Margra brand is now being served in top end restaurants in Sydney, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. It also recently received the 2021 Sydney Royal Fine Food Show’s champion lamb award with its Tomahawk Rack.

“The opportunities for the breed to grow in numbers in Australia and around the world our boundless. It’s breed type and dominance to turn composite wool sheep into full shedding sheep in only a couple of generations, makes it an obvious choice for those wishing to remain in the lamb industry whilst removing the associated costs of having wool. This coupled with the animal’s ability to breed all year around, have three lambing’s in a 2-year period and finish lambs on grass, are game changers for the industry. The financial benefits for producers wanting to increase their returns are obvious, and we are seeing people switching to the Australian Whites from other breeds of sheep and even cattle,” Graham says.

In order to give an assurance to people buying commercial Australian White ewes of their quality, Tattykeel

released a certification program in early 2021 in the form of a Tattykeel branded “Red Tag”. The tags are only available to producers of ewes sired by purebred Tattykeel rams. The lambs of the “Tattykeel Certified” ewes, may then meet the requirements for the “Margra” branded lamb product.

Graham is proud of the family’s past in the sheep industry with his parents John and Mavis starting a Dorset Horn stud in 1959 and the transition through the years of producing elite sheep in multiple breeds. “All the experience of these years of breeding helping to hone the development of this new breed - the Australian White, into one of the fastest growing sheep breeds in Australia and many other countries around the world,” Graham says.

The future at Tattykeel is to expand the Australian White breeding operation with the stud still conducting large embryo transfer programs to explode the population of elite animals. These elite sheep in the embryo programs tick the boxes for both tested eating quality and breed phenotype.

Tattykeel will offer at two sales in 2022 large numbers of elite Australian White ewes and rams, the first at our Tarcutta farm in February and the next at Oberon in September.

“The future is here – in the form of Australian White Sheep,” Graham says.

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CANADIAN DRY Canada has just experienced its worst drought – and harvest – on record. But what caused it? And what can Canadian farmers do to remedy their losses?

–

Words DAVE SMITH

FARMERS FEEL IT FIRST

A summer of drought, fires and record breaking temperatures – Canada has just experienced its worst summer yet.

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CURRENT AFFAIR INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

R

ecord temperatures and dwindling rain.

Soaring feed costs and widespread crop failure.

While these details may sound eerily familiar to farmers in NSW, they are not about the once-in-century year drought that culminated in the Black Summer of 2020, the worst bushfire season in living memory in the state. They took place only a few short months ago, when three-quarters of all farmland in Canada was impacted by water shortage or drought.

In Lytton, a small town in the west coast province of British Columbia, high-pressure atmospheric conditions became trapped with influences of La Niña to create a ‘heat dome’, inside which temperatures soared to hit

49.6°C – the hottest weather ever recorded in Canada.

More than 1,500 forest fires broke out in BC, two of which descended upon Lytton, consuming the town in less than half an hour. “The smoke was thick blue and black and created a whirlwind that tore through the area,” indigenous man Vince Abbott told The Guardian newspaper.

In Saskatchewan – a Prairie province in the geographic heart of the country, covered by grasslands, lowlands and plains – only 50mm of rain fell last year, compared to 190mm in normal years.

“The grasshoppers have shelled out a lot of what was here on to the ground and chewed off a lot of the leaves,” lentil farmer Derek Tallon told Radio Canada at the time. “Production is down to almost nothing.”

>

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CURRENT AFFAIR INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

Canada’s Department of Agriculture, the AAFC, estimates the dry conditions caused overall crop production to drop 40 to 50 per cent last year compared to the five-year average. The wheat harvest tumbled to 20.2 million tonnes, down 43 per cent compared to the previous 12 months, while 52 million acres of pasture – an area the size of Victoria – and 2 million head of cattle were also impacted by the drought, resulting in smaller herd numbers and lower carcass weight. “The continued heat is putting continued pressure on all our pastures,” President of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association Kelcy Elford told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

“This is the worst I have ever seen.”

