The Farmer September-October 2020

Water security: a farmer’s story

Return of the hemp industry

New strategy for pork

The reality of rice

Repercussions of the Peel River damming

A fresh cropping alternative for NSW?

Can pork become our number one protein?

A staple that may become premium

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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2020 / $ 9.95

The Quad conundrum What side of the fence are you on?

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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 41 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW, 2037

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

–CONTRIBUTORS Alexandra Bunton Danica Leys Darren Baguley Ian Lloyd Neubauer Lauren Marer Lisa Smyth Michael Burt Michael Sheather Sheree Young Tony Blackie NSW FARMERS

CEO Pete Arkle MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER Michael Burt HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT Kathleen Curry MAGAZINE CONTENT TEAM

Alicia Harrison - Membership Service Manager Annabel Johnson - Head of Policy & Advocacy Alexandra Bunton - Senior Policy Advisor CONTAC T US

Level 4, 154 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 PO Box 459, St Leonards, NSW 1590 Head Office: 02 9478 1000

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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. @2020.

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

Water security: a farmer's story

Return of the hemp industry

New strategy for pork

The reality of rice

Repercussions of the Peel River damming

A fresh cropping alternative for NSW?

Can pork become our number one protein?

A staple that may become premium

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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2020 / $ 9.95

Having had this experience, it makes me very proud of a new program – that started this September – that will benefit thousands of Australian primary school aged children.

The federal government has committed $4.75 million to the Educating Kids About Agriculture: Kids to Farms program, with NSW Farmers receiving a $900,000 grant to deliver the program across the state. The three-year education program will give them first-hand experience of the agriculture sector and the paddock-to-plate journey, and hopefully entice some to take up a career in agriculture. I can’t wait to see the results!

Enjoy the read, and drop us a line anytime – we love hearing from you.

MICHELLE HESPE

Editor

TRUFFLE HUNTING

Me last month learning about truffles with Wayne Haslam from Blue Frog Truffle Farm.

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.

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.

The wrapping used in the delivery process of this magazine is 100 per cent biodegradable.

The Quad conundrum What side of the fence are you on?

Photo by: StudioCampo

hen I was 11 years old, my parents sold our house in Lake Macquarie, and settled into a new home on 40 acres in Frogs Hollow – a speck on the map between Bega and Merimbula.

My two sisters and I lived in the caravan with mum and dad while they built our house. We had cows, horses, ducks, chickens, dogs and a pet magpie that we saved after it had been thrown out of its nest.

When we started high school, as part of the agricultural studies you could raise a poddy calf – and so we ended up with two. Honey was to be the breeder, Rio (who had white socks) would be raised for consumption. It was all about learning where our food came from.

We dutifully raised the cows, making their powdered milk meals every morning and enticing them to drink by sucking our fingers just under the milk’s surface. Even as a fully grown cow Honey would still cross the paddocks to suck on my fingers. And as we all knew that Rio would not be around as long as Honey, we all became attached to him – not wanting him to be sent to the local abattoirs. Dad changed his name to Steak, and said we had to get used to the idea that he’d be on our plates soon.

Eventually Steak was carted off and we were shown how a cow is stunned before they are slaughtered. Steak was then delivered to our house in many pieces and we all took part in sorting out all of the different cuts and using mum’s new mincing machine.

It was a big lesson for us all and to this day I have an affection for cows. It has also made me very conscious of knowing where my food comes from, and I love doing food tours to learn more about the different food sectors.

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 © 2020 – The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd

SEP - OCT 2020

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Contents TRADE

THE MUSTER NEWS AND VIEWS

WHERE HAS ALL THE WOOL GONE?

New Q fever vaccine; The first NSW Agriculture Commissioner; NSW Farmers� new strategy; Community libraries; The seaweed industry, and discounted university degrees �������������������������������� 6

THE PRICE OF RICE

THE BIG PICTURE

The quest to keep African Swine Flu out of Australia �������������������������������������������� 10

PEST CONTROL

Drought, bushfires and COVID-19 have turned things upside down for Australia’s wool industry ������������������������������������ 46

No other country grows rice better than Australia, but do Australians take it for granted? ��������������������������������������������

52

57

THE BIG ISSUE

ENVIRONMENT The March release of the koala SEPP has added more weight to the ongoing debate �����������������������������������������������

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TREND

THE QUAD BIKE CONUNDRUM

The battle between farmers, safety advocates, government and quad bike manufacturers rolls on ������������������������

Feral dogs continue to decimate livestock, while the research on how to control them continues �������������������������������������������� 76

FARMERS AND KOALA CONSERVATION

SALEYARDS

The latest cool camping gear ����������������

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

SPECIAL REPORT

ARE YOU ON TOP OF #FOODTRENDS? 26

INSIDER

How closely do farmers need to follow food trends to stay in business? ������������

58

THE PORK PLAN

Australian Pork Limited (APL) has a bold new plan to become the nation’s preferred protein ��������������������������������

72

TOOLS

WATER PRESSURE

The drought-induced damming of the Peel River near Tamworth in Northern NSW has created serious financial repercussions and economic uncertainty for many ������������ 32

NSW farmers are rebuilding 85,000 kilometres of fencing in the wake of the 2019/2020 bushfires. But who pays? ����

62

BUSINESS

INNOVATION The process of phasing out hydrocarbon fuels, diesel and petrol is well underway, with hydrogen looking like it could be the way of the future ������������������������������� 38

Drought and lack of research and development has held back the re-emergence of the hemp industry �����

NEW GENERATION: THE WILSONS

A farming family that goes back five generations is a rare thing today. We meet one that is revolutionising dairy ����������� 82 ON MY SOAPBOX

The Inland Rail debate continues ��������

HAILING HEMP

POWERED UP

42

90

TEAM PLAYER 66

A profile on Dione Howard ������������������

93

MEET THE TEAM AT NSW FARMERS

Natasha Hyack – Regional Support Officer ����������������������������������������������

FRESH IDEAS TO MARKET

Marketing innovations are changing the way we think, buy and eat our fresh produce. So what’s up next? ���������������

COMMUNITY

FENCED IN

94

NSW FARMERS' REPORT

How the association is tackling COVID-19 �����������������������������������������

96

THE TAIL END

Can lemongrass in animal feed really reduce methane? ������������������������������

98

AN $11 BILLION GLOBAL INDUSTRY

A handful of entrepreneurs in NSW are working to build a seaweed industry from the ground up. Page 16

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l NEW APPOINTMENT

NSW appoints first Agriculture Commissioner NSW Farmers has welcomed the state’s first Agriculture Commissioner, Daryl Quinlivan, a former federal Agriculture Department secretary, with CEO Pete Arkle saying his appointment is a major advocacy win for the association. NSW Farmers has long lobbied for an Agriculture Commissioner and looks forward to Mr Quinlivan examining current Right to Farm policies and issues of urban sprawl.

“Mr Quinlivan is a sound appointment. He will have a critical role within government to drive the growth of the agricultural industry, removing barriers and realising untapped potential,” Mr Arkle said.

“A key component will be to advance an improved planning system, one that effectively recognises and protects local agricultural production.”

The Coalition pledged the appointment of an Agriculture Commissioner during the state election campaign in 2019. “NSW Farmers looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that the Commissioner has the appropriate statutory powers and resources to fulfill their role,” Mr Arkle said.

Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall announced Mr Quinlivan’s appointment at NSW Farmers board member and Paul Shoker’s farm in the Coffs Harbour shire, a highly productive horticultural region where the right to farm has been challenged over recent years with urban expansion and Local Council environmental zoning issues.

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A WELCOME APP OINTMENT

(L-R) NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle; NSW Farmers board member Paul Shoker, new NSW Ag Commissioner Daryl Quinlivan; MP for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh; NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall.

l FUTURE FORUM

Mapping the protein future NSW Farmers, Food Frontier and the National Farmers Federation have launched a new national Future of Protein Forum that brings together traditional livestock, plant, and alternative protein producers to meet the projected demand for Australian protein.

NSW Farmers CEO Peter Arkle said the Forum would be a great opportunity for protein industries to learn from each other, develop key research and development priorities, and communicate back to producers and governments.

“The global demand for protein in 2030 will be so high that traditional animal agriculture alone will come nowhere near meeting it,” Mr Arkle said.

Deloitte Access Economics modelling forecasts the Australian plant-based meat alternative consumer market to grow to $3 billion by 2030.

“Alternative protein, such as plantbased products and cell-cultivated meat, will be complementary to our traditional agricultural industries rather than posing a direct threat to their viability.

“We need to ensure that our domestic producers are able to diversify and take advantage of new market opportunities, and that policy

and regulatory settings are in place to encourage production and manufacturing in Australia.”

Sam Lawrence, Food Frontier’s Director of Policy and Government Relations, said the establishment of the Future of Protein Forum is a critical step in bringing together the Australian agriculture industry and the alternative protein sector for mutual benefit.

“As the alternative protein sector continues to build considerable momentum locally and globally, the Forum enables the collaboration necessary for Australia to fulfil its potential in new protein industries, while maximising opportunities for Australian farmers,” Mr Lawrence said.

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The Muster

l MEMBER NEWS

NSW Farmers unveils strategic five-year plan It’s time to push the reset button on how things are done at NSW Farmers, and so the Association has unveiled a strategic five-year plan to ensure that farming businesses and regional communities are the most vibrant in the country.

Words KATHLEEN CURRY – NSW FARMERS HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS

T

hey say bad things come in threes, and don’t we know all about that in agriculture?

We’ve contended with the worst drought on record, the most destructive bushfire season ever recorded, and now we’re having to manoeuvre through a global pandemic interrupting agricultural supply chains.

However it’s not all doom and gloom.

“Despite this adversity, the strength and endurance of NSW farmers shines through,” CEO of NSW Farmers Pete Arkle says. “Our grain growers have been planting the biggest crops in some years and the rainfall across much of the state over the past few weeks and months has been very promising.

“It’s important to remember even when we were in the thick of drought, our sector contributed almost $12 billion in value to the NSW Economy in 2018-19,” Pete says.

To ensure the 130-year-old organisation has the best future possible, NSW Farmers set out to develop the fiveyear strategic plan that took into account

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some core feedback – that members are looking for NSW Farmers to be the champion of agriculture in NSW. “Our members want a formidable apolitical advocate driving positive change to enable strong, profitable and sustainable NSW farm businesses, food and fibre industries and vibrant regional communities,” Pete says.

Six pillars of the strategic plan 1. STRENGTHENING OUR CONNECTIONS WITH FARMERS

Despite challenging conditions, NSW Farmers has continued to see its membership grow.

“We are actively working to highlight the wins the association secures – not only for our members but for all farmers in NSW,” says Regional Service & Sales Manager Jonathan Tuckfield. “We are stronger together and attracting and

retaining our members ensures we’ll continue to remain one of the country’s most formidable advocacy bodies. Last year we exceeded our membership growth target and this year we’re on track to do the same.”

2. REMAINING A RESPECTED, TRUSTED AND FORMIDABLE ADVOCATE

NSW Farmers is committed to being a respected, trusted and formidable advocate that successfully influences stakeholders to deliver the change our sector needs to reach its goal of becoming a $100 billion industry by 2030.

“To achieve this, NSW Farmers must be in a position to work with all major and minor political parties, as well as independents, and we do just that,” says Annabel Johnson, NSW Farmers Head of Policy. “Our current advocacy efforts concentrate on post COVID-19 recovery and reform, including strengthening supply chains, improving and expanding markets, achieving water and environmental reform, and building vibrant regions.”

3. DELIVERING VALUED PRODUCTS

5. EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE

AND SERVICES

As a public company, accountable to our members, NSW Farmers has taken the right steps to ensure our governance meets the highest standards. Our focus has been on building our governance capabilities, including through externally-facilitated Board training. The Board has also developed a new Board Charter.

Delivering for its members is at the heart of what the Association does. The Association’s Workplace Relations team, headed up by Gracia Kusuma, provides accurate, tailored and practical advice on all facets of farm employment.

“Over the past 12 months the team successfully delivered both face-toface and online workshops on a range of matters,” Gracia says. “The virtual option of convening workshops has been greatly embraced by members, and it’s an avenue that we’ll continue to utilise in our member engagement. The Advice Line continues to support members through various employment circumstances, including the challenges of operating safely and productively in a COVID-19 environment,” she explains.

4. ENGAGING AND GROWING OUR PEOPLE

Our new strategy places a particular focus on growing our people and engaging the new generation of farm leaders.

That’s why the Association is supporting representatives through committee and media training, and supporting emerging leaders to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to make an added contribution towards the association’s success.

6. RESPONSIBLY MANAGING OUR MEMBERS’ FUNDS

“With a strong investment and property portfolio, NSW Farmers is committed to responsibly managing members’ funds to grow our organisation and enable us to deliver our strategic goals,” says Luke Messer, Chief Financial Officer of NSW Farmers.

“The financial result in 2019 was a solid one, and despite COVID-19 throwing a spanner in the works, the Association was able to withstand the impact without a major disruption to our operations and member services,” he says. “NSW Farmers looks forward to the continuance of supporting our members to grow our food and fibre industries, and supporting the growth of strong and vibrant regions across NSW.”

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The big picture

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER CLOSES IN ON AUSTRALIA You may not know much about African Swine Fever (ASF). But there’s no doubt that more people will know a lot more about it soon.

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Words IAN LLOYD NEUBAUER

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A

frican Swine Fever is a contagious disease affecting wild and domestic pigs that causes high fever, respiratory problems, internal bleeding and skin haemorrhages.

It was first identified in Kenya in 1921 and has seen various outbreaks across Africa, Continental Europe and South America over the decades. Most outbreaks were contained by the virus itself as it kills almost every pig it infects.

But a new outbreak that originated in China’s Liaoning Province near the North Korea border in August 2018 is now spreading like wildfire through the Asia-Pacific. According to estimates by contagious disease experts, it has probably already wiped out more than a quarter of the world’s pig population.

In the Philippines, 50,000 infected pigs were killed or culled last year. In South Korea, photos emerged of a river of blood coming from mass culls at pig farms.

In Vietnam, 6 million pigs have been culled or died.

And in China, the world’s largest pork producer, ASF has wiped out 60 per cent of all pigs.

In April, ASF was detected on the Papua New Guinea mainland, only 150km north of Cape York.

FAST FACTS

kills 80 per cent of the pigs it infects,  ASF according to the World Organisation for Animal Health

is so contagious it's resistant to  ASF freezing, thawing and most commercial

disinfectants. It can even spread through non-biological objects like shoes

It is now dangerously close to Australia’s borders, according to Professor Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

“We are very concerned so our border controls and our surveillance has really been ramped up to do our very best to keep the disease out of the country,” he says. “Before the COVID-19 travel ban, nearly half of meat products tourists had tried to sneak past customs at our airports had tested positive for ASF. Many of those tourists were refused entry as a result.”

Pig farmers in Australia have also ramped up their defences.

“A lot is going on in terms of educating pork producers. We have to be much more vigilant about our biosecurity measures,” says Ean Pollard, a secondgeneration pig farmer in Young in the South West Slopes region of NSW, and chair of the NSW Farmers Pork Committee.

“Because if the disease did get into Australia it would be reasonably devastating for us, at least in the short term.”

There has been a big impact on pork consumption in some countries due to ASF. For instance, in February,

RESEARCH CONTINUES

Top to bottom: The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP); Dr David Williams in his ACDP laboratory

after The Jakarta Post reported 1,000 pigs died of ASF on the island, restaurants selling babi guling (suckling pig), Bali’s most iconic and popular dish, reported a sharp slowdown in business. And so a campaign was released by the Balinese government called ‘It’s safe to eat pork’, but it failed to allay locals’ fears.

Meanwhile, hopes that Australian pork could help fill the massive gap in the global animal protein market caused by a further 20 per cent decline in Chinese pork production this year failed to materialise because of COVID-19 trade disruptions.

“Pork shortages due to African Swine Fever were driving strong Chinese demand and Australian production was much higher [at the end of last year but] they are close to levels seen at the start of 2019,” wrote Rabobank senior proteins analyst Angus GidleyBaird in the investment bank’s June African Swine Fever report, which shows exports to China are down 4 per cent compared to last year. But Rabobank regards this as a positive outcome for Australian pork producers given Australia’s total red meat exports to China fell 16 per cent in the same period.

Back on the pig farm in Young, Ean says the only effect ASF has had on his bottom line is marginally increased operating costs due to heightened biosecurity requirements. “But the extra precautions are good for the industry,” he says.

And there may finally be some light at the end of the tunnel. In May, the Pirbright Institute in the UK announced it was “one step closer” to developing a vaccine for ASF after a trial in which 100 per cent of pigs immunised with a new drug survived lethal doses of the killer virus.

But until this vaccine is approved and distributed, ASF will continue to make pig farmers everywhere lose sleep. In Nigeria, where an outbreak has killed one million pigs and decimated the livelihoods of thousands, four pig farmers died of shock after losing all of their stock, the BBC reported.

“African Swine Fever is a devastating disease to the pork industry and its potential impact has played out in many Asian countries to our north,” Ean says.

“Our first line of defence is to keep it out of Australia and our second line of defence is at the farm gate. It’s about preparedness, and being ready to catch and isolate the disease in case it breaches our borders.” l SEP - OCT 2020

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l LIBRARIES

Keeping bookworms and communities alive In a day and age when the online world is toppling the pillars of ‘real’ life, libraries are not just important – they’re essential cogs that keep communities alive and well.

Words TONY BLACKIE

M

ost people in the Central West town of Tullamore carry a key to an exclusive club.

It’s a venue that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The key in question fits the door of the local library providing the Tullamore locals with access whenever they need a new book, video, audiobook or just a quiet place to sit and use the Internet.

At last count Tullamore had a population of 210 and the Central West wheat belt town has the distinction of having one of the few unmanned, around-the-clock libraries in the world.

There are a few others like it in Germany and Japan, but in Australia, it is tiny Tullamore at the forefront of library innovation.

In fact, this ‘club’ reflects a quiet revolution building momentum in Australia’s libraries over the past few years.

THE NEW BOOKWORM

As reading habits have changed, libraries have had to adapt to an evolving ‘new normal’. No longer is the library a place inhabited by a stern librarian who demands total silence, shushing those who dare to even whisper. No longer is it just a place filled with books.

This new breed of library is more a central meeting place, business incubator, research centre, and source of new media by way of DVDs, videos, e-books, audiobooks, courses and events.

Jan Richards, AM, manager of Central West Libraries is based in Orange. She has presided over the changing face of libraries in rural and regional areas in recent times.

“Libraries are still very much

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alive and vibrant while many other things in country towns have gone.

In many towns the banks, post office, bookshops and many other services have disappeared. And so in some cases libraries have had to fill the gap they’ve left,” she says.

Richards says libraries are going through a constant process of change and the COVID-19 crisis has shown the adaptability of the services offered.

Throughout rural and regional areas for instance, libraries have been operating ‘Storytime’ book reading sessions for children. Conducted online, this service allows isolated families the opportunity to join in. “All of the staff are now actors and narrators,” Richards says. “It’s a great program helping to develop literary skills and a love of reading.”

According to Richards, it’s not just the children who dial in for stories.

“Audio books are now provided on-line and we find many farmers and truck drivers are downloading these books as they’re able to listen to them while working and driving. Often farmers and drivers spend many hours alone while working and this is a great way to fill time and have some company.”

LIBRARIES OF THE FUTURE

Over the past three years, global software company Civica has been surveying libraries and working with librarians to build a picture of the library of the future. The company, which specialises in building the software that improves public services, sees a role for new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the creation of new library services.

BY PHIL SOMERVILLE

“The public libraries of the future will continue to connect people with people, and patrons who seek out personal connections with their librarians.

Artificial Intelligence will help to facilitate this by targeting different customers for different events and displays, and by sending the right information to the right people,” says Ian Finlayson, Civica’s Managing Director, Libraries & Education.

