One of Australia’s key industrialists, Anthony Pratt, who is chairman of the leading Australian packaging business Visy Industries, has called upon the Australian government to work with Australia’s food industry to boost production. Speaking at a conference on food security yesterday in Shepparton, Victoria, Mr Pratt offered five ways he believes Australia can quadruple its food production: Accelerated depreciation should be introduced to encourage new manufacturing investments in food. Mr... ...Read more »

A national standard for the amount of time allowed between the last feed and slaughter of bobby calves in Australia has been agreed to by the main players in the Australian dairy industry. Bobby calves are the young male calves which are slaughtered for human consumption every year. They are the bi-product of the dairy industry as milking cows must be impregnated to lactate each year and the male calves are eliminated since they cannot produce milk. The industry decision came after Primary Industries... ...Read more »

Australia’s peak farming industry body, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and multinational Australian-based Westpac bank have launched plans for a Blueprint for Australian Agriculture. The blueprint will allow Australia’s food producers to help map Australia’s role in global food production over the next 40 years. Launching the Blueprint at Parliament House, Canberra, NFF President Jock Laurie said, “This initiative provides the opportunity for industry stakeholders to highlight... ...Read more »

New technologies and techniques are enabling Australia’s leading agricultural scientists from CSIRO to track a reduction in the levels of livestock methane emissions and develop solutions for a more productive, profitable and greenhouse gas friendly beef industry. The CSIRO research leader Dr Ed Charmley, has just announced that research conducted in the high-tech respiration chambers shows Australia’s northern beef herd is actually more ‘methane-friendly’ than previously thought. “What... ...Read more »

The global food production system is “not fit for purpose” and requires a “radical redesign” in order to secure adequate food supplies and ensure future food security, a leading scientific expert insisted today. Speaking at a conference in London, Professor John Beddington, chief scientific advisor to the UK government, warned that current methods of food production are failing to meet the demands of a growing global population, a problem that looks set to intensify. “The... ...Read more »

How much do we really know about the food we buy  at our local supermarkets and serve to our families? Food, Inc., a hard-hitting documentary about US food production systems sets to answer this question and reveals surprising – and often shocking truths – about what US consumers are eating, where it comes from and where the food industry is headed. The director of the fim, Robert Kenner was determined to get the scoop on the US food industry, exposing the highly mechanised underbelly... ...Read more »

Food and farming is seldom a prominent issue in electioneering, and while it has moved up the political agenda in recent years and receives a little more attention in their manifestos, the parties know it is unlikely to capture the imaginations of undecided voters. But, Ben Cooper writes, while it may not be a major campaigning issue, rising concerns over global food security guarantee it will be a key policy area for the incoming UK administration to address. At election time, the economy is unfailingly... ...Read more »

An industry expert has emphasised the importance of economic and environmental sustainability in the food industry in the face of global upheaval during a speech to the British government. According to to the CEO of market insight group IGD, Joanne Denney-Finch, the food industry needs to be flexible and responsive in order to overcome the challenges of the next decade: environmental degradation, economic recession, shifting markets, climate change and a 25% increase in food requirements. “Most... ...Read more »

China is anticipated to have reaped lower growth rates in food exports this year in the wake of last year’s melamine scandal but it is unlikely to dent their future as a world leading food supplier. The world’s most populous country is a net exporter of food and drink, with exports in volume terms worth between 25 million and 30 million tonnes. By value, exports were worth just over US$31bn (A$33.2b) in 2008. Whilst the most significant overseas markets for the Chinese food and drinks... ...Read more »

West Australian Agriculture and Food Minister, Terry Redman, this week opened a new state-of-the-art fresh food production facility in Bibra Lake. Mr Redman said fresh produce would be sourced from Western Australian growers to supply the factory which will produce an average of 15,000 bags of fresh salads, vegetables and stir-fries per day for supermarkets and greengrocers across the State. “The opening of Harvest FreshCuts is an exciting investment in WA, employing up to 100 people by the... ...Read more »