COSTS KEEP PILING UP

The scale of last year’s drought in Canada impacted more than crop yield and herd sizes. It is being felt by nearly everybody in the country.

The price of flour, cereal and other produce items has crept up in recent months, while meat prices have increased faster than inflation. The price of round steak increased from $17.97/kg to $19.05/kg in the

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DRY LAND S – AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE

The drought has turned parts of Saskatchewan (above) into a grim picture of what it once was.

past four months, while the Winnipeg Free Press reports one in five of all businesses plan to hike their prices in the next three months.

Canada is, or was, the world’s largest supplier of canola. But when Statistics Canada slashed the outlook for the country’s canola harvest to 12.8 million tonnes in September – a 34 per cent drop compared to the previous year – the global canola futures market surged 4 per cent overnight to $950 per tonne. The Australian market rose too, hitting $900 a tonne.

“It is an unfortunate situation for Canada but it is a fortunate story for Australia,” WA-based grain trader James Foulsham told the ABC. Barley, another cool-weather grain that normally benefits from the Prairies’ high elevation, was also hard-hit, with production down 27 per cent compared to 2020. “This is ultimately going to affect the supply of barley that’s available to maltsters, and as a result the supply of malt barley that’s available to Canadian brewers,” Luke Chapman, spokesperson for Beer Canada, told CBC Radio. “When supply gets reduced, the price is likely to go up, which will ultimately have an impact on beer prices.”

Then there’s the silent cost of the drought: the impact on the mental health of Canadian farmers, who were already more susceptible to mental illness than the general population. According to The Western Producer magazine, about 35 per cent of farmers in the country suffer from depression, 45 per cent report high stress and 68 per cent meet the classification for anxiety.

“The problems are just compounding year over year,” says Adelle Stewart, executive director of the Do More Ag Foundation, a charity that is lobbying the government to fund a permanent nationwide, 24/7, bilingual and agriculture-specific crisis and support

line staffed by people with farming backgrounds.

“If you haven’t grown up in agriculture or you don’t have any experience with it, it’s really hard to relate,” she says.

The idea has the support of Tory Campbell, a politician in the province of Alberta. “Talking to your neighbour is one thing, but sometimes you need that professional to help you process the stress you are going through,” he told The Western Producer.

CRYSTAL BALL FOR FARMERS

Droughts are part of the normal climate cycle in western Canada, especially in the Prairies, where at least 10 severe droughts – including a decade-long dry spell in the 1930s – have been documented. The last drought in 2001-2 cost the economy $6 billion, half of which was borne by farmers in the Prairies.

But in August, John Pomeroy, professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said this drought was shaping up to be the worst ever recorded. AAFC climate specialist Trevor Hadwen concurred, adding that the 2021 drought “also covered the largest region of Canada in the past 50 or 60 years”.

He added “it was hard” to blame climate change for the big dry. But the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes droughts are becoming more frequent and more severe in many parts of the world, including Canada, the US, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Mediterranean and Australia.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service says the past six years have been the world’s hottest years on record. Globally, 2020 was 0.6°C warmer than the standard 1981-2010 reference period, and 1.25°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period. “It’s no surprise that the last decade was the warmest on record,” says director Carlo Buontempo.

SO MANY LO ST CROP S

Canada’s Department of Agriculture, the AAFC, estimates the dry conditions caused overall crop production to drop 40 to 50 per cent last year compared to the five-year average.

A new study by Climate Data Canada found increased drying trends are well-documented, “especially for the Prairies,” and that despite projected increases in precipitation in some areas and seasons, “a general increased risk of drought is expected with a warming climate for the southern Prairies”. More intense and larger area droughts with increased variability are also projected.

The study warned that without ambitious emissions reductions, even higher temperatures and longer warm seasons are on the cards. “The severe infamous droughts of the ‘dirty 30s’, early 1960s, 1980s and early 2000s may pale in comparison with future droughts,” the study found.