The Civica team surveyed library staff and library managers to get their take on where the changes were required in order for libraries to remain relevant. The vast majority of those surveyed believed that

the library was a venue for the showcasing and access of new technologies for the community.

WiFi, digitisation of books and other materials, availability of e-readers and audiobook listening applications, and access to the internet are but a few of those technology advancements.

In many rural centres, the library provides work spaces for people who are looking to start new businesses, providing them with computers and WiFi access to enable research and communication – vital processes in kicking off a new enterprise.

The availability of such services is also a key factor in attracting small businesses to rural centres.

Civica’s research also identified the importance of libraries to rural and remote communities, now and into the future, as having the facilities and the ability to keep communities connected.

The vital role of disseminating community based information and the position of the library as a central community gathering point was also strongly identified.

Richards says that this has largely been achieved with rural and remote library services getting strong government support through funding.

“There is a huge misconception that rural areas

LITTLE BO OKWORMS

Two children getting the benefit of library time in Parkes Library.

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are poor cousins to urban centres in terms of library services, and it’s to the contrary,” Richards says.

“We have received additional funding over and above metropolitan libraries from the NSW Government so that we can do new things and provide additional staff, content and services.”

Richards commented that new technology has not meant that libraries are getting rid of their core product. Hard copy books are still in strong demand despite the increasing use of online services.

HORSES FOR COURSES

Robbie Egan, CEO of the Australian Bookseller Association, believes that one positive outcome from the COVID-19 pandemic has been that many people have returned to reading. While he admits there are less bookshops in the regions than there used to be, those that remain open are doing well.

Egan says booksellers have been through tough times like many small businesses in rural and remote areas. The bushfires and now COVID-19 have been devastating for many. He says he knows of bookshops on the NSW South Coast which have lost up to 70 per cent of their business despite adopting innovative sales and delivery techniques.

“Staff have been riding bikes to deliver books to customers and creating roadside pickup stations to ensure social distancing,” he says.

Robert Knight, OAM, Executive Director of Riverina Regional Library, says that libraries, especially those in rural and regional areas, are the masters of re-invention.

“Since the 1980s it has been predicted that libraries will disappear,” Knight says. “They said e-books and digital books would end the need for libraries and that in the new technologicallyfocussed environment libraries were irrelevant.

But libraries have been re-invented and are now community hubs. Tullamore in Parkes Shire is a case in point where everyone in town has a key to the library. There has to be a very high level of community trust to provide a 24-hour unmanned library.”

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SPREADING THE WORD

Above then clockwise: Kerryn Jones, Manager of Cultural, Educational and Library Services, Parkes Shire, behind the wheel of The Library Car, that travels around the Central West visiting the various libraries; Kaylene Nisbet, Collections Officer at the Riverina Regional Library with Robert Knight OAM, Executive Director, Riverina Regional Library; A teacher working with children to improve reading at Peak Hill Library.

Some of the libraries he oversees are now running a diverse range of courses including one on the uses of the Internet for older residents. One library even has a STEM program with robotics that is attracting young people back to the library.

Knight also points out that libraries are catering for diversity within the community. “In Wagga there are more than 100 different language groups and having facilities for conversational language helps to integrate these people.” He adds that providing a connection point for people whose first language is not English can help break down the feelings of isolation.

With more than 92 book clubs in the Riverina region, and a growing number of e-resources available such as movies, magazines, newspapers and of course books, Robert Knight believes the library service is alive and well in rural and regional NSW.

l Q VACCINE UPDATE

Q fever vaccine research funding confirmed The federal government has committed $1.87 million in research funding for a new human vaccine for Q fever, a bacterial infection that is transmitted from farm animals to humans and disproportionately affects rural communities.

Australia has among the world’s highest rates of Q fever with about five to seven per cent of the population exposed to it, although many cases go unreported or are undiagnosed.

Q fever outbreaks intensify during periods of drought when dust can travel up to 30 kilometres and symptoms working with livestock or in abattoirs, with times of drought include fever, cough, nausea and a fatigue. particularly dangerous.

Another vaccine, Q-VAX, was released in 1989 but “There is no more important priority for agriculture take-up has been low due to cost and time involved with than protecting the health and wellbeing of our people. accessing it.

Q fever is an all-too-common illness affecting farmers and NSW Farmers President James Jackson welcomed the others employed in rural and livestock-focussed industries, funding, saying the new vaccine is intended to be simple, impacting people, in some cases, for many years.” easy to administer and more accessible.

Federal Regional Health Minister, Mark “This is a disease that disproportionately Coulton, said the funding, which will affects our rural communities. Having support research and clinical trials at experienced it myself, I can attest to the the Australian Rickettsial Reference significant impact it can have on your Laboratory (ARRL), marks a solid life,” Mr Jackson said. commitment to rural health.

“While our health experts are “I know people who have suffered working on the new vaccine, I its ill-effects, which vary in intensity encourage people to ask their doctor from one person to the next, and know about getting Q-VAX, the current vaccine how important it is to ensure Australians on the market. It’s important to take steps have access to the best medical products to protect yourself.” possible," Mr Coulton said. “That is why National Farmers Federation CEO, the Government is acting to provide Tony Mahar, said the trial would make NSW Farmers President James and his more support and more options for most the vaccine easier to access with those wife Jenni on their property at Guyra at-risk Australians.” most susceptible including anyone

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l TRADE

The seaweed boat A handful of entrepreneurs in NSW are working to build a seaweed industry from the ground up.

Words IAN LLOYD NEUBAUER

S

eaweed farming was first documented in 1670 in Japan when farmers would throw branches into the shallow waters of Tokyo Bay to grow seaweed spores.

After WWII, the Japanese improved the method by placing fishing nets tied to bamboo poles in the water that gave the spores scaffolding on which to grow, effectively doubling production.

Newer techniques introduced over the decades have seen seaweed farming blossom into an $11 billion global industry with largescale seaweed farms in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines and, on a smaller scale, in Canada, the UK, Spain, and the US. Around 95 per cent of production goes to the food industry while the remainder is used for bio-products like skincare and vitamin supplements.

Though surrounded by sea with ideal growing conditions and massive export opportunities, Australia has altogether missed the seaweed boat. But a handful of entrepreneurs in NSW are working to build an industry from the ground up.

Here, three of them speak about the challenges and incredible opportunities that the industry holds.

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THE SEAWEED HARVESTER

Every morning at sunrise, Jo Lane of Sea Health Products can be found on the beaches of the Eurobodalla region of the South Coast of NSW collecting seaweed. Back at her little plant, she washes the seaweed with spring water and dries it on racks before turning into granules or powder for health food stores, cosmetic manufacturers, naturopaths, chiropractors who use it to help treat arthritis and a sponsored professional mountain biker who uses seaweed to aid muscle recovery.

“I used to work for NSW Fisheries and as part of my job I processed a permit for the son of a woman who has been harvesting seaweed on the South Coast for more than 50 years,” Lane says. “Later I bought the business from them – basically the name and a database of customers. That was five years ago. We’re still not making a profit because at the moment we’re trying to grow a particular kind of kelp by messing around with light and nutrient levels and there’s a lot of trial and error involved in that,” she says.

“Once we get the procedure optimised and scale it, I am very confident it will gain real momentum based on what I’ve seen

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The Muster

SEAWEED GARDENS

Above, then left to right: Tranquil seaweed gardens along the coast of the island of Nusa Penida, Indonesia; Tasty treats from the Batemans Bay Nut Roasting Company; Harvested seaweed.

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overseas. There are so many novel ways people can incorporate seaweed into their lives. It will also provide jobs in regional areas.”

But seaweed harvesting has its limitations.

“Sometimes we go out in the morning and find nothing,” Lane explains. “We do not have anything like consistent supply and this year we missed out on harvesting during January because of the bushfires. For that reason we are hoping to become seaweed farmers,” she says. “It’s the only way to ensure a consistent supply.”

THE SEAWEED FARMER

In 2014, marine biologist Dr Pia Winberg was studying the similarities between seaweed and human skin cells when she was scalped in an industrial accident. “I applied products we were working on to my wound and have had very good results without scarring,” Winberg says of the range of seaweed-infused skincare that she sells under her brand Phycohealth. “We are now trying to print artificial skin using a 3D printer that lays down a scaffold over wounds – a structure that allows collagen and all the protein that skin needs to grow over wounds and heal much better than it does on its own.”

Dr Winberg sources her seaweed from her small seaweed farm near Nowra on the South Coast of NSW, the only one of its kind in Australia.

“We missed something big here. Our country is surrounded by sea but we have next to no seaweed >

THREE SPECIAL SEAWEED PRODUCTS

Today, seaweed is used mostly for food, cosmetics and medicine.

But there are some fascinating new applications in the pipeline.

1

ANIMAL FEED Research by the CSIRO has shown feeding cows a small amount of Asparagopsis taxiformis, a species of seaweed found on Australia's east coast, slashes methane production by more than 99 per cent. With more than a third of methane emissions created by human activity, cows and sheep, seaweed could be a gamechanger in the fight against global warming.

2

BIO-PLASTICS Bio-plastics made from renewables that dissolve in water promise to bring an end to ugly plastic waste. But to produce it in commercial quantities manufacturers need plants like corn or cassava that consume lots of farmland, nutrients and water. Now, researchers in Israel have developed bio-plastic polymers made from micro-organisms that feed on seaweed.

3

BIO-FERTILISER Seaweed is a potential source of bio-fertiliser in dried or fresh form. Seaweed is effective for ripening, increasing the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables as well as conditioning soil – an eco-friendly technology to overcome the shortcomings of chemical-based fertilisers.

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The Muster farms,” she says. “We need to get going not just because of all the money that could be made but to fill in deficiencies in the modern food chain such as the massive gaps in complex fibres and vitamins like B12, which is not found in plants. Seaweed farming can also help alleviate Australia’s chronic shortage of fresh water and arable soil because it doesn’t need fresh water and is very good for fertilising soil.”

The biggest hurdle, Dr Winberg says, is a lack of knowledge on how to grow Australian seaweed in commercial quantities. “We have centuries of experience growing crops on the land, we know about everything from optimal planting seasons to how to cross-pollinate species. But Australian seaweed is as unique as our koalas and kangaroos, there is not a lot of knowledge out there and it takes a lot of time for research and development. I’ve been on the seaweed journey for 25 years and I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

THE SEAFOOD MANUFACTURER

Ten years ago, Mark McNamara of the Batemans Bay Nut Roasting Company on the South Coast of NSW came up with the idea of using wasabi and seaweed to flavour macadamia nuts. The value-added product quickly became the company’s bestseller and won a medal at the Australian Food Awards in 2016. But until recently, sourcing commercial quantities of seaweed in Australia was not an easy thing to do.

“To get it from suppliers in Japan, the minimum order is 200kg (about $10,000) and we couldn’t use it or store it. So I started buying Japanese seaweed used for sushi rolls from the supermarket and grinding it up,” he says. “But I worried about the water quality off the coast of Japan and South Korea where it is grown.”

One day, McNamara was selling nuts at a market in the town of Ulladulla when he saw a lady selling seaweed products. It was Dr Pia Winberg.

“We talked for hours, she told me about all the scientific details about the nutritional value and high iodine levels of seaweed and most of it went over my head. But we became good friends and for the last four years, I’ve been buying seaweed grown in waters I know are clean,” he said.

“The taste is a bit strong so you have to mix it with other foods like nuts or pasta,” McNamara says. “But there’s definitely going to be big demand for seaweed in Australia in the future because it’s good for the environment and good for people.

It’s a win-win solution.”

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PRO CES SING SEAWEED

Top left, then clockwise: Seaweed hung out to dry at Sea Health Products in Bermagui; Sea Health Golden Kelp powder and granules; Jo Lane of Sea Health Products and Warren Atkins processing Golden Kelp.

Images: Honey Atkinson.

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Insurance Australia Limited ABN 11 000 016 722 AFSL 227681 trading as WFI (WFI) issues WFI Insurance policies. This flyer doesn’t take in account your objectives, financial situation and needs. To see if a product is right for you, always consider these matters and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). You can get a copy of our PDS’ from our website at www.wfi.com.au or by calling 1300 934 934. If you purchase any WFI product, we will charge you a premium, plus any taxes and charges, based on your risk profile and circumstances.

NSWF is an alliance partner of WFI and does not make any recommendations or provide an opinion about WFI’s products. If you take out a policy with WFI, NSWF receives a commission from WFI of between 5% and 10% of the value of the premium payment (excluding taxes and charges).

The Muster l UNI DEGREES

Learning curve Will half-price university fees encourage more young people to enrol in an agriculture degree?

Words IAN LLOYD NEUBAUER

I

n June, as youth unemployment soared to 16 per cent, the Federal Government announced sweeping changes to university fees as part of its new Job Ready Graduates Package to incentivise young people to pursue careers in industries with structural skill shortages like farming. Starting next year, the cost of an agriculture-related degree will drop from around $28,600 to $11,100.

“One of the sad things when you have a recession is that youth unemployment grows and we’ve got to make sure that we skill young Australians so when the jobs are there, they can take them,” Education Minister Dan Tehan said a speech to the National Press Club.

Following the announcement, National Farmers Federation President Fiona Simson told the ABC the move will reverse the decade-long fall in demand for some agricultural courses. “I’m confident we’ll see a flood of students back to some of those disciplines,” she said. “Our aim is to double the number of agriculture graduates by 2030.”

SWEEPING REFORMS

Rachel Nicoll, chair of NSW Farmers Young Farmers and a free-range egg farmer in Hartley in the Central Tablelands of NSW, questions the government’s logic.

“It’s a positive step but I do not know if the cost of a HECS debt [Higher Education Contribution Scheme] – something you pay off in the future – will sway the decisions students make now. They are not going to change their preference for studying psychology, arts to agriculture just because it’s cheaper,” she says.

Hannah Cahill, a third-year agricultural student at the University of New England and recipient of the NSW Farmers E.L. O’Brien Scholarship, shares Rachel’s concerns.

“Most students do not pay their fees

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upfront, they take out a government loan, so repayments are not something we think about much while at university,” she says, adding that the reduction in fees may not help those who need it most.

“I think one of the reasons agriculture degrees are not popular is because students in regional areas simply can’t afford to go to university.

My home – a sheep and cattle station in Braidwood in the Southern Tablelands of NSW – is a nine-hour drive from campus so I have to pay for accommodation on top of all the other expenses.”

Brigid Heywood, the vice-chancellor of the University of New England, says a new one-off $5,000 grant to assist regional students who move to start their university studies will help mitigate this problem.

The vice-chancellor is also quick to point out that the debate coverage of the Job-Ready Graduates Package has erroneously focused on how much money students will save.

“It’s just one part of the government’s package for wider education reform,” Brigid says.

“What is most important for us is the redistribution of federal funding towards regional universities which means more opportunities for regional students. All of the money has been bundled into one new fund and we have been given a larger mandate to apply for that funding.

“This package also recognises that this country needs not only work-ready graduates but that graduates need ready-jobs,” Brigid explains. “In the past, Australia has been guilty of overqualifying students without increasing job opportunities. This reform finally reverses that by inviting industry and employers to work with universities to help us shape a modern curriculum and tell us what are the kinds of skills graduates need.

She adds: “For agriculture businesses that get involved we see a big payoff for them because graduates doing internships with them drive innovation and help them solve problems,” she says, adding: “This model is not new. It has been applied successfully at universities overseas.”

CHAIN OF LEARNING

Rachel agrees that work experience is the key to boosting youth participation in agriculture. “There need to be programmes that allow high-school students to go to farms and meet farmers who can tell them what agriculture in Australia is going to look like in the future,” she says.

“NSW Farmers is working with the stakeholders to develop these kinds of programmes now.”

But she says stakeholders also need to get better at promoting agricultural degrees: “There needs to be a marketing campaign that shows young people all the different job opportunities that exist in agriculture as it covers so much more than just farming.”

Hannah voices similar sentiments.

“I think making year 12 students in rural and in urban areas more aware of the opportunities an agriculture degree can give you would be very helpful,” she says.

“Where I grew up, most people simply do not see the value of studying agriculture at university. They just want to learn real-world skills and work their way up through hard work. But once you start looking into a career in agriculture you realise there are so many avenues you can go down. I believe raising that kind of awareness could increase enrolments.”

As a farmer with 35 years of experience and a member of the NSW Farmers Rural Affairs Committee who has also has helped formulate policy to bridge the disconnect many Australians have with agriculture, Sarah Thompson

offers unique insight into a fundamental problem that cut-price agriculture degrees simply cannot solve.

“Cheaper degrees do make university study more affordable and that is welcomed,” Sarah says. “But will it incentivise students to pursue a career in agriculture? I think strategies need to be developed that enable school kids of all ages to see food and fibre production as ubiquitous. The curiosity must be borne in the stem subjects in the early school years. The education system needs to plant this seed across the entire context of learning so that kids understand and realise their food does not come from Woolworths, but from hard work and smart thinking on the land.

“Research suggests people make career choices at a young age and that 60 per cent of their influence comes from teachers. But the majority of teachers in Australia are urban-based and do not have much connection to primary industries or the careers they offer.

“If the government seriously wants young people to be interested in studying agriculture at university,” she concludes, “we have to expose them to agriculture long before they get to university.”

FARMERS SCHOLARSHIPS UP FOR GRABS

Since 1993, the NSW Farmers Association has awarded annual scholarships that include cash grants of $4,000 to help attract and retain the best and brightest young people in the industry.

Applications for the NSW Farmers Association Tertiary Scholarships are open to anyone who has been a member of NSW Farmers for at least two consecutive years and for anyone under 18 whose parents have been members for the same period. Applicants also need to be enrolled in the first year of an agriculture course in university, or in the first year of TAFE or a privately owned Vocational Education College.

FAST FACTS

living in regional and  People remote areas of Australia are half as likely to hold degrees than people from major cities

and environmental Agriculture related degrees are the least popular fields of study in Australian universities

“The scholarship will help cover the costs for my studies and things like stationery and books, as well as allowing me to focus on my career prospects,” says Hannah Cahill, recipient of the E.L. O’Brien Scholarship. It was one of five NSW Farmers scholarships awarded earlier this year.

For more information visit nswfarmers.org.au/youngfarmers SEP - OCT 2020

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THE BIG ISSUE QUAD-BIKES

The

quad-bike conundrum

Are the new quad bike laws bonafide or an example of over-regulation in Australia?

–

Words IAN LLOYD NEUBAUER

F

armers shook their heads with disbelief when panic buying gripped the country in March, with some shoppers even ending up in physical fights in supermarket aisles over toilet paper. Now, many farmers across NSW are panic buying, but they are not after toilet paper. They’re buying quad bikes.

The frenzy reached a crescendo in June when Honda mirrored announcements made earlier in the year by Yamaha and Polaris that they would stop selling quads in Australia in October because of new federal laws that require new quads to have wider wheelbases for better stability and come factory-fitted with operator protection devices (OPDs) that protect drivers from rollovers on all terrain vehicles (ATVs).

Between 2011 and 2018, 128 people were killed on quad bikes in Australia, with nine more deaths recorded this year by Safe Work Australia, making quads the leading cause of death for farmers after suicide.

The most tragic stories include that of a 10-year-old boy killed while driving an ATV on a property near Nowra on the South Coast of NSW last year; and a 13-year-old girl killed on a property near Narrabri in the state�s west when her quad bike collided with a tree.

