The Victorian Government announced this week in its annual Budget that it has set aside AU$61.4 million of funding in this year’s State Budget for the food and agriculture industries. Revealing the State Budget for 2012/13 on Tuesday 2 May 2012, the Victorian Government outlined a four year funding plan to protect food and agriculture. The AU$61.4 million has been earmarked help build profitability and productivity of the dairy, red meat, grains and horticulture industries, as well as improve... ...Read more »

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) of Australia has today called for greater investment in agricultural education after a study by the Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF), the peak body for primary industries education in Australian schools, found that student and teacher knowledge ofAustralia’s food and fibre sector is “alarmingly low”. NFF President, Jock Laurie, said the study, which found that 75 per cent of students believe cotton is an animal product and 65 per cent do... ...Read more »

The Australian dairy sector has little to fear from an estimated nine billion additional litres of milk expected to “flood” the global market once European dairy quotas are fully lifted in 2015, according to a visiting expert in European dairy. Kevin Bellamy, senior global dairy analyst for Rabobank, covering Europe, has told Australian dairy producers and exporters that the staged lifting of quotas – which have historically capped dairy production in European countries – that is due to be... ...Read more »

Woolworths Australia has announced it has formed an alliance with the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) to develop a Blueprint for the future of Australian agriculture and farming. The move comes as Woolworths seeks to protect itself from a strong resurgence by its competitor, Coles, pushing a farm-fresh marketing campaign that has been Woolworths main marketing moniker for over two decades. Director of Woolworth supermarkets, Tjeerd Jegen, said that maintaining a strong relationship with Australian... ...Read more »

Tasmania’s Premier Lara Giddings, together with the Federal Minister for Regional Development Simon Crean, announced two projects in Tasmania’s North West that will boost the further development of Tasmania’s dairy industry. The two projects involve $4.25 Million to fund a new Tasmanian dairy-focused Agritas Trade College at Smithton, and $1.5 Million for a major upgrade to Harcus River Road. The money is all coming as a bi-product of $120 million to be provided by the Australian government... ...Read more »

Australian Food News recently reported criticisms of Australian government technical aid to the Indonesian cattle industry. The criticism was that the Australian government was spending Australian taxpayer funds helping potential competitors to the detriment of Australian food suppliers. The Australian government today released a new Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness framework to guide future aid budget allocations for agricultural research. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said that with approximately... ...Read more »

Researchers from North Carolina State University and West Virginia University have developed a new technology that can reduce air pollutant emissions from some chicken and swine barns, and also reduce their energy use by recovering and possibly generating heat. Specifically, the research team designed, built, and evaluated a proof-of-concept unit that incorporates a biofilter and a heat exchanger to reduce ammonia emissions from livestock barns, while also tempering — or heating up —... ...Read more »

The National Australia Bank (NAB) in its latest Rural Commodities Outlook  wrap  issued on 22 December 2011 has reported that apart from the weakening global economy, there is also a very strong production response hitting world agricultural commodity markets. Australian rural production  is on track for  massive winter crops in 2012 because of good rains adding to downward pressure on prices.  At  the same time, sugar and cotton production growth in Australia have also been part of the general... ...Read more »

A commodities report released today by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), forecasts the value of farm exports will rise by around 6 per cent to A$34.5 billion in 2011–12, reflecting expected higher exports and relatively favourable agricultural prices. ABARES forecasts the demand for agricultural products in the Asian region is expected to remain strong, with more than 60 per cent of Australia’s farm exports to the Asian region in 2010–11. ABARES... ...Read more »

The Australian Government has today announced the first round of its A$99 million ‘Action on the Ground’ program to support farmers as they adjust to Australia’s new carbon tax regime. Action on the Ground is funding farmers over the next six years to trial and demonstrate on-farm practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide or increase soil carbon. The program is a part of the Carbon Farming Futures Fund under the government’s A$1.7 billion Land Sector... ...Read more »