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Image: Premium quality fruit has placed Australian on the front foot of growing demand by Asian consumers. Image from pxhere, published under CCO 1.0 agreement.

A forecasted medium-term boom for the horticulture sector will be driven by growth in the nut and fruit sectors, according to the latest ABARES outlook report.

The gross value of Australian horticultural production is projected to rise to $13.6 billion in 2022-23, an increase of more than $3 billion from current values.

In the last few decades, Chinese demand for fruit has skyrocketed in line with a growing, more affluent middle class, with the perception of Australia as a supplier of ‘clean and green’ food cementing the trade relationship.

A new trade agreement has further improved access to the Chinese market for local growers, adding peaches, apricots and plums to the list of tradable produce. The 2017 agreement also relaxed fumigation and cold-treatment protocols for table grapes and recognised pest-free regions for citrus and cherries.

Australia’s booming nut industry is also set to be a key contributor to overall industry growth. The real gross value of Australian tree nut production is projected to increase from $1 billion currently, to $1.5 billion in 2022-23.

Almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts and hazelnuts account for the biggest slice of sector growth. Since 2010, Australian almond and macadamia growers have capitalised on increasing global demand for nuts, with the low Australian dollar providing excellent price competitiveness.

As countries including China, South Africa, Turkey and the United States ramp up production of tree nuts, it is expected that Australian prices will fall over the medium term.

Opportunity knocks

Demand increases driven by volume and produce range led north Queensland grower Marc Magro to expand production on his 100 hectare irrigated fruit farm ‘Springmount’, west of Mareeba.

He predominantly grows longans – and their better-known cousins lychees – and has recently invested in four new varieties of lychees bred in China.

His produce appeals to the domestic Asia-Australian population and Chinese export market.

‘There’s only about a dozen longan growers in Australia so it’s a relatively new industry but I think the potential market is huge,’ said Mr Magro.

‘I love growing fruit for people to enjoy, and with longans selling locally in shops for $12 to $15 a kilogram, it can be quite a profitable crop too.’

Mr Magro’s sentiment is shared by Harry Debney, CEO of Costa – Australia’s largest fruit producer.

In 2017 the Costa group recorded a 98,000 tonnes citrus crop, of which 75% was sold overseas. In 2015, less than half of Costa’s produce was sold offshore.

‘Australian horticulture is still constrained by high labour costs, but we can compete overseas because of the quality of our fruit, reliability of supply and increasing automation in farm industries such as citrus,’ he said.

Sources: ABARES, The Australian

Image: Mycoplasma bovis is a highly contagious disease affecting dairy cows worldwide. Rotary Milking Parlor by Gunnar Richter published under a BY-SA 3.0 attribution.

New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has called for a cull of all cows on 28 properties on the South Island, in a response to an outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis.

The disease was initially detected late last year, with seven farms having already been ‘depopulated’, according to MPI’s response director Geoff Gwyn.

“[After the initial cull] we halted further culling until we better understood the spread of the disease. We are now at that point where we have that understanding and can complete this work with confidence,” he said.

This week, the MPI announced that a total of 28 farms have been classified as infected properties, will a collective herd of 22,000 cows to be culled.

“This will be a big job and won’t happen overnight, but we’ll be meeting with the affected farmers in the coming days to discuss the operation, develop the plans and talk through compensation,” said Mr Gwyn.

New Zealand’s dairy herd currently stands at 20 million cows. A small spike in heifer prices is foreseen as affected farmers restock their farms. The estimated cost of the current outbreak has been valued at $60 million.

About the Disease

Mycoplasma bovis is a bacterium that affects cattle by inducing diseases including mastitis, arthritis, pneumonia, bovine respiratory disease and ultimately death.

As well as the impact upon the cow, the effects of these diseases cause significant production losses through a lack of milk. The bacterium itself is resistant to antibiotics, seriously limiting treatment options. Although highly contagious amongst cattle, some cows can carry the bacteria but do not contract the disease – often the source of transmission between herds when cows are moved.

Mycoplasma bovis cannot be contracted by humans and does not present a food safety risk.

