After an almost perfect grain-growing season, farmers have been hit by frosts and a dry spring, taking the shine off a bumper forecast.
Jenne Brammer
WA farmers are missing out on funding from a Federal drought resilience scheme, because the State Government refuses to sign up.
Northern Territory farmers are exploring new tropical fruit growing methods in a bid to cyclone-proof the Top End food bowl.
Aaron Bunch
Plans for a game changing cotton gin in the Kimberley have moved closer to reality, after the industry received a $32 million cash boost via a loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
Mundella Foods, established by Peter and Anne Hector, was sold to China’s Bright Food Group in 2014. Now the Hectors are selling their blue chip farm to retire.
WA’s timber industry warns the $50 million transition package for the sector is inadequate and more is needed, following the bombshell announcement to end native forestry logging.
Frosts have wiped some potential from an otherwise strong season, but farmers are still confident about the year ahead.
The Hutt River Province north of Geraldton is unlikely to reopen to tourists after selling to a local farming family, with the ATO waiting in the wings to collect years of unpaid taxes.
Jenne Brammer and Neale Prior
Six Wheatbelt machinery showrooms and offices have hit the market, just months after farmer John Nicoletti sold his AgImpelments John Deere dealerships to rival AFGRI Equipment.
The State Government’s decision to phase out native logging after 2023 is seen as an opportunity for the understaffed WA resources sector.
Stuart McKinnon
Following a huge marketing campaign that targeted the metro area CBH has landed the 2000 workers it needs for the upcoming harvest.
A WA timber company that came to WA in 2019 said the State Government encouraged it to invest $50m before announcing this week it would now end native forest logging.
Former Australian Defence Force members are signing up to help Australian grain growers facing worker shortages to harvest bumper crops during the pandemic.
Tiffanie Turnbull
Beef farmers have expressed outrage over fake meat products they say mislead consumers and piggyback on their hard work.
Helena Burke
WA grain growers are putting pressure on the Prime Minister to intervene in the sector’s woes by addressing the shortage of skilled workers.
Kimberley Caines
D’Orsogna says production should be increasing in the lead up to Christmas, instead it must operate with 20 per cent fewer workers at its Melbourne facility because of COVID restrictions.
China remains Australian agriculture’s most valuable market, despite trade restrictions wiping more than a quarter off the value of its exports during 2020/21.
Australia's agriculture forecaster is tipping another above-average winter crop harvest, including a record year for canola, and another mouse plague.
Marion Rae
Australia’s Trade Minister says the WTO dispute process will take at least two years, but the principle is important.
The new expansion should help CBH’s efforts to drive down fertiliser costs.
A Canadian pension is the new owner of about $600m worth of prime farmland, most of which is in WA.
Australia no longer rides on the sheep’s back, but that hasn’t stopped a handful of WA regional entrepreneurs from forming businesses with a major spin on locally grown wool.
The peak advocacy group for WA’s northern cattle industry says the State Government should be flexible about how much water is allocated from the Fitzroy River, rather than locking in a fixed amount.
A plan to quarantine hundreds of foreign skilled farm workers in the Northern Territory is expected to be abandoned after the WA Government failed to organise resources within a workable timeframe.
Jenne Brammer and Josh Zimmerman
© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2020