“It’s something that we, the family have got to deal with for the rest of our lives,” Fairfax reported the girl’s father Josh Maxwell as saying outside a NSW Coroner’s Court where an inquest was held into the accident and others like it. Around six people are hospitalised in Australia every day after crashing on quads. >

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THE BIG ISSUE QUAD-BIKES

FAST FACTS

bars can be retro-fitted on most ATVs  Roll for around $700 to $1400. If you own or

operate a farm in NSW, you can apply for a $600 rebate

are about 186,000 quad bikes in use  There on private properties in Australia. Forty new units were sold every day until panic buying began a few months ago

“We had to look at the safety of these vehicles, the continuing deaths and injuries that are occurring, and take whatever steps were useful in reducing those,” says Mick Keogh, deputy chair of Australia’s consumer watchdog the ACCC. But the exit from the market of three of the biggest manufacturers presents challenges for farmers who consider quad bikes an indispensable part of their operations, and who can be culturally resistant to new safety regimes.

LIFE SAVERS

The argument for OPDs seems quite straightforward.

According to research by the University of NSW, more than 70 per cent of quad bike fatalities on farms are due to drivers being pinned to the ground after rollovers. Like seat belts and anti-lock systems, OPDs will save lives, the ACCC concluded, citing a similar law in Israel.

But Brad Ryan, who heads Yamaha Motors in Australia, disputes the claim.

“Yamaha, as we speak, is licensed to sell Utility ATVs without crush-protection devices in Israel. I think once Israel realised their rules were too restrictive, they re-negotiated them,” he says. “Presumably the ACCC didn’t check.”

The ACCC reported in their review findings that Israel has regulations that require quad bikes to be registered, and riders to be licensed before the vehicle may be operated. One of those conditions of registration is that an OPD must be installed on each vehicle.

Manufacturers also question the methodology the ACCC used to reach its conclusions. “Safety standards must be evidence-based in both criteria and testing methods to internationally accepted standards,” says Robert Toscano, managing director of Honda Australia Motorcycle and Power Equipment. “Honda has provided research to show the negative outcomes of the government’s proposal but unfortunately it was not considered and we are here in this position today,” he says, adding that the new regulations cannot be entirely met by any quad bike in the market today.

But Chinese manufacturer CFMOTO has already complied with the new laws and also committed

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TELLING NUMBERS

According to research by the University of NSW, more than 70 per cent of quad bike fatalities on farms are due to drivers being pinned to the ground after rollovers.

to meeting them for their entire quad bike range in the future. This year it released a new 400cc quad bike with a wider wheelbase that comes with an Australian-made Quadbar Flexi – a semi-flexible pole mounted on the tow bar behind the driver that claims to significantly reduce the risks associated with rollovers.

“I hit an unseen small bank at 40km an hour, the quad was airborne for six metres until landing upside down facing back towards the bank,” says Bruce, a grazier in the Southern Tablelands of NSW who asked his surname be withheld. “I did a face plant and have a very sore back but I am convinced the Quadbar saved me from serious injury or death.”

HISTORY OF THE QUAD BIKE & ATV Quad bikes are a development from the three-wheeled ‘all-terrain vechicle’.

The Sperry-Rand Tricart, a three-wheel ATV, was released in 1968, though it was the Honda ATC that made three-wheelers a household name. In 1970, Honda launched the ATC90, a recreational vehicle with large balloon tires instead of a suspension that was used in a James Bond film.

At about this time, farmers realised the value of using an ATC for work and the three-wheel market tapped into a new demographic. In 1981, Kawasaki launched the KLT200, a three-wheeled ATV, followed by a fourwheeler in 1985 called the Bayou 185. In 1989 it launched the Bayou 300 4x4, the first ATV 4-wheel drive and the earliest model resembling the quad bikes of today.

NSW Farmers, which has spent years educating members about the risk posed by quad bikes while at the same time lobbying regulators to ensure farmers can continue to use them on their land with no additional legislative impost, commends manufacturers like CFMOTO for their dedication to safety improvement. It also puts a big question mark under claims made by Honda that it is simply not feasible to adjust its production line for Australia.

“Unfortunately Australia did not have safety standards for quad bikes before, and some manufacturers are taking a militant approach by withdrawing from the market because they don’t want to comply,” says NSW Farmers Workplace Relations Director Gracia Kusuma. “So there are divided opinions within the farming community on whether mandating OPDs is necessary, similar to the debates that occurred when OPDs were mandated for tractors. It should be noted that a case precedent has been set in Queensland where a quad bike with no OPD has been found to be unsuitable for farm work, exposing farmers to significant damages in the event of an accident. In December 2018, a farmer was ordered to pay $400,000 to an individual who was assisting on farm (not an employee) who was injured in an accident because the quad bike did not have safety features including an OPD.”

PERSONAL LIABILITY

Damien Ashenhurst, the managing editor of Dirt Action and Ultimate Adventure Bike magazines, sheds more light on why ATV manufacturers quit the Australian market.

“Japanese companies do not like making changes to existing designs, particularly through aftermarket devices that can introduce all sorts of warranty and litigation concerns,” he explains. “They responded that proper safety equipment and training was the answer – and they do have a point. Farmers need to take wearing helmets more seriously as far too many of the death and injury statistics reveal no safety equipment on the rider at all.”

Honda is also lobbying for mandating helmets, rider training and stopping children under 16 years of age from riding adult-size quad bikes.

Warren Jonsson – a grazier who installed crush-protection devices on his fleet of eight quad bikes after his father was killed in a rollover while checking fences – agrees the onus needs to be on farmers and managers to provide a safe place to work. “People have got to be a bit accountable for their own doings,” he told the ABC, adding that the government should force or at least credit farmers for fitting after-market crush-protection devices on their quad bikes. >

QUAD BIKES VERSUS UTVs Like motorbikes, quad bikes are vehicles that operators sit on, and must actively ride, shifting their body weight to absorb changing surfaces and inertia. Quad bikes are small, making them more responsive for tight spaces and quick turns, which is why they are used in races – and are so much fun. UTVs, on the other hand, are more like cars or buggies you sit in. The wheelbase is wider than a quad bike, making them far more stable, and the ground clearance is higher so operators are less likely to hit things. UTVs come equipped a host of safety features: seatbelts, roll bars and sometimes doors and windshields and even wipers for the rain, whereas quad bikes have none of these things and are therefore cheaper. Polaris makes UTVs with one seat but most have two seats, which is why these vehicles are also known as side-by-sides.

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THE BIG ISSUE QUAD-BIKES

A SURVIVOR’S TALE Annie Rodgers is a cattle farmer in the Hunter Region. Here she talks about nearly losing her husband to an ATV accident, and why OPDs are the way forward.

“It was eight years ago. A neighbour’s steer had got into our paddocks, so my husband Rowan raced off on one of the quads to get it. That steer was mad and jumped across the front of the quad bike, clipped it with its hooves and causing it to roll over. Rowen came off. He was hurt pretty badly and tried to call me but he’d left his phone in the shed.

We have a big property – more than 3,500 acres – but Rowen somehow managed to limp and crawl back home. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Newcastle where they found he had seven broken ribs.

“My husband was pretty lucky in the grand scheme of things, but so many others are not.

They say only two per cent of quad bikes are sold in Australia but I bet we account for much more than 2 per cent of accidents because the terrain here is dangerous, especially after the rains when new growth hides gullies and fallen logs. A farmer who has ridden around the same paddock for years can easily go wrong.

“After the accident, we put LifeGuard roll bars on all of our ATVs. I think they’re amazing; they have put so much research and homework into these things. Accidents can still happen but they give you peace of mind.

“This new legislation? I think it’s fantastic – and long overdue. If the government didn’t bring it in we’d have more accidents and lose more of our people. And for those manufacturers that say their quads aren’t stable enough to cope with a roll bar, well then I’d think twice about buying their machines.”

Polaris, the world’s largest manufacturer of dedicated off-road vehicles, says its objection to the new regulations is not based on the cost of retooling their factories but what they claim to be a lack of research to show OPDs save lives. “We actually believe they cause as many injuries as they save,” a spokesperson for the company says.

Gracia rubbishes this claim. “Saying OPDs are more dangerous is false and not backed up by data,” she says. “They have never caused a single quad-bike fatality in Australia.”

Polaris’ decision to exit the Australian quad market was also based on Farmers changing preference for beefier UTVs (utility task vehicles) also known as Side

by Side Vehicles (SSVs). “Being the industry leader, the observed sales trend in Polaris vehicles provides a likely bellwether for how the rest of the industry’s sales will

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BEYOND O CTOBER 2021

NSW Farmers wants to assure farmers that quad bikes will still be available to purchase beyond October 2021.

follow in the future,” the spokesperson says, adding that the move away from quad bikes is so pronounced the new regulations could soon be irrelevant.

“Much time, effort and taxpayer funds are being squandered on well-intentioned but misguided efforts to redesign quad bikes,” the spokesperson says. “The significant financial resources currently being spent would be better spent incentivising consumers to move to UTVs.” NSW Farmers is advising farmers to ignore rumours that quad bikes will no longer be available in NSW. “We want to assure the farming community that quad bikes will continue being available beyond October 2021. They aren’t going anywhere,” President James Jackson says. “Hopefully what will change is that we’ll see fewer serious injuries and deaths.” l

ATV LIFEGUARD – making farms safer since 2012  Flexible,safer passive and yielding2012 Operator ATV LIFEGUARD – making farms since Protective Device (OPD)  passive andquad yielding Operator Flexible, Easily fitted to all bikes with steel Protective Device (OPD) framed racks  fitted NSW-approved to all quad bikes with steel Easily Safework framed racks

 Absorbs the impact of a quad bike crushing the operator during a rollover

 Safework NSW-approved

 Absorbs the impact of a quad bike crushing Supported by over 150 quad bike the operator during a rollover

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WATER WORRIES

Despite being a picture of serenity, Chaffey Dam is a topic of hot debate.

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INSIDER WATER SECURITY

The flow-on from last year’s drought-induced temporary damming of the Peel River near Tamworth in Northern NSW has created serious financial repercussions and economic uncertainty for chicken meat producer Guy Hebblewhite and other intensive farmers in the Peel Valley.

–

Words MICHAEL SHEATHER

SEP - OCT 2020

THE FARMER

33

INSIDER WATER SECURITY

F

or Guy Hebblewhite, one of the largest intensive chicken meat producers in the Peel Valley, news that the State Government planned to block water flow in the Peel River with a temporary weir was akin to being punched in the face – it was sharp, sudden and delivered with the potential to cause a lot of pain.

Unfortunately for Guy and his wife and business partner Genene, that’s exactly what the damming of the Peel River has provided – financial hurt, and lots of it.

Guy and Genene’s operations produce 5.5 million kilograms of live chicken every year on his farm ‘Moana’ at Somerton, about 40 kilometres west of Tamworth. That’s a lot of chooks, by anyone’s reckoning.

Drought hit the Peel Valley area of NSW hard last year. It was one of the worst affected agricultural regions in the state, with record low inflows to both Chaffey and Dungowan dams during much of the past two years. The largest dam, Chaffey Dam, sat at just 15 per cent of its 63,000 megalitre capacity late last year after two years without appreciable rain. The last time Chaffey Dam was full was in 2016.

By August, water storage levels in local dams had become critical and the state government needed to make a series of difficult decisions to preserve what little water was remaining in storage and in the Peel River for Tamworth’s residents and industry.

“My initial reaction – which I wrote on a letter sent to me from WaterNSW – was Holy F…” recalls Guy, a 2013 Nuffield farming Scholar and chair of the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Advisory Panel.

After the initial shock, Guy and Genene quickly realised that their business, built during the past 14 years, was under threat. “What the no-flow order meant was that because the river water and the ground water is an interconnected system – one feeding the other – if there is no river water, eventually there’d also be no ground water. And without water we don’t have a business.”

For a chicken meat producer, water is a critical component in the production cycle, especially during the summer months. Chickens need to be kept at a steady 22 degrees to maintain consistent growth rates.

If they get too hot, they die.

Maintaining this temperature as the chickens grow is a complicated operation. Water feeds the evaporative cooling systems in the eight massive sheds on Guy’s property that allow him to provide optimum growing conditions throughout the cycle.

Guy has a strict contract with one of the country’s largest chicken processors to grow chickens.

“Under those contracts we have to provide those chickens at a certain time, of a certain weight and to certain specifications,” he explains. “We need secure water supply to do that. A lot of the chicken producers in the region were extremely worried about being able to meet their contracts because of the water situation.”

Guy and Genene bought their farm in 2006 and

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WATER FOR THE PEOPLE

Tamworth (above) will soon have another seven megalitres of water due to supplementary and upgrade works to Chaffey and Dungowan dams.

completed building it in 2009. “We’ve had some big challenges thrown at us in that time, but this is without a doubt the biggest we have ever experienced,” he says. “We kept asking ourselves – ‘How do we get around this without borrowing a lot of money and risking everything?’ But in the end, that’s what we had to do. We borrowed a lot of money and we have risked everything.”

To secure the immediate future of their business, the couple took the huge step of building a 52 megalitre dam on their property at a staggering cost of $480,000, provided through Government drought relief loan packages. As a further backup they spent another $50,000 on a ground bore, including money for the drill licence and an additional cost for each of three unsuccessful drill attempts until they finally hit water with the fourth bore. The total cost was well over half a million dollars.

“Once we’d built the dam, without the river flowing, and with the existing wells drying up, we had no way of sustaining the dam level and sustaining the farm, so we had to drill for extra water,” says Guy. “They call it fractured rock water.”

The first was 180 metres deep and it was dry. The second was 170 metres deep and it was also dry.

The third was 50 metres deep and they figured that if they hadn’t hit water by then it was also dry.

They finally found water on their fourth attempt.

“Which in turn meant we had to buy a water licence at $1000 a megalitre,” explains Guy. “With a 52-megalitre dam to fill, that was another $50,000

plus infrastructure. So we very quickly arrived at a cost of $530,000 in the form of a loan from the Rural Assistance Authority. That has brought with it a whole other set of anxieties and stress.”

Genene adds: “By taking that loan, it’s set us back many, many years but we also know friends who found the drought and its impact much more difficult to manage than we did, particularly for the dry land farmers in the region. And they have had to spend lots of money bringing in feed for their animals. So yes, the loan has set us back but at the same time there are farmers out there who have done it way tougher than us and we acknowledge that.”

Local egg producer Bede Burke says that the impact is not restricted to Guy and Genene’s farm, and in fact stretched right along the 70 kilometres stretch of the Peel River below Tamworth.

“In my operation, I draw from ground water, so we have had sufficient amounts to get us through, but I know of at least three big chicken meat producers who were cut off from access to the river water on November 30 last year and they have all had to put in on-farm dams and extract water out while they could to give them some extra water and the confidence to carry on,” she says. “That’s only the three that I know of, so there could be many more producers in the same situation.”

Water access and future water security is almost certainly the most contentious agricultural and economic issue in the Peel Valley and Tamworth region. The region is still under a Stage Four drought

ONE THE FARM

Top to bottom: Silos at Guy and Genene’s farm in Peel Valley; The couple's chicken sheds.

declaration. The temporary weir on the Peel River was built to secure the present water in the Chaffey and Dungowan dams for Tamworth and its 62,000 citizens as well as residents at nearby Moonbi and Kootingal.

A $39 million pipeline now takes water from the Peel River straight to Chaffey Dam to secure Tamworth’s meagre water supply. This 18.2 kilometre pipeline runs from Chaffey Dam to another recently constructed $3.4 million pipeline at Dungowan for direct delivery to the city’s Calala Water Treatment Plant.

Tamworth has been on Stage Five water restrictions since September last year and it has no ground water to fall back on. Despite reasonable seasonal rains, the water level at Chaffey Dam sits at just 23.5 per cent of its 100,000 megalitre capacity, up from 16 per cent just a few weeks ago, but no one can say what will happen if summer brings another drought-extending dry spell.

At the same time, plans are underway for supplementary and upgrade works to both Chaffey and Dungowan dams. These upgrades will cost as much as $480 million and bring online additional water storage for both Tamworth and agricultural use – specifically an additional seven megalitres for Tamworth and 5.6 megalitres for producers. > SEP - OCT 2020

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INSIDER WATER SECURITY

But will these upgrades and refurbishments be enough to provide a secure production environment into the future? Bede has his doubts.

“During the past few months we have had several floods to the west of Tamworth and in fact one of those was a major flood incident, but the water all fell below the dam catchment and so all that water just flowed down the river all the way to the Murray,” says Bede.

“The Peel River joins the Namoi River just below the Keepit Dam, and that’s sad because if there had been some way to channel that water into Keepit Dam then we’d have saved some of that water instead of having it flow on to the Murray. It just shows that water security isn’t going to go away with the work on these two dams at Dungowan and Chaffey.”

However, Bruce Logan, head of Water and Waste at Tamworth City Council is confident the dams will provide water security for decades.

“When we’re talking about a secure supply, we’re not talking about a supply that never sees severe restrictions imposed in Tamworth,” says Bruce. “But restrictions in general should not be required inside a certain time frame – say every 15 years – and if severe restrictions are applied that should not be required for long periods.

“Council is confident that the new Dungowan Dam and associated infrastructure that has or will be constructed will improve the security of Tamworth’s supply and with appropriate rules for sharing the water, they could secure Tamworth’s water supply for the next 30 to 40 years.”

Many farmers and irrigators, including the Hebblewhites, believe that Water NSW only exacerbates anxiety surrounding the water security issue by releasing environmental flows from Chaffey Dam into the Peel River.

Up until June, Water NSW released 30 megalitres of water from Chaffey Dam each week, as it was required to under the regional water sharing plan.

The State Government put a temporary stop to this

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FAMILY ON THE FARM

Guy and Genene with their three children.

in June but only until October when the decision will be reviewed.

Of course, water security for the city should imply water security for farmers and irrigators with at least secure access to flows on the Peel River.

“The truth is that Tamworth City Council has a security licence for the water from Chaffey Dam and ownership of Dungowan Dam, so it can do what it likes with that water,” says former head of the Peel Valley Water Users Association, Ildu Monticone.

“Irrigators come way down the list when it comes to access to water, yet there is a sign at the dam that says it is for the irrigation industry. That’s a problem in the region, and it has been for a long time. Another complicating factor is that the current Mayor has stated that he wants to increase the population of Tamworth from the current level of around 64,000 to 200,000 by 2040,” Ildu says. “And it’s not just personal water use that’s an issue, because Tamworth has three big abattoirs and they are big water users.”

There is yet another issue few people are willing to discuss – water prices for primary producers.

Most irrigators and intensive producers in the Peel Valley know that regardless of who owns and operates either the pipeline or the new Dungowan Dam – these issues are yet to be determined. Prices for water and access licences along the valley are likely to rise as a result, even though water prices in the region are among the highest in the state. But these issues are yet to be determined.

“Whenever governments spend money on infrastructure, they have to get the money from somewhere,” says Ildu. “We all know that, but nobody seems to want to discuss these issues.”

For Guy and Genene, that’s an issue for the future.

For now, they're glad to still be in business. “We know that we will be paying off these loans for years to come,” says Guy. “But that’s the reality of farming. Add those loans to the pile. We are still in business and when you consider the alternative – losing everything – then we’ll just do what we have to do and get on with it.” l

INNOVATION HYDROGEN

HYDRO GEN P OWER

A Mad Max inspired hydrogen tractor by hydrogen vehicle manufacturer H2X.

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Powered

Think of this; a farm that produces its own power to run tractors, trucks and machinery and provides power for the homestead. A Science Fiction scenario? Actually, no. In fact, it may not be too far off.

–

Words TONY BLACKIE

T

he process of phasing out hydrocarbon fuels, diesel and petrol is well underway and governments around the world are committing to renewable energy alternatives. One of those is hydrogen.

Australia ’ s National Hydrogen Strategy outlining hydrogen pathways for the future was announced by the Commonwealth Government in November 2019. Since that time, Europe has committed to a hydrogen strategy and the US has been supporting new investments in this market.

Already in Australia, a number of companies have started along the road to developing the facilities to make hydrogen a reality.