Mycoplasma bovis down under

While Mycoplasma bovis does infect a limited number of Australian dairy herds, the local industry decided to manage the disease, rather than total eradication.

“The latest estimates are that it affects about 0.6 per cent of Australia’s dairy herd,” said Associate Professor John House from the University of Sydney.

“It would be extremely expensive to pursue eradication (in Australia) at this point. We’re more focused on learning more about it, and educating farmers and dairy farmers and advisers on what to look for”.

“When people don’t know what to look for, that is how it spreads, and that’s the expensive part because you have to end up culling more stock,” he said.

Sources: ABC, Yahoo, Ministry for Primary Industries

Image: An artist’s impression of the proposed Lucky Bay grain port.

The tiny town of Lucky Bay on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula will house a brand new grain port valued at $115 million, thanks to the State’s first farmer and private equity partnership.

Consortium T-Ports raised $96 million in private investor equity for the project that includes port infrastructure and supply chain components.

The Lucky Bay shallow harbour port will be used to transport grain to deep-water vessels further out at sea. The project also includes funding for 430,000 tonnes of grain storage at the port and a further 150,000 tonnes of storage at Lock.

A transhipment vessel – with the capacity to hold 3,500 tonnes of grain – is currently being built in China. The state of the art vessel will be used to load Panamax vessels out at sea and within the usual five-day industry standard.

Local grain growers were consulted during an expression of interest phase last year, with 120 growers indicating their support for the project. These growers will acquire equity in the port for ongoing throughput over the next seven years, with 377,000 tonnes forecasted to be processed through the port’s facilities.

In addition to improved grain prices through increased local supply chain competition, growers are expected to save between $5 and $20/tonne on grain transport costs, depending upon the distance from farm to port.

The facility will also open up opportunities for fertiliser to be delivered to Lucky Bay, representing savings of between $25 and $40/tonne for farmers currently purchasing from Port Lincoln and Adelaide.

Construction work will start immediately, with a promise by T-Ports that it will be ready and open to receive grain for the coming 2018/2019 harvest.

Grower Support for the ‘Game Changer’

Grain Grower Isaac Gill from Mangalo said the development of the report would help to make harvest logistics easier, as well as boosting profitability.

“It’s fantastic because we are going to save off our bottom line extra freight which we have been doing down at Port Lincoln and we can’t often deliver straight to port at harvest time’.

‘Now we will be able to deliver it straight off the header, straight out of the paddock and straight to port and it could be saving us around $15 a tonne’, he said.

‘It will be a real game changer for a lot of growers in our area’.

Sources: Port Lincoln Times, ABC,

Image: Corn in my side – A lack of available labour is an issue for many sectors of agriculture. Image by USDA, available at Flickr through a CC-BY 2.0 agreement.

A pilot program kicked off in Queensland earlier this month, with the aim of connecting job seekers with potential employers in an attempt to fill agricultural labour shortages.

After participating in an induction and training day, a group of job seekers was taken on a tour of Rugby Farms and Withcott Seedlings, two of the biggest agricultural enterprises in the Lockyer Valley.

The tour provided an opportunity for the job seekers to gain an insight into the operational activities involved, meet key staff members and understand the type of jobs available.

The tour also provided the opportunity for the two enterprises to identify potential employees – all refugees – many of whom have relevant experience for employment in agriculture.

‘The majority of people (on the tour) have come from rural backgrounds and farms and some owned their own farms and machinery companies. It’s about connecting that experience (to those looking for job seekers),’ said Karen George, a project manager from the Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network (QAWN).

While this particular cohort was made up of refugees, there are plans to extend the program to other target groups including students, and older people.

Labour shortage stifles industry growth

The labour shortage in agriculture is a significant factor limiting productivity and profitability, to the tune of $150 million a year according to report by AgForce Queensland.

The 2012 report estimated that the industry needed to find at least 96,000 full-time skilled workers and 10,000 casual workers to address the issue.

Several government schemes have attempted to address casual labour issues including the Seasonal Worker Incentives Trial, which allowed workers to earn an on-farm income without a penalty to existing welfare payments, as well as travel and living away from home allowances.

