A report released today by the Queensland Government predicts the State’s milk production will fall by 5 per cent for the year 2011/12. The report attributes the impacts of natural disaster recovery and the supermarket ‘milk war’ to estimated low production levels. According to the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) report, the gross value of milk production in the State of Queensland for 2011-12 is forecast at A$229 million, 5% lower than the final estimate... ...Read more »

Queensland’s Opposition party, the Liberal National Party (LNP), has demanded that the State of Queensland double its food production by 2040. LNP Leader Campbell Newman today launched a long term agricultural strategy which positions Queensland as part of the solution to a predicted global world food crisis. Mr Newman said, “There isn’t a long term plan for agriculture in Queensland and our extensive consultation with the sector found that producers and industry groups want government... ...Read more »

Australia’s national farming industry association, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is calling on the Federal Government to ensure the future viability of Australia’s food manufacturing sector, without resorting to protectionist measures. NFF President Jock Laurie said in a statement today that it is in the interests of farmers to see a strong and vibrant manufacturing industry in Australia, particularly food manufacturing, but without compromising Australia’s long running trading... ...Read more »

Ants and termites may be the earthworms of dry-land agriculture, with a paper by scientists at CSIRO and the Univeristy of Sydney showing that the insects have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture. “Ants and termites perform the same ecosystem service functions in dryland agriculture that earthworms perform in cooler and wetter areas, but the potential for ants and termites to provide these benefits has received little attention until now,” said CSIRO’s... ...Read more »

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the introduction of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) legislation into Federal Parliament and says it is pleased that it has addressed a number of the NFF’s key concerns raised through the draft consultation process. “We have always stated that we are broadly supportive of the concept and intent of the Carbon Farming Initiative,” NFF President, Jock Laurie explained. “Despite the uncertainties that abound in the area of carbon mitigation,... ...Read more »

The disastrous floods in Queensland may cause up to $403m in damage to crops, according to the latest forecasts.  This could cause fruit and vegetable prices to rise by up to 50 per cent. Affected farmers report that both summer and winter crops have been destroyed, with many hectares of freshly planted grain, vegetable and fruit crops under water. The damage is expected to increase the cost of groceries such as melons, tomatoes, mangoes, and bananas from today. Farming lobby group AgForce estimates... ...Read more »

West African farmers have succeeded in cutting the use of toxic pesticides, increasing yields and incomes and diversifying farming systems as a result of an international project promoting sustainable farming practices.Around 100 000 farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal are participating in a community-driven training programme (West African Regional Integrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM) Programme) executed by FAO. Working in small groups, called Farmer Field Schools, smallholders... ...Read more »

Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe Helper has praised Victorians for their commitment to reporting sightings of locusts and said locust hatchings in the north-west of the state were now at the stage where spraying needed to be done.”Locust bands to the north of Wyperfeld National Park in north-west Victoria have now reached mid-instar stage which means it’s time to spray before they start to disperse,” Mr Helper said. “Depending on weather, locusts could reach adult stage... ...Read more »

AgriFood Skills Australia – the key body on skills training and workforce development issues in the agrifood industry and regional Australia – has awarded three International Fellowships as part of its ongoing support for innovation.The awards, offered in conjunction with International Specialised Skills Institute, were announced at the opening dinner for the 2010 AgriFood National Conference in Melbourne on Wednesday night. The conference, which attracted some 200 delegates from government,... ...Read more »

Author, journalist and science writer Julian Cribb has created a sobering text in The Coming Famine: The global food crisis and what we can do to avoid it, from CSIRO Publishing. Cribb’s view of the global food crisis paints a frightening picture: demand for food slowly outstripping supply, food production and urbanisation draining the world’s fresh water resources, food products siphoned for biofuel, developing markets with a taste for more exotic, protein-rich and plentiful dinner fare,... ...Read more »