Many millions of dollars in investment is being applied to manufacturing electrolysers, the means to make hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells that provide the drive train power, and for the development of cars, trucks, buses, tractors and other machinery.

In South Australia, a massive electrolyser to produce hydrogen fuel has been created, and many bus companies are already retooling their vehicles to run on hydrogen while fleet vehicle operators are also building hydrogen operations.

A NSW-based company has now announced the manufacture of scalable electrolysers which will put the ability to make hydrogen fuel into the hands of farmers and rural businesses. > SEP - OCT 2020

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39

Mr Sam Blackadder, CEO of Elvin Renewables and the former Head of Utility and Projects for Jinko Solar in Australia, announced the group’s intention to manufacture electrolysers for green hydrogen production in Australia.

The electrolysers will be manufactured in Port Kembla as a joint venture with Hydrogen vehicle manufacturer H2X. About the size of a hot water heater, each electrolyser produces 50 kilowatts of energy. Capacity can be scaled up by connecting several of the units together to produce up to 20 kilograms of hydrogen each day.

According to Blackadder, the local production of green hydrogen electrolysers is fundamental to Elvin Group Renewables’ business vision, which is to reduce Australia’s fossil fuel dependency.

Other core parts of the business include development of largescale utility battery projects, solar developments and renewable energy assets.

“We believe the time is right for Australia to take hold of and drive the hydrogen economy which also means taking control of manufacturing opportunities,“ he commented. “Instead of importing a hydrogen electrolyser from overseas markets we should be utilising our talented and experienced workforce by providing upskilling into a new industry.”

Blackadder says there are many farming benefits for the use of hydrogen power and electrolysers.

One example is of a barramundi fish farm where the farmer is looking to use a hydrogen tractor powered by a hydrogen electrolyser connected to a solar array. The farmer will store the hydrogen on site.

Hydrogen is produced using an electrolyser, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The hydrogen is then purified and stored in high-pressure tanks, while oxygen is released into the atmosphere. In the case of fish farmers, the oxygen is pumped into the dams holding the fish. This overcomes many of the issues of contamination through oxygen depletion in the water.

Other great benefits for farmers using the localised hydrogen is

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INNOVATION HYDROGEN

1 production of hydrogen through electrolysis

HYDRO GEN P OWER

Above then left: The company’s H2X Ute; Electrolyers to be manufactured by Elvin Renewables in a joint venture with H2X.

that it is cheap to produce and also creates urea as a by-product, which can then be used as fertiliser.

The quantity of water required to run the hydrolyser is small, with just one litre of water producing more than 1,000 litres of hydrogen. In energy terms, one kilogram of hydrogen is roughly equivalent to 6.8-9.0 litres of petrol.

Blackadder commented that for small to mid-sized projects, Elvin Group Renewables has invested in Hydrostar, an Australian-based company. Hydrostar has developed a unique green hydrogen electrolyser perfectly suited to renewable energy projects, which is ready now for commercialisation.

“There is a heavy push internationally to setup our HQ offshore however we believe that Australia has the ability to be at the cutting edge and delivery

Cathode

H2O

Membrane

O2

Andode

+ -

H2

of the hydrogen economy both domestically and internationally,” Blackadder says. “This will also supply an instant boost to the economy for skilled trades and high-value jobs which will grow all parts within the production and delivery chain of this quickly growing industry.”

With the ability to connect a small electrolyser to a house or farm building and create local power, farmers can dramatically reduce their running costs.

Part of the growth in hydrogen investment has also involved the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology and the drive trains for farm machinery and vehicles.

One company has announced the development of a range of tractors, utes and other machinery, coming on stream by 2021.

Brendan Norman is CEO of hydrogen vehicle manufacturer H2X Australia. He and his team have already produced hydrogen vehicles both light and heavy. “With the development of many Green Energy projects in Australia at the moment we have a unique opportunity to bring a significant manufacturing operation back to into the country,” he says.

Norman added that the company was focussed on reaching market leading volumes by 2025, and that the portfolio will include locally designed and built heavy and industrial vehicles as well as a range of passenger cars.

The core team at H2X has been working for a number of years on hydrogen and alternative vehicles.

Some have gained extensive experience working in China on Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles, now bringing their skills and knowledge to H2X. Others have been involved in power train development on a number of major fuel cell power projects for several successful vehicles currently in the Chinese market. The learnings from the advanced development in these projects will be applied to H2X vehicles, but the focus is ultimately on vehicles that are tuned for the challenging environment of Australia. l SEP - OCT 2020

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INNOVATION MARKETING

Fresh ideas to market

Marketing innovations are changing the way we buy and eat our fresh produce.

Here we meet two companies at the forefront of the evolution.

–

Words LAUREN MARER

S

trolling through the fresh produce section of a supermarket 20 years ago and chances are your choices were limited to the varieties that brought regularity to the table at any meal, such as potatoes, carrots, broccoli and peas. Perhaps some sweet potato for something more exciting.

Fast forward a couple of decades and no longer are the classic choices enough on their own. Research shows that consumers are willing to spend a bit more to have a new experience or new taste, and innovative produce growers and marketers are fuelling their desire.

NEW KIND OF HUNGER

Produce grower and marketer Perfection Fresh is one such company shining light on new ways of doing things. Founded by the current CEO’s father, Tony Simonetta back in 1978, it started as a market operation with a small fruit shop in South Western Sydney. While it remains a family business, its produce is now sold all over the country.

“We sell fresh produce from major produce markets around Australia, and freshly prepared produce from a production facility in Sydney,” says Perfection Fresh CEO, Michael Simonetta. “We supply all the major retailers and small independent businesses too.”

Perfection Fresh now specialises in unique fresh food products clearly differentiated from the common varieties.

The company is behind Qukes – a baby cucumber product with a reputation that has grown significantly in the last few years, and the now-well-known Broccolini, which was first released in the Japanese market before the marketer brought it to Australian shelves in 1999.

“It’s one of our flagship products that we’re most well-known for,” Simonetta says.

And it’s what consumers are wanting most – in the last two and half years, the demand for speciality food products has skyrocketed and fruit and vegetables contribute the most to supermarket growth right now, at 8 per cent.

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WHAT’S NEXT TO MARKET?

The company’s latest creation is Fioretto Cauli Blossom – cauliflower’s elegant good-looking cousin that has a nutty-tasting top and a sweet green stem. Perfection Fresh is also set to introduce a new variety of strawberry, which will be grown in Australia to improve its taste and consistency.

“As a consumer myself, I look for quality and consistency in the produce we eat at home, and I’m often disappointed by the ‘hit and miss’ experience when it comes to strawberries,” Simonetta says.

It’s one thing to create a new product – but getting consumers interested in eating it is another challenge entirely.

Perfection Fresh follows a unique approach in marketing its produce, which involves creating a distinctive product brand and showing consumers how to use each item through recipes and food content. “We use well-trodden marketing principles and apply them to fresh produce, which is a unique approach, but it works really well for us,” Simonetta said.

THE WAY WE BUY

While most of us still buy from supermarket shelves, the options of where to buy produce is changing, especially since COVID-19 struck and people were isolated at home. The many new fresh food home delivery services now available give consumers a more paddock-to-plate experience and farmers >

NEW TASTES

Perfection Fresh’s Calypso mango is a crowd-pleaser.

SEP - OCT 2020

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NEVER GOING BACK

Founder of Raw Food Hub, Joshua Allen, quit his job as a banker in Sydney and moved to a 33-acre farm at Nana Glen near Coffs Harbour.

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INNOVATION MARKETING

BY PHIL SOMERVILLE

an opportunity to take their differentiated products to market.

Joshua Allen is riding that wave in Coffs Harbour.

Three years ago he started the Raw Food Hub – an organic food box subscription service that connects farmers directly with consumers. Quitting the job he’d held for 15 years as a banker in Sydney, he now lives on 33 idyllic acres at Nana Glen – 20 kilometres north-west of Coffs Harbour.

With the decline in farmers markets during the pandemic, Raw Food Hub has boomed. It was able to help fill the gap in the market, giving consumers access to fresh food while also giving farmers continuity of production. In less than 48 hours after COVID-19 burst into the news, Joshua had to recruit new staff due to an unprecedented demand from subscribers.

“We’ve grown from being a

business that my wife and I ran with the help of backpackers to suddenly hiring 14 staff six months ago, with another 12 to 20 staff starting in the next 6-12 months,” Allen says, still incredulous.

Using newly developed software, Joshua is able to collect valuable data for growers around consumer behaviour. Shortly the software will be able to accurately provide live product consumption information to give small-scale growers a better indication of what products to grow and when.

“They will be able to see if the hub in their region needs 2,500 kilos of tomatoes per month or per year,” he says. “I’m hoping that by providing that data in a live environment, farmers will be able to plan their logistics in a way that’ll give them confidence to invest deeply in their business and to scale up or down. We’re seeing that happen already.”

While there is only one Raw Food Hub currently in operation, there is an aspiration to connect the model to a few hundred growers in various regions including Port Macquarie, Northern Rivers and Southern Queensland, to service thousands of households each week.

“We’re going to license the model, software, systems and processes that we continue to invest in, so that we can help other Raw Food Hubs open,” Joshua explains. “We are looking for ways to pass efficiencies on to the consumer so that the holy grail of making fresh fruit and vegetables available and accessible to any socio-economic group is possible.”

The Raw Food Hub is currently seeking funding to develop a number of initiatives to help further secure the future of the fruit and vegetable industry, including developing Farmer Community Marketplace in Coffs Harbour and a Horticulture Internship Farm in Bellingen which will give 100 young farmers land to grow produce on, and offer an organic food and lifestyle store filled with local produce. l SEP - OCT 2020

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Where has all the wool gone?

As always, farmers have adapted to new market conditions after drought, bushfires and COVID-19 turned things upside down.

So what’s on the horizon now for Australia’s wool industry?

–

Words LISA SMYTH Photos COURTESY OF AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION

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TRADE WOOL

I

n 2019 the Australian wool industry was already using a word we have all come to know quite well this year – unprecedented.

The industry was experiencing a two-year ‘super-cycle’, where wool prices were at historically high levels.

Clawing its way back from the complete collapse of the industry in 1991, the global price of wool, due to an increase in demand for quality wool but a finite supply, had more than doubled from $7.50 per kilogram in 2011 to $18.20 in 2019.

Despite Australia’s wool-producing flock being less than half of what it was in 1990, before COVID-19 the Australian wool industry was bringing in an average $3 billion in exports. But, wool prices dropped 35 per cent in 2019-2020 and the industry saw a comparable drop in value, grossing only $2 billion.

“The biggest challenge has been worldwide demand and consumer confidence,” says Andrew Wood, Chair of the NSW Farmers Wool Committee.

“If people can’t get out and shop, and if they are uncertain about their jobs or their health, they’re not going to be spending normally. Thus retail sales have been hit very hard.”

A SHIFTING MARKET

While wool has long had a foothold in the luxury market, with brands like Chanel and Burberry embracing fine Merino wool, it has also been a staple of a classic piece of work attire – the not-sohumble suit. With much of the world no longer heading into a corporate office environment every day, and people shying away from discretionary spending, the wool market has slowed down considerably. >

SEP - OCT 2020

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“We must be smart about when and where we actually spend woolgrower funds, and this is especially the case with our marketing activities at the moment,” explains Stuart McCullough, Chief Executive of the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), a woolgrowers not-for-profit enterprise that traditionally spends 60 per cent of its budget on marketing, and 40 per cent on research and development.

“Given the drop-off in consumer spending across the globe, I asked our marketing teams in March to stop any expenditure on projects that relied on faceto-face shopping. We also stopped all our marketing demand creation projects in the Northern Hemisphere for fear that they won’t yield,” notes Stuart.

“The pandemic has impacted some countries more than others. At AWI, we are looking to identify markets and sectors that will recover quickly and drive demand as we come through this unprecedented disruption.

I think China, in particular, has got the potential to recover most quickly, which would be great news due to the size of its economy and its importance for Australian wool as both a big consuming and processing market.”

In fact, as India and Italy closed their borders to Australian wool markets during the pandemic, 77 per cent of the 272 million kilograms of wool grown in Australia in 2019-2020 was exported to China.

While there are growing concerns about relying too heavily on one market, there aren’t many options for the industry at the moment, and a recent order for 8000 bales of greasy wool for police uniforms in China only increases ties with the country.

AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE

In addition to a renewed interest in using wool for protective clothing for people in the military and first responders, like firefighters and police, Merino wool has been in high demand in the ‘next to skin’ sport and athleisure category in recent years.

Breathable, fashionable and biodegradable, global brands like Lululemon and Nike use Australian Merino wool blends in their collections. Plus, a recent partnership between Adidas, AWI’s marketing arm, The Woolmark Company, and the Boston Marathon raised considerable awareness of wool’s technical benefits in overseas markets.

“Everybody wants to keep exercising and look after their own health, and that has led to an enormous move towards sports wool,” describes Wood. “In this pandemic, one thing people can control is their ability to exercise. You’ve got to stay positive and everybody seems to be wearing a lot more casual wear and next-to-skin products while working from home. So it should be a very bright area for the wool industry moving forward.”

Most sports and athleisure brands have e-commerce platforms, so AWI has been focusing their marketing on those partnerships.

“There is a lot of uncertainty about the market outlook at the moment, so we have set up a special business intelligence unit dedicated to collecting >

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FAST FACTS

Sheep in Australia

30 27 million in New South Wales 13.8 million in Victoria 14.2 million in Western Australia 11.1 million in South Australia 2.1 million in Tasmania

25 20 15 10 5 MILLION

0

NSW

VIC

WA

SA

TAS

TRADE WOOL

Five fast facts about the wool industry

1

Australia has approximately 73 million sheep.

That's a lot to count!

2

Wool comprises only 3 per cent of the global textile industry

3

90 per cent of the world’s apparel wool is from Australian merino sheep

4

Australia has 2,800 shearers – five times fewer than 30 years ago

5

Pre-COVID-19 the main markets for Australian wool were China, India and Italy

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TRADE WOOL

information to help us during this unique global situation,” exclaims McCullough. “This will enable us to begin releasing marketing funds again in the most effective manner – at the right time, in the right locations, with solvent business partners, and in optimum retail sectors.”

AWI has also moved many of its membership services online, including business workshops that have become online webinars, shearer and wool handler trainings have been rolled out as online videos, and an online auction platform, called WoolQ, was launched to complement the open-cry auctions that did remain open during lockdown.

A SIDE OF MEAT

Of course, like many things during the pandemic, timing has been everything to the wool industry. “It was fortunate the pandemic hit during the spring season of our all-important northern hemisphere markets, rather than the high turnover autumn and winter seasons,” explains Stuart.

While growers wait and hope for the global wool market to rebound as we head into 2021, many have turned to the meat side of the industry to keep them going. With lamb and mutton finding their way more easily onto ‘essentials’ shopping lists, prices remain high. In 2017-2018 lamb alone accounted for around 7 per cent, or $4.1 billion, of the gross value of Australian agricultural production.

“Farmers are asking – do they sell or reduce their stock numbers? Because wool prices have eased, but sheep meat prices have been very strong,” notes Andrew. “Sadly, some people are still experiencing drought conditions, but others have had a break and have ceased hand feeding their sheep, which is a great relief.

“Farmers have to decide how to allocate their resources to their best financial advantage. So when you make a commitment to the wool industry, it is a longer-term commitment and a long-term investment.

So you want to do it as well as you possibly can.” l

THE MEATY SIDE

Purebred Merinos make up 51.1% of the national sheep flock

23.6% are Merino type

13.8% are First cross (Merino)

3.5% are dual purpose breeds, such as Corriedale and Border Leicester with the remainder being other breeds

While growers wait and hope for the global wool market to rebound, many have turned to the meat side of the industry to keep them going.

FAST FACTS

are prohibited in the Northern  Sheep Territory, except with the permission of the Chief Inspector of Livestock

sheep station in northern NSW is  Achill now majority-owned by the Ermenegildo

FAST FACTS 50

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SEP - OCT 2020

Zegna company, as a quality guarantee for the Italian firm’s wool mills

IT’S TIME TO JOIN Jed was bred by Kevin and Kay Howell at Karana kelpie stud at Eugowra NSW.

www.nswfarmers.org.au

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TRADE RICE

The

price of

rice Supermarket shelves empty of rice will be a defining image of the pandemic in Australia – but is it a sight that will become all too common in the years ahead?

–

Words LISA SMYTH Photography SUNRICE

T

here’s no country that grows rice better than Australia.

Despite representing only 5 per cent of global medium and short grain rice exports, and only 0.4 per cent of the total value of Australian agriculture production in 20172018, no other country does it better. Why? Because Australian grown rice uses 50 per cent less water than the global average.

Not that the average Australian consumer would know that as they grab a cheap bag of rice off a supermarket shelf. Before this year, along with pasta and flour, Australians have never thought to question that rice would just always be there, waiting to be purchased.

So, when it suddenly disappeared in March, consumers took notice.

“As soon as the panic buying started, it became very obvious to Australians that there’s an issue with supplying rice,” explains Debbie Buller, owner of Buller Pastoral Company and President of Murrumbidgee Valley Food and Fibre Association. “There was less Australian rice available before COVID-19 anyway, but I think the pandemic has actually highlighted what the issue is, which is that the industry has been severely compromised for a long time by water policy.” >

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In the 2019-2020 season, fewer than 70 Australian growers harvested rice crops, compared to 800 growers in a good season. Only 57,000 tonnes of Australian rice was harvested, compared with an average 800,000 tonnes – representing a 90 per cent reduction since the 2017-2018 season. Should rice-loving Australians be worried that this affordable staple will soon be a high-priced premium product?

IT’S RAINING RICE

Globally, world rice stocks are the highest they have ever been, so, in theory there should be no issue with supply in coming years. Australians consume 300,000 tonnes of rice per year, and due to cost and a demand for different grain types, half of that is imported and half is sourced domestically.

However, in April, due to the pandemic, Vietnam closed its borders to rice exports in order to shore up its national food security, and Cambodia and Myanmar followed soon after. India and Pakistan didn’t ban exports, but due to lockdowns, most of their rice exports stopped for a few weeks. While these countries are once again exporting rice, it does raise the question of how secure global supplies will be in an uncertain future.

“It’s not a nice feeling for people to not be able to access staples they rely on, like rice and dairy.

It’s not good that the Australian supply has been compromised,” says Debbie. “The Australian consumer has now noticed our inability to supply our own people. And perhaps part of that is that they need to be prepared to pay a little bit more for a quality product that they can trust.”

In July, the CEO of SunRice, which buys 98 per cent of domestic rice output, predicted that supermarket shelves would be empty of Australian grown rice by Christmas, and noted that they were sourcing rice from as far away as Uruguay to meet domestic demand. Given the domestic rice market is in crisis, what’s being done to support the industry?

WHEN THE RIVERINA RUNS DRY

Australian rice is grown overwhelmingly in NSW, predominately in the Riverina region in the southern part of the state. Rice is Australia’s third largest cereal grain export, and it’s estimated that every $1 of rice >

History of the Australian rice industry

1850

1891

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Likely introduction of rice seed into Australian goldfields

by Chinese prospectors

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NSW Dept of Agriculture begins trials of ‘upland’ rice varieties in Northern NSW

1914

Jo Takasuka grows the first commercial rice crop in South Eastern Australia

1929

The Rice Marketing Board for NSW commences operations. Its role is to receive and store paddy, and negotiate with millers on price

1932-34

Rice mills are built at Murrami, Yenda and Griffith, NSW

1950

The central executive of the Ricegrowers Association forms Rice Growers Co-operative Mills Limited

TRADE RICE

Nearly all Australian rice growers are mixed-enterprise farms 100

80 60

Other, including horticulture Off-farm contracts and temporary water sales Cotton, pulses and oilseeds Beef cattle and sheep Wheat and other crops Rice

40 Percentage of receipts for rice-growing farms in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, 2016-17 to 2018-19

20 %

Source: agriculture.gov.au 2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Source: sunrice.com.au

1955

Rice Growers Co-operative Mills Limited launches its own branded retail pack of ‘Sunwhite Rice’

1970

The Co-operative builds a rice mill at Deniliquin – the largest milling complex in the southern hemisphere

1985

Rice Growers Co-operative Mills Limited and the Rice Marketing Board for NSW undergo a functional merger to become Ricegrowers’ Co-operative Limited

1990

SunRice ‘Sculptures’ advertising campaign wins major Australian and international advertising awards, which helps to increase domestic rice consumption by 17 per cent

2000-2014

A decade of debilitating drought sees SunRice diversifying its business portfolio and global sourcing program to ensure continued growth and prosperity of the business, including rice flour, snacks, microwave rice and ready-to-go meals

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TRADE RICE

AUSTRALIA IS A SMALL EXPORTER OF MOSTLY MEDIUM GRAIN RICE, REPRESENTING AROUND 5 PER CENT OF GLOBAL MEDIUM AND SHORT GRAIN RICE EXPORTS, AND 0.4 PER CENT OF TOTAL GLOBAL RICE EXPORTS IN 2019

Global exporters of medium grain rice in 2019

AUSTRALIA

EU

US

CHINA

MILLION TONNES MILLED

0.3

0.6

0.9

1.2

1.5

Source: agriculture.gov.au

production equates to $4 in flow-on economic activity.

Perhaps most importantly, rice was one of the founding industries for many irrigation towns in the area, including Leeton, Griffith, Deniliquin and Coleambally.

“We are a farm-to-plate industry that has contributed a lot to the Australian agriculture industry in the past century,” recalls Rob Massina, President of the Australian Ricegrowers Association. “But water availability is critical to rice growing, and due to the drought and 25 years of water reform we no longer have the one vital thing we need to grow rice.”

Like most rice growers, Rob’s farm is a mixed operation. Rice farmers typically produce other crops, such as cotton and wheat, and many keep livestock, to get them through leaner years. But under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, water allocations to

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southern NSW have been minimal or non-existent, with permanent crops such as almonds, grapes and citrus being allocated water before annual crops like rice and cereals.

“The major issue was the advent of the Water Act in 2007, and the federal government stepping in and turning water into a commodity, rather than seeing it as input,” explains Debbie. “Basically that set people, commodities, valleys and states against each other – all competing for water – so that’s when it became scarce. It’s not so much a water shortage, it’s a water accounting problem, which creates a shortage on paper. Because of supply and demand, the price of water gets driven up beyond people’s reach.”

Rob explains that the association represents irrigated agriculture more broadly, and has been lobbying the government to steer policy on this issue in the right direction. “There have been a lot of unintended consequences from water reform that need to be fixed. We are asking government to commit to no further removal of water from the productive sector. We also want the consequences of water reform to not continue to erode the reliability of general security water allocations in the southern connective systems. We have proven ourselves as the most efficient irrigators globally, but we can only grow rice if we have the water allocation to do so.”

With early and decent rainfall in June and July, there are better prospects for the next rice growing season. But, of course, livestock will take first priority for any available water. Only then will farmers like Rob decide if they keep Australia’s pantries wellstocked through the coming recession years, or if we must rely on imports. “Australian consumers need to want Australian rice on supermarket shelves for the industry to survive,” he warns. l

TOOLS MARKETPLACE

The saleyards Need to update your camping gear? Check out these great products that we’ve rounded up.

KING OF THE CAMP

You’ll be the king of the campfire when you’re kicking back on a reclining camping chair, like this one from Kathmandu. It folds up flat for easy storage and transport and weighs next to nothing. kathmandu.com.au

SOME LIKE THEM TOASTY

Having a jaffle iron in your arsenal will earn you serious brownie points from your camping crew. A boring sandwich becomes a delicious toastie, especially with melted cheese and a few fancy ingredients. snowys.com.au

SIP ON THE GO

These stylish tumblers keep drinks hot for up to three hours and cold for up to six, thanks to vacuum-insulated lining. The 180ml tumblers come with sip lids, ideal when you’re on the move. saltandpepper.com.au

A CUT ABOVE

COOL THINGS DOWN

Victorinox has released its go-to knife for filleting and deboning, and it now comes with a protective sheath. Prices range from $69.95 for the 16cm curved blade boning knife up to $89.95 for the 20cm curved flexible blade filleting knife. bcf.com.au

Fishing around the bottom of an Esky for a packet of snags only to find they’re sodden is for chumps.

Pack a portable fridge and you’ll never go hungry. At the top of the range, you could spend as much as $2000, but a 75-litre fridge/freezer combo from Engel will also do the trick and only set you back $699. engelaustralia.com.au

GET YOUR HIT IN STYLE

This handheld espresso machine works like a bicycle pump, building up pressure to extract a smooth, creamy coffee either from a pod or ground beans. It’s lightweight, compact and slots straight into your backpack. handpresso.com/en/ handpresso-pumpblack-16.html

DO BE SWAYED

Not only are Nakie’s nylon double hammocks spacious, they’re made with 37 recycled plastic bottles. Their bug nets and rain tarps are particularly handy if you’re camping up north in the tropics or during rainy periods. nakie.co

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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AR

OF

E

N O TO U O P Y

#foodtrends?

INFLUENCING CHEFS

(Above, then clockwise) Celebrity chef, Heston Blumenthal, is a shareholder of Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod, collaborating with Aquna on menu and product development to extend the food brand’s reach in local and global markets; Aquna Murray Cod on ice, ready to be shipped to Japan; Aquna grows its premium Murray Cod in open ponds or dams on the Murray-Darling Basin river system.

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TREND PRODUCE INFLUENCING

Just like the seasons, food trends come and go. But some such as the ‘paddock to plate’ can end up driving the entire food industry in new directions for decades. Just how closely do farmers need to follow food trends in order to stay in business?

–

Words LISA SMYTH

F

or the millions of Australians who religiously watched MasterChef during months of lockdown this year there was one clear takeaway – the Japanese hibachi grill was the kitchen gadget every home cook needs to have in 2020. One online retailer reported a whopping 1600 per cent increase in sales for their version, and recipes for how to cook meat and fish on the countertop ‘fire bowls’ were circulating around the internet with dizzying speed.

Whether the hibachi grill trend will stand the test of time remains to be seen. But for farmers around the country right now, especially those with a direct-toconsumer arm to their business, sharing a hibachi grill recipe or two is a guaranteed way to pique people’s interest in your product.

But, are Australian food trends really that fickle?

And won’t people always want great beef or juicy fresh pears no matter what the latest trend is? We asked four NSW businesses along the supply chain about the importance of food trends.

Lynsey Reilly, Corporate Affairs Manager AQUNA, SUSTAINABLE MURRAY COD, GRIFFITH NSW

Our domestic retail sales have really increased since COVID-19 started. We believe this is because people are staying home and wanting to try and replicate the restaurant experience. Traffic to the recipes on our website has spiked, especially the ones we have created with celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, and we are being sent all sorts of wonderful images of creations that people have been making at home.

We are seeing many chefs innovate with our Murray Cod and utilise it in really non-traditional ways, which is leading to demand for different sizing, for sashimi for instance. Murray Cod has never really been used as sashimi before, however this has started to evolve as a trend in the last 12 months. We are even exporting our Murray Cod to Japan, specifically for this purpose, and have also seen this trend starting here in Australia.

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>

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Ben Lipschitz, Managing Director FOODBYUS, WHOLESALE GROCERIES SUPPLIER, SYDNEY, NSW

Consumers are definitely in the driving seat when it comes to food trends. Farmers, like restaurants, need to be responsive and savvy about food trends where they can. Some trends are fleeting – remember unicorn and charcoal food that came and went in 2019? These aren’t the types of trends that are widely accessible to farmers. Then there are the movements – veganism, flexitarianism – that gain popularity year after year. It’s these movements that open opportunities for farmers.

Source and supply chain is a bigger topic than ever.

There’s an increasing demand for local supply, with consumers wanting fresh ‘farm to fork’ food, with the feel-good factor that they’re also helping local suppliers whilst also being sustainably responsible.

Nicole Townsend, Marketing Manager MONTAGUE APPLES, BATLOW, NSW

It takes 10 plus years to test and grow a new apple variety, so we travel the world to find the best tasting, natural, fruit varieties to test back home for a number of years before bringing them to market. We do taste-testing in consumer research groups to arrive at planting new generation apples such as Jazz and Eve. Consumers are increasingly interested in knowing where their fresh produce and food comes from, which is one of the reasons why we have created a space in our new facility that enables consumers to see our supply chain process, from orchard through to packing. Consumers certainly want to know more and more about provenance and the resilience of the supply chain, as well as the route to market, and farmers need to find ways to share that with their customers.

Plant-based diets remain popular While trends like keto and low-carb have reduced in popularity during 2020, a Food Corp Trend Forecast reveals that ‘vegetarian’ is still the number one searched food term across News Corp platforms, with an increase of 15 per cent since March, and vegan is number four with a 19 per cent increase. Meeting the increased demand for plant-based produce will be essential moving forward, and even those producing meat can find ways to complement this trend.

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TREND PRODUCE INFLUENCING

Cooking at home According to a June Food and Agribusiness Sector Outlook from KPMG, now that cafes and restaurants are less accessible, there has been an increase in basic, simple home cooking, as well as an equal and opposite trend towards ‘five-star’ chef-style home cooking.

Even once the crisis has passed, a McKinsey study expects a 7 per cent drop in dine-in restaurant eating. This means farmers have a lot more power with retailers as they attempt to secure their supply chains, and providing recipes to showcase your produce is more important than ever.

Heaven Leigh, Owner BODHI RESTAURANT BAR, SYDNEY, NSW

Buying local

On a macro level, food trends are driven by consumers, but chefs and restaurateurs play an important role in bringing new flavours, ingredients and cooking techniques into the mainstream market.

This in turn influences consumer spending and creates demand. There’s also the undeniable influence of social media in fuelling the popularity of veganism and plant-based living.

You can’t deny the growing plantbased food trend, especially in countries like the US, UK and here in Australia – now the third-fastest growing market in the world. I don’t think farmers should be too reactionary to trends, however I do think it’s important to consider demand and the sustainable (environmental and financial) future of farming. Embracing food trends that are here to stay, like the consumer shift towards a more informed, plant-based lifestyle, is important.

Australians have gravitated towards a feeling of ‘all in this together’ since the pandemic began, and research from the Boston Consulting Group shows that 36 per cent of Australians are buying more locally-grown products compared to before COVID-19. This is the perfect time for farmers to reach out to their local communities and create direct connections with consumers that will create long-term loyalty.

Four ways farmers can keep ahead of the food trend innovation curve

1

Speak regularly to your network – wholesalers, retailers, chefs and hospitality business owners – as they will see shifting consumer demands first

2

Follow global food trends and critics on social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest – something that takes off in a European summer could arrive six months later on Australian plates

3

Subscribe to industry publications, news alerts and consumer research studies to keep on top of what the industry is talking about

4

Follow the food you grow on social media using hashtags such as #avocado, #lambrecipes or #oats – you might see a food trend coming before anyone else!

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With 85,000 kilometres of fencing destroyed in NSW’s Black Summer of 2019/20, the state government’s announcement of $209 million towards replacing fences bordering Crown land is a welcome boost as farmers look at innovative methods of replacement.

–

Words DARREN BAGULEY

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TOOLS FENCING

T

he bushfires of 2019/20 were among the most destructive in living memory and as well as houses, sheds and livestock, farmers and graziers all over NSW have lost 85,000 kilometres of fencing including tens of thousands of kilometres bordering public land. As country folk do, rural landholders began rebuilding within weeks of the bushfire passing, but those bordering Crown lands quickly struck a snag.

Neighbours sharing a boundary usually split the cost of building fencing, however, the NSW Dividing Fences Act 1991 states the liability of landowners to build, maintain, and repair fences adjacent to state land does not apply to the Crown. This meant that while the National Parks and Wildlife Service voluntarily contributes materials for boundary fencing, Forestry Corporation says because of the fires’ large scale, it was “unable to make a voluntary contribution to all the neighbours affected”.

With around 890,000 hectares of native state forests and 65,000 hectares of state forest timber plantations impacted by the bushfires in some way, hundreds of NSW rural landholders were affected by Forestry Corporation’s inaction. After much public outcry and lobbying of politicians, Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced the $209 million ‘Supporting our Neighbours’ project.

Under the scheme, the government “will provide up to $5,000 per kilometre for the purchase of materials to rebuild existing fences adjoining public lands damaged by the summer fires, which will go a long way to helping farmers cover the cost,” Mr Barilaro said.

The project is being administered by Local Land Services (LLS) and “the funding would be delivered through a one-off grant, which would also be issued retrospectively to help cover the costs already incurred by landholders,” according to NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall.

In the months since the end of bushfires in NSW, farmers have been rebuilding fences, but they are not simply rebuilding fences the way they were – they are building better ones. While there is not a lot of flexibility when it comes boundary fences, fencing gear manufacturers are seeing a new emphasis placed upon design.

Farmers are looking at more efficient ways to replace internal fencing and are looking to eliminate niggling issues such as fence lines that cause erosion due to poor orientation and the like. There is also a steady trend away from the traditional hinge joint, barbed wire and plain wire fences towards exclusion fencing that increasingly incorporates an electric component.

According to Waratah’s NSW Rural Sales Manager Daniel Crisp, the trend is being driven by several factors such as farmers looking to protect their animals from wild dogs, and grazing techniques such as adaptive multi-paddock grazing, which is also known as time control grazing. Feed budgeting is also growing in popularity as livestock farmers seek to use the land they have more efficiently by excluding wildlife and feral animals.

“There is definitely a shift away from traditional fencing,” says Daniel. “And there’s a huge trend towards exclusion fencing. People are doing adaptive multi-paddock grazing, feed budgeting and closely matching stocking rates to carrying capacity. It is much more difficult, even impossible, to use these techniques effectively without some sort of exclusion fencing to control the number of mouths on any given paddock. The less mouths from outside, the better. A large scale grazier in Western New South Wales put it this way – ‘I don’t mind feeding my roos, they belong here. I just don’t want to feed my neighbours’ roos and the roos that come out of the forest at dusk’.”

It is not just macropods that are of concern, says Daniel. Deer, wombats and pigs are also causing issues for both livestock farmers and crop farmers.

Indeed, pressure from deer and pigs is leading to somewhat of a reversal of the trend to pull out fences in several cropping regions.

“A lot of crop farmers who have ripped out their fences are looking at exclusion fencing because they want to protect their crops from feral pigs and they’re also looking at getting back into sheep to help improve fertility and diversify their income.”

Whatever the reason for investing in exclusion fencing, Daniel says the update in infrastructure is paying for itself quickly. “Most farmers are finding exclusion fencing pays for itself within two years and a common refrain is – ‘I wish I’d done this five or 10 years ago’.” > SEP - OCT 2020

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TOOLS FENCING

Over the years electric fence manufacturers have developed a better understanding of animal behaviour and the different ways that kangaroos, wild dogs, feral pigs and deer interact with electric fences. They are all different and that research and development has led to electric fencing being more far more effective.

Not too long ago, Clipex founder Ashley Olsson made an impact on the fencing market. He created a design which would make fencing faster, easier,

FAST FACTS

NSW State Government has  The allocated $209 million of funding towards materials for replacing boundary fencing adjoining Crown land

on exclusion fencing can be as little as  ROI two years possible to buy an electric fence  It’s energiser that it is too small but rarely one that is too big – do the calculations for run of fence, number of wires etc. and buy the next model up from the one you think you need

Photo courtesy of Gallagher Australia

and smarter. With the innovation of Australia’s first ‘Clip’ post, the Australian family-owned company introduced a new style of fencing with decreased installation times and increased return on investment.

Since then Clipex has gone on to create solutionfocused products which are engineered to perform and built to last. With both ‘standard’ and ‘beefy’ Clipex posts available, there is a solution available for any application. Paired with their advanced wire protection technology of MaxLife and BlackMax coatings, they have increased the potential for farmers investing to control their property, pasture and profit.

BRIGHT IDEA

Solar powered energisers provide farmers and graziers with options independent of mains electricity.

v

The Clipex team provided a solution for Jack Glasson, owner operator of Jimenbuen Pastoral Company near Dalgety in southern NSW. “The initial results are extremely pleasing, with lambing numbers up by over 25 per cent in paddocks enclosed compared with paddocks still exposed,” Jack says. “Sheep deaths from wild dog killings have been reduced by 96 per cent, with a few dogs still managing to occasionally enter the property through unfinished flood gates and around uncompleted sections of the exclusion fence. JPC are excited to reap even further benefits from higher cropping yields, increased carrying capacity, and better control of parasites and lice in the years to come.”

With an ever-increasing expectation and demand on exclusion fencing, Clipex has turned their focus back to developing further improvements on their fencing range with more research and enhancements to pass back to the end user. With branches across the east and west coast of Australia, Clipex is committed to providing solutions that add value to their customers’ properties and businesses whilst supporting the Australian economy with its verticallyintegrated, Australian family-owned company.

Eligible landholders can apply for the program on the LLS website lls.nsw.gov.au, by expressing their interest via one of the 11 regional LLS Facebook pages, or by calling 1300 778 080 l

Concrete posts will not ignite, or spark in a fire Property owners whose fences were destroyed in the recent bushfires need to consider their longterm options rather than opting for short-term solutions such as timber posts that will burn, or steel posts that will rust in years to come.

Investing in prestressed concrete fence posts and fire-resistant strainer assemblies gives fences a better chance of remaining secure in future bushfires, and reduces the time and cost of repairs for generations.

Australian Concrete Posts Pty Ltd (ACP) products are engineered to fence it once and fence it right. They are manufactured from Australian sourced suppliers, made by local workers and have an 80–100-yearguarantee. The posts will not rot in damp or acid sulphate soils nor rust, and they will never be eaten by termites.

BUSINESS THE HEMP TRADE

Drought as well as a lack of research and development has held back the re-emergence of the hemp industry in NSW, but there are plans afoot to reshape hemp as a serious contender for cropping farmers.

–

Words MICHAEL BURT Photography JONATHAN CAMI

T

he legalisation of hemp foods in Australia in April 2017 was regarded as a landmark decision for the fledging industry. Australia was one of the last countries in the western world to remove a classification that prohibited all species of cannabis from being added to food, overturning a ban that had been in place since 1937.

Former Hunter Valley dairy farmer Bob Doyle was excited. The global industrial hemp market was heading towards a value of USD 3.5 billion and predicted to grow to USD 26.6 billion by 2025, and Australian farmers could now tap into growing consumer demand for hemp food products.

“The hemp grains industry in NSW has only really started getting some momentum in the last two years, yet it’s one plant with three very good uses – food, fibre, and medicine,” says Bob. Tasmania has been leading the way in grain production since the laws were changed and it currently accounts for around 80 per cent of production in Australia, with farmers achieving yields of up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.

“As far as I’m aware, the highest yielding hemp grain crop in NSW was in the Liverpool Plains area last year, with a yield of one and half tonnes per hectare. That is where it needs to be for it to be viable in competing with imported product,” Bob explains.

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>

FROM DAIRY TO HEMP

Farmer Bob Doyle on his hemp farm in Vacy, Dungog.

> SEP - OCT 2020

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“As a grain crop, it has a lot of potential in NSW,” he adds. “We need to refine the agronomy, and we have an issue with suitable varieties. Once that work is done, I’m sure broadacre cereal grain growers would be more interested in using it as a rotational crop.

Australian farmers are good and precise at growing grain crops, so it would be relatively easy for some to transition into growing hemp.

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

Agrifutures Australia embarked on a project in September 2019 to map out a business plan for the hemp industry and design a trial system to identify the best performing varieties.

Tom McCue, Senior Manager of Emerging Industries, said Agrifutures Australia had highlighted hemp as a serious option for cropping farmers due to the diversity of its end-use products for its seed and fibre.

“The project’s aim is to test different varieties of hemp across the country,” Tom says. “Increased production in certified industrial hemp seed will underpin industry growth, and credible information about hemp cultivars and suitability of cropping in Australia is vital for attracting new farmers.”

He says that their focus now is bedding down the business case for implementing the project and attracting funding bodies to invest, but the COVID-19 situation has made progressing the project challenging.

“Agrifutures Australia has also invested in a number of other projects in the hemp industry, including the development of a research, development and extension plan, and we’re investigating grazing opportunities with hemp in Tasmania and Western Australia,” Tom says.

President of the Australian Hemp Industry Alliance, James Vosper, who is based on the Central Coast, said the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has also jumped on board with support for research and easing the regulation burden.

“One of our aims is to make sure there are no impediments to growing hemp in NSW,” James says. “We are lucky in NSW in that the DPI has been incredibly supportive regarding that aim. Making hemp legal again as a food product was a great stimulus for the industry. It allowed the crop to have the potential of being economically viable on relatively small holdings, or in rotation with other grain crops.”

He says that there are many health benefits of hemp grain. “It’s high in available protein and has Omega-3 and Omega-6 in the right ratio. It’s good to see hemp food products on supermarket shelves and there is even a hemp beer now too.”

Bob, a sixth generation Dungog farmer, says that this year he is growing one seed crop for future fibre crops and as well as a Chinese hemp grain variety.

“There is genuine interest in buying grain out of NSW this year from local companies such as Ananda Foods,” he says. “And with a little bit more water about, there will be a jump in hemp grain growing in NSW. At this

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FROM DAIRY TO HEMP

Above: Bob Doyle with his wife Susan, and their daughter. Before becoming a hemp farmer, Bob was a dairy farmer in the Hunter Valley.

point in time, it’s still a crop that needs irrigation to be viable.”

Ananda Foods, a subsidiary of Australian owned company Ecofibre, has set up a facility in Beresfield to produce a range of hemp grain food and oil products.

General Manager Kieran Brown says the company had been working closely with farmers in NSW and Queensland, but the drought led to more grain being sourced from Tasmania.

“There has been a recent increase in demand for hemp food products and COVID-19 has resulted in more people wanting to purchase Australian-made first food items, which is great for our local farming families,” Mr Brown says. “Our hemp seed oil has also been used in various cosmetic products for over 20 years. We have some exciting ideas and plans in the works across the greater Ecofibre businesses.” >

“Australian farmers are good and precise at growing grain crops, so it would be relatively easy for some to transition into growing hemp.”

– HEMP FARMER BOB DOYLE

BUSINESS THE HEMP TRADE

HEMP HISTORY

NEW HEMP PRODUCE

Ananda Food is a producer of food-grade hemp seed oil, protein and hemp seeds grown from industrial hemp crops in Tasmania.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of the oldest crops known to man. It is also one of the most controversial.

Hemp is thought to be the first domestically cultivated plant, with evidence of hemp fabric dating to 8,000 years ago found in Turkey (former-day Mesopotamia) and ancient China.

It made its way to North America in 1606 with American farmers growing hemp for products such as paper, lamp fuels and ropes. In the 1700s farmers were legally required to grow hemp as a staple crop and George Washington grew it on his estate.

Industrial hemp was touted as a billion dollar crop in the 1930s after automobile pioneer Henry Ford embarked on building a car manufactured and fuelled by hemp. Mr Ford achieved this goal in 1941 and claimed the car was 10 times stronger than steel.

However a Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937 making it illegal to produce marijuana and any plant type associated with the cannabis family, discouraging the production of industrial hemp. The act is said to have stemmed from a church-funded propaganda film called Reefer Madness.

While Cannabis sativa L. is the most common plant species for producing both marijuana and hemp, there's a key difference. In hemp, the cannabis plant has been bred to have extremely low concentrations of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. While marijuana may contain upwards of 25 per cent THC, hemp typically contains less than 1 per cent, rendering it useless for recreational purposes.

In Australia, Cannabis sativa L. seeds came on the First Fleet and were given as gifts to settlers to promote hemp cultivation with the aim of using it for sails, rigging, clothing, and waterproofing for ships.

Today, industrial hemp can be legally grown in all Australian states and territories, with THC limited to below 1 per cent in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland, and 0.35 per cent in other states.

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WHAT’S STALLING HEMP FIBRE PRODUCTION?

Bob’s hemp journey began in 2009, when he planted a four-hectare crop on the family’s 300-hectare beef property after it became legal to grow hemp for fibre production in NSW. “There were trials all over the Hunter Valley at the time and Ecofibre had a mill at Jerrys Plains that we could supply too,” he says. “When they stopped processing we had a crack at building our own mill in Dungog.”

In more recent years, Bob has focussed on harvesting hemp’s hurd stalk for use in building products such as Hempcrete.

“Tall hemp crops like the ones we have here will produce up to 12 tonnes per hectare of biomass and will yield from 50 to 70 per cent of hurd for housing and around 20 per cent of bast fibre,” he explains.

“There’s demand for it in building products, which I estimate would need around 200 hectares of crop. We have no product left off our farm and that is because demand for the bast fibre in Australia is zero. Unless we can sell the whole stalk, the numbers just don’t add up to make it work.”

He says that this is the biggest constraint to growth in the hemp fibre industry. “However, we are a part of the Agrifutures project, delivered through the CSIRO, and that aims to develop hemp textile markets using the bast fibre,” Bob says.

“The other constraint we’ve had is access to a good

FAST FACTS

hemp fibre and seed comes from  Industrial the cannabis plants specifically bred to have

tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels of no more than 1 per cent

licence is required in NSW to commercially  Agrow industrial hemp was banned in Australia in 1937 and fell  Hemp under a classification that prohibits all species of cannabis from being added to food, or sold as a food

became legal as a food product in  Hemp April 2017 2011 there were 185 hectares of hemp crops  Inin Australia, compared to an estimated 2,500 hectares in 2020, with Tasmania the leading state for hemp growing

hemp product sales have reached almost  US $700 million annually global market for hemp consists of more  The than 25,000 products in nine sub-markets: agriculture, textiles, recycling, automotive, furniture, food and beverages, paper, construction materials, and personal care

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mower to harvest a fibre crop. Up until a few years ago, we were able to access a mower from Ecofibre.

That was the only mower in Australia and it is now unavailable,” he says.

However, Dunedoo farmer Jaimie Milling is hoping to overcome that constraint by engineering a purposebuilt harvesting unit with business partners that can chop through the tough fibre crop.

A mixed cropping and livestock farmer, Jaimie first become interested in growing hemp in 2016 after hearing about potential market demand and benefits of rotating it with cereal crops.

“The drought has really set us back about three years in terms of what we were wanting to do with hemp,” Jaimie says.

“We did do a trial on 200 hectares with another farmer in Goondiwindi last year. The production results were mixed, but there was definitely demand for the fibre in the animal bedding and building products market that we were testing.

“The challenge we had was having a suitable machine that had the capability and capacity to handle such a huge volume fibre crop. We certainly did not want to go ahead with planting large areas of fibre crop not knowing whether we had the capability to get the crop on the ground.

“We are in the final stages now and it will be right to go for harvesting the crop in February next year.

Now there has been some rain about, we are also

BUSINESS THE HEMP TRADE

trialling a few different varieties this year, including some French and Canadian varieties on our farm and on farms near Moree and Brewarrina. I do think it will be a viable alternative crop for our farm business and for other farmers in NSW.”

soil via the organic matter left behind,” he explains.

“We irrigate the crops, using between two and three megalitres per hectare depending on the season. Last year was extreme, and we would have used close to six megalitres a hectare.”

Bob says he has discovered benefits in rotating hemp crops with fodder crops like Lucerne.

“Our Lucerne crops planted after hemp have had much higher yields because of the amount of organic matter that is returned to the soil and there is less need for weed control inputs.”

WHERE AND HOW IS HEMP GROWN?

Hemp grows best in temperate, subtropical and tropical climates, in temperatures between 15-27°C. It is primarily grown in the summer months.

According to Agrifutures Australia, hemp suits a wide variety of soil types but performs best in fertile, neutral to slightly alkaline, well-drained clay loam or silt loam soils. Good moisture and nutrient holding capacity are important because of the quick growth rates of the plant.

“We plant fibre crops in September and they’ll be five metres high in March and ready to harvest,” Bob says. “The crop has to be pesticide- and herbicidefree for the housing market, so it is critical to plant in September ahead of any summer weed growth. It’s quite a weak seedling but once it’s past that stage it out-competes all other weeds with its dense canopy cover. We have 125mm row spacings to get canopy closure as quickly as we can.”

Bob says it’s a bit like growing a maize crop. “You have to apply a fair dose of NPK fertiliser early on, but the difference is that when harvested for fibre, up to 70 per cent of those nutrients are returned to the

AMENDED LEGISLATION

HOUSE OF HEMP

Below: This house in Nooroo in the Hunter Valley is made from hemp building materials developed and manufactured by the Australian Hemp Masonry company.

Image courtesy of Joshua Hogan photography.

The first export of Australian hemp seed to New Zealand occurred in July this year under amended legislation designed to remove cumbersome regulatory barriers for the industry.

“The new legislation removes unnecessary barriers and will support better access to international markets for the emerging hemp and medicinal cannabis industries,” said Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud. “To help us achieve this, we need to ensure that we have appropriate regulatory settings to enable exports to grow and in turn to help drive productivity and increase returns at the farm gate.”

Under the new legislation hemp product exports that may be better supported include seeds, raw hemp and hemp food products, such as de-hulled hemp seeds and health powders containing hemp. l

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SPECIAL REPORT PORK

pork plan The

Australian Pork Limited’s new strategic plan has a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) – to become the nation’s preferred protein – and it represents a great opportunity for NSW’s 1,265 pork producers.

–

Words DARREN BAGULEY

A

ustralian pig producers have been exhorting Australian households to ‘Get some pork on your fork’ since the peak industry body – Australian Pork Limited (APL) – launched the innovative campaign in 2010.

Australia’s cooks responded and now pork (fresh and processed combined) is the second favourite protein in this country.

When APL’s strategic plan was due for an update it decided that even though the industry had achieved a lot in the past 10 years, surpassing both beef and lamb as Australia’s favourite meat, it could go one better: pork should aim to be the nation’s preferred protein.

According to APL CEO, Margo Andrae, “Driving consumer demand will be key, but we’re also working on market and product differentiation – looking at using the whole pig for non-pork products such as nutraceuticals. We are also aiming to be leaders in agriculture for animal welfare, by driving new and impactful research projects. The industry is also focussed on delivering climate friendly farming, with a goal for zero waste by 2025.” >

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SPECIAL REPORT PORK

P ORKY ENCOUNTERS

As with many industries and companies, APL began working on the nine elements of its new fiveyear plan before COVID-19 hit, and its impact and associated control measures on the industry are widespread.

Margo notes, “Foodservice accounts for around 26 per cent of Australian pork sales, so the restrictions implemented there had an immediate effect on the industry. Our exports were also affected as flights came to a standstill, which impacted pork prices.

“We’ve had to pivot a lot of our day-to-day business internally, as well as broadly across the industry because of COVID-19, but I actually think that stands us in good stead for ASF preparedness.”

A further challenge for the pork industry – indeed for all agricultural industries – is maintaining its social licence. And so the strategy seeks to address the ethical issues that are changing consumer choices.

“Leading community social licence is a key theme

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Top left, then clockwise: Australian Pork Limited CEO Margo Andrae, proudly showing off the new pork plan; A pork roast complete with rosemary and crackling; Sarah Tiong from this season’s MasterChef Australia: Back to Win; Guests enjoying a tour with the pigs at Secret Sessions in Bowral.

of the plan which covers animal care, biosecurity, climate-friendly farming, human nutrition and industry viability,” says Margo. “It’s about balancing the major factors sustainably to ensure Australian pork remains affordable for shoppers, safe for workers, responsible to the planet, considerate of the animals, nutritious for consumers and viable for the farmer.”

In 2011 the pork industry voted to voluntarily remove gestation stalls and set a target of legislating this move in 2017. “When governmental priorities delayed the review of pig care standards and guidelines, APL volunteered to help fund the process of review in order to deliver on our promise,” explains Margo. “We are looking to extend this proactivity with our new plan and will continue to invest in research and better practice, to continue this progression.”

Pork producer Ean Pollard of Lansdowne Piggery, Young, believes the goal of making pork is “an awesome attempt to move the industry forward”. He also agrees that social licence to operate will be key to the industry achieving its goals and applauds the new strategy’s approach.

“Some of the key priorities such as social licence to operate are extremely important in today’s environment, especially when you talk about housing

FAST FACTS

2019, Australians ate nearly 21  Inkilograms of pork per capita NSW 1,265 pork farmers produce about  In63,000 tonnes of pork annually only to chickens, pigs are very  Second effective feed converters

animals indoors,” he says. “The first impression that people have is – ‘Oh wow, the pigs live indoors’, but most of society lives indoors so when you think about it in that context, when you can provide safe, clean and healthy conditions for the animals, that’s the way we should be promoting it, letting people know that it is acceptable.”

The Australian pork industry is also serious about reducing its impact on the environment and finding new ways to reduce waste. It has reduced its carbon footprint by more than 60 per cent and water use by 80 per cent.

Many larger farms now also produce biogas by capturing the methane from pig manure and converting it into electricity that can be used to keep newborn piglets warm. Some have introduced solar or are using manure and effluent as fertiliser to improve crops and pasture. Others are converting human food waste into safe and nutritious pig feed.

“These innovations are supporting our sustainability goals and also provide additional benefits such as reducing energy costs or providing additional sources of income. Climate friendly farming will continue to be a priority for our industry,” says Margo.

While there is no doubt that the post-COVID-19 world will be an uncertain place, Margo argues the pork industry is in a strong position as in the past ten years there has been a 35 per cent increase in fresh pork consumption, and the industry value has grown to $5.3 billion.

“This solid foundation means we can take a futurefocused approach to the next five years,” she says.

“Australia’s pork producers are innovative, rise to a challenge and want to be the world’s best. That is evident in what they have achieved, but also in the discussions that we’ve had during the consultation.

Producers, staff and other stakeholders workshopped how they saw the industry’s future and how we were going to get there. We did not shy away from the challenges; these were positive discussions where nothing was off limits. Those conversations enabled us to develop this plan, be progressive and also evolve APL’s vision for pork and for our industry.”

Another producer from Blantyre Farms in Young – Edwina Beveridge – was a member of the strategic plan committee and she thinks it’s going in the right direction.

“We have done really well in last 10 years. We’ve increased kilogram per capita of pork consumed and the strategic plan hopes to keep building on that, which I think is great,” she says. “It’s quite a bold plan – in what it is also a challenging time – that was initiated before COVID-19, so it will be interesting to see whether it’s more challenging to deliver on it than originally thought. It also tackles some really big topics such as further reducing our carbon footprint and doing better environmentally. Getting all of the industry on board for these things would be great.” l

In the past ten years there has been a 35 per cent increase in fresh pork consumption and the industry value has grown to $5.3 billion SEP - OCT 2020

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Silence

of the

lambs

Wild dog attacks on farm stock have surged across NSW during recent months in the aftermath of the state’s destructive summer bushfires.

–

Words MICHAEL SHEATHER

T

he first time it happened, nothing could have prepared Paris Helson for the sight that greeted her as she walked around her family’s dam one morning in February. The warm morning sun cut through the mist with a golden light, and what it revealed was shocking.

Scattered across the dam embankments and floating in the water were a dozen or so bodies – sheep from their flock that had been hunted and savagely killed by a roaming pack of wild dogs.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like that and certainly have never seen anything as upsetting – it was horrific,” recalls Paris, the 20-year-old daughter of the property’s owner farmer, Shane Helson. “The sheep had been driven into the water where they were trying to get away, but it was no use. The dogs just pulled them down.”

Shane says the pack had targeted his and other farms at Kulnura, in the Mangrove Mountain area of the NSW Central Coast that same February – he had already lost several sheep to the predatory dogs during the preceding days.

“My daughter Paris would go down in the morning to check on the sheep because we were very worried about what had happened overnight,” he recalls. “I would see her calling on the phone and think to myself �What’s happened now?� I have never faced a situation like this before. It’s overwhelming.”

The attacks on the Helson family farm, in which they lost approximately 20 sheep and one of the family’s pet alpacas, were part of a dog rampage that struck the NSW Central Coast in the aftermath of the long-running and massively destructive Gosper’s Mountain bushfire and fires at Palmer’s Oaky in the NSW Central West, on the opposite side of the dividing ranges.

“Those bushfires in January drove packs of wild dogs out of their habitats, across the mountains through the Macpherson’s State Forest and onto the farms of the Central Coast, which don’t usually suffer much in the way of dog predations,” says NSW Local Land Services biosecurity officer Gareth Cleal, who

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was called in to help the Helsons and other farmers in the Kulnura area.

Gareth worked with the community to set up monitoring cameras on impacted properties, identifying about 10 different dogs including pups within the first two days.

“It was obvious livestock losses were going to continue if we didn’t do anything and within days, we’d rolled out a baiting program which covered more than 1000 hectares,” Gareth says. “We didn’t know exactly where the pack was based but we targeted a series of fire trails in the area that we know are the often-used paths for wild dogs.

“It was amazing how quickly the attacks stopped,” says Shane. “It just shows how important it is that everyone plays their part in these programmes, whether they’re directly affected or not.”

Farmers in the Central West reported increased dog activity around Bathurst, Lithgow and Mudgee and a cohort of wild dogs repopulating into the Wolgan Valley area between Cullen Bullen and Newnes.

Dog activity, as well as other pest species including feral deer and pigs, also increased in the NSW Hunter region after the bushfires. Farmers reported that dogs not only targeted sheep but also calves and even horses.

WHO LET THE D O GS OUT ?

Above: Dead lambs in the dam and paddocks of Shane Helson's farm in Kulnura. Below: Feral dogs on the prowl.

PEST CONTROL FERAL DOGS

through the cameras we would often see them during the day, around 10am, which is bold behaviour as most of the attacks took place at night.

“You are more likely to see dogs in smaller packs of three and four. This was a big group and because they did not eat the carcasses, it is clear they were not killing for food but because they enjoyed it. That is disturbing.”

It’s also common behaviour among other wild predators such as foxes, says Greg, national wild dog coordinator for the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.

“You often see a fox take cubs into a chicken yard where they will kill every bird,” he says. “It could well be a teaching scenario. Wild dogs are a problem in almost every part of the state and landholders should get involved with identification and eradication programs in their area.”

He says a tracking collar program will be implemented in co-operation with NSWFA in the Western Districts of the state in September to help provide strategic intelligence about dog movements and areas of habitation and concentration. A similar program by LLS is also planned for the Hunter region.

“A lot of people don’t like the idea of catching and releasing dogs back to the wild, but it’s a great source of information because it helps us target and implement resources in the most effective places rather than investing resources and hoping for the best,” Mifsud says. “Wild dogs are terribly destructive pests, costing farmers conservatively upwards of $89 million a year in lost production and control costs.”

In July 2020 the Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced the implementation of a new 10-year Wild Dog Action Plan. “Wild dogs can decimate livestock, tearing down sheep and goats at will, and in doing so, can hurt rural and regional economies because of the destruction they wreak and the anxiety they cause,” he said.

NSW Farmers says it hopes landholders will invest in exclusion fencing, particularly in areas that border public lands such as state forests and national parks, as they rebuild their properties after this year’s record bushfires. l

“Between the drought, the bushfires and the floods in some regions, farmers have had more than enough to contend with, and wild dog predations are yet another impediment to recovery and stock replenishment as well as an anxiety they don’t need,” says David Banham, a regional service manager from NSW Farmers Association.