Despite the hype, the trial was grossly undersubscribed with initial enrolment numbers as low as 14 workers – only 0.37% of the 3,800 placements available. The Australian Government pledged $30million of funding for the two-year trial, which commenced in 2017.

Many employers cited the unwillingness of Australians to pick crops as a key reason for the failure of schemes such as the Seasonal Worker Incentives Trial.

‘We employ Australians wherever we can get them, but for us it has been very hard to get Australians to come and do this work outside,’ said Andrew Findlay – stone fruit grower from Southern Queensland.

The issue has driven many employers to call for changes to current visa programs to make it easier to employ overseas workers.

‘Seasonal work would be a focus, the sort of stuff that is being covered off by [other visa programs]’ said Ben Rogers, workplace relations general manager for the National Farmers Federation (NFF).

‘But it would be a broad approach to comprehensively address that very significant labour need within the industry,’ he said.

Sources: The Age, ABC, The Gatton Star

Image: Small businesses that don’t report cyber security attacks will face a maximum fine of $1.8 million under new laws. Image from Max Pixel, under a CCO Public Domain License.

New laws introduced this month will require all small businesses to report data breaches to the Office of the Australian Commissioner (OAIC), along with the person affected.

The Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme (NDB) came into effect on 22 February and requires businesses and organisations to report unauthorised access of anyone’s personal information to the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), as well as any individual affected.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman warns that a data breach (unauthorised access of someone’s personal information) via a business computer system could be carried out by another employee, an independent contractor or an external third party or hacker.

Businesses faced with a data breach incident will now have to report the incident or face a penalty of $360,000 for individuals and $1.8 million for organisations.

For small business owners, including farmers, the new laws serve as a timely reminder about the benefits of good record keeping and office security.

‘If someone steals info or gains info from your systems that could cause serious damage to an individual, like physical damage, psychological damage, financial damage or reputational damage, you have to report it,’ said Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.

‘Protect your business’s data like you would your office: lock up at night, don’t give the keys to anyone you don’t trust, and report any suspicious activity that takes place on your premises,’ she said.

Small businesses can implement basic changes to avoid the risk of being compromised, including:

• Prevention
  • Back up IT systems regularly
  • Install security updates
  • Use complex passwords and two-step authentication systems
  • Limit access to administrator accounts and sensitive information
• Sound Practices
  • Make cyber security an ongoing conversation within your business
  • Browse safe sites
  • Only install apps you trust on your devices
• Respond
  • If you think you’ve experienced a data breach, report it to the authorities and your staff
  • Restore backups from before the incident
  • Consider cyber insurance

Need to know more? Breach definitions and information about how to report a breach are available on the OAIC website and the Cyber Security Best Practise Guide is also a useful point of reference.

Sources: Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

Image: Investments in clean energy farming projects are hoped to improve financial and environmental outcomes. Image by Kellie Jane, under a creative commons license.

A new $100 million fund is set to accelerate the rate of investment in Australian agriculture, with a focus on improving on-farm sustainability and energy efficiency.

The Australian Government’s green bank – the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) – has partnered with the agricultural arm of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) to invest in projects that will lower on-farm emissions through the use of precision agriculture technologies and improved on-farm practises.

The fund will invest in a range of agricultural sub-sectors including grains and permanent plantings, with a view to improve on-farm energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. According to the CEFC, project merit will be determined by its ability to improve the energy efficiency of production and associated financial and environmental gains.

The CSIRO has also been named as a partner in the collaboration, offering scientific expertise and sharing information about clean energy farming methods amongst the wider agricultural community.

The investment indicates a strong commitment by the Australian Government in relation to energy efficiency in agriculture, which is responsible for 13% of the nations greenhouse gas emissions.

About the CEFC

The CEFC is a corporate government entity, created by the Australian Government under the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012 to increase the flow of money into clean energy projects.

The development of the CEFC included the provision of $10 billion in funding for the initial five-year term. To date, funds have been invested in projects including solar, wind, bioenergy, community housing, infrastructure, manufacturing and resources and climate bonds.