It also identified a number of coping strategies for Canadian agriculture: technological advances, insurance and financial management, government programs and best-management practices.

For crops, examples of practice include seeding earlier, using drought-tolerant species and varieties, minimum tillage, and water conservation.

“Monitoring, planning, responses, and early warnings are required to reduce vulnerability,” the study said.

In June, the AAFC launched Drought Outlook, an online tool to help predict future drought conditions across the country and help farmers and producers make better decisions for their businesses. Described as ‘a crystal ball for farmers’, it uses monthly drought assessments and scientific modelling to forecast whether there will be more or less rainfall than normal over the next 30 days.

“But it’s not an end-all product,” Trevor says.

“It’s never been done in Canada before for drought monitoring and drought forecasting, so we’re learning a lot and always looking for feedback and comments from farmers.” l JAN - FEB 2022

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Outstanding in their field With six properties operating in NSW, fourth generation grazier Michael Field is a great example of a businessman with the foresight to create a profitable and sustainable business that contributes to solving global environmental issues.

Words SUSAN GOUGH HENLY Photography RACHAEL LENEHAN

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COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

“Somewhere it’s been said that we’re the fiftieth largest landholder in Australia but I don’t really care about that. I’m much more focused on having a sustainable and successful sheep, beef and cropping enterprise.”

Michael Field

T

he Field family has been involved in the Australian pastoral, livestock, and meat business since 1885, when Michael’s great grandfather Tom Field migrated to Australia from England and started trading as a butcher.

Michael’s grandfather – T.A. Field – took over the family business in 1900 and in 1906 expanded into grazing with the purchase of the family's first property, Tooloom, followed by Gordon Brook, near Grafton.

In a partnership with the Vickery family (which was amicably dissolved in 1934), the Fields bought the Willandra merino stud near Hillston in Western NSW in 1912 – its first entry into the wool business.

Pastoral acquisitions continued and by 1931, T.A. Field Limited had become a meat and pastoral empire, headquartered in Sydney. By 1948 the Field family had interests in abattoirs which expanded into retail butcher shops trading under the name Springfield Meats. The family held 60 per cent of the shares when T.A. Field Holdings was listed on the stock exchange in the year of 1962.

They were also pioneers in airfreighting chilled beef and lamb to Europe in the mid 1960s. Coca-Cola Amatil acquired T.A. Field Holdings in 1977 with the family retaining T.A. Field Estates Pty Ltd and continued to purchase properties, including Benangaroo at Jugiong, which has been the family home since 1997.

Michael’s uncle Tom Field ran the business until he died in 1984 – when his father Ross Alan Field took over as Chairman – until he passed away in 2007.

After buying out other family members in 1995, Michael is now the Managing Director and Chairman of T.A. Field Estates, which has total land holdings spanning 75,647 hectares.

The company is one of Australia’s largest fine wool producers as well as owning large herds of Hereford/Angus cross cattle and diversifying into dryland cropping. They also hold and trade substantial water rights in the Riverina and produce prime lambs. >

HERE , THERE AND EVERYWHERE

The Field family priortise a sustainable sheep, beef and cropping enterprise across their Australian properties. T.A. Field Estates is diverse and operates throughout many different agricultural sectors across a total land holdings spanning 75,647 hectares.

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“Dad was always keen to get us outside to help from a young age.

I learned to drive at five years of age sitting in his lap.”

Tom Field “Somewhere it’s been said that we’re the fiftieth largest landholder in Australia but I don’t really care about that,” says Michael.

“I’m much more focused on having a sustainable and successful sheep, beef and cropping enterprise. Our order of priority is staff, country, stock. Staff are our most important asset and we place great importance on their training and safety.

“We also must take care of our land, our soil and our water, otherwise we lose our capital base. A lot of larger corporations are run by committees, but being familyowned, we can move quickly in and out before others have a chance to think about what to do.”