“What the incidents on the Central Coast highlight however is the benefits for everyone when they work together to solve a problem. The local community, the farmers, the LLS and local industry all pitched in to help remove the threat posed by those dogs. It was a great outcome that minimised potential further losses in the area.”

Gareth says that farmers lost as many as 120 sheep across several farms at Kulnura as well as alpacas, but if the dogs had not been dealt with, the losses could have been much more severe.

“This was a pack of between eight and 10 dogs, we believe, plus a number of pups,” says Gareth. “It’s unusual to get wild dogs in a pack that large and

Wild Dogs - what you need to know

1

Wild dogs are found across NSW – however, the eastern ranges, the coastal hinterland and tablelands have the highest populations

2

Weights of adult dogs generally range from 11 to 25kg for males, and 7 to 22kg for females

3

Wild dogs attack sheep, cattle, goats and poultry through predation and disease.

The sheep industry is the most significantly impacted

4

Cattle are also susceptible to wild dog attacks. Calves or young cattle are the most vulnerable and older cows, steers and bulls may be maimed and killed

5

Wild dogs often attack from behind as their prey move away. If attacked animals survive, they may have substantial tissue damage around the hindquarters, be lame or lose their tails

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Farmers and koala conservation

The March release of the latest State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) has turned an already contentious issue white hot, but there are farmers quietly getting on with preserving and regenerating koala habitat.

–

Words DARREN BAGULEY

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ENVIRONMENT KOALAS

K

oalas may be an icon of Australia, but they are in trouble. Once numbering in the millions, the fur trade, disease, habitat loss, roads and domestic dogs, have seen the population crash to somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 across Australia. According to the NSW Government, there are 30,000 to 40,000 koalas in NSW, but that was before three years of drought and last summer’s catastrophic bushfires. Ecologists are still counting the cost of 2019/20’s Angry Summer but slow moving, tree-dwelling koalas are likely to have been hit harder than most native species.

Even before the advent of the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP (State Environmental Planning Policy), on March 1 (see the previous issue of The Farmer for more detail) there was conflict between people trying to protect koalas and other interests. However, much of the conflict is due to ignorance.

Everyday farmers in NSW are at the forefront of showing how koala conservation and farming can and do co-exist.

Much of the reason for the perceived land use conflict is that a high percentage of remaining koala habitat, vegetation that is critical for the preservation of the species, is on private land rather than in national parks or state forests. Indeed, the presence of koalas on a farmer’s land has been regarded as a mixed blessing by many. According to the owner and director of Stringybark Ecological, David Carr, “Most farmers who have koalas value them quite highly. There is an old, somewhat unreasoned fear that if your land is home to koalas or some other threatened species, national parks will take your land away. But many farmers don’t want people to know the koalas are there and they don’t want people bothering their koalas. They love having them there and they’re concerned for the welfare of the animals.”

Carr has been working with farmers and other landholders on the Northern Tablelands for the past four years to get a better picture of koala populations on both private and public land from Nowendoc to Armidale. “It started off searching for koala scats (dung pellets) and more recently we’ve been doing catch, release and GPS collaring around Armidale where we’ve been able to track the animals for up to six months,” he says.

About 50 private landholders have been involved in the initiative, ranging from just reporting koala sightings to allowing Carr’s team on their land to look for koala scats.

“One landholder has seen phenomenal regrowth from the rain we have had recently. His land is covered in koala feed tree species, so they are reserving a 200-acre paddock and letting it regenerate for koala habitat.”

On the Northern Tablelands, however, the koala conservation brass ring must go to Teesh Wright, of Fernleigh. Teesh runs an F1 sheep breeding and cattle fattening operation on 800 acres of leased and family owned land, near Black Mountain. >

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A neighbouring property, Winterbrae, was historically part of Fernleigh but had been sold off and she had long wanted to acquire it. It eventually came up for sale but Teesh and her husband were so concerned that it may be koala habitat they decided that no matter what, they were going to buy it so they could preserve it.

“When the owner said they were going to go to auction I wrote them a letter saying I wanted to preserve the land, and in response they agreed to negotiate with us and they accepted our best price. We then got David Carr to confirm it did have koalas, so we are planning on grazing only lightly and keeping it for koala habitat. After the rain it’s regenerating beautifully.”

Tamworth Regional Landcare Association, in concert with the NSW Government’s ‘Saving Our Species’ (SOS) program, is working with private landholders in the Liverpool Plains and Gunnedah Shires to plant at least 30 hectares of new koala habitat across both Shires by the end of 2021.

In 2018, five landholders from the Gunnedah LGA (Emerald Hill; Marys Mount and Curlewis) were contracted to establish multi-species tree corridors totalling 17 hectares. Despite prolonged drought during 2018 and 2019, significant rainfall early this year has enabled all contracted landholders to progress with planting. The SOS program assists contracted landholders by providing 50 per cent of the estimated cost of koala habitat establishment (including cost of fencing, ground preparation, tube stock natives, tree guards etc).

One of the most critical elements for koalas to survive as a species is connectivity in the landscape.

Fragmentation, where patches of extant habitat become separated due to by human habitation is a major issue as koalas in those patches may become inbred and can get hit by cars or attacked by domestic dogs when trying to move to other areas.

William Cutler, a landholder at Telegraph Point on the NSW North Coast planted koala feed trees starting in the early 90s on his 40ha farm. “Initially

FAST FACTS

are 60,000 to 100,000 koalas in  There Australia with 30,000 to 40,000 in NSW conservation groups argue koalas  Some are ‘functionally extinct’, i.e. a species no

longer has enough individual members to produce future generations or play a role in the ecosystem

large proportion of remaining koala  Ahabitat is on private land, much of it on farms

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ENVIRONMENT KOALAS

The Tree Troff With years of drought and then the worst bushfires in living memory, koalas and many other native species have been doing it tough. Conditions have been so tough for koalas that Gunnedah farmer, Robert Frend, developed a koala water drinker, the Tree Troff. You might think, hang on, every Aussie knows that koalas don’t drink water. They get all they need from gum leaves.

In normal conditions, it is true, koalas do not need to drink. But these are not normal times. After years of drought and then bushfire, the eucalypt leaves that koalas get their sustenance from have dried out so much there’s not enough moisture for the koala to survive. As a result, they venture down to ground level in search of water where they can fall prey to dogs or get hit by cars. Gunnedah locals have also found heat-stressed and dehydrated koalas dropping out of the trees.

Robert partnered with the University of Sydney’s Dr Valentina Mella to develop the water repository, starting off with half a go-kart tyre and a water drum in a tree. The latest version uses a metal pole with a water tank connected to a solar powered pump which keeps a bowl at tree height half full of water. A microchip reader and camera are positioned over the bowl to capture images. If koalas are present, the captured data is then passed on to researchers to learn more about them.

there was a small healthy population that used our farm and adjoining properties,” he says. “But this stopped in about 2010 when a large clear-felled logging operation disrupted the connectivity, and I haven’t seen a koala since.”

According to Bangalow Koalas’ President, Linda Sparrow, 50 per cent of koala habitat on the NSW North Coast is on private land, and the organisation is working with Byron Bay, Lismore and Richmond Valley councils, various Landcare groups, the NSW State Government, various NGOs, business, community groups and local landholders to provide the connectivity the animals need.

“We’re trying to create a corridor from Byron Bay to Tenterfield and then going north to the Queensland border and south to Grafton,” says Linda. “We started in April 2016 as a way to protect a 400-metre strip of trees in Bangalow, and now we’ve got 32 plantings on 27 properties including several working farms and macadamia plantations. Our aim is to have planted 250,000 rainforest and koala habitat and feed trees by 2025.”

As the impacts of the 2019/2020 Black Summer and an increasingly variable climate continue to impact upon koalas, what is certain is that farmers will be doing their bit to conserve this icon of Australia. l

SEPP: Wrong instrument for rural lands The entry into force of the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP (State Environmental Planning Policy), on March 1, 2020 has been and remains a major source of conflict between government, farmers and koala conservation. While no environment consultant is prepared to go on the record (they’re too reliant on government-financed work) off the record many will say there are two main issues with the Koala SEPP when it comes to farming land. Firstly, it was designed for use in peri-urban areas around Sydney and other major urban centres.

Secondly, it relies too much on modelling and not enough on field ecologists doing work on the ground.

NSW Farmers CEO, Peter Arkle, says “the SEPP is not a suitable mechanism to regulate the conservation of koalas in the farming landscape. Koalas can co-exist with most farming activities and where risks need to be managed this should be accomplished through a fit for purpose set of controls developed for managing impacts on koalas in the farming landscape under the Land Management Code.

“To this end the only way to overcome the majority of our members’ concerns will be to amend the SEPP to remove its application to RU1 and RU2 land, and to legislatively uncouple the Land Management Code from the SEPP when there is an opportunity to bring amendments to the Local Land Service Act 2013 and its regulation to parliament. In the interim all land zoned RU1 and RU2 should be excluded from the Koala SEPP. Alternatively, it would be appropriate to call a halt on the operation of the new SEPP until landholders are provided with the opportunity to review and ground-truth the mapping.

“To address the SEPP’s obvious inequities, and to help farmers help koala conservation efforts, there needs to be a process for landholders to review or appeal regulatory maps without cost; as well as an agreed upon methodology and verification process for identifying koala presence. In addition, regulation needs to be clearly limited to land where koalas are present.”

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COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

ER STAY TO GETH ER, WOR K TO GETH

The longevity of the business is the rent result of endless hard work, the inhe ing, farm l synergies of inter-generationa rs and the fact that they are innovato their of rol cont l tota n who’ve take supply chain.

“As a family, we never pushed the nextgeneration side of things. If you expect that to happen, it puts a lot of pressure on the kids.

It has to take place organically.”

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A farming family that goes back five generations is a rare thing today, where drought, market forces and the corporatisation of agriculture have forced so many off the land.

In the dairy sector, where the number of registered farms in NSW has tumbled from around 3,600 in 1980 to just 411 today, it’s an anomaly.

–

Words IAN LLOYD NEUBAUER Photography RACHEL LENEHAN

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“I have so many great memories from those days. We certainly had a lot of challenges but I think we were better off back then as costs were not as great as they are today. And we were more respected by the government.”

Lindsay Wilson

J

ust outside Tamworth in Wallamore, the Wilson family runs one of the most successful mid-size dairy enterprises in the state. The longevity of the business is the result of endless hard work, the inherent synergies of inter-generational farming, and the fact that they are innovators who have proudly taken total control of their entire supply chain.

At the back end of the chain, the family owns a stud farm where they have spent the past 50 years delicately refining the genetics of jersey cows. Shirlinn Jersey Stud has a reputation for siring jersey cows that produce an average of 23 litres of milk in a day compared to the global average of 14 to 18 litres.

In 2014, the interbreeding judges at the Royal Sydney Show described a barrel-chested eight-year-old Shirlinn Stud as “the greatest Jersey cow to ever appear” in the show’s then 191-year history.

At the front end of the chain, the Wilsons have their own milk and cream processing and packaging plant. A premium product that consistently tests for 4 per cent protein and 5 per cent butterfat, Peel Valley Milk retails for $1.78 to $2.20 per litre compared to $1.61 per litre for other brands.

To learn more about how the Wilsons pulled it off, The Farmer travelled to Wallamore to speak with three family members from three different generations – all of whom, remarkably, still rise at daybreak to work on the land.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

In 1918, James Wilson purchased bushland in the Avon Valley on the Mid North Coast of NSW. “My father and grandfather cleared the land and started dairy farming in the area,” says Lindsay Wilson, James’ grandson and now the family patriarch. “I was the youngest of nine children. As you can imagine, dairy was very different in those days.”

Lindsay was six years old in 1947 when the first milking machines arrived in the Avon Valley, but they still had to do a fair bit of milking by hand. “We all had our favourites, pets like you have today, cows that were always so quiet and never moved in the bale or knocked the bucket over,” Lindsay recalls. “And we had little metal stools to sit on. In the winter they got so cold we put a little pad on top to make them feel warmer and a bit softer.”

After Lindsay’s father died in the 1960s, the farm was sold to one of his big brothers. Lindsay moved out of home and got a job at a milk factory in the nearby town of Gloucester, but soon got into share-farming.

In 1971, he rented his first dairy farm and registered the Shirlinn Jersey stud name with his wife Shirley. “My grandfather had also started a stud farm and continued

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breeding right until my father dispersed the heard in 1959.

The family name helped us to become well-known stud breeders,” he says.

In 1976, the Wilsons won their first championship at the Sydney Royal Show – a winning streak that continues unabated today. In 1991 Lindsay became President of the Australian Jersey Society and in 1999 he organised the International Conference of the World Jersey Cattle in Melbourne.

“I have so many great memories from those days,” he says. “We certainly had a lot of challenges but I think we were better off back then as costs were not as great as they are today. And we were more respected by the government.”

DROUGHT & DEREGULATION

In the year 2000, Lindsay and Shirley ceded a dairy farm they’d purchased in the 1980s at Wingham on the Mid North Coast to their son Brian and his wife Vicky.

“We only had one son – our daughter became a dental nurse – so we were very fortunate that he had the same love for farming as we have,” Lindsay says. “We never had to push hard for him to be interested.”

But dark clouds were brewing on the horizon. Later that same year, the dairy industry was deregulated in NSW. Combined with price-gouging by supermarkets, retail prices eventually fell to as little as $1 a litre.

“Those were not the best of times,” Brian recalls. “Before that we had quotas and the milk processors gave us a set price.

But after deregulation prices crashed overnight and a lot of our friends left the industry. We stayed, but in 2002 I moved the family inland from the coast. My thinking was that if the dairy situation did not improve, by purchasing two properties, we could still keep farming in some shape or form.”

Then came the Millennium Drought – nine consecutive years of below-historical rain. But the Wilsons persevered and when the dry spell finally ended in 2010, they had not only survived but expanded their business after purchasing a third property at Wallamore.

“Being the middle generation, I’ve seen it all,” Brian says. “I helped out on the farm when dad was still renting and worked alongside for all but two years of my adult life.

“If you ask dad about his biggest achievement, he’d say it’s our breeding program. All three generations are really passionate about it. But if you ask me the same question, I’d say it was simply getting through the hard times – the drought and the deregulation period.”

He adds: “I could never have done it without my wife Vicky. She has played such a big part over the past 20 years – all the admin as well as raising three kids. She’s an incredible woman.”

COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

FAMILY SUCCES S SPANNING FROM THE GO OD OLD DAYS

(Above) Brian and Vicky Wilson at work. The family has their own milk and cream processing and packaging plant. A premium product that consistently tests for 4 per cent protein and 5 per cent butterfat, Peel Valley Milk retails for $1.78 to $2.20 per litre, compared to $1.61 per litre for other brands.

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COMMUNITY NEW GENERATIONS

COWS ON THE MO OVE ...

(Above) Shirlinn Jersey stud has a reputation for siring jersey cows that produce an average of 23 litres of milk in a day, compared to the global average of 14 to 18 litres. (Right) Todd Wilson at work.

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“Our main strength is that we supply a quality product with a richer, creamier taste, and that�s created demand or a ‘want’ for our milk. That has put pressure on the big supermarkets to accept our prices and give us a go.”

Brian Wilson

TAKING CONTROL

In 2017, the Wilsons were called to a meeting with their long-time processor Lion Nathan, owner of Dairy Farmers. The company had lost a number of its key markets. As a result, they said they were going to pay the Wilsons and another 550 dairy farmers even less for their milk. But the Wilsons had had enough.

“We were doing a reasonable job producing milk and what they were saying was ridiculous,” says Brian ’s eldest son Todd.

“That was the moment we stopped whinging about being price-takers and decided to take matters into our own hands.”

Brian was all for it: “We had debated getting into processing for a few years.

We knew a guy who was doing it under the Peel Valley Milk brand for nearly 20 years, and at that time he was looking to sell his business and semi-retire. So rather than starting from scratch, we had a family meeting and agreed it would be a good idea to buy it.”

In the three years that have passed, the Wilsons have doubled output at the Peel Valley Milk processing plant and now produce just over a million litres per year. They supply both Woolworths and Coles as well as IGA supermarkets in the region, all the way down to cafes and corner stores.

“I wouldn’t say we took away the supermarkets’ power by becoming manufacturers, though it has given us leverage,” says Todd. “I think our main strength is that we supply a quality product with a richer, creamier taste and that’s created demand or a ‘want’ for our milk. That has put pressure on the big supermarkets to accept our prices and give us a go.”

The transition to manufacturing also meant a change in lifestyle for Todd.

“Before I was working outdoors and barely ever touched a computer. Now I’m in front of the

computer all the time,” Todd says. “And being a manufacturer requires a lot more manpower, and that ’ s where working with the family has really helped. If someone’s short in one area, there’s always someone else around to pick up the slack. It’s been a massive bonus.”

THE SIXTH GENERATION

This year marks the Wilsons ’ 102nd on the land. Today, each unit of the family lives on separate properties but they still work as one.

Lindsay, who’s about to turn 80, still breeds jersey cows and gets involved in milking and farm chores whenever he can. “I can’t run 100 yards like I used to, but I ’ m still pretty strong,” he says.

Brian is 58 and has no plans to retire, while his son Todd and his wife Sarah run the Peel Valley processing and distribution plant. Then there’s the sixth generation of Wilsons, eight boys and girls aged between 2 to 12 years.

“Even with all the hard times we’ve had, it’s just such a great place for them to grow up,” says Brian.

“They all love the farm and the bigger kids have started doing chores.

“Will they go into farming? Who knows,” he says.

“As a family, we never pushed the next-generation side of things. If you expect that to happen, it puts a lot of pressure on the kids. It has to take place organically.”

But Lindsay reckons it’s a done deal. “It was so good for Shirley and I to have our son follow in our footsteps, and now our grandson is doing so well packaging and selling our own milk from our own cows.”

He adds: “It’s impossible to put a price on the value of inter-generational farming. If it continues it will be a tremendous thing.” l

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RIC RICdelivers deliversmore more breathing breathingspace space for forNSW NSWfarmers farmers Erica Erica andand StuStu Halliday Halliday from from in Walcha, in Walcha, NSW NSW were were among among those those hit hit hardest hardest by the by the drought. drought.

ThisThis typically typically temperate temperate area area on on thethe edge edge of the of the Northern Northern Tablelands Tablelands receives receives an an average average of 850mm of 850mm rainfall rainfall a year, a year, butbut in 2018 in 2018 it got it got halfhalf thatthat amount. amount.

In 2019 In 2019 it got it got a quarter. a quarter.

“We’d “We’d bought bought another another property, property, pushed pushed ourselves ourselves up up to to 1,000 1,000 cows, cows, andand then then came came thethe drought.” drought.”

They They started started looking looking intointo a Drought a Drought loan loan from from thethe RICRIC to help to help take take thethe pressure pressure off off as the as the drought drought worsened. worsened.

Regional Regional Investmnet Investmnet Corporation Corporation (RIC) (RIC) loans loans areare supporting supporting businesses businesses to improve to improve their their productivity, productivity, profitability profitability andand ongoing ongoing financial financial resilience. resilience.

“Something “Something hadhad to give, to give, andand cash cash flow flow obviously obviously waswas difficult difficult for for everybody, everybody, so the so the loans loans were were a godsend,” a godsend,” Erica Erica said. said.

At the At the time time of applying of applying for for thethe loan, loan, BenBen Nevis Nevis Angus Angus waswas at full at full capacity capacity andand reliant reliant on on a very a very high high turnover. turnover.

“We “We would would have have hadhad to sell to sell a lot a lot more more stock stock to pay to pay for for what what we we were were doing. doing.

[The [The loan] loan] is going is going to allow to allow us to us to keep keep growing growing andand making making thethe most most of the of the opportunities opportunities in front in front of us.” of us.”

Erica Erica andand StuStu plan plan to use to use thethe savings savings on on interest interest for for embryo embryo transfer, transfer, artificial artificial insemination, insemination, marketing, marketing, fencing fencing andand pasture pasture regeneration. regeneration.

“It “It allows allows us to us have to have breathing breathing space,” space,” StuStu said. said.

“The “The future future of our of our business business looks looks great, great, because because it’s it’s a a family family business business andand we we want want to keep to keep including including extra extra family family andand growing growing thethe business,” business,” Erica Erica said. said.

“We’re “We’re excited excited about about where where thethe beef beef industry’s industry’s going. going.

WeWe want want to be to be partpart of it.” of it.”

YouYou cancan larnlarn more more about about RICRIC government government backed backed loans loans on on thethe website website www.ric.gov.au www.ric.gov.au

@ric_gov_au @ric_gov_au

It’s It’sgoing goingtotoallow allowusustoto keep keepgrowing growingand andmaking making themost mostofofthe theopportunities opportunities the frontofofusus ininfront Erica Erica Halliday Halliday

s Ben Nevis Angus, a Walcha stud has been in Erica’s family for five generations.

Stu said their bank manager encouraged them to apply for the RIC loan.

COMMUNITY ON MY SOAPBOX

Inland rail failings must be addressed Words DANICA LEYS, CEO - CWA OF NSW

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n the topic of Inland Rail – the twists, turns and downright time-wasting that goes on from those exalting the importance of the project reads like an episode of ABC’s Utopia. In all my years of advocacy work, rarely have I seen an important project so massively bungled.

Some of those against CWA of NSW’s work on the issue seem to think that we are representing a small group of people who are simply having a whinge about having to sell their farm.

The truth could not be further from that depiction.

This truth was even more evident when we recently ran landholder information sessions with NSW Farmers and Holding Redlich in Gilgandra and Moree. There were over 100 attendees at these meetings, which will be seen in the future as a historical event due to the joint approach between the two organisations.

Many attendees had serious questions about their future, and many were justifiably devastated at what is to become of their family businesses.

CWA of NSW and NSW Farmers have worked together on Inland Rail since we passed member policy on the matter in 2019. Since then, we have worked closely with the NSW Farmers Inland Rail Taskforce Chair, Adrian Lyons, and we are now moving forward in a more formal sense by bolstering our collective advocacy efforts with the legal expertise from Holding Redlich.

When prosecuting the case for Inland Rail, the overarching tactic so far – from both the ARTC and the Federal Government – has been to cast those asking questions as being unreasonable people who are few in number. Personally and professionally, I find this most upsetting and downright disrespectful. I spent a good number of years in my early career undertaking agronomy work in the area that is now known as the Narromine to Narrabri (N2N) section of greenfield track. I know the area and the people well. These are individuals who form the heart of their community.

They are hard-working, building their businesses, raising their families, and they are significant givers of their time and resources back into their communities.

In terms of the specifics, the issues are many and varied, and are not just contained to the N2N area.

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There are issues across the whole alignment. Route selection is a major sticking point and there should have been a lot more work done from the outset to support the current route that ARTC seem steadfastly stuck to. There are better options available for the route, but there is no appetite from decision-makers to even consider them. Basic information pertaining to flood modelling, how fences will be erected and maintained, the standard of crossings and of course, what landholders should expect in terms of compensation if they are directly impacted by the line, all remain unanswered in a fog of polished PR spin and platitudes from ARTC. Sure, we all would love to see the project go ahead.

It is a nation building project, with the potential to bring massive benefits. That said, the promises made by some on the level of prosperity that a project such as this will bring to the regions do seem completely overblown.

One farmer described it to me well at a recent dinner. This farmer is not even close to the line, but he hears from many who are, and is also concerned about the cost. In his view, it’s “all about a fridge – a fridge that needs to get between Brisbane and Melbourne in less than 24 hours”. Why the 24 hours? Another unanswered question.

Overall, where we are now is a symptom of a disregard of local knowledge and a failing in genuine communication about the project with landholders from both ARTC and the Federal Government.

We are looking at a lose-lose situation where we end up with a subpar project that totally blows out its budget, destroys family businesses and becomes a major management issue for decades to come.

We want a win-win situation where we end up with a great line on the right alignment. We want a project that regional communities will benefit and prosper from into the future.

This cannot happen unless there is an acknowledgment of the many failings made on the execution of the project to date, a complete turnaround in attitudes towards genuine community consultation, and a seismic shift in approach from those in power that shows due respect to the people that stand to be impacted the most.

We are not backing down on this. In many ways we are only just getting started. l

WE ARE ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED

Above: NSW Farmers Inland Rail Taskforce chair Adrian Lyons and CWA of NSW CEO Danica Leys. NSW Farmers and the CWA have teamed up to progress legal action with respect to the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s handling of the Inland Rail Project.

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JOIN US

Help protect your livelihood. NSW Farmers is your voice – we are only as strong as you make us. The greater our numbers; the greater our voice.

Water security: a farmer's story

Return of the hemp industry

New strategy for pork

The reality of rice

Repercussions of the Peel River damming

A fresh cropping alternative for NSW?

Can pork become our number one protein?

A staple that may become premium

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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2020 / $ 9.95

The Quad conundrum What side of the fence are you on?

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COMMUNITY TEAM PLAYER

The future of farming In this new feature series, we meet a proud NSW Farmers member who highlights how the Association’s work makes a real difference to primary producers around the state.

NAME

Dione Howard

FARM Robin Hood, Milbrulong TIME AS MEMBER Five years MY BRANCH Eastern Riverina Young Farmers Branch

ABOUT THE MEMBER

My family operates a mixed farming enterprise that spreads over 2020 hectares, including some leased country. In addition to canola and cereal crop production, we have a Merino stud and commercial flock that has been producing quality wool for many years. I am also a district veterinarian with the Riverina Local Land Services, so there is quite a bit to juggle. With the support of Australian Wool Innovation, I am also actively involved with the Young Farming Champions program and have been an active member of the Youth Voices Leadership Team since its inception in 2018.

CONDITIONS AT MY FARM

The crops are really good at this stage. It’s a nice turnaround compared to the last few years – it’s actually a bit of a challenge to get machinery into the paddocks at the moment due to the moisture.

Hopefully we will get a few showers during spring to finish the crops off.

WHY I JOINED NSW FARMERS

My family has always shown me what being part of a community is about, whether it is volunteering for local sporting clubs, P&C committees or being a member of the local show society. When we would take Dad to the plane to head to Sydney for the NSW Farmers annual conference I

had an understanding, even from an early age, that he was off to help make decisions that were for the benefit of farmers. We’d stand there at the airport in our flannelette pyjamas and dressing gowns in the middle of July waving him off to the Big Smoke. It takes a lot to leave the family and the farm. It was a family ritual that left a lasting impression.

Becoming a member of my local NSW Young Farmers branch was a way to give back to my local community. Rural and regional Australia has been hit with drought, bushfires and now COVID-19, and Eastern Riverina region has unfortunately felt the force of each.

Prior to COVID-19, the face to face branch meetings provided a forum for young motivated agriculturalists to catch up over a beverage and discuss issues they face. We might not be meeting face to face at the moment, but we are tackling the challenges of late head-on. This includes making the most of being ‘tech natives’, providing virtual support to agriculturalists in our region through online meetings – as well as making sure valued positions such as Rural Financial Councillors are here to stay in our community.

HOW NSW FARMERS HAS HELPED ME

I am particularly interested in agricultural policy development and attended Wool Producers board meetings in 2018-19 as their Youth Ambassador. I had very little experience with policy prior to the Youth Ambassador role. It opened up a whole new world in the agricultural space and it gave me a much clearer idea of how decisions are made that affect farmers and people like myself as a veterinarian.

I am now actively involved with the Eastern Riverina Young Farmers Branch and have the role of secretary/ treasurer. This involvement with NSW Farmers is proving to be the next best step in my own advocacy journey, as it the voice for primary producers, a diverse range of agricultural commodities and the rural communities that members live and work in. And, now more than ever, it is so important to support local food and fibre production in NSW. NSW Farmers is the ideal vehicle to drive that support. l

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COMMUNITY MEET THE TEAM AT NSW FARMERS NSW FARMERS COMMITTEES – CONTACTS AND CHAIRS AG SCIENCE

agvetcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au David Mailler ANIMAL WELFARE

animalwelfarecommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Jim McDonald BIOSECURITY

biosecuritycommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Ian McColl BUSINESS, ECONOMICS & TRADE

beatcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Peter Wilson CATTLE

cattlecommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Derek Schoen CONSERVATION & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

crmcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Bronwyn Petrie CONTRACT POULTRY MEAT

poultrymeatcommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Justin Roach DAIRY

dairycommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Colin Thompson EGG

eggcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Brett Langfield GOATS

goatcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Felicity McLeod GRAINS

grainscommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Matthew Madden HORTICULTURE

horticulturecommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Guy Gaeta OYSTER

oystercommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Caroline Henry PORK

porkcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Ean Pollard RURAL AFFAIRS

ruralaffairscommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Garry Grant SHEEPMEATS

sheepmeatscommittee@ nswfarmers.org.au Floyd Legge WESTERN DIVISION COUNCIL

wdc@nswfarmers.org.au Greg Rogers WOOL

woolcommittee@nswfarmers. org.au Andrew Wood YOUNG FARMERS

yfc@nswfarmers.org.au Rachel Nicoll

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Passion for farming a driving force As a NSW Farmers member, it’s likely that you’ve had a chat over the phone in recent months, to a jovial lady by the name of Natasha. The fifth generation farmer loves talking agriculture and assisting members with membership services and benefits.

T

The role of Regional Member Support Officer for the team at NSW Farmers suits Natasha Tyack to a T. The fifth generation farmer from the Condobolin area can talk the talk with farmers all on levels and understands the challenges and opportunities that come with life on the land.

“I love my new role at NSW Farmers,” Natasha says. “It’s heavily linked to my passion and love for farming, and supporting families involved in local food and fibre production. Combine this with working in a family farming business and there is not much more I could ask for – except maybe no more droughts!”

Natasha and partner Trent are part of a family farming business that involves her parents Iain and Jenny, and brother Nick and his family. Recent rainfall has reinvigorated the family’s 3000-hectatre farm, which combines growing wheat, barley and canola with oat cropping and lamb production.

Natasha’s parents have also built a successful farming and contracting business that covers just about all aspects of the cropping cycle.

“My parents always knew that I wanted to be on the farm, but due to the struggles that they’ve experienced, they encouraged both my brother and I to get other qualifications that would help support us and our families through tough times,” Natasha explains.

“I am so grateful for my parents pushing me to do this, as now I have qualifications in real estate, auctioneering, livestock and grain selling, bookkeeping and business management.”

The mother of two has had to put these diverse qualifications to use in recent years due to the widespread impact of drought. “Now I have my new role with NSW Farmers, which has given me the opportunity to work with a bright, positive, progressive and very active team that truly supports farmers,” she says.

“It allows me to communicate with members from across NSW who produce a diverse range of commodities, and so I’m constantly learning new things about different farming techniques. I love chatting with our members, keeping them up to date

SEP - OCT 2020

with what our Regional Service Managers (RSMs) have going on in their regions, and the range of member benefits and services.”

Natasha says that the role also gives her the ability to continue doing what she loves, while bringing more to the table in her own farming community.

“I believe there is no better industry in this world to be working in, and I am extremely lucky to be both part of the team at NSW Farmers, and working on a family farm with my parents, children and partner,” she says with pride. l

COMMUNITY FARM DOG Q&A

Man’s best friend

Meet Walter – best friend of Natalie Bell and Paul Lloyd from Tallogum Farm.

The pair mainly grow blueberries, but Walter prefers carrots, staff lunches and playing with the resident ducklings.

Words MICHELLE HESPE Photography ANT ONG

WHAT’S YOUR NICKNAME?

Waltie FAVOURITE THING TO DO ON THE FARM?

Swim in the dam with the ducks, and chase motorbikes everywhere!

HAVE YOU EVER DONE SOMETHING REALLY NAUGHTY?

One day I broke into the lunch area and stole all of the workers’ lunches. It made me feel quite sick but gosh it was good WHAT IS YOUR WORST HABIT?

Sitting on the carrots while I sun myself in the veggie patch. It drives mum crazy WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD?

Any food that my humans are eating IF YOU BECAME FAMOUS FOR ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Spinning around on the one spot in complete, crazy-eyed excitement IS THERE SOMETHING THAT DRIVES YOUR PARENTS MAD?

The big, red muddy paw prints that I continually walk through the house IF YOU COULD HAVE ANOTHER ANIMAL AS A BEST FRIEND, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

A duckling from the dam FAVOURITE TOY OR THING TO PLAY WITH?

My mums shoes – any or all of them FAVOURITE SEASON AND WHY?

Summer, because then I get to swim in the dam all day and it’s nice and hot WHAT DOES EVERYONE LOVE ABOUT YOU?

How much love I have to offer my family

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Farming an economic recovery NSW Farmers firmly believes the agriculture sector can spearhead the repairing of a battered NSW economy.

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Words JAMES JACKSON, NSW FARMERS PRESIDENT

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COVID-19 REPORT

T

here is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a seismic impact on the state’s social and economic fabric. While the full extent of the damage is yet to be realised, one thing is certain – governments must invest in the growth of agriculture to drive the economic recovery.

Agriculture contributed $15.9 billion to the NSW economy over the 2018-2019 financial year alone, despite experiencing the challenges of one of the worst droughts in history. With many farmers now taking advantage of improved seasonal conditions, the agriculture industry clearly has even greater potential to add to the NSW economy.

NSW Farmers has identified eight key areas where there is need for reform, both to build this vital industry and to position it to drive the state’s recovery from COVID-19.

There is a need to strengthen supply chains and infrastructure, grow our farming businesses, secure a Right to Farm, create fair and competitive supply chains, drive premium products and value adding, improve and expand our markets, build vibrant regions, and achieve water and environmental reforms.

Our COVID-19 reform agenda will also reflect some of the key lessons learned over recent months. For example, the crisis has crystallised the undeniable privilege of local food production. With global supply chains constricting in a bid to contain the virus, the value of selfsufficiency has become suddenly clear.

But with this, questions around Australia’s future self-sufficiency have arisen, particularly in the context of local value adding manufacturing and processing, the impact of uncertainty around water access, and our capacity to better access new international market opportunities.

The crisis and earlier disruptions – such as last summer’s bushfires – exposed the importance of functional supply chains. Improving supply chains is a perennial necessity, and priority upgrades need to include road and rail infrastructure directly connecting key growing regions with domestic markets and export hubs.

Export markets will also play a critical role in the recovery process. Around two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural products are exported, and Australia has enjoyed significant growth in its agricultural exports, largely thanks to strong demand for high quality food and fibre imports in China. After a period of diminished trade access and strained trading relations, there will be a need to expand and diversify global opportunities.

In order to build agriculture, we must also build our regions. The shift toward remote working conditions has highlighted the potential of decentralisation. There was an upward trend in migration to the regions before the crisis, but the appeal of regional NSW has grown.

In order to sustain this trend, regional areas need to be equipped with the requisite infrastructure to support population growth, and there must be investment to offer opportunities to those making the move. The pandemic has also been a timely reminder of the damage a single virus can do. Pest and disease management is an integral aspect of farming, and the need to invest early has been proven time and time again. Strong biosecurity underpins our ‘clean, green’ status, which, as a critical aspect of our success domestically and internationally, needs to be protected at all costs.

Accounting for around 20 per cent of the national sector, NSW agriculture can lead the effort to becoming a $100 billion industry by 2030. The NSW industry itself has a goal of becoming a $30 billion industry within the same timeframe. Now is the time for the NSW and Australian governments to invest in agriculture, so the industry can drive growth in a post COVID-19 world and beyond.

AGRICULTURE CAN DRIVE THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Far left to right: Ongoing discussions – improving supply chains is a perennial necessity; James Jackson, President of NSW Farmers; Workers on the land adhering to COVID-19 safety regulations SEP - OCT 2020

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THE TAIL END LIVESTOCK FEED DEBATE

Whopper of a dietary addition

In July 2020, US fast food chain Burger King announced that it would ask some of its beef suppliers to add lemongrass to their animals’ diets.

Many are, quite rightly, skeptical.

Words ALEXANDRA BUNTON

T

he move is less about a fresh new taste, and more about sustainability.

Burger King claims that adding 100 grams of dried lemongrass to an animal’s daily feed can reduce methane emissions by up to 33 per cent during fattening. It’s not the first time we’ve heard about innovative dietary supplements for cattle.

Back in November 2019, The Farmer covered an innovative application of seaweed in animal diets. Australia’s CSIRO has been studying the effect of seaweed on ruminant emissions after a coastal Canadian farmer noticed that his cattle that grazed on local seaweed seemed to be more productive.

BY PHIL SOMERVILLE

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This marine diet has been around for centuries – Ancient Greek and Icelandic farmers used to feed seaweed to their animals during winter months.

CSIRO researchers have found that a small amount of the red algae Asparagopsis taxiformis has a significant impact on methane emissions.

Methane is produced during enteric fermentation, a process whereby plant matter is broken down by microbes in the rumen which creates methane as a by-product to be expelled by the animal. Feed additives like lemongrass and seaweed aim to reduce this methane production.

Burger King’s new commercial, which features YouTube-famous yodeling teen Mason Ramsey, focuses on the effects of enteric fermentation and cattle ‘burping and farting’ methane into the atmosphere, and thus contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Beef producers are naturally skeptical about the new fad diet.

The lemongrass won’t be eaten by cows consistently across their

lifetime, so the claim of ‘reducing emissions by a third’ doesn’t stack up.

Frank Mitloehner, an expert on livestock emissions and air quality at the University of California, points out the research on lemongrass additives – funded by Burger King – hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed.

He also notes that results from the study, which was partly conducted in Mexico, haven’t been replicated in the US. One of the key researchers, Dr Ermias Kebreab, said his work on the US portion of Burger King’s lemongrass study was inconclusive – though his research on seaweed has been much more effective.

Frank’s own research has found another promising feed additive in essential oils, which can reduce methane emissions by 10 per cent.

In the meantime, Burger King’s customers will have to get their heads around ordering a “Reduced Methane Emissions Beef Whopper” if they want to try the new product. l

National Drought and Flood Agency The National Drought and Flood Agency understands that the issues affecting economic recovery in regional Australia are complex and go beyond the hardships caused by flood, drought, bushfire and other unprecedented challenges like COVID-19.

Coordinator-General for Drought and Flood the Hon Shane L Stone AC QC and the Agency’s national network of Regional Recovery Officers (RROs) give you a voice back to the Australian Government on how drought and other challenges are affecting your business, your family and your community.

Your local voice Regional Recovery Officers serve as champions for their region, working with people to find locally-led solutions and deliver the support and information needed to help communities prosper.

They also play a key coordination role, working with all levels of government, health professionals, counsellors, small businesses, charities, agricultural and community organisations to ensure the Australian Government is delivering an effective on-the-ground presence.

Your local Regional Recovery Officer can help you quickly find information and services to assist you through the challenges of drought—please visit our website for more information and to find your nearest regional team member.

Tools to assist you in your business There’s a lot of information that farmers and regional communities can draw on when making important business decisions, from seasonal climate forecasts, soil moisture levels, regional profiles and what government grants are currently available. But until now, it’s been difficult to get this information in a consolidated way.

The National Drought Map is an essential part of a farmer’s decision-making toolkit.

It pulls together information specific to your region from a range of sources including the Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Geoscience Australia, and the Department of Agriculture to name a few.

Take a look at map.drought.gov.au

www.droughtandflood.gov.au

The

Cattle Handling Experts