The provision is also used to fund dedicated programs mandated by the Australian Government including the Clean Energy Innovation Fund ($200 million), the Reef Funding Program ($1 billion) and the Sustainable Cities Investment Program ($1 billion).

Finance options include project finance, equity finance, corporate loans and aggregation finance, where $3 of privately secured investment is matched by $1 of CEFC funds.

Despite reporting a profit of 7% in 2013, the Abbot Government attempted to abolish the CEFC, but the legislation was blocked in the Senate. In response, Tony Abbott banned the green bank from investing in wind power and rooftop solar projects – a decision that was later reversed by Malcolm Turnbull.

CEFC’s 2016-2017 annual report revealed the fund abated 7.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) in 2017 alone. Across the life of the projects, this equated to 121 million tonnes of abated C02e.

Sources: CEFC, Renew Economy, CEFC

Image: Four boys riding goats, ca. 1918. State Library of Queensland.

Value-added goat meat products could generate an additional $13 million for the industry, according to a recently released report.

Value adding goat meat for domestic consumers was commissioned by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) with the aim of identifying strategies to increase the domestic consumption of goat meat.

The Australian goat meat sector has generally relied on the export market as its main customer base. In 2016, 88% of goatmeat (30,680 tonnes) was sent offshore.

Increasing domestic demand for goat meat would help the industry to retain a bigger slice of the profits and, according to MLA Goat Industry Project Manager Julie Petty, would also act as a risk management strategy.

‘While the goat meat export market is lucrative for producers, a healthy level of domestic demand would provide a degree of insurance against any export downturn. More importantly, domestic demand would also enhance the industry’s reputation, encouraging more producers and supply chain players to participate in goatmeat production’, she said.

‘Young families, adventurous cooks, millennials, empty nesters and professional couples were identified in the study as consumer segments that could add goatmeat in their repertoire of meal occasions if convenient meal solutions were presented to them.’

According to Ms Petty, increasing consumer demand for goat meat relies on improving its profile to the same level as other ‘secondary animal proteins’ – such as salmon, tuna, mussels, duck, kangaroo, turkey and venison.

‘In the last 20 years, several secondary proteins have risen to prominence beyond the restaurant scene, to become mainstays of supermarket offerings, where most Australians buy their meat,’ Ms Petty said.

Goats Good for Summerville Station

A move from raising sheep and cattle to goats has resulted in financial and practical benefits for the Newton family on Summerville Station, 30kms eat of Bourke in New South Wales.

Despite his father’s reputation as a ‘staunch’ Merino producer, Rob Newton, along with his wife Marie, completed the transition in 2017.

The ease of handling and maintenance of goats combined with their strong financial performance ‘sealed the deal’ for the family, who sell between 150,000 to 200,000 animals each year, mostly for the meat trade. In addition to their 56,000-hectare station, the family also runs a goat depot, sourcing animals from a 200km radius.

During the transition, the property boundary was fenced for goats. As the enterprise grew, they began re-fencing the interior of the property, breaking paddocks up into smaller, manageable sizes.

‘Our black soil country can carry a higher stocking rate with the clovers and Mitchell grass, so we’ve been aiming for paddocks from 1,000 to 1,600ha in those areas and 2,400 to 4,000ha in the red mulga country,’ Rob said.

Keeping a close eye on stocking rates, the Newtons aim to retain 6,000 to 8,000 breeding rangeland does, to be crossed with the better rangeland bucks.

‘We’re selecting bucks based only on physical appearance at the moment and loosely on the same kinds of characteristics you’d look for in your bulls. We want well-muscled animals with a deep chest, good frame and short hair. The shorter hair is important for our buyers as the goats are mostly sold skin-on and the shorter hair is easier to remove’.

Most animals are sent to Charleville in Queensland for the whole carcase export trade, but there is also domestic demand for goat meat.

‘Our target for the domestic market are Sydney butchers and wholesalers supplying the Asian ethnic communities. Through Nyngan, we process 1,000 to 1,200 goats per week in winter and supply them skin-on, frozen to our Sydney buyers. They want whole, skin-on carcases no bigger than 12kg.

