Russia is temporarily banning the import of beef byproducts from Australia, citing the detection in shipments of a growth stimulant it prohibits and throwing into doubt exports that brought in around A$10 million (US$8.81 million) last year for Australia. The ban will be imposed from Jan. 27 and was prompted by the detection of the […] Read more
Russia halts Australia beef byproduct imports over drug
Australia’s farmers slaughter cattle, swelter out of record-hot 2013
A searing heatwave is baking central and northern Australia, piling more misery on drought-hit cattle farmers who have been slaughtering livestock as Australia sweltered through the hottest year on record in 2013. Temperatures have topped 40 C in large parts of Australia’s key agricultural regions for most of the past week, with the mercury topping […] Read more
Frost, rains hit Australia’s wheat crop, drag on quality
Unseasonal rains in Western Australia and frost on the country’s east coast have hit wheat crops in the world’s No. 2 exporter of the grain, dragging down quality and reducing harvests. A decline in supply of high-protein wheat from Australia could force major buyers such as Indonesia and China to seek more volumes from the […] Read more
Robots to drones, Australia eyes high-tech farm help to grow food
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters / Moving carefully along a row of apple trees, two of Australia’s newest agricultural workers check if the fruit is ripe or the soil needs water or fertilizer. Meet “Mantis” and “Shrimp,” agricultural robots being tested to do these tasks and more in a bid to cut costs and improve productivity in Australia’s economically […] Read more
Australian beef exports seen at record in 2013-14
Australia will export a record amount of beef in 2013-14, driven by strong demand from the United States and emerging markets, including China, the government’s official forecaster said on Tuesday. Beef and veal exports in the coming season were expected to total 1.07 million tonnes, up from a record 1.015 million this year, the Australian […] Read more
ADM, GrainCorp settle in for wait on takeover approval
Australia’s GrainCorp and U.S. suitor Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) are hunkering down for a long wait for Chinese regulatory approval after agreeing to a A$3 billion (US$3.1 billion) takeover deal Friday. In a sign of China’s growing scrutiny of global M+A deals, GrainCorp and ADM have tailored the deal to include an extra payment for […] Read more
Anthrax kills 40 cattle in Australia
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters / Australia, the world’s No. 3 largest beef exporter, said it has confirmed that approximately 40 head of cattle have been killed by anthrax, but it expects the impact of the disease has been curtailed. The outbreak was found at two properties in Moree, northwest New South Wales, the New South Wales Department of […] Read more
Dryness threatens Australia wheat supply as seeding kicks off
A lack of soil moisture in Australia’s eastern grain belt could hit wheat production in the world’s second largest exporter as farmers start seeding the 2013-14 crop. Concerns over Australia’s wheat output come as the U.S. crop faces winter storms after being planted in dry soil last year, piling pressure on global grain supplies and […] Read more
USDA official sees 2013-14 global wheat crop around record levels
Reading Time: < 1 minute Global wheat output could climb to record highs in the year to June 2014 on improved crop prospects for some key producers hit by severe droughts last year, an official of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. “I think global production should get back to record level,” Joe Glauber, the USDA’s chief economist, told […] Read more
Australia’s struggling beef sector boosted by recent rains
Competition Reopening to under-30-month beef from North America may mean fewer sales to Japan
Reading Time: 2 minutes Australia’s struggling beef industry has received a boost from recent rains in the east of the country, which will increase grass growth to fatten up herds in the world’s third-biggest beef exporter, producers said. The wetter conditions in the aftermath of Cyclone Oswald mean farmers will keep cattle in herds for longer to add weight, […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