A THRIVING BUSINESS ON THE LAND

Michael and his wife Angela (also a director of the company) now run six properties with a permanent staff of 35-40, including head office staff in Sydney.

The couple live at Benangaroo, which has 3,000 hectares of Murrumbidgee river frontage. It has an annual production of 420 bales of 17.5-micron wool, 3,000 prime lambs which are sold to local finishers, and 400 hectares of pasture rotated with wheat, barley and canola.

Over at Aberfeldy, with its 1,770 hectares near Holbrook, there is a composite ewe flock of 10,000 breeders producing prime lambs and trading cattle when economic and grazing conditions are suitable.

At Congi, which consists of 10,000 hectares in the Walcha district, is the largest superfine wool flock in the world, with an annual production of over 700 bales with a flock average of 15.5-micron. The property also hosts a 1,400-strong breeding herd of Hereford/Angus cross.

At Doughboy Mountain northeast of Armidale, the 1,900 hectares is home to 450 breeding Hereford/Angus cross cattle, as well as being a finishing block for weaned calves, and 350 hectares of fodder crops.

At Mobinbry at North Star in the heart of the Golden Triangle is a dryland cropping property where 4,750 out of 6,200 hectares are annually cropped with wheat, barley, chickpeas and sorghum.

And last but certainly not least, at Wyvern – southwest of Griffith in the Riverina – Michael runs a 50,000-hectare property that’s been in the family since 1946. It has 550 breeding cows, produces 1,100 bales of medium wool in its new woolshed and yards, and is host to an annual on-property sheep sale held every October.

THE NEW GENERATION

Michael and Angela’s eldest daughter Stephanie (26) is a model who has worked in New York, Milan and Paris. She even did a photo shoot for Jeanswest at Benangaroo.

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Daughter Laura (24) has recently taken on the role of the company’s Environmental Sustainability Manager, based in Sydney, while son Tom (22) is part way through his agribusiness degree at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, after working as a jackaroo in Queensland , the Northern Territory and Warren.

“I’m happy that Angela and I have been able to hold the family together. The kids are happy and healthy and I love seeing them take an interest in the business but it’s completely their choice about whether they want to get involved long term,” says Michael.

All the kids reminisce fondly about growing up on Benangaroo, where they enjoyed the freedoms and diversity of rural life, such as swimming and kayaking in the Murrumbidgee River. They talk about helping with station work on the weekends and unique memories such as their dissection of a week-old dead ewe using Angela’s kitchen knives.

“It smelt so bad we ended up using laundry pegs for our noses,” says Laura. Safe to say they received a hands-on education at a young age.

“We’ve had poddy lambs to look after over the years, too,” says Laura. “I’m pretty sure Mum ended up doing most of the heavy lifting but even so, we tried to help with feeding before school.”

Tom recalls helping out on the family’s other properties during the holidays – mustering, fencing, lamb marking, drafting, and trough cleaning. “Dad was always keen to get us outside to help from a young age. I learned to drive at five years of age sitting in his lap,” he says.

Now Tom is keen to get as broad an experience as possible. “But I am one hundred per cent sure that I want to end up back in the family business,” he says. “I just want to make my own tracks in the meantime.”

Michael is proud of how he’s grown the business with the help of some very good mentors.

“I’m the custodian for the moment and I do as I see best,” he explains. “I want to pass everything along to the future generation but I have no intention of running the company from the grave. That’s often when breakups occur.

It would be nice to see the business continue, of course, but maybe they’ll choose a different direction for it.”

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

Laura studied Liberal Arts and Science at Sydney University, majoring in the environment, so it seemed only natural for her to take what she learned at university and bring it back to the family business.

“It’s pretty exciting to be able to start working in the family business and take on this new role,” she says. “There is so much innovation happening in the

COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

Michael Field says staff are their most important asset and they place great importance on their training. As for the children? Michael and his wife Angela say it’s completely their choice about whether or not they want to get involved long term.