‘We stockpile suitable carcases during summer to make sure we can meet demand in winter. This is actually easier from a processing perspective because in summer, the goats are not as hairy and this is better for the small de-hairer in the Nyngan plant. We’d put 200-300 animals through a week in summer,’ he said.

Sources: MLA, MLA

Image: Chris Thomas, a former pastoralist, inspired his daughter Alex to improve the safety of farming families. Image supplied.

Adelaide-based Safety Consultant Alex Thomas has been awarded the 2018 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, earning a bursary of $10,000 to launch her ‘Plant a Seed for Safety’ social media campaign.

Having spent her formative years on Parnaroo Station near Yunta, Ms Thomas has first hand experience of the difficulties faced by farming families and the role that workplace health and safety plays in farm sustainability.

Thirty years ago, her father contracted Q-Fever from goats, which – combined with drought conditions and a marriage breakdown – resulted in the family property being sold. The situation inspired Ms Thomas to pursue a career in workplace health and safety with a goal of helping other families to avoid a similar fate.

‘The fatality rate for a work-related injury in agriculture is eight times higher than the national average and because women are key influences in their businesses, communities and family, they have a capacity to push change,’ she said.

She stresses that practical on-farm change – rather than being bogged down in paperwork – is key in implementing workplace health and safety performance.

‘It’s already been proven in other industries that safety paperwork doesn’t necessarily save lives. In order to seriously reduce the number of work-related fatalities in agriculture – we need to focus on fixing what it is that’s actually killing people’.

According to Ms Thomas, the key to cultural change is the role of women in driving improvement in on-farm practices.

‘They’re inherently more risk averse, they’re connected with the community, and they’re fantastic communicators. And above all – they care – and it’s in harnessing this care factor, that becomes their capacity to lead change.

‘As the experts and key influencers for their husbands, their businesses and their community, I believe rural women are the catalyst for change.’

Planting a Seed for Safety

The $10,000 bursary will be used by Ms Thomas to implement a social media campaign to increase awareness and change amongst family farmers, including free, downloadable resources.

‘Over the next twelve months, I’m going to launch the #PlantASeedForSafety social media campaign – which seeks to engage and empower rural women for change by profiling them and their stories of the changes they’ve instigated that have the potential to save a life.

‘I’m also going to develop free tools for the industry to reduce the costs associated with engaging consultants, and provide meaningful direction in how to prevent a fatality’ she said.

Alex Thomas has been featured as an expert on farm safety in several articles included in The Lucas Group e-newsletters – Taking the Bull by the Horns: Agriculture Finally Faces up to WH&S Obligations and Satellite Technology Making Station Life Safer

Sources: Stock Journal

Image: Project Boundary Rider was developed to assess the use of spatial technologies in protecting the wine grape industry from pest and disease threats. Image supplied by Vinehealth Australia.

Could the smartphone be used in the fight against on-farm biosecurity risks? A recent trial led by Vinehealth Australia has shown encouraging results.

Protecting South Australia’s winegrape industry is serious business when you consider that the industry contributes an estimated $2.11 billion to the State’s economy each year.

Vinehealth Australia – the body charged with leading the fight against phylloxera and other pest and disease threats in South Australia – has recently completed a project aimed at assessing the fit of a pocket-based solution to help growers tackle biosecurity issues at the farm-gate level.

Coined Project Boundary Rider, the demonstration pilot was rolled out among selected vineyards in 2017 as a way to see what role spatial technologies might play in on-farm biosecurity.

How the Technology Works

The system uses geofencing technology to define a virtual boundary around a grower’s holdings, with triggers set up to send a notification each time a smartphone crosses the property boundary.

Once the geofences are established, the landholder and any visitors use the Boundary Rider app to track movement across the property, providing notifications and alerts to users.

The log of movements across the property is stored in a cloud-based server and is available for the grower and Vinehealth Australia to review. In the case of pest or disease outbreaks, this information can be accessed to potentially help pinpoint the source and minimise any spread.

