Agribusiness News Recap - By Georgia Devenish

By: "Farm Tender" News
Hay & Fodder News
Mar 21, 2019
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Horticulture

Record temperatures during January in Victoria's Goulburn Valley and drought conditions at Stanthorpe in Queensland have potentially downgraded apple and pear harvest yields by approximately 20 to 40 percent according to Fruit Growers Victoria grower services manager, Michael Crisera. This comes only weeks after initial annual apple and pear crop estimates put harvest tonnage up by 8 percent on last year.

It is estimated more than 10 million trays of mangoes were harvested over the mango season, constituting the second highest yield on record for Australian producers. Rapid expansion in the industry has seen thousands of trees planted over the past decade, which will continue to lead to increased yields.

Livestock

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has released its final report on the "Review of the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock: Sea Transport". All 49 recommendations were accepted either in full or in principle.

The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) rose to 420 cents per kilogram in response to rain across parts of Queensland and New South Wales. This rally follows the drop to 385.25 cents per kilogram recorded early last week - the lowest point reached since December 2014.

Cropping

Increased consumer demand for plant-based protein and a supply shortage in parts of mainland Australia has led to a boom in the number of hemp seed growers in Tasmania. Spurred by a decision to change the law in 2017 to allow hemp seed to be sold as food, the state's number of growers increased from 29 last season to 49 in 2019. Tasmania produces 66 percent of Australia's hemp seed which is worth $5 million at the farm gate.

Australia's rice growers may be facing the second smallest rice crop in 50 years, according to SunRice chairman, Laurie Arthur. However, he noted, growers were still determined to grow rice this season in a bid to keep up with demand from key international markets. SunRice have increased rice research levies as they look to release more water-efficient rice varieties to growers.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president, David Jochinke, has confirmed the organisation has been contacted by grain growers concerned about the solvency of Lempriere Grain.

Dairy

Major retailers Coles and Aldi have lifted the price of their two and three-litre home brand milk by an extra 10 cents per litre, effective 20 March 2019. Coles described the price increase as an interim measure while Aldi said the price hike was a short-term solution.

Investment

Medicinal cannabis company, Cann Group, has announced it has entered into a non-binding agreement to buy a site in Mildura for $10.75 million for its proposed $130 million 3.4 hectare state-of-the-art greenhouse. The company is looking to build the largest purpose-built medical cannabis production facility in Australia which will have the capacity to produce up to 50 tonnes of dry flower annually. Cann Group has a 5-year agreement with Aurora Cannabis - which has a 22.9 percent stake in the company - for the offtake of medicinal cannabis produced there.

Australian-listed Cann Group had initially planned to build the greenhouse at a site leased from Australian Pacific Airports at Tullamarine in Melbourne but backed away after receiving estimates on how long approvals and build time would take.

Geoffrey Thompson Holdings Limited has received a $15 million grant from the Federal Government for its 'FRUITCo' project - a $55 million new state-of-the-art fruit processing facility at Shepparton, Victoria.

Both Wagner Group Holdings and Air Freight Handling Services have been invited by the Queensland Government to submit business cases to have a multi-million dollar agricultural export distribution centre built at either the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport or Cairns Airport respectively. State development minister, Cameron Dick, said the government made an election commitment to provide up to $10 million from its $150 million Jobs and Regional Growth Fund for the project. The decision will be made later this year.

Lion Group chairman, Sir Rod Eddington, has said that the company is prepared to walk away from the sales process for its Australian dairy and drinks portfolio and retain the business following the withdrawal of prospective buyers Coca-Cola Amatil and Freedom Foods.

Property

Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) has sold Mimong Station to Northern Territory pastoralist, Sterling Buntine, for a reported $20 million. The 80,000 hectare property situated in Queensland's North West is the fifth property CPC has sold since the company was officially put on the market in March 2018.

Trade

Japan’s tariff system includes a ‘safeguard mechanism’ which is utilised to protect its domestic cattle industry from excessive beef imports. In the event of cumulative quarterly imports of fresh or frozen beef from all suppliers exceeding 117 percent of the previous year’s imports, the tariff rate increases from 38.5 percent to 50 percent for the remainder of the fiscal year (April 1 to March 30 in Japan). Data from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture indicates Japan’s frozen-beef imports rose by almost 80 percent in January year-on-year.

Australia, under the terms of its own economic partnership agreement with Japan signed in 2014, and as one of the 11 member countries of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, is not subject to the safeguard duty. Apart from the US, all other major beef exporters to Japan are members of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Weather

The ENSO Outlook has been raised to El Niño ALERT. This means the chance of El Niño forming in autumn is around 70 percent, or rather, triple the normal likelihood.

Other

Agricultural company Nufarm has reported a first-half net loss of $13.58 million citing Australian drought conditions as having a significant impact on performance. The company also noted that the challenges were not over with very low sub-soil moisture levels in key cropping areas and poor seasonal conditions in eastern states expected to continue.