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LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER

Laura Field is the Environmental Sustainability Manager.

Laura strives to make her father proud – wanting her role in the family business to advance his passionate visions for the sheep and wool industry.

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COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

“The Australian agricultural system has a negative reputation as being large contributors to the climate crisis. However, we want to change that narrative by being proactive as opposed to reactive when it comes to environmental concerns.”

Laura Field

agricultural industry, so I have plenty of projects to look forward to.

“I’m trying to absorb as much information as I possibly can, with so much going on I really don’t want to miss anything. I know Michael is passionate about the sheep and wool industry and I want my role to advance his vision, so I plan on presenting him with projects which will do this. I really want him to be proud of me.”

Three of the properties (Congi, Aberfeldy and Benangaroo) have attained Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) accreditation. “It’s a voluntary programme recognised globally, whereby we implement best practise management, ensuring wool comes from locations with progressive approaches to land management and animal welfare,” Laura explains.

“We’ve also been approached by a range of renewable energy developers and I’m evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of various proposals. We need to ensure that the community and neighbours benefit so that no one loses out.”

On Mobinbry the family is looking at areas of land which could be used for biodiversity credits. “This could potentially off-set land clearing which has already occurred, as well as what is planned for the Inland Rail line,” Laura says.

Laura is attempting to begin her own project, which involves establishing a benchmark for greenhouse gas emissions across the business. “This could allow us to pursue new initiatives such as carbon sequestration schemes,” she says.

“The Australian agricultural system has a negative reputation as being large contributors to the climate crisis. However, we want to change that narrative by being proactive as opposed to reactive when it comes to environmental concerns. I’d like to think that my role will promote T.A. Field Estates as good

corporate citizens across environmental, governance and social agendas.”

FOR THE LOVE OF SHEEP

After finishing school in Sydney 40 years ago, Michael worked as a jackaroo for a number of years before joining the family company at 26.

And, while he has successfully diversified the farming operations to ensure long-term sustainability, sheep are his real passion.

“Australia can be a wild and rough place but I have an absolute admiration for sheep,” he says.

“They produce wonderful fibre and meat no matter what atrocious conditions nature throws at them.

She cuts you her fleece, produces lambs, gives milk, and at the end of her life, you can eat her and wear her skin,” he says. “So many people don’t realise all the natural properties of wool. It’s the ultimate carbon neutral product.”

Michael has also developed distinctive wool production objectives for each sheep station, with Congi and Benangaroo producing different versions of ultrafine ‘slo wool’ – much of which is supplied directly to the well-known Italian mill Botto Giuseppe. Wool from Wyvern is forward sold and the balance is sold on the open market.

With a keen interest in encouraging the adoption of the latest genomics and genetics and other scientific breakthroughs, Michael sought a nomination to stand for the Australian Wool Innovation board elections in November 2021, however this time around, he was not successful.

“I’m so enthused to see young people keen to enter the industry and I get great pleasure passing on my knowledge to the next generation,” he says. “And while new technology is transforming agriculture, we still have to work with nature because she’s been around a lot longer than us.” l

“She cuts you her fleece, produces lambs, gives milk, and at the end of her life, you can eat her and wear her skin.

So many people don’t realise all the natural properties of wool. It’s the ultimate carbon neutral product.”

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COMMUNITY MEET A MEMBER

A bright future for the Gowen family Joanne Gowen has seen good times and bad on the family’s farm in the Northern Tablelands, but she wouldn’t dream of leaving the farming life behind.

Name: Joanne Gowen Farm name: Barrakee Branch: Uralla Years as a Member: 17

T

he Gowen family’s Angus cattle herd have the best of both worlds. Their pastures are spread across two farms on both sides of the Great Dividing Range with 550 hectares of ‘western fall’ country at Barrakee near Uralla, and 804 hectares of ‘eastern fall’ at Argyle near Walcha.

Plus, one of their owners is a qualified vet as well as a keen young farmer.

That young farmer is Tracey Gowen, a recipient of the NSW Farmers Tertiary Scholarship who has recently taken on the farm management role.

“Now it is time for succession, so I am the farm gofer and Tracey is taking on the day-to-day management of the properties,” says mother, Joanne Gowen. “It is very useful having an on-farm vet. Tracey continues to work part-time for a veterinary clinic in Guyra and does the occasional locum job.”

Tracey’s partner Bas also helps out on weekends and during busy periods.

“After my husband’s death, my four daughters and I continued the farming life because we liked living where we live, and we like farming,” Joanne explains. “It has always

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been a family farm and all of the girls would have a story to tell of times when they have been helping out on weekends and during school or university holidays.”

The family farming operation started with the purchase of Barrakee in 1979 for grazing sheep before a shift towards beef cattle and the beginnings of an Angus herd in 1986.

Then they purchased Argyle to expand the herd and as a drought proofing measure.

“We hoped this way we would be able to take advantage of the different weather patterns at Uralla and Walcha,” says Joanne.

“Over the years we have seen one property fare better than the other at different times.

Sometimes one just offers rest for the eyes with green grass, while the other looks dry or wintery.

“The farm’s focus is commercial breeding – turning off weaners and keeping some steers to feedlot weights. This involves moving cattle between the two properties. We grow the heifers out at Argyle but calve them out at Barrakee because we live here and it’s easier to manage them. We also grow the feeder steers out at Barrakee as we have been

Why I am a member of NSW Farmers “I joined NSW Farmers because I believe that farmers need a voice that is heard when issues in government or in the community affect our livelihood and our operations. We cannot expect to be heard on our own – there is more power in numbers.

“Our family has directly benefited from the Tertiary scholarship program run by NSW Farmers as three of my four daughters have received scholarships, which have greatly assisted with the costs of their university studies. I give a big thumbs up to that program.”

developing pastures there and found they do very well on oats planted as a ‘cleaning’ crop.”

At present the season is as good as Joanne has ever seen it. “There is green grass, more clover than I have ever seen and plenty of water. It is an absolute joy to see.”

Turn back two years and Joanne paints a different picture of life on the land.

“During the 2019 drought we spent every day of every week feeding our cattle. There was also a lot of time spent sourcing the feed, which had to come from further and further away,” she says. “We sold our cow numbers down so that we only kept the younger age groups of cows and had to fence off dams that had run dry.”

Then in November 2019, the family watched in shock as a bushfire came up out of the National Park gorges and spread across the paddocks at Argyle.

“That was a very frightening time, and the assistance of neighbours and friends was so very welcome,” says Joanne. “We are still cleaning up after that fire – fences destroyed then are only now being rebuilt. Ironically there have been hold-ups because of the rain and wet weather.”

In 2020 the family bought in some PTIC cows and heifers but are still not fully stocked again. It is a slow road to recovery.

“There is often a lot of blood, sweat and tears in living the farming life, but at the end of the day there is the satisfaction of seeing the results of your efforts,” Joanne says.

“Sometimes you can see the results quickly – such as when putting up a fence – and at other times the results take longer, such as the investment in your livestock.” l

COMMUNITY FARM DOGS

Walker from Ivanhoe Edited by MICHELLE HESPE Photograph RACHAEL LENEHAN

MY NAME:

Walker Edson WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO DO ON THE FARM?

Sit next to my best friend Ian Edson when he is out on the grader. But it’s scary when he’s doing drain work and we are on a lean, so I snuggle up close because I know he’ll look after me.

HAVE YOU EVER DONE SOMETHING NAUGHTY?

We have lots of helicopters flying over our place. I was with my brother Chocolate and when we first saw one, we didn’t know what one was so we chased it until we went a really long way from our kennels and the main house. It got dark so we couldn’t be sure of our way home. Then a storm started with lots of rain and it was scary. The next morning our tracks were washed away we were lost.

It took Chocolate and I three days to find home after we found Ian’s motorbike tracks. We thought we’d be in so much trouble but all Ian did was hug us close and tuck us in our kennels and give us water and food. Gosh we slept well that night.

WHAT’S YOUR WORST HABIT?

Chasing rabbits. I love it. I don’t always hear Ian call if I am concentrating on the rampant running rabbits.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD?

I love sneaking into the chook pen of a morning and getting a nice fresh egg before anyone sees.

IF YOU BECAME FAMOUS FOR ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Being tough, resilient and being able to know who is good or bad and who really loves me like my Mum B.

Mum B was an unwanted drover’s dog from up north. She had been ill-treated and needed a home. Ian found Mum a loving friend whom she could trust, but it took a while. There were six of us when I was born. I went for my first real walk with Trudy from the main house to the wool shed – I was only little – and that was how I got my name Walker.

One of the workers on Stirling Vale became my friend and asked if he could keep me. Ian agreed as I grew up with the worker, but then he moved on and he couldn’t look after me. The deal was that if ever this happened, I was to be returned to Stirling Vale. So I hitched a ride with a new worker home to where I was safe, and now I stick close to Ian. I protect him and he protects me.

IS THERE SOMETHING THAT DRIVES YOUR PARENTS MAD?

I’m a great jumper and I jump the main house fence to chase the cats. I let my brother Chocolate do most of the running when mustering, and I only do as much as I want to.

I do not like sharing Ian with Mum B or Chocolate. When I ride the motor bike with Ian, he says I am his second skin.

FAVOURITE TOY OR THING TO PLAY WITH?

My bed that Trudy bought me. I drag it out of my kennel when it’s hot or I want to be in the open, and Ian helps me get it back into my kennel when it is cold. Goats are toys really – they can be fun to muster up!

ANY LAST WORDS?

I do not take a bad photo, do I? I’m pretty handsome aren’t I? I knew I would stand out from the others!

Do you have a great photo of your farm dog? Send it along to mhespe@intermedia.com.au and you never know, they might be a Farm Dogs star!

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MARKETPLACE

The saleyards We’ve rounded up some products for summer.

Compiled by MICHELLE HESPE

STYLE WITH CONSCIENCE

TOP OFF THE LOOK

Ark & Sea is a lifestyle brand whose core mission is to raise awareness around environmental issues and support the foundations that are making a real difference.

Supporting local pet shelters, wildlife foundations and marine conservation, Ark & Sea also facilitates large-scale ocean clean ups. This whale tail bracelet is $29.95. arkandsea.com

Sustainably made Mason hats are made from super fine merino wool and are completely squashable, waterproof and adjustable. This smart black one is called the Hudson. $139. masonhats.com.au ACACIA FLORAL DESIGNS

This business on the Central Coast brings elegance and innovation to the flower game, creating everlasting floral arrangements housed in beautiful ceramic pots.

Prices vary. acaciafd.shop

GET UNDERKOVER

TOTE IT AROUND

Underkover Australia was formed by a bunch of campers, boats, fisherman and four-wheel-drivers who were fed up with their gear not holding their own on their adventures. They’ve created a series of bags, covers and tools and put them through the most rigorous testing to equip Aussie explorers with gear that goes the distance. The canvas camp oven bag is $78. underkover.com.au

These limited edition colourful totes by Catherine Manuell Design sit comfortably on your shoulder or across the body.

Zip pockets and phone sleeves will keep things secure and organised. $139.85. catherinemanuelldesign.com

BOOTS FOR MERRY PEOPLE FROM THE EARTH

Indigiearth channel 60,000 years of Aboriginal culture into their range, offering everything from spice blends, tea and chocolate treats to skincare, candles and superfoods. Championing native ingredients, Indigiearth allows people to taste and touch the gifts of mother nature. Prices vary. indigiearth.com.au

The mastermind behind Merry People aims to bridge the gap between city and country.

Comfy and versatile, these gumboots are designed with quality natural rubber, flexible neoprene lining and are 100 per cent waterproof to keep your feet dry, warm and supported.

The Bobbi Ankle gumboot featured here is $139.95. merrypeople.com

Do you have a great product you’d like us to consider for the page? Email an image and details to: mhespe@intermedia.com.au

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THE TAIL END

The cow connection

This thoughtful collection of heart-warming photography and specially curated cow quotes is sure to brighten anyone’s day.

Words SHEREE YOUNG

A

The adorable front cover of MOO. A book of happiness for cow lovers.

s any farmer will know, there is no such thing as a run-of-the-mill cow. They are brimming with personality and can be incredibly patient, overwhelmingly cheery, or just plain grumpy. But no matter their mood, it can’t be denied – they are individuals.

Making the personalities of cows more understood and appreciated by a broader audience was the reason why Angus St John Galloway decided to sit down and put together this new quirky hardcover gem, ‘MOO. A book of happiness for cow lovers’.

The book is the latest in a popular animal happiness series and features a series of beautiful photographs with a perfectly matched curated collection of famous quotes from cow-admirers through the ages.

“I wanted to capture cows as more than just an animal in a herd,” Angus says.

“Cows have feelings, emotions and they love their children. Farmers know the characteristics of their cows and will understand them, but I wanted to get people to look at them a bit differently. There is a lot we can learn and enjoy from cows.

“They are interesting, sentient beings with a lot of

characteristics and mannerisms we can recognise, and they are a lot of fun.”

Over 50 cattle breeds are depicted in the pages of MOO, which acts as an ode to the humble cow, which represented one of the earliest forms of wealth, and in Greek, Egyptian and Hindu cultures reached God-like status.

The famous Murray Grey is there, of course, along with the Holstein Friesian, Jersey and the Belmont Red, Galloway and Chinese Red Steppe.

Angus said the other impetus for the book was the increase he’s noticed in the number of cow shelters that are being set up. He thinks this is indicative of a bit of a change in thinking about cows.

“It is amazing, these rescue centres are a whole new thing, they are becoming really popular,” he said.

But at the same time, he recognises farmers care deeply for their animals and he also wanted to celebrate this fact.

“I get really annoyed when people think farmers are cruel to animals – nothing could be further from the truth for 99 per cent of them, and I wanted this book to celebrate farmers who know exactly what they are doing,” he said.

“The cows in this book are happy and healthy and that is what most cows are.”

The book includes thought provoking and at times hilarious quotes.

Famous British fashion designer Mary Quant reflects – “There are few things better than falling asleep in a field and being woken up by an inquisitive cow.”

But who knows how many of us can relate to, or agree with that?

Meanwhile, English author A.A. Milne, best known for the Winne the Pooh books, thinks life would be more simple if people listened to animals more often: “Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem,” the quote reads on page 82. True.

Even the late actor James Dean pondered the merits of cows: “Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn’t hiss or boo me,” says the quote on page 53. Again, true.

So, which quote did Angus like the best?

“It has to be Samuel Butler on page nine – I think it says it all really,” Angus says, then quotes from his book: “All animals except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it – and they do enjoy it as much as man and other circumstances will allow.”

Cheers to that.

Readers of The Farmer magazine can receive a 10% discount when buying ‘MOO. A book of happiness for cow lovers’ from https:// exislepublishing.com/productcategory/animal-happiness/ by using the code: TheFarmer. For more information, please visit www.exislepublishing.com. l

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JOIN US

Not out of the woods yet

Transport & logistics

The great Canadian dry

Sparking innovation

The timber shortage crisis ramps up

COVID-19 has added to freight woes

Canada´s drought teaches us lessons

A lab in Orange changing things up

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