Country Today

The latest wool production figures are just out, and yet again, the wool clip is estimated to fall a further 4.5 per cent. China has granted Australia an additional eight export licenses to Australian beef processors with suspicions it's battling outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in its local cattle herds. Also the lobby group GrainGrowers puts forward its Federal Budget wish list. Record high f...

The United Nations is hoping to secure a deal between the United States and Iran, to allow fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz, preventing what it says would be a humanitarian crisis. NSW has broken the record for the highest monthly turn off of cattle, with 84 k head going through the saleyards in March. The Riverina in southern NSW is one of the largest wine grape growing regions in the coun...

Country Today has been at Grounded, the regenerative farming festival held at Deansmarsh, in South West Victoria. First you’ll hear from a Pig farmer Belinda Hagan of McIvor Farm about how regenerative practices are creating a healthier herd. Then a superfine merino farmer in the New England high country who turned a basic need for livestock shade into a resilient business where sheep and ti...

Today to a bright spot amongst all the gloom. I’m talking wool and it’s seen a remarkable recovery in the past 12 months, up more than 50 per cent. While prime lamb producers are enjoying record high prices, it’s a very different story for meat processors many of which are running at a loss. The Federal Government will underwrite the cost of fertilizer to take some of the risk ou...

We’ve already seen an easing in beef cattle prices, now it looks like lamb prices as high as $500 a head aren’t sustainable. The Australian clothing company R B Sellars has partnered with The Woolmark company with a national campaign to champion Australian merino. Farmers suppling the milk processor Frestine Dairy are counting their losses and deserting the company which defaulted on m...

Beef cattle producers from southern Queensland, into northern NSW and the Liverpool plains are having to destock due to it being unseasonably dry. There are now record yardings of cattle right down the east coast.  The Victorian Farmers Federation has asked for more than $1 billion be paid to farmers in the May budget. Australia could and should have been better prepared for the current econo...

The war in the Middle East has destabilised international trade and we could see much more government intervention globally to prepare for any supply shocks. You’ll hear from NAB's chief economist Sally Auld. Australian farmers were looking at a new urea fertilizer manufacturer to be based in Victoria’s LaTrobe Valley. But the State Government made the approval process a protracted and...

While the federal government is putting on a brave face, continuing to reassure Australian’s fuel rationing is not yet necessary, the fire at the Geelong oil refinery is really testing the government’s handling of the fuel crisis. A Victorian bred wagyu steer has won the Australian Wagyu Association’s annual Branded Beef Competition. The weekly wool report and the EMI closed at i...

To the fuel crisis, and farmers are being warning of long delays bulk diesel deliveries on farm. That means farmers are having to buy fuel from local service stations. It’s hoped dairy processors will step up and match Lactalis which has announced a Farmer Support Payment of 5 cents a litre for its suppliers, to ease the pain of increasing input costs. The byelection for the federal seat of...

To the mounting opposition amongst farmers to the building of the VNI West electricity transmission line VNI West is managed by VicGrid. You’ll hear from CEO Alistair Parker. Also today, those farmers who have been holding out to wait for fertilizer prices to fall, might need to rethink the strategy. If you're interested in looking at farming alternatives, the Grounded Sustainable Food...

The effects of the Middle East conflict on global growth and interest rates are about to change gear.   It's hoped findings from a collaborative research project will help improve breeding dairy cattle with better heat tolerance. The Victorian Government’s new poultry care regulations have blindsided caged egg farmers, despite prior promises of consultation regarding the 2036...

As we've learned the hard way, rural Australians, are feeling the effects of the fuel crisis more than anyone else in the country. So how did we find ourselves in this position, with so few reserves for our farmers. Also what we can do to be better prepared when it or another supply line inevitably closes again. The latest on global grain prices and how the market is responding to the ceasefire wi...

Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that Iran and the US have agreed to a ceasefire. But if it holds, and that’s a huge if, it will still take months for farmers’ input cost to start coming down. The horticulture industry is warning of potential food shortages as many growers cut their losses for ceasing production. And if you’re a grain grower waiting for fertilizer prices to...

To the fuel crisis and the Albanese Government has repeatedly said we have a month’s supply of fuel. Well, we’re now heading into the sixth week of the war with Iran. Maybe, just maybe, things could start to turnaround with President Trump agreeing to a two week ceasefire with Iran. We’ll head to southwest Victoria, where a three-year drought has forced dairy farmers to rethink t...

There’s a renewed push for Governments to complete the Murray Basin Rail project. It started in 2014 but by 2019 was abandoned by the State Labor Government due to huge cost overruns.  We will take a look at what the impact the fuel crisis is having for dairy farmers. As varroa mite infestations continue to decimate honey bee populations, apiarists are looking at importin...

The Victorian Farmers Federation has a new president-elect, Ryan Milgate, the only candidate to stand with the current President Brett Hosking announcing he's stepping down. To the global fuel crisis. Today we’ll hear an economist's perspective on the war on Iran's impact on the Australian economy and the vulnerabilities it has exposed. As farmers know only too well, the middle east conflict...

With all this turmoil from the flow on effects of the war with Iran, let’s get a global update on how it’s impacting agriculture with Comm Bank economist Dennis Voznesenski.  While the scale of the flood disaster in northern Australia is still being determined, confirmed livestock losses have already surpassed 200,000 head. Now, farmers wait for the first muster to reveal what's l...

As the war on Iran continues to lock down the Strait of Hormuz, American farmers are battling a familiar nightmare of high fuel and fertilizer costs, mirroring the crisis here at home. Farmers bitterly disappointed the federal government has failed to offer specific assistance to agriculture in light of the fuel and fertilizer crisis. Grape growers across the Sunraysia region in north west Victori...

To the fuel crisis, and The National Farmers Federation is upping the ante asking for underwriting not just fuel, but fertiliser supplies and temporary tax relief for farmers. We’ll take a look at the fuel situation from perspective of the fuel distributors, who are also calling for government intervention. The Victorian Government has made public transport free as a way to try to deal with...

Australia is the second largest producer of almonds in the world but this year's harvest is going down as one of the most difficult. Wet humid weather has left growers throwing money at the crop to avoid mould reducing yield, not to mention the double whammy of the fuel and fertilizer crisis. And talking fuel, we’ll take a look at why Australia isn’t producing more biofuels. The weekly...

Australian exporters are being hit with significant, unregulated shipping cost increases linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict. There’s been something of a quiet revolution in grain growing. With nearly 90 per cent of Australia growers now using zero or low tillage. Just one of the key findings of the first-ever Grain Sustainability Framework (GSF) Annual Report release this morning. Re...

We unravel the detail of the new free trade agreement with the EU, signed yesterday by the Prime Minister. And there’s little joy for agriculture. You’ll hear the general overview from NFF president Hamish McIntyre and then the industry specifics for red meat, dairy and wine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Federal Government has set up numerous committees and inquiries into the impact of the Iran War on our fuel, fertilizer and food supplies and prices. While it does have a bit of a feel of Yes Minister about it, we’re look a little closer to see what can be achieved. First up Member of Mallee, Nationals federal MP Anne Webster, wanting more answers on where the fuel supplies are going. Th...

With diesel fuel now hovering around $3 a litre in regional areas, livestock transporters are warning they can’t absorb the cost and farmers will have to pay. Merino breeders from across the country have joined the Australian Merino Production Trial, the nation’s largest evaluation of sheep genetics. The summer fire period was very bad for many regions, getting prepared even at this ea...

What difficult choices are grain growers having to make as they start sowing winter crops with low, or no supplies of fuel and fertilizers. With urea stocks so low, everyone is asking why don’t we produce our own. You’ll hear from one industry analyst who says, even if we had our own urea manufacturing, local prices would still track closely to international markets. To lamb and sheep...