Project Boundary Rider

In 2017, a trial of the technology was launched among vineyard owners in the Barossa and McLaren Vale regions on a total of 130 separately fenced sections.

Once the geofences were established, vineyard workers and contractors downloaded the Boundary Rider app that automatically monitors movements across the boundary.

‘[During the trial, we] recorded more than 4,194 sets of movements across the geofences in the pilot. These movements have been consolidated into electronic visitor logbooks for each vineyard owner, with records showing who has gone in and out and when,’ said Suzanne McLoughlin, Technical Manager for Vinehealth Australia.

Assessing the Potential

Vinehealth Australia CEO Inca Pearce says the pilot showed ‘huge scope’ for the tool to be used in the fight against biosecurity risks.

‘The trial proved that the system definitely has the capability to act as a biosecurity measure,’ she said.

‘Pilot participants reported that there were several other benefits from using the app including monitoring mainstream security, tracking the spread of weeds and helping protect workers from chemical exposure after a spray application.’

Since releasing information about the trial, several other agricultural sectors have expressed interest in the technology.

‘Representatives from the pork, dairy and grains industries are interested in how the technology could be adapted to suit their biosecurity needs,’ Inca said.

‘We did identify a few technical issues with the system, including the drain on battery power, but technology in this area is rapidly improving the performance in this regard. Once these issues have been solved, there is good potential for the technology to be rolled out on a broader basis.’

Vinehealth Australia was commended for Project Boundary Rider with a Small Project Award at the South Australian Spatial Excellence Awards in 2017.

Sources: Vinehealth Australia

Image: North and South American citrus crops have been decimated by citrus greening disease. Image by pics_pd from Pixnio under a CC0 licence.

Brazilian researchers are one step closer to having a viable solution for citrus greening disease, after a breakthrough identified a molecule responsible for attracting the insect that spreads the disease.

Following six years of research, scientists at Fundo de Defesa da Citricultura (Fundeciturs) have isolated a molecule that attracts the insect responsible for spreading citrus greening disease – a plague-like disease that has caused havoc in the citrus growing regions in North and South America.

Having identified this molecule, researchers now hope to harness the pheromone to develop a product to attract and trap the insect, preventing it from infecting further trees. A commercial solution should be available to growers in 12-months, according to the researchers leading the project.

“This will not cure greening disease, but it will allow us to work in an intelligent and assertive way against the insect,’ said Juliano Ayres, general manager of Fundecitrus.

About Citrus Greening Disease

Trees with citrus greening disease (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) produce green, misshapen and bitter fruit, and die within a few years. Over the past ten years, the disease has had a devastating impact on the citrus growing regions in North and South America. In Brazil’s main orange producing regions – Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, 32 million trees are infected with the disease, out of a total of 175 million trees.

In California, the first cases of the disease were identified in 2008. More than 75% of Californian citrus trees have been infected, with industry losses estimated to be more than US$4.6billion in revenue and US$1.76billion in job losses. Earlier this year, Hurricane Irma caused widespread damage across California, compounding the woes of many citrus growers.

Citrus fruit is also grown in Texas and Florida, which have both suffered the ill effects of citrus greening disease.

Citrus Greening Disease Down Under

While Australia has remained free of citrus greening disease, some experts believe that current biosecurity measures are not enough to adequately protect the local citrus industry.

Adjunct professor Andrew Beattie from the University of Western Sydney warns that a lack of monitoring the psyllid insect that carries the disease poses a risk for Australian growers.

‘We must be thoroughly prepared, but I don’t believe that we are. I think the current incursion management plan is not adequate and needs revision because it’s more generic than it needs to be’, he said.

Dr Beattie believes that individual trees in Australia could be infected, but the disease hasn’t spread because of the lack of psyllids in Australia.

‘Travellers pose a risk because infested fresh curry leaves were intercepted in 2013’, he said.

It is also feasible for psyllids to arrive in Australia on cyclonic winds, as they did in Florida.

Sources: The Australian, Daily Bulletin, Chicago Tribune, ABC