AgLife – September 28, 2022 edition

by:

Horsham Agricultural Society’s Peter Jackman checks a fleece during the weekend’s show, which made a longawaited return after the COVID-19 pandemic. Story, page 37.

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Soaking to continue into spring

BY ABBY WALTER

Wimmera farmers are finding themselves on a precipice of needing rain for a good springfinish to crops and not receiving too much rain that causes damage.

Tooan farmer John Heard said his crops showed good potential but it was almost getting too wet.

“Crops are looking good but they’re just hanging on, so it would be ideal if the rain reduced now,” he said.

“However, the roots won’t be very deep in the profile so we’re going to need a bit more rain to finish the crops off.

“We only need 10 millimetres a fort night — not an inch a week like we have been getting.”

Mr Heard said the crops were look ing different to August.

“The crop potential wasn’t what I thought it would be – it’s probably 10 to 20 percent below where I thought – although a month ago I was thinking it could have been the best ever,” he said.

“There’s still a long way to the finish line and it looks like it will be a longer season than average. There’s always the possibility of frosts or hail and more excess rain, too.”

The Bureau of Meteorology declared earlier this month that Australia had returned to a La Niña for the third year in a row.

A La Niña indicates eastern Aus tralia will experience above-average levels of rain during spring and early summer.

Mr Heard said the predicted late spring was going to push harvest into 2023.

“A lot of crops are starting to lodge with the excess moisture and wind. It’s uprooting the plant a bit, so we will have to harvest closer to the ground — which means more straw through the header and slower harvest speeds,” he said.

Bureau data shows Horsham’s rain

for the year to date has been 450.8 millimetres – 165.6mm more than the same time last year – compared with an average of 244.9mm.

Stawell has recorded 396.4mm — about 30mm above average — com pared to 433mm last year.

Ararat has received about 498.6mm for the year, compared with 427.5mm last year and an average of 445.1mm at the same time of year.

Nhill has recorded 370.8mm for the year, 132.6 more millimetres than this time last year and compared with an average of 256.2mm by the end of

Water-based activity boost

A wet start to spring has meant the Wimmera’s wetlands, creeks and lakes will retain more water ahead of summer due to saturated waterbeds.

Wimmera Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said it had been a ‘cracking’ start to spring after a wet winter.

“There’s water flowing right across the catch ment. Every creek and wetland is getting a drink, so it’s a great scenario to be in,” he said.

“It’s during spring that we get the majority of inflows in this region and with a saturated catch ment, we’ll see wetlands and creeks fill up.

“It’s great for the environment and community that we will be able to enjoy the benefits of water right across the Wimmera.”

Mr Brennan said too much rain meant people in low-lying areas would need to remain vigilant for flooding.

“We have had some of the recent rain cut roads and that is an inconvenience. Over spring, when the weather warms and the chance of thun

derstorms increases, the intensity of rain can increase, too,” he said.

“Too much rain can also cause damage to agri culture when it is too wet to get out into crops to spray or the rain damages the crops.

“We can’t control the weather and with a La Niña, this is another wet cycle we are going through.”

Mr Brennan said the Wimmera had received ‘more than its fair share’ of rain this year com pared to the past two years.

“We didn’t see huge amounts of rain despite the two most recent La Niña seasons but this year we have a real chance to see our wetlands and storages not connected to GWMWater get some water,” he said.

“Some of the lakes such as Natimuk Lake and Lake Wallace haven’t seen water or a top-up in some years, so fingers crossed more rain will come.”

Protection for farming families

September. Gauges have recorded al most 126.2 more millimetres in War racknabeal this year compared with last year, with the rain gauges tallying about 404.8mm.

Edenhope has experienced 14.9mm above average this year, and with 461.4mm this year, there is 98.2 more millimetres in the gauges compared to last year.

Bureau of Meterologys head of long-range forecasts, Andrew Wat kins, said a three-month climate out look showed a more than 80 per cent chance of above-average rain

for many parts of eastern Australia.

“During La Niña events, waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal, and waters in the western tropical Pacific Ocean are warmer than normal,” he said.

“This causes changes in wind, cloud and pressure patterns over the Pacific.

“When this change in the atmo sphere combines with changes in ocean temperature, it can influence global weather patterns and climate — including increasing rainfall over large parts of Australia.”

Dr Watkins said while La Niña cri teria were met, most models forecast this event as weak to moderate in strength. It is likely to peak during spring and ease during summer.

“La Niña is not the only driver influ encing this wet outlook,” he said.

“To our west, a significant negative Indian Ocean Dipole, IOD, event is underway. We expect the IOD influ ence will reduce in late spring or early summer.

“The Southern Annular Mode, SAM, is also in a positive phase, and is likely to remain positive into summer.

“Positive SAM during summer pushes weather systems south, which increases the chance of rain in New South Wales, eastern Victoria and southern parts of Queensland.”

INSPECTION: Tooan farmer John Heard checks out his wheat crop after the rain across the past two months. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Milestone for research groupGates open at long last

BY ABBY WALTER

With warm weather approaching, so is the season for ram sales, and stud owners are gearing up for great sale days.

Luke Ellis, of Pimpinio, is hosting his first ram sale as West Wail White Suffolk Stud next month.

Mr Ellis said he was looking forward to seeing clients and having as many people back at sales in person as possible. Previously part of his fam ily’s dohne and white suffolk stud, Mr Ellis said due to succession planning for the family farm, he had started his own stud.

“My wife Kelly and I will be running the sale for the first time by ourselves this year and all our clients know that is what we are doing,” he said.

“We used AuctionsPlus at our sale last year, but we won’t be using it this year — it’s a totally different feeling to be able to be there in person.

“Clients get to see the whole line-up, talk to others and bounce ideas off each other.

“Anyone who can’t attend due to COVID-19 will send an agent to do the work.”

Mr Ellis said there was good money in sheep at the moment.

“We’re hoping that our average selling price will be similar to last year,” he said.

WestWail White Suffolk Stud ram sale is on October 20 at Maydale sheep pavilion, Horsham.

Grant and Bryce Hausler, of Goroke, dealt with additional challenges for their Janmac on-prop erty ram sale during the past two years and are feeling a ‘sense of relief’ to be ‘back to normal’ this year.

Due to their proximity to the border, the restricted access for people between Victoria and South Australia meant they also used AuctionsPlus and will be using the online system again in 2022.

“It has its place and can be used as an alterna tive. It gives anyone the chance to be involved in the sale,” Grant said.

“However, we are back to organising the sale like normal and that brings a sense of relief.”

Janmac’s 18th on-property sale is on October 5 at Goroke.

Grant said while he was always hopeful for a good result, he did not take preconceived ideas into the sale.

“It was our first year showing at Sheepvention in Hamilton this year and we had good feedback from that, so we will see how that pans out,” he said. “We’re very happy with what we will be putting forward for sale and are excited to see people, to catch up with friends and clients.

“I always really enjoy our ram sale and it’s a cumulation of not only 18 months of work, but years of hard work.”

Birchip Cropping Group is celebrating 30 years of agricultural research, collaboration and shared solutions.

BCG is inviting farmers, industry personnel and people who have connected with the organi sation to a celebratory dinner on October 7.

Author Gabrielle Chan is guest speaker.

Chan authored ‘Rusted Off’ and ‘Why You Should Give a F*ck About Farming’.

Chan is The Guardian Australia’s rural and regional editor. She will share her views on the future of farming.

BCG chief executive Fiona Best said the mile stone was a special achievement and the organi sation wanted to celebrate and share it.

“BCG was developed by a handful of dedicated and energised individuals who grew the organi sation into the thriving and dynamic operation we are today,” she said. “It was their belief in the power of shared solutions that stands at the heart of BCG’s enduring success.

“The dinner, catered for by BCG board mem ber and renowned restaurateur Stefano de Pieri, will celebrate 30 years of progress, dedication, optimism and the determination of farmers, re searchers and the communities.

“They strived to not just persevere with what they had, but to build and develop solutions to benefit not only the local community but the wider region, encompassing the Australian agri cultural sector.”

The event is at Birchip Leisure Centre from 7pm at a cost of $50 per person.

People wanting more information, or to regis ter can phone 5492 2787 by October 3.

Adrian Fischer

MARKET: Luke Ellis of Pimpinio’s West Wail White Suffolk Stud prepares for the stud’s inaugural sale in Horsham next month. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Supporting farmers with top advice

Mark Sudholz prides himself on a considered and tailored approach to supporting the Wim mera’s farmers achieve their best.

His business, SAS Consulting, aims to deliver practical advice and high-quality outcomes for family farming businesses across the Wim mera. He emphasises reliable and proven farming practices that deliver continued success.

SAS Consulting, established in 2011, approaches farming advice on a case-by-case basis.

“I started my farming business in 1997 and I started training as an agronomist at that time, too. In 2011, I decided to go out on my own and begin SAS Consulting,” Mr Sudholz said.

“I want to solve complex problems, rather than sell solutions — and that’s the difference.”

Mr Sudholz offers prospective cli ents an initial consultation before any formal contract begins.

This helps him to understand the prospective client’s business and goals.

He prides himself on creating and establishing rapport with clients.

“If there’s a problem, there’s always a cause. Once you’ve gotten to the bottom of that, you can start building a technique to fix it,” Mr Sudholz said.

“Every farm has its own unique challenges and you have to acknowl edge that. You have to deconstruct the issue and then rebuild.”

Mr Sudholz said it was important to consider constraints such as resources, labour, machinery, location, weather

and market variability and soil con straints — which all had the potential to impact outcomes.

“Limitations and constraints are what we have to deal with,” he said.

“So we’re not looking to change that initially but to manage it better. As we generate more profit in the farm, business and capital becomes avail able and we can allocate longer-term solutions to the clients’ farming chal lenges.

“Once you create momentum in the

farming business, you can start re-in vesting back into the business. This is the foundation of farm prosperity — enabling growers to take control.

“It gives me great satisfaction play ing any role in helping farmers to achieve their goals, making a real difference in their lives.”

Mr Sudholz maintains a mix of longterm clients and newer additions to his client list. He said a high level of customer satisfaction and contract renewals was paramount.

Want to generate more profit from your farm? SAS gets your farm working for you...

Client Paul Petering runs a cropping property with an additional lamb and hay operation. He has worked with Mr Sudholz since the early 2000s.

“Number one is that he is a farmer himself, so he understands the impli cations of what message he’s trying to get across and how it affects our farming operation. He’s well-versed in his trade and if he’s not sure, he will say so and seek information prior to commenting,” Mr Petering said.

“Timeliness and planning ahead is

the main aspect of Mark’s work. He has encouraged us to look at the whole farm situation because he looks at the whole picture, and he’s focused on the bottom line.”

Cereal farmer Mick Morcom has worked with Mr Sudholz for 16 years.

“I’ve been with Mark for this long for a reason. I think he has great ex pertise and whatever he recommends tends to work,” Mr Morcom said.

“He has a broad range of knowledge and he’s passionate about the industry. He’s not bound to any retailer, so he’s not bound to sell a product. He pro vides the best information and advice for crops.

“He provides us with agronomic advice and planning – a myriad of things to do with the farming business really. He’s improved my timeliness, definitely. I was not efficient in my timing of applications, and he’s also improved my understanding of crops.

“Mark directs me in the right direc tion and keeps me focused.”

Crop farmer Neale Postlethwaite, a client since the start of 2021, noted an attention to detail as a great benefit of working with Mr Sudholz.

“I’ve definitely seen better weed control since working with Mark — that’s the main thing,” Mr Pos tlethwaite said.

“Mark calls a spade a spade. He is genuinely trying to make your busi ness more profitable.

“He focuses on the whole seasonal cycle, so you’re thinking about what you’re going to be doing next year as well as what you’re doing today.”

Independent agronomy and farm consulting visit

WHOLE PICTURE: Farmer Paul Petering discusses his crop with Mark Sudholz from SAS Consulting.

Show season return lights spark

BY ABBY WALTER

Wimmera show society lead ers hope the return of an nual shows will bring a ‘spark’ back into communities.

Murtoa show president Bree Childs is busy preparing for the town’s show that kick-start’s the Murtoa Big Week end this weekend — and hopes it will be ‘better than ever’.

“Who doesn’t love a show,” she said. “The whole show committee is hyped for the event and we’re hoping the weather holds out.

“We are a small community that is passionate about having events like this for our children to enjoy.

“We’ve seen shows in some small towns fold and that’s not what we want for ourselves.”

Mrs Childs said despite 136 years of operation, the drive and determination to host a local Agricultural and Pasto ral show remained.

“Small communities stick together and the show will not be going any where if we can help it,” she said.

“The town will be buzzing. It’s such a big event, with the whole weekend of activities, and so many people come from all different places.”

The Horsham show went ahead across the weekend and after two years of virtual shows, organisers had to rethink the event’s future.

Horsham show secretary Andrea

Wimmera show dates

Cross said partnerships were critical to events such as shows and it took many individuals and groups to host a successful event.

She said organisers had worked with other groups to showcase events scheduled throughout school holidays.

Mrs Cross said finding energy and returning the event after two years of alternative arrangements — including online events and activities — amid the COVID-19 pandemic had been challenging.

She said uncertainty about Foot and Mouth Disease, FMD, and livestock

TECHSTAR APPRENTICE PROGRAM.

competitions were unresolved until days before the show.

“There was an initial fear of no en tries in the sheep or miniature goats, or the shearing competition,” she said.

“We were on the back foot and some of these things can’t be resolved until

a day or days before the show.”

Kaniva Show is also on the horizon.

President Kaye Bothe said shows were about celebrating what the re gion had to offer.

“Agricultural shows need to really hone in on the agricultural aspect

— that’s what it’s about,” she said. “Shows can continue with the struc ture they have had, as long as you can identify what is relevant in your area.”

Mrs Bothe said the agricultural pa vilion was ‘thriving’ with a range of sponsorships and prizes on offer.

She said there was ‘100 percent’ a place for agriculture shows in com munities into the future, and the show was the main event that brought the whole community together in Kaniva.

“Everyone is talking about it. Every one is excited and positive about the show coming back,” she said.

“Our show is highly valued, con sidering our population. It is a big event and everyone attends and gets behind it.”

Kaniva is one of two shows in 2022 that will showcase a Primary Indus tries Education Foundation Australia, PIEFA, interactive display.

Mrs Bothe said QR codes would lead people through information and education about field grains, pulses, and oilseeds; how to use grains for food; and soil health.

“PIEZFA, in conjunction with Ag ricultural Shows Australia and Pri mezone have chosen Kaniva for this display,” she said.

“We’re really fortunate to be picked and excited to have something pro moting agriculture.”

Applications are now open for the January 2023 intake of the Emmetts TechSTAR Apprenticeship Program. Opportunities are available across our branches in Victoria and South Australia. So, if you’re looking to build an exciting career as an Ag Technician that is full of variety, working with cutting-edge John Deere technology and the biggest brands in agricultural machinery, apply now!

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PACE: Zack Currie classes wool during a competition at the weekend’s Horsham Show. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Advancements are the long game

From left field

Afriend of mine is a plant breeder. He’s smart. He works hard.

As a plant breeder, you have to play the long game.

If you make a cross in the glasshouse today, it might be 10 years before that variety gets to market.

Along the way, most of your work will be discarded.

No yield improvement. Disease package not strong enough. Or per haps the strain of rust has evolved so your once-resistant variety is now susceptible.

I think plant breeders make an enor mous contribution to the environmen tal and financial sustainability of a cropping farm.

Think about the pulse industry.

A handful of people identified germ plasm they thought might be suitable for production in Australia.

The result is a thriving lentil, chick pea and faba bean industry.

Farm businesses are more profitable, soil health has improved and we’ve spawned a wave of secondary industry

across the regions — all started by a couple of plant breeders.

So I was pretty disappointed when my friend relayed a story from a re cent plant science conference in New South Wales.

A guest speaker at the conference, a supposed farm ‘leader’, berated the audience on the need to do more to keep his farm profitable.

No matter this person owned a busi

ness worth many, many millions of dollars. No matter his wealth was well in excess of the people in the audience.

He wanted more and they should deliver it.

This incident has revived the ghost of the ‘whinging farmer’ in my mind.

In this time of great optimism in agriculture, a time of record crops, of ag colleges brimming with students,

of rapid development of really cool technology, I’d hoped we’d buried the whinging farmer. But it seems not.

I do think farming is a tough busi ness. Each season you take a deep breath and roll the dice to plant a crop.

You ride every weather front, every frost. You ride the market volatility.

And at harvest you scramble to secure your year’s work.

It’s an emotional roller coaster.

But when I try to identify an easy business I can’t find one. Owning any business is hard work.

There was a time when, as an indus try leader, it seemed smart to com plain.

Run with the ‘poor us’ line in the hope you could leverage public sym pathy to gain some sort of taxpay er-funded support. A bit of a shortterm sugar hit.

But is that really the best way to present our industry?

Modern agriculture can be proud of what it’s doing. The vast majority of farms are very well managed, sustain able businesses.

There is, and always will be, the need to improve and refine practices.

Often this will be achieved through partnerships with government and government agencies.

So we should be forceful advocates for change and for public investment.

For me, though, it’s much better to advance our industry through sound reasoning.

To demonstrate the economic value agriculture brings to this country.

To demonstrate farmers are respon sible and effective custodians of the land. To show we are in pursuit of the world’s best practice in agricultural production.

That would be playing the long game.

PROGRESS: Touring a research site of 67,000 plots is just one example that demonstrates the valuable work and effort plant breeders offer to the agriculture industry.

with David Matthews

Bumper forecast raises positivity

BY ABBY WALTER

Acropping industