Biosecurity threats won’t wait for Labor’s ‘political agenda’
AGRICULTURAL leaders have urged Labor to deliver its biosecurity election promise, saying exotic diseases won't wait for the party to work through its political agenda.
But the Agriculture Minister has indicated the government was still considering how to rollout a long-term sustainable funding model to fund the nation's biosecurity system.
For years, the agriculture sector has been urging governments to commitment on-going funding to biosecurity, as the number of threats continue to grow.
National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said Labor already had "runs on the board" with its handling of the Indonesian foot and mouth disease, and the endorsement of the National Biosecurity Strategy.
"The timing is absolutely right for the government to demonstrate in this budget a long-term commitment," Mr Mahar said.
"Everything is in place. If they don't do it now, when is the perfect time?"
GrainGrowers chief executive David McKeon said historically it had been hard to get biosecurity on the agenda and it made sense to use "this opportunity to continue the momentum".
"The biosecurity threats facing ag are not going to sit around and wait a couple of years for the government to work through its agenda," Mr McKeon said.
The former government initially proposed an importer levy on all container freight to fund the nation's biosecurity system, but scrapped the idea after objections from importers, which were compounded by the economic impact of COVID-19.
The government then proposed a user-pay cost-recovery system, that would see importers pay in proportion to how much they use government-provided biosecurity services.
Nationals leader and former agriculture minister David Littleproud revealed one of the last orders he gave the department before the election was to finalise the consultation process, so the user-pay model could be implemented.
"I had approve in the budget process for the cost-recovery measure... I wasn't able to get in into the April budget, but it was approved for MYEFO [the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook]," Mr Littleproud said.
"A lot of that work had already been done, and there should have been nothing stopping the department from completing that. It's whether the new minister held the department to account to complete those instructions."
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt indicated the government was still consulting with stakeholders, and slammed the previous government for the botched the introduction of a biosecurity levy.
"They were more interested in the announcement than talking to industry... we will not make the same mistakes," Mr Watt said.
"We understand this is a complex matter that requires careful consideration and time to engage in meaningful conversations with stakeholders."
Mr Watt said biosecurity would remain a key focus of the upcoming budget, and the government was committed to delivering long-term sustainable funding to strengthen the biosecurity system.
Source: Jamieson Murphy, Farmonline National, 5 October 2022
Australian Milk Price Initiative organisers call on dairy industry to reform
The brains behind proposed reform of the Australian dairy industry say change is needed, alleging the pricing status quo is costing the sector about $400 million each year.
In a letter to key dairy figures, the team that drafted the Australian Milk Price Initiative has called for the sector to discuss price reform, in light of the bidding war that kicked off the 2022-23 season.
The development of the AMPI was bankrolled by the Morrison government ahead of the 2019 federal election but the coronavirus pandemic and upheaval within the sector has sidelined price reform.
AMPI co-organisers Scott Briggs, Garry Booth and Michael Avery have issued a briefing paper to processors and farm group leaders.
In the document, they note the Australian dairy sector is the only major milk market that sets a guaranteed minimum price once a year.
They argue the current structure is costing the sector between $380 and $450 million a year in pricing inefficiencies.
“(That) sees a seller contract all their production to only one buyer at one price at one time. (That also) sees that buyer take on all production and price risk for the seller,” they said.
“There is a reason no one else does it this way: it doesn’t work.”
The minimum price was introduced as part of the Morrison government’s mandatory dairy code of conduct, implemented in July 2020.
The call by the AMPI co-organisers comes as Saputo management flagged the need for further factory closures in Australia.
The AMPI co-organisers noted other dairy markets worldwide are reforming the way they price milk and that Australia risked being an agri-economic laggard.
“(Other countries) enable price risk management systems which allow farmers, processors and customers to manage price and supply risk separately, up to three years out,” they said.
“By doing so, they are realising that farmers managing margins versus input costs (ensures a) more stable milk supply.”
What the market really wants in a dairy-beef carcase: Greenham’s Jess Loughland
GROWTH, yield and eating quality are the key areas where dairy-beef breeders have the most opportunity to pull genetic levers that will drive carcase value in the beef sector.
This message came from experienced livestock supply chain manager Jess Loughland at this month's Growing Beef from Dairy conference, hosted by Dairy Australia and held at Attwood in Victoria.
Speakers from around the world repeatedly spoke about the exceptionally positive traits coming from the dairy animal around eating quality.
Ms Loughland supported those sentiments but said yield and growth were probably the areas where there was less confidence in parties to invest in dairy-beef animals year-in and year-out.
In her role with southern Australian processor Greenham, Ms Loughland looks after natural beef programs, producer engagement and supply chain sustainability initiatives.
Greenhams has been in the beef industry for more than 150 years. The family started with small butcher shops in Melbourne and today runs three beef export facilities in Victoria and Tasmania.
"When we look at developing supply chains, we've heard many advocate the market-first approach," Ms Loughland said.
"That is about moving away from saying we have product so where can we find a home for it, towards looking at where there might be an opportunity with high value markets.
"Through doing that, there are some real opportunities to develop strong, viable and sustainable pathways for cattle of dairy origin in the beef sector."
In terms of carcase value, there was never one over-riding driver - it was a multifaceted business, Ms Loughland said.
Consistently high eating quality is, of course, the holy grail in high value markets but in saying that we have to recognise Australian beef is the most expensive in the world at the moment, she said.
"We have the most expensive cattle costs. Historically we've run at a 25 per cent discount to the United States but we are now sitting at a 17pc premium," Ms Loughland said.
"That means that processors have to look, on a global basis, at how we can extract every last piece of consumer value out of the products we are selling to sustain those high prices."
So while meat quality is important in keeping consumers coming back, other factors such as volume, raising claims, product presentation and branding also play a role.
The place of raising claims is less about saying any one production system is good or bad but rather identifying areas where a consumer may be looking for a particular thing and be willing to pay a premium for it, according to Ms Loughland.
"Dairy-beef could really capture a high value niche in this area," she said.
"For example, in the US where such a high focus is placed on long-fed beef, for a consumer in that market seeking a more natural product there would be the opportunity to extract a premium."
So how do these drivers translate back into genetics?
From a dairy perspective, the focus has been around calving ease and gestation length to maintain profitability but we must also start looking at what is of value to the grower, the finisher and the processor.
Animals that grow faster can provide greater returns to the grower and finisher, and also produce a finished product with a lower carbon footprint, Ms Loughland said.
Animals that yield better in the processing plant provide more kilograms of saleable meat per kilogram of liveweight paid for.
So for growth, estimated breeding values on 400 and 600-day growth are key and then from a yield perspective, it is eye muscle area and retail beef yield.
Source: Shan Goodwin, Farmonline National, 26 September 2022
Outgoing Australian Dairy Farmers chief executive David Inall says farm advocacy faces challenges
Farmer advocacy is facing a funding crunch, according to outgoing Australian Dairy Farmers chief executive officer David Inall.
This is occurring at the same time as increasing demands are being placed on farmer representative organisations.
After 31 years in farm advocacy roles here and in the United States, Mr Inall is moving out of the sector at the end of this week, having accepted the position of CEO with the Master Grocers Australia, an employer organisation for 2700 independent retailers across Australia.
He said things had changed significantly since he started as a policy officer with the NSW Dairy Farmers Association in 1991.
"Over time the resourcing of peak commodity groups and state farming organisations has decreased significantly," he said.
And no one has been able to identify a solution to the problem.
"The NFF (National Farmers Federation) is on their third review of ag representation," Mr Inall said.
Options such as sponsorship had been tried but hadn't succeeded.
"The money is still in the industry, but how do those organisations access it," he said. "The model is outdated."
Increasing demands
Mr Inall said the demands placed on farmer representative organisations had increased in the time since he was first involved.
In the digital age, governments moved fast on issues while global issues also played a bigger role.
This had created a resources strain.
ADF had a staffing level of 3.5 that needed to be across a wide raft of issues.
"One of the things I pride myself on is the good team I've had for five years," Mr Inall said.
The key had been to focus on key areas where ADF could deliver results.
He nominated $1 milk ending and the dairy code of conduct as two wins during his time as CEO.
Many organisations and individuals played a part in creating noise around $1 milk and highlighting it was a bad deal for dairy farmers.
"But where ADF really comes in is we're the national voice of reason," Mr Inall said.
"Right at the very end, we were there to have very sensitive and discreet conversations with Woolworths that led to that announcement when Woolworths were going up 10 cents."
ADF played a key role in the development and implementation of the dairy code of conduct.
"That's been the most significant government intervention project in the industry that I can recall for some considerable time," Mr Inall said.
"And while many organisations may like to claim ownership, rest assured that it was ADF that did a lot of legwork to get that over the line and particularly developing content for it."
Mr Inall said some of this work necessarily was behind the scenes.
"You know it's a bit of a tightrope to walk, where you don't necessarily want to upset the people that you're dealing with, but you also need your members to know what's going on," he said.
Mr Inall said effectively communicating with farmers was a challenge with limited resources.
ADF used the media and provided updates via email but the most effective way was to talk directly with farmers.
"There is no better way to communicate than actually be face to face, actually get out on the road and be sitting in front of a whole lot of farmers and have these discussions," he said.
"The budget really just doesn't allow it - it's a big country obviously to get around."
ADF tried to make the most of limited resources by holding meetings with farmers in conjunction with the state dairy farming organisations but it was still challenging.
Big issues
Mr Inall nominated labour as the biggest issue facing the dairy industry. He said he was aware of farmers who had sold their cows and got out of the industry simply they did not have staff to effectively run the business.
"We know there's multi levels to this as we've found through our agricultural workforce strategy," he said.
"We've taken an election platform to the government, which I think is one of the best pieces of work ADF has done, we took 38 policy ideas to government and we are now starting to work through those."
Labour issues were everything from getting people to work on farms, getting visas and the backpacker resource not being what it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The key to solving the problem long term was promoting dairy as a career, which was happening through programs like Cows Create Careers.
Mr Inall said in his role in the past five years he had met with participants in the young farmer study tours and was impressed with the quality of people attracted to the industry.
"There's clearly a lot of smart, young ambitious people out there and they have my utmost respect," he said.
"So the industry is still attracting people like that, which is great.
"What I'd love to see is for those people to get more involved in the advocacy side."
Static production levels in Australia, even with buoyant prices, were also an issue.
The industry needed to work out how to create pathways for people who wanted to be involved to be able to milk cows.
The other big global issue was around animal welfare and environmental stewardship and increasing demands being placed on farmers around these.
But there had to be a balance there in terms of farmers being able to keep on producing.
But increasingly I believe what works well for agriculture ... is you need to work with the government as a partner in our business. – David Inall
Mr Inall pointed to the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework as helping to achieve that balance for the industry.
The sustainability debate highlighted the other big change that had occurred in the relationship between farmers and their organisations and governments.
"If I think back to '70s and '80s, which was before my time, but certainly in the '90s, there was this sense that if agriculture wasn't happy, one way - almost a leading way - in which you would respond would be to take on the government," Mr Inall said.
"And whether it was marching in Canberra or certainly putting out aggressive media statement showing the government's got it all wrong.
"Now that's still important and, as a lobbyist, I'd say that it's critically important that the government knows that you're there to hold them to account and they know that you're going to call them out if we think they've got it wrong.
"But increasingly I believe what works well for agriculture ... is you need to work with the government as a partner in our business."
Mr Inall said it was vital to have good relationships with people in the departments advising governments, as well as with the ministers and government members.
"What I pride myself in doing is building a reputation so that they know that ADF is the trusted body," he said.
Rural confidence dashed Rabo survey finds
Rising input costs combined with fears of a Foot and Mouth Disease incursion have weighed heavily on optimism in Australia's farm sector in the latest quarter, according to the Rabobank Rural Confidence survey released last week.
Despite strength in farm balance sheets and the overall health of the sector following more than two years of high rainfall and exceptional commodity prices, more farmers now believe conditions are set to worsen over the year ahead rather than improve.
For the first time since December 2019 the rural confidence nationally has moved into 'negative' territory, with more farmers taking a pessimistic rather than optimistic view of the year ahead.
The survey found 85 per cent of all farmers questioned nationally were extremely concerned about the threat of FMD and its potential impact on the Australian agricultural industry.
Rabobank Australia CEO Peter Knoblanche said while the nation's farm sector was in a very healthy state financially, there were several challenging or concerning factors now clouding what was previously a largely overall positive outlook.
"Long term, I think farmers are still very confident about agriculture," Mr Knoblanche said.
"There is good domestic and worldwide demand for our rural commodities, productivity and profitability is high and farmers have done very well rebuilding after the drought and building greater resilience into their businesses.
"However, margins are starting to come under pressure from the ongoing rise in input costs, and farmers are carefully monitoring and managing those costs.
"And there is definitely some anxiety among livestock producers about the heightened threat of an FMD incursion, and the potential impact this would cause should it enter Australia."
Local dairy farmer and eastAUSmilk board member Kay Tommerup said increased milk prices were a boost to farmers.
"Whilst dairy farmers have certainly welcomed the well-earned, and long awaited, increase to farm gate prices over the past year, it continues to be a balancing act as higher input costs threaten to eat into those gains quite substantially," she said.
"Higher grain costs and the huge jump in fertiliser prices, combined with the skyrocketing cost of fuel, will continue to challenge the industry.
"And with another wet summer forecast for the coming season, we would certainly be hoping for grass-growing weather rather than flooding rain.
"If we can have a win with the weather and milk pricing stays high, it will certainly assist dairy farmers to counter the effects of rising input costs."
Mr Knoblanche said optimism was strongest among cotton, dairy, sugar and grain producers, while mixed livestock producers were the most pessimistic group of those surveyed.
However almost half of surveyed Australian farmers said they believe conditions will remain the same as they currently are over the year ahead, which up till now have been overall very good.
Harrisville dairy farmer Ross McInnes says if the BOM prediction of more floods proved correct, it would have a devastating effect.
"This year since February has been the toughest period I've certainly been through," he said.
"I don't think it makes any difference which type of agriculture you're in, it's just been too wet."
Mr McInnes said he milked about 450 cows and lost about 40 due to excessive rainfall.
"When you have that much rain and it just keeps going you have hoof issues, mastitis and other health issues," he said.
"We're staying aware of the FMD threat but probably more likely to get here is lumpy skin disease because it's spread by insects. It wouldn't take too much to get out of Indonesia.
"I think every farm is taking steps with biosecurity, so if someone doesn't need to be on the farm you just make those decisions.
"The biggest trouble with an incursion, say with foot and mouth disease, is the fact that you have a situation where you're still going to have the milk tanker come in every day or two.
"So you've got vehicles travelling from farm to farm and that becomes a biosecurity issue."
Mr McInnes said he was hoping for average rainfall this summer.
"It's going to cause a lot of grief if we have another really wet summer," he said.
"If we get one big storm there's going to be floods in all the small creeks around the place ... it's going to be another challenging year.
"I think everyone's hoping they can get their crops in and put some feed away because speaking with other dairy farmers, especially in northern NSW, all their conserve feed supplies have been used up, so they're very vulnerable at the moment.
"With another wet summer we just won't have those feed reserves we would normally have on tap."
Towri Sheep Cheese farmer Dallas Davison said more heavy rainfall would be a worry.
"If we do have another wet season I don't know how the sheep will cope because they're still recovering from foot rot and worms from the last lot of rain," she said.
"Not to mention our property ... the grass has gone sour and you've still got really wet ground, it's horrible.
"We're trying to build up more areas so we can put the sheep up higher because we know it's coming and we're just trying to prepare for it."
Ms Davidson said the farm lost animals after the floods.
"We lost a lot of the old girls, which is really hard because the old girls teach the young oneshow to go up on the milking frame," she said.
"We have to push them up and teach them how to do it ... it's really stressful because we have a season full of new ewes that have never been milked before."
Ms Davidson said rising fuel costs had been hard on agritourism.
"People are less likely to make the drive to the Scenic Rim, to do those big day trips to come and see us ... it's just been a massive ripple effect."
MLA, Dairy Australia join to set up dairy beef extension training program
AgSTAR Projects managing director Maria Thompson has told the conference there is an opportunity to improve the breeding, the feeding and the management of any marketing of the calves destined for dairy beef pathways.
Australia's dairy and red meat peak bodies have joined to develop a new five-year extension and adoption program for the dairy beef sector.
Dairy Australia and Meat & Livestock Australia will jointly fund the Growing Beef from Dairy study program and encourage its take up.
AgSTAR Projects managing director Maria Thompson told the Growing Beef from Dairy Conference, Melbourne, that only 37 per cent of dairy cattle, of a 1.5 million herd, were bred for replacements.
That meant an estimated conservative surplus of between 500,000-600,000 calves.
"We have existing, and emerging, dairy beef pathways - there is most certainly an opportunity to improve the breeding, the feeding and the management of any marketing of the calves destined for those pathways," Ms Thompson said.
She said there were management challenges on farm, as surplus calves had been seen of having no monetary value.
There was also the issue of the cost of infrastructure, rearing and finding skilled labor.
"There is a huge social welfare licence issue for the industry," Ms Thompson said.
"This area has become a priority for industry, in particular for stakeholders, so they can have access to best management practices and information, the latest research and development."
The project aimed to develop the tools to assess the viability, costs and benefits of rearing dairy cows for beef.
"It will essentially be developing a suite of information and tools to upskill to support both dairy and beef producers to make better decisions across the supply chain, to ultimately improve animal welfare and meat quality outcomes," she said.
The team developing the training package hoped to talk to everyone in the dairy-beef supply chain.
"It's a market-focused outcome for surplus calves - where is the target market, what is the end point for those calves?" she said.
The training package would aim producers to make more informed and better decisions, based on the age and weight of calves, regional, seasonal and market variations.
"A key element of the project is working with farmer and the supply chain to understand what the barriers are and to ensure they are thinking about 'what is the market for my calf, what is the next step, where is my calf going?'," she said.
The project would develop bespoke learning modules, target to calf age and weight.
Source: Andrew Miller, Farmonline National, 19 September 2022
Media Release: Lactalis Australia found to have breached Dairy Code of Conduct
The Federal Court has found Lactalis Australia Pty Ltd (Lactalis) breached the Dairy Code of Conduct by failing to meet some of its obligations in relation to the 2020-21 milk season, in court proceedings brought by the ACCC.
The Code commenced in 2020 to address systemic transparency issues and bargaining power imbalances between dairy farmers and processors.
“This is an important case for the ACCC as these are the first proceedings we have instituted under the Dairy Code of Conduct, and the decision is a win for dairy farmers who generally have limited bargaining power in their dealings with much larger processors,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
The Court found that Lactalis breached the Code when it failed to publish its milk supply agreements on its website by the Code’s deadline of 2pm on 1 June 2020, and instead required dairy farmers to sign-up through a web portal to receive them by email.
The Court also found that Lactalis breached the Code by publishing and entering into agreements that allowed them to unilaterally terminate the agreement in circumstances that did not amount to a material breach. In particular, Lactalis was permitted to unilaterally terminate the agreement when, in their opinion, the farmer had engaged in “public denigration” of processors, key customers or other stakeholders.
However, the Court dismissed the ACCC’s allegation that Lactalis had failed to publish genuine non-exclusive milk supply agreements by requiring farmers to supply a minimum of 90 per cent of their monthly milk production, which the ACCC alleged would have the effect of prohibiting most farmers from supplying milk to another processor. The Court found that Lactalis’ subsequent publication of this agreement met the Code’s requirement for the publication of a non-exclusive agreement.
The Court also found that Lactalis did not fail to meet the Code’s “single document” requirement, which is intended to provide a single source of farmers’ obligations, to provide farmers with certainty regarding the content of their agreement.
“Farmers need to have access to timely information when making decisions about which processor to supply milk to,” Mr Keogh said.
“In breaching the Code’s requirement to publish its milk supply agreements by the deadline, Lactalis made it harder for farmers to compare milk prices and contract terms across different processors.”
“This case should serve as a reminder to all dairy processors that failure to comply with the Code may result in ACCC enforcement action, including court proceedings, with serious consequences,” Mr Keogh said.
A hearing on relief, including penalties, will be held at a later date.
Background
Lactalis is one of Australia’s largest dairy processors and purchases milk from over 400 dairy farmers across all Australian states. The company produces a wide range of dairy products across a number of brands including Pauls, Oak, Vaalia and Ice Break.
The Dairy Code (the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Dairy) Regulations 2019) came into effect on 1 January 2020. It is a mandatory industry code regulating the conduct of farmers and milk processors in their dealings with one another.
Under the Dairy Code, a processor must, by 2:00pm on 1 June each year, publish on its website one or more standard form milk supply agreements; and, for each standard form milk supply agreement, a statement setting out the circumstances in which the processor would enter into the agreement.
For every exclusive milk supply agreement a processor publishes, a processor must also offer a non-exclusive supply option to farmers.
The Dairy Code requires processors to only purchase milk under a milk supply agreement. All agreements must comply with the code by meeting a number of key requirements, including:
specifying a minimum price paid for the milk;
consisting of a single document;
specifying quality and quantity requirements, including testing procedures; and
specifying the circumstances in which parties may unilaterally terminate the milk supply agreement – for processors to unilaterally terminate, the circumstances outlined must involve a ‘material breach’ by the farmer.
The publication obligations of the Dairy Code apply to all processors with an annual aggregated turnover of $10 million or more in the previous financial year.
Source: ACCC, 16 September 2022
On-farm production increased from biochar boost
THE benefits of biochar in agriculture are increasing, as more trials are undertaken.
Climate Agricultural Support consultant Melissa Rebbeck, Goolwa, SA, who has worked with the "charcoal-like substance" since 2014, outlined a number of these benefits during a recent agtech bus tour across the Fleurieu Peninsula.
"Biochar production and its effect on soil and animal health is some of the most exciting work that I have done," she said.
"There is about 10 million tonnes of biomass that is burnt or goes into landfill every year producing 15mt of CO2.
"Much of this biomass could be turned into biochar via a process called pyrolysis.
"When processed correctly, pyrolysis captures everything, including energy emissions, and we can reuse everything, from bio-oil, bio-gas, bio-diesel, wood vinegar.
"The heat energy that you can capture can be used for power generation.
Biochar is up to 90 per cent carbon, but the heating process in the absence of oxygen means that it is very special because it activates it.
"Then everything else that remains is carbon. Depending on the length of the burn and heat, will determine the quality of the biochar.
"Biochar is up to 90 per cent carbon, but the heating process in the absence of oxygen means that it is very special because it activates it."
Ms Rebbeck said one gram of biochar was the equivalent of the surface area of a house.
"It is highly porous and has a large cation and anion exchange capacity across its large surface area," she said.
"When used in soils, plants or animals, those anions and cations act like a battery, waking up minerals and nutrients becoming more absorbable.
"Feed becomes more actively absorbed, resulting in better feed conversion. Soil health is improved, as is pasture minerals and productivity."
Ms Rebbeck, who is also a director of the Australia and New Zealand Biochar Industry Group, said a roadmap was being produced that outlined a pathway to work toward pyrolysis of that 10mt to make biochar. It will also contain an agricultural component.
"Australia's soil carbon is at an all time low, with some scientists saying we only have 10 years left of growth out of the topsoil," she said.
"However for every 1pc we increase soil carbon, we increase water holding capacity by 10-30pc and production by 10-30pc," she said.
"We need to get carbon back into the soil.
"Biochar is carbon and the making of biochar recycles carbon back to the soil rather than losing it to the atmosphere and increasing climate change impacts."}
MORE RESEARCH UNDER WAY
A South Australian trial on the property of dairy farmer Barry Clark, Myponga, SA, has had Climate Agricultural Support feed biochar to dairy cows for a year at 150 grams per head a day.
Melissa Rebbeck said there were positive results.
"Starting in January, we noticed an immediate increase in milk yield," she said.
"Starting at 14-16 litres per cow per day, by the end of the trial some animals were up to 20.5L/cow/day.
"Milk solids also improved by 0.01kg/hd/day.
"We also noticed a decrease in the need for feed, up to two round bales per week.
"Taking away the biochar cost (about $1000/t), we saw an increase in profit of $30,000 just by feeding that 150g of biochar a day."
Ms Rebbeck said they planned to undertake more research on both soil health benefits and whether biochar could even help reduce cow methane emissions.
"Biochar does not get digested by the animals, it remains in the manure, and is highly bioactive," she said.
"Fifty cows produce about 1t of dung a day, so for someone with 250 cows, that's 5t of dung a day or 1825t a year.
"Across 200ha, that's a spread rate of 9.1t/ha of activated manure."
Ms Rebbeck said the Fleurieu had a good population of dung beetles, which had been reburying the activated biochar manure.
"We have tested some of that soil and found some extraordinary results, in increased mycorrhizal fungi, increased soil carbon and unlocked phosphorus," she said.
"So not only is there a potential carbon credit payback for the farmer, they're also increasing soil carbon, their water holding capacity by 10-30pc, and production by 10-30pc.
"We have also found increases in pasture biomass, and have also conducted trials containing biochar and superphosphate, which resulted in greater yields than using just super alone or biochar on its own."
Ms Rebbeck said they were also looking into mixing biochar with lime or gypsum.
"Lime may be our first port of call as SA has lots of acid soils," she said.
"By using biochar, it keeps lime in the soil for longer, potentially expanding its worth to up to 15 years, while biochar itself can last up to 1000 years and also has a pH neutralising effect.
"Mixing it with gypsum could also prove beneficial to local calcareous soils."
Source: Alisha Fodgen, Farmonline National, 20 September 2022
Growing Beef from Dairy Conference: International experts weigh in
Dairy-to-beef production is often overlooked, but it’s generating ever-increasing dollars not only in Australia but internationally.
Lactation is not adversely affected by dairy-to-beef breeding, international researchers have found as the practice becomes commonplace.
Farmers, researchers and meat industry figures took part in the 2022 Growing Beef from Dairy Conference, hosted by Dairy Australia, in Melbourne today.
Appearing via video-link from the United States, Texas Tech University animal and food Science expert Dale Woerner said consumer expectations were being met by dairy-to-beef produce.
“We certainly realise that the concept of breeding beef bulls with dairy cows is not a new concept. In fact, you can see published research in North America going back some time,” Professor Woerner said.
“Industry and research have dabbled in this (with dairy to beef) for decades now. But in recent times, for whatever reason – market signals being what they are – in our beef-packing sector, we’ve seen significant changes.
“We started our research efforts at Texas Tech in 2018. Our research primarily focused around meat quality. Some of the realisations we’ve come to are the differences between conventional beef cattle versus dairy cattle.”
Professor Woerner said there were differences between the beef and dairy cattle varieties relating to gut health, liver composition and muscle-to-bone ratio.
“(There’s) several advantages on the dairy side including eating characteristics such as marbling, differences in muscle biology, muscle fibre type – all of which provide positive eating experiences,” he said.
Professor Woerner said his research had provided confidence to the dairy sector that traditional dairy lines can be crossbred with beef bulls and not affect lactation.
“The overall lactation performance has not been affected at all. In fact, dairy cows bred to beef bulls … ultimately produced a slight advantage in lactation, further adding to the idea that breeding to beef bulls does not detrimentally impact the volume of milk produced by dairy cows.”
Appearing via video-link from Canada, University of Guelph animal bioscience expert Michael Steele discussed how prenatal research was critical to breeding beef-ready calves.
“When you look at the concept of beef from dairy, we do a lot of studies in our lab following dairy cows for their entire life. We look at early-life nutritional regimen and we follow those calves for six or seven years,” Professor Steele said.
“We’re really far behind prenatally in the dairy world compared to the beef world. So in the beef world, we know when all these muscle fibres are being generated in the calf and at different phases – at first, second and third trimester – what will dictate the total number of muscle cells. This is actually predetermined around seven months into gestation.
“We don’t know too much in the dairy world how prenatal nutrition can impact a (dairy) calf. “But I would argue in the dairy world, just because of our precision feeding compared to the beef world, there are lots of opportunities to change this and to feed particular additives and particular styles of feeding prenatally to a dairy cow that’s carrying a beef embryo.”
EPA fines: Farmers must register silage tyres
Farmers will no longer need EPA licences when using 5000 or more tyres to weigh down silage — the tyres must be registered instead.
Dairy farmers must register all tyres used to weigh down silage on their properties by July 1 next year, under regulations being drafted by the Environment Protection Authority.
The registration requirement is part of a compromise deal negotiated by the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and Dairy Australia, to avoid farmers having to spend $15,000 or more to gain an EPA license when using 5000 or more waste tyres on their properties.
The compromise deal took two years to negotiate and was triggered by a case in which the EPA ordered a Gippsland dairy farming family to remove every one of the 6800 tyres they used on their property to hold down silage stack covers or face a $396,000 fine.
The Whittaker family’s treatment led to a public outcry, which forced the EPA to the negotiating table.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Environment followed up by undertaking a survey of 122 farmers to understand the extent of their silage usage, which found:
69 per cent used less than 2500 tyres
6 per cent used 2500 - 5000 tyres
12 percent used 5000 - 12,500
5 per cent used 12,500 - 25,000
8 per cent using 25,000 or more
The fact that 25 per cent of surveyed farmers used more than the licenced threshold of 5000 tyres led the government to develop a range of alternatives that were then subject to a regulatory impact statement, which recommended the move to a simple registration process.
Victoria’s Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio this week finally issued a notice recommending regulations be made to declare “using five cubic metres or more of waste tyres as weights during silage production, including storing waste tyres for that purpose” is a “prescribed permission activity” that must be registered from July 1, 2023.
The minister’s ruling means all dairy farmers who use more than about 60 tyres must register the number of tyres they use on the property and their location.
Registration will be free through an online process, which the EPA is yet to establish.
The EPA is also developing guidance notes in partnership with the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and Dairy Australia on how silage tyres are stored, including buffer distances from buildings, to minimise fire risks.
UDV president Mark Billing said moving to registration was a good outcome.
“UDV and DA have been negotiating from more than 12 months to get a balanced situation,” Mr Billing said.
“While the EPA requires registration, we’ve been able to wind back other requirements.”
He said avoiding licensing was invaluable to dairy farmers, especially those in the state’s north, who were cutting and carting and storing large quantities of silage.
School students believe dairy farmers milk their cows by hand, survey shock
Most school students believe the milk in their fridge at home comes from a dairy cow milked by hand.
They are unaware cows are milked by machines and have been for many years.
This was just one startling result from an extensive survey conducted across 5000 primary and secondary students across Australia by CQ University, which has campuses in every state.
It was yet another Australian survey which has revealed most students have little knowledge about agriculture.
A new study by CQ University has identified a lack of agricultural knowledge among Australian school students, highlighting a need for more adequate agricultural education programs.
Previous surveys have alarmed the National Farmers Federation when they discovered students thought yoghurt grew on trees.
Or that their cotton socks came from animals.
In this latest survey, the largest of its kind, CQU's Agri-tech Education and Extension research team, led by Dr Amy Cosby, surveyed more than 5187 primary and secondary students from 157 schools across Australia about their knowledge of agriculture.
The study found many students regarded agriculture to be a low-tech industry.
Four in five primary students and three in five secondary students believing commercial milking of dairy cows occurs by hand, rather than machine.
"Agriculture is in a period of rapid technological advancement but modern farming practices are not being adequately portrayed to Australian students," Dr Cosby said.
The study showed student awareness of agricultural careers was also limited, with many only able to recognise traditional roles such as a 'farmer' and 'beekeeper' as jobs in agriculture.
Dr Cosby said this was likely a contributing factor to the industry's current skilled workforce shortage.
"If students are not being shown an accurate vision of modern agriculture, they are unlikely to recognise that agricultural jobs can be highly skilled, well paid and possibly located outside rural areas," Dr Cosby said.
Importantly, the study showed one of the biggest factors impacting students' agricultural knowledge was their level of exposure to farms.
Students who lived on a farm or who visited a farm at least four times a year, scored significantly higher (as a group by median score) than those who had never been to a farm.
Dr Cosby said it highlighted the importance of including regular exposure to farming activities in agricultural programs for Australian schools.
"Virtual experiences and online resources are important, but nothing beats exposing students to agricultural workplaces in real life and to people who work in these careers," she said.
While agricultural knowledge is developed through both formal schooling and informal experiences, agriculture as a subject is not a mandatory inclusion in most Australian schools.
The exception to this is in New South Wales, where agriculture is part of the compulsory curriculum in Years 7 and 8.
Most students surveyed recognised some fruits and vegetables grow better in certain parts of the world.
Just over half of the secondary students understood that hormones are not given to chickens to make them grow (a practice that has been banned in Australia for more than 60 years).
Most secondary students understood Australia exports most of its food and fibre.
Some secondary students thought cattle spend all of their life in a feedlot and do not spend anytime outside at all.
"Today's students are tomorrow's consumers and their future purchasing decisions will be shaped by their understanding of things like animal welfare, environmental sustainability and healthy eating practices," Dr Cosby said.
Dr Cosby said the study also highlighted the need for a formal framework to assess students' agricultural literacy, similar to what is in place in the United States under the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes.
"The absence of an agricultural literacy framework in Australian schools is a significant deficit and limits the capacity for comprehensive assessment of the agricultural education that is taking place," Dr Cosby said.
The full report can be found here
Source: Chris McLennan, Farmonline National, 14 September 2022
Local milk a key ingredient in a good coffee
DAIRY farmers say the key to making a great coffee at home is in using good quality fresh milk.
NSW Farmers dairy producer Simone Jolliffe of Wagga said fresh, local milk was a barista's secret weapon in making a top-notch coffee.
"One of the main ingredients in a great coffee is great milk, and there's no reason you can't use affordable café-grade milk at home," Mrs Jolliffe said.
"More and more Australians are making their coffees at home now, and using quality, fresh ingredients is the secret key to success.
"Whether you're supporting your local café or you're making your own at home, using fresh local milk will ensure you can enjoy the premium taste and quality we demand from our daily brew."
NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chairman Colin Thompson said he was proud of the reputation for excellence the state's dairy sector enjoyed, and said it was one way for cost-conscious families to enjoy a great cuppa at home.
"Here in NSW we're a major producer of fresh milk and we're thankful for all the families who enjoy our product," Mr Thompson said.
"The fact that our regular milk is so good that baristas actually prefer it is a sure sign we're doing something right, and it's great news for families who can use it to make a great coffee at home," Mr Thompson said.
Dairy Australia: Outlook positive, but requires balancing
The Australian dairy industry outlook is positive, but the weather and high input costs could throw things out.
The outlook for Australian dairy this spring is positive.
This is despite Dairy Australia currently forecasting a flat milk pool for the 2022-23 season, with labour challenges, excessively wet conditions in some parts, high costs and farm exits acting against the incentives generated by high milk prices and growing farmer confidence.
The main message in Dairy Australia’s September Situation and Outlook report, released today (Wednesday), is milk production will likely remain stable this season.
Dairy Australia industry insight and analysis manager John Droppert said it has certainly been a profitable year for most dairy farmers, but alongside the higher farmgate milk prices was the “balancing act” of high feed and fertiliser prices.
Mr Droppert said a likely third consecutive La Nina weather event could make things difficult on-farm.
“Good rainfall can grow a lot of grass and reduce the need for high-cost feed inputs, but wet conditions or flooding, particularly for those in northern NSW and Queensland who have already been dealing with mud for months, it can be challenging,” he said.
And while there were challenges, Mr Droppert said the Australian domestic dairy market remained more stable than the international commodity scene and there were strong global market signals which were positive for Australia.
The report said large parts of the European Union remained in drought, with milk production tracking 0.5 per cent below last year.
“Milk prices in the EU are at record levels, but dry conditions through the northern hemisphere spring and summer have reduced pasture quality and availability,” the report said.
Conditions are also dry in the US, but milk production was expected to increase slightly by 0.2 per cent.
And in New Zealand the report said early signs of sluggish pasture growth, high fertiliser and supplementary feed prices combined with the threat of a tightening regulatory environment means the 2022-23 New Zealand season looks complicated. New Zealand’s Exchange is forecasting a 1.9 per cent reduction in overall milk intakes.
Mr Droppert said these factors were being combined with a “real emergence of policy pressure” on EU and New Zealand farmers.
“The European Commission expects that cow numbers across the bloc will continue to fall – not least due to the emergence of greenhouse gas emissions policies encouraging this in key milk producing member states, such as Ireland and the Netherlands.”
Mr Droppert said there was also pressure on New Zealand farmers and if the dairy herd needs to be cut.
“Neither jurisdiction seems settled on if they will cut their dairy herds, but they aren’t aiming for growth,” he said.
Meanwhile, the report said for milk processors, margins are looking ever tighter as dairy commodity prices continue to retreat.
And while the current prices are all but locked in until June 2023, and significant volumes of product are already sold or hedged, “the remaining exposure will be a source of concern”.
Mr Droppert said they were also keeping an eye on how consumers react to increasing prices for dairy.
“It has been a long time since dairy prices have increased (at the supermarket), but early signs since there has been a more normal return to foodservice, is that consumers aren’t buying less dairy, but they are buying more in bulk and trading to different brands,” he said.
Ravenshoe’s Bevandale Holsteins expanding into more Jersey cattle
A decision to expand into more Jersey cattle is paying off for one of the Atherton Tableland's biggest dairy produces.
Traditional Holstein breeders, the Bevan family of Bevandale NSW made the decision six months ago that they wanted to bring in more Jerseys.
Bevandale currently milks around 200 dairy cows, including 110 Holsteins, three Brown Swiss and around 65 Jerseys on their farm near Ravenshoe, Queensland.
On average, each of their milking cows is averaging 20 litres per day, with 3.1pc protein and 4.0pc fat for milk solids.
Owners Henry and Anna Bevan say the change has been a very welcoming.
"About this time last year, after toying with the idea for a good six months, we made the decision that we wanted more jerseys," Ms Bevan said.
"In 2014, Henry bought a few jerseys but more for a showing side of things, rather than for milking herd production.
"We had a little bit of experience with them and just found overall they were such easy animals to work with, especially for size and their fertility.
"We were having so much success with breeding them as opposed to the Holsteins cattle."
In June, the Bevan's purchased 40 Jersey milking cows from Rodney and Cynthia Hartin of Long Lanes Jerseys at Milla Milla, Queensland.
They also secured 44 Jersey heifers from Nathan Hughes and Allison Turner of Dirran Creek Farming in Minbun, Queensland.
The Hughes family use to supply milk to Mungalli, but since ceased milking.
It would be safe to say that we can no longer call ourselves just Holstein breeders.
The Bevan's say they are well on the way to their goal of 50/50 Holstein to Jersey.
"We're aiming to breed to an even split and at this rate, we expect to reach that by the end of next year at the latest," Ms Bevan said.
"We found that the older Holstein cows just wouldn't go into calf and we're finding that the Holsteins we're breaking down more as they got older.
"We found that the Jerseys are a little bit more robust, so when the opportunity came up to look at the Hartins Jersey herd, we went for it.
"We also purchased 44 heifers from a former Mungalli dairy supplier, as they just finished up dairying."
To date, Bevandale has purchased in 90 Jerseys in the last 12 months.
In the late 90s, Henry's late father, John Bevan, went to the effort of breeding the Holstein into the herd and getting rid of the jerseys, which his father had brought in originally.
"Henry remembers John saying how he had worked so hard to breed all the jersey out of the herd, only for Henry to bring it back twenty years later," Ms Bevan said.
Ms Bevan said the family picked up 40 Jersey cows last Friday, and in the four milkings that they've had, more than 800 litres of milk has been produced.
"They're already paying their way and things are more positive and the increase in the milk price has also been incredible," she said.
Though, seeing the benefits of Jersey cows, the Bevan's agree, that they'll still be breeding Holstein cattle.
"We'll definitely keep some around for personal pleasure, because that's where Henry's passion started with breeding Holsteins and showing Holsteins," Ms Bevan said.
"But also just for the sheer milk volume.
"Even though the Jerseys have fantastic components generally, and we've had some phenomenal producing jerseys that would rival a Holsteins on a whole, you're just not gonna get the leverage out of a jersey that we're getting out of a Holsteins.
"They also fill out the dairy because it was built for them and the Jerseys can't move around quite so much."
Ms Bevan said their dairy operation has also benefited with the on-farm corn silage they have been producing in the last three years.
"This is our third year growing corn silage and we couldn't work out why we hadn't done it 10 years ago," she said.
"Though, the second year we were introduced to the fall armyworm and it was pretty brutal.
"This year, with a lot of help from our local agronomist, we really had a handle on it."
Lab-Grown Milk will wipe out Dairy Farming, says investor
Agriculture Jim Mellon is predicting a rapid transformation.
High-fashion handbags. Inflationary pressure. Early morning starts. Secretive Middle Eastern funds. Nuclear fusion. UK dog show Crufts. Longevity and, of course, cellular agriculture. You can cover a lot of ground in 45 minutes with Jim Mellon, the UK investor best known for backing successful biotechs and big, big ideas.
Most of all, he wants to talk about that last one – cellular agriculture – the science of, to put it very simply, growing meat and dairy products from animal cells and single-celled organisms.
It’s a science Mellon predicts will completely upend the $US800 billion ($1161 billion) global dairy industry within the decade, as he hopes consumers turn to ‘‘ animal-free milk’’ , bioidentical but made in a lab.
‘‘ It’s my honest opinion. I know it’s not very popular. The dairy industry will be completely gone. The big herd industry will be completely gone within 10 years,’’ he says, explaining that the product is already approved in the US and consumers are already comfortable with alternative milks, whether oat, almond or dairy.
And he says that’s just the beginning.
Animal-loving Mellon, he and his partner have seven dogs, including an Ibizan Podenco sight hound called Juno who is soon to star in Mellon’s first children’s book, is in Australia this week testing interest in a possible ASX-listed investment company, an adjunct to his UK-listed Agronomics fund.
All going well, broker Bell Potter will list the LIC by the year’s end, with an expected $200 million to invest, based on early market soundings despite a weak market for new initial public offerings. Then again, a private vehicle is also under consideration.
Ask if the fledgling sector is being hit by lower valuations, along with other high-growth assets, and Mellon says there is still plenty of capital for the high-risk , high-return sector, especially now big food firms want in.
He also points out that all the companies in the rapidly growing space will either go bust or be bought out, much like early-stage biotech, but very few will go on to create their own brands. While here, Mellon is also meeting with one of Agronomics’ latest investments : Australia’s All G Foods, for which Agronomics led the $25 million capital raising in August.
All G does plant-based products but Agronomics was attracted by the group’s synthetic milk product.
At its core, the team will build a large bioreactor into which water, sugar and microbes programmed with the genetic code for dairy proteins are poured, to create cellular-grown dairy products. Woolworths’ venture capital division W23 is also invested in the group.
It’s one of 24 investments the listed Agronomics has made, and gives a hint of where this vehicle is hunting. Simply: it’s done with plant-based , which is light on science and intellectual property.
Mellon estimates it is his 200th visit to Australia, though it’s his first since travel restrictions lifted and he says the jet lag is hard to ignore. He’s had investments here before, though he struggles to recall the names: Pilbara iron ore producer BC Iron was one.
Agronomics, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has some £148 million ($252 million) assets under management, is one piece of Mellon’s sprawling business interests. (That’s where the secretive Middle Eastern funds come in, because Mellon has an unlisted fund with a seven-year life which some investors use to avoid the listed vehicle.)
Other Mellon investments include Juvanesense, a company which invests in start-ups helping people lengthen and improve their life. The former fund manager also has a website with investment tips, writes books and private mining, property and hotel interests. He’s a prolific reader – right now he’s got Dervla Murphy’s Eight Feet in the Andes and Richard Dinan’s The Fusion Age on the go.
How does he fit it all in? He goes to bed early, wakes up by 4.30am and is a believer in using a small whiteboard to list each day’s goals – and doesn’t go to bed until they are ticked off. But back to cellular agriculture and precision fermentation . Why does Mellon think it’s a big opportunity?
By his reckoning, he and his partner Australian Anthony Chow, have in the past three years become among the largest institutional investors in this industry. Partly because it’s small, partly because other investors are often philanthropists.
‘‘ We just ended up being the only place in town where people could get money from. So they all come to us. And there’s about 200 companies around the world that do this now up from about 100 a year ago. So it’s an exploding industry. A lot of them are chancers,’’ he says.
Like the philanthropists, Mellon does want to eliminate animal cruelty, but says it’s his investments in biotech, specifically its experience in intellectual property, that gives his investment vehicle the commercial edge in this space. (He mentions he backed migraine drug biotech Biohaven Pharmaceutical with his two partners Greg Bailey and Declan Doogan. That business was sold in May for $11.6 billion to big pharma giant Pfizer .) But unlike the pharmaceutical industry, one key hurdle (and that’s ignoring regulatory approvals) for the lab-produced food is the cost of production and consumer price point. He likes to call it ‘‘ griddle parity’’ .
For many products, most meat, eggs, dairy, even collagen, that’s still some way off. But leather, he says, is close.
In May, lab-grown leather start-up VitroLabs banked a a $US46 million Series A that included participation from French-based luxury fashion corporation Kering, Agronomics and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
‘‘ It can now produce the highest quality leather and producing to the highest quality ... like the best calves’ leather from Austria,’’ he says.
By starting off at the ultra-premium end of the market, production cost isn’t such a significant hurdle.
For Mellon, these are all pieces – and he rushes over others including carbon credits, patent protection and licensing – in a far, far bigger picture. And one, he admits, that doesn’t have a clear path yet.
‘‘ I don’t know how we’re going to get there because presumably it will be a road fraught with some peril,’’ he says.
‘‘ But in the future, we will have food that is cheaper than is currently produced , as the input ratios are so much lower, that doesn’t have any emissions... and there will be no animal cruelty.’’
Jemima White, Copyright © 2022 Australian Financial Review
Schulz Organic launches new milk tap system for cafes
Beer on tap has been a fixture in pubs for generations. But milk on tap in cafes? Entrepreneurs say it could become commonplace.
They’re reminiscent of the bar set-up at your local pub.
But instead of a cold frothy, these taps are made for a proper cup of coffee.
Developed and manufactured in Tasmania, The Udder Way keg system is a reusable milk storage and handling unit designed for food service and retail.
Each unit holds 18 litres of milk, and allows for refrigerated storage and dispensing of milk from an installed tap – avoiding the need for baristas to churn through dozens of plastic milk bottles each day.
The Udder Way founder Edward Crick launched system alongside Schulz Organic Dairy founder Simon Schulz in Melbourne on Friday.
In Victoria, Schulz will be the initial milk supplier to cafes and retailers using keg system
“We have partnered with Schulz Organic Dairy because we share a similar vision and mission,” Mr Crick said.
“Each of our kegs eliminates the need for 7000 single-use plastic bottles over an eight to 10 year lifespan before being recycled.”
Participating Melbourne businesses include The Leaf Stores in Hawthorn and Elwood, Into Coffee and CIBI in Collingwood as well as Rat the Café in Thornbury.
Schulz Organic has gained made in-roads in the dairy sector for its reusable glass bottle system, whereby customers pay a deposit for a returnable container.
Mr Schulz said since introducing the system three years ago, his company had diverted about 26.9 tonnes of plastic from landfill.
“Limiting plastic waste isn’t cheap or easy but we know there is a lot of support out there for sustainable processes and packaging,” he said.
Noumi’s $30m AFMH farming exit gives Perich, New Hope equal stakes
The tussle between China's biggest agribusiness and Australia's biggest dairy industry family over who gets an extra 9.4 per cent stake in big dairy farming venture Australian Fresh Milk Holdings has ended with both parties taking something home.
Dairy and plant protein processor, Noumi, will be paid almost $30 million as it officially offloads its foundation stake in the farming business today.
Noumi is Australia's biggest long life milk processor whose brands include Australia's Own, Vitalife, So Natural and MilkLab.
Its ties to Australian Fresh Milk Holdings date back to a four-way partnership established in 2015, which has grown into the giant 6200-milker operation, Moxey Farms, in NSW and northern Victoria.
Noumi shareholders last week voted to sell 53pc of its AFMH stake (11.5 million shares) to the Perich family's Leppington Pastoral Company for $16.7m and almost 44pc (8.9m shares) to NewAustralia, a subsidiary of China's big New Hope Group, for $12.9m.
The wash up means the Perich family, which is also a long-time majority Noumi stakeholder and has its own farms running about 2000 dairy cows south west of Sydney, now holds an equal 43.2pc of AFMH with New Hope.
The remaining third stakeholder, the Moxey family at Gooloogong in Central West NSW, stays at 13.6pc.
AFMH produces 180m litres of milk annually on farms in NSW's Lachlan Valley and near Shepparton in northern Victoria and has a 4000-hectare Murray River heifer raising aggregation west of Echuca.
This year its farming interests also expanded to include the Ladysmith Feedlot and associated fodder cropping country near Wagga Wagga.
Milk from its farms goes to Noumi, Bega Dairy and Drinks and the A2 Milk Company.
Last month Noumi looked set to sell all its AFMH shares to the Perich's Leppington Pastoral for about $28.6 million, or $1.40 each.
However, New Hope's NewAustralia subsidiary, upped the stakes to offer $1.45 each, giving the shares a total value of $29.65m.
Until now NewAustralia had been AFMH's largest shareholder by a slight margin, but the parties settled on dividing Noumi's portion to leave both bidders with an equal ownership footing.
Perich investment
In addition to an enlarged AFMH stake, the Perich's have been at the forefront of funding a turnaround in Noumi's business fortunes after the processor almost collapsed under the weight of an accounting and inventory scandal and management shakeup in 2020, which required a $265m recapitalisation.
The Perich family currently holds 52.5pc of Noumi, while former dairy farm manager, Michael Perich, has been managing director since the sudden departure of Rory Macleod two years ago.
The family also owns cropping country at West Wylong, big parcels of former dairy farmland being developed for housing at Oran Park, part of the Narellan Town Centre shopping precinct and dairy factory assets.
Noumi's exit from AFMH will help pay a total $25.7m in quarterly installments over four years after the company last year settled a legal dispute with US almond marketing co-operative, Blue Diamond Growers, over unpaid accounts, and licence fees for use of its brand in Australia.
Good result
Company chair, Genevieve Gregor, said the AFMH share sale would reap a return to the processor at the upper end of an independent valuation which had ranged from $1.32/share to $1.49.
Only 3.1pc of Noumi shareholders opposed the sale at last week's extraordinary general meeting.
If the sell-off had been rejected, Ms Gregor said Noumi would likely have been forced to divert its operating cash flow to fund obligations to Blue Diamond Growers.
"This would not be ideal," she said.
"It would reduce the company's available liquidity and would constrain our ability to fund our transformation and growth initiatives."
About $4.6m left over after covering the Blue Diamond commitment will be used to cover Noumi's other general expenses.
Ongoing challenges
Those expenses include other ongoing legal wrangles with shareholders who launched class actions against Freedom, and coffee merchandiser, Sunday Collab International, which claims Freedom reneged on plans for a MilkLab distribution deal to Europe and wants $24.7m in compensation.
Australian championship surfer, Joel Parkinson, a partner in Sunday Collab who helped negotiate his business' MilkLab plan for Europe, is seeking to recover losses suffered as a result of Noumi allegedly walking away from the 2019 agreement and refusing to communicate further.
Noumi had apparently delivered Milklab products and marketing and packaging materials for brand launches in Italy in late 2019 and at London's Coffee Festival in early 2020.
In a media comment last week Sunday Collab said following Noumi's management and board spill in August 2020, the processor repeatedly denied there was any partnership in place, or any obligation owed to the coffee business.
Noumi has described Sunday Collab's claims as without merit and unsupportable and said it would defend the action in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Farmers concerned at potential foot-and-mouth spread as Australia and Indonesia tackle outbreak
The Indonesian government and farmers are implementing strict controls to contain the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
Nathaniel Rose kept his shoes and sandals separate from his main baggage as he travelled home from Bali to Melbourne last week.
During his 10-day holiday on the Indonesian island, Mr Rose said he was aware of concerns that tourists visiting Bali might bring foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) back to Australia, including via contaminated soil on footwear.
"I did one trip to Mount Batur that could be considered rural. We walked through the village along the dirt track," he said.
As per Australian government advice, Mr Rose thoroughly cleaned his footwear before he got on the plane.
"There were foot-and-mouth disease signs at Denpasar Airport," he said.
"When we got off [the plane] there were biosecurity officers and we had to walk on a disinfectant mat."
An outbreak of FMD could devastate Australia's livestock industries, cost the Australian economy around $80 billion, and lead to many animals being slaughtered to control the disease.
Those potential consequences are why the agriculture industry here has been on tenterhooks since an outbreak began in Indonesia in May, with some calling for a travel ban.
Farmers and authorities in Indonesia are working hard to contain the virus's spread, while the Australian government this week committed $10 million towards biosecurity measures in Indonesia to tackle the outbreak.
FMD is a highly contagious animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals and is carried in many ways, including by live animals, in meat and dairy products, soil and untreated hides.
It is commonly spread between animals through inhalation, ingestion and contact with infected animals, but is not transmitted to humans, including by eating affected meat.
The virus is different to hand, foot and mouth disease common in children.
Local farmers implement strict controls
The outbreak in Indonesia is the biggest since 1990 and is estimated to be costing the local economy $200 million per month.
Since May, 479,000 animals have been infected with FMD in Indonesia.
More than 9,000 animals have been killed to try to control the virus's spread, while another 5,189 have died from the disease.
The province of East Java currently has the highest number of infections, with a mix of farms in that area, including smaller traditional farms and others run by large companies.
East Java's biggest dairy farm is owned by Greenfields Indonesia, a company established by a group of Australian and Indonesian entrepreneurs.
The farm, with 16,000 cattle, has implemented strict biosecurity measures, despite no cases of the virus being detected there.
Richard Slaney, from Greenfields Indonesia, said the company's cattle underwent frequent health checks and were being vaccinated against the disease.
Mr Slaney said there were also strict controls to clean workers' dirty clothing and footwear, vehicle tyres and animal feed.
"No outside visitors are allowed to come [to the property]," he added.
He said vehicles were sprayed from "top to bottom".
“All vehicles have gone through an additional cleaning process and very strict controls are also applied to the milk tank transport vehicles," he said.
Small farmers can't afford vaccines
Robi Gustiar is a cattle farmer and the secretary-general of the Indonesian Cattle and Buffalo Breeders Association that represents small farmers who have between five and 30 cattle.
He said smaller farmers were also doing what they could to control the outbreak.
"For farmers who have up to five cattle, they spray disinfectant in locations around cattle pens and on vehicles."
He said some farmers were still waiting for vaccines from the government, while medium and larger traditional farmers were proposing to purchase vaccines independently to access them faster.
Mr Gustiar said small farmers could not afford vaccines and distribution was not easy.
"Indonesia is an archipelago country, so transportation is a problem. They [need to] make sure the is vaccine still active when it reaches the cattle," he explained.
Australian government support for Indonesia announced this week included supplying more vaccines to Indonesia as well as protective equipment, training and expertise.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said $4 million of the $10 million dollars allocated was for vaccine purchasing.
"This is on top of support already announced for Indonesia, which included 1 million doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and almost half a million doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine already committed by the Australian government," he said.
Disaster authority bolsters Indonesia's response
According to Indonesia's Foot and Mouth Taskforce, more than 1.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered to animals.
Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said he hoped that the outbreak would be under control by the end of the year.
Mr Adisasmito added that there had been no new reported infections in six provinces, including Bali, but cases were still spreading in other areas.
The taskforce is overseeing the implementation of a raft of biosecurity measures, including treatment and recovery of livestock, livestock testing, conditional slaughter and vaccination.
"Foot mats and disinfectant spray [have been placed] at the arrival and departure of Ngurah Rai [Denpasar] and Sentani International [Jayapura] airports, and other areas that are included in the foot-and-mouth-free zone," Mr Adisasmito said.
Professor Rochadi Tawaf from the Committee for Agricultural Empowerment — a not-for-profit organisation in West Java — said Indonesia's response to the outbreak had improved since the National Disaster Management Authority was assigned to tackle the outbreak.
"For me, this means that the government is already handling the situation correctly and making it better, and the farmers also made their contribution by managing their cattle better than before," he said.
Farmers remain concerned about disease spread
Welly Salim is originally from Indonesia and has been in the cattle business for 25 years.
For the past 10 years, he has lived in central Queensland, near Rockhampton, and owns about 1,400 cattle.
Despite all the precautions, he, like other farmers, remains concerned about the possibility of FMD reaching Australia.
Mr Salim said that, while the Indonesian government may not have done enough to reassure Australian farmers, some comments from Australians politicians have inflamed the situation.
"I think some comments from politicians are over-statements on the possibility of tourists bringing back the virus, but the threat is real," he said.
"We need to find the most-friendly solution for Indonesia, to help Indonesia to solve the problem."
Mr Salim pointed out there would also be a huge impact on Indonesia as well if the disease spread to Australia.
"Indonesia is the biggest market for live cattle export from Australia," he said.
"Indonesia needs around 600,000 tonnes of boxed beef every year."
Source: Sastra Wijaya and Hellena Souisa, ABC News, 14 August 2022
Not Milk the latest dairy alternative on supermarket shelves
A plant-based milk alternative made in Brazil is the latest to hit Australian shelves. See what it is made of.
Move over ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ – there’s a new discombobulating dairy imitator in town.
Made in Brazil, Not Milk is the latest plant-based milk alternative to hit supermarket shelves- battling established names such as the Swedish brand Oatly and Australian-made Sanitarium So Good.
Priced at $5 a carton, Not Milk contains coconut oil, pea protein, chicory fibre (a common coffee alternative), sugar, pineapple juice concentrate, sunflower oil, dipotassium phosphate (an inorganic compound), calcium carbonate for colouring as well as cabbage juice concentrate.
Marketed as a ‘plant-based beverage’, the manufacturer advises consumers that you can “shake, cook, mix, froth and taste” Not Milk.
United Dairyfarmers of Victoria vice president Mark Billing said it was unsurprising that Not Milk had a long list of ingredients in order to make it palatable.
“That’s the thing about these plant juice alternatives that try to replicate milk. You need to throw a lot of additives in there to give it some form of taste,” he said.
“With milk, you know what you’re getting. It’s milk and that’s it.”
A number of European nations and American states have introduced regulations to stop food manufacturers from co-opting phrases like ‘milk’ and ‘burger’ to describe plant imitations.
Mr Billing said the UDV was one of several organisations calling on Australian regulators to follow suit.
“Milk comes from a mammal, so if it’s plant-based, it isn’t milk,” he said.
“They’re entitled to sell whatever product they want, but the labelling needs to be fair.”
The manufacturers of Not Milk have been contacted for comment.
What to look out for after FMD email scam emerges
Scammers are using foot and mouth disease fears to try to get farmer details with fraudulent messages going to producers and industry players.
Scammers are feeding on the fear of the threat of foot and mouth disease by sending out emails asking for farmer details.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has warned producers to be alert for scam emails after becoming “aware of a fraudulent email campaign using the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Indonesia to hook in victims”.
“These criminal scams often use news and current events to dupe people out of their personal information, a process known as “phishing”,” a department spokesman said.
“They send fraudulent emails or text messages pretending to be from large organisations you know or trust.”
Farmers, industry and others have received the emails and the departmental spokesman said they would never send emails asking for online banking logins, credit card details or passwords.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said official information should be sought from the DAFF website on biosecurity issues.
“Australians take biosecurity very seriously, and it’s extremely disappointing to hear reports of potential scammers exploiting that,” Minister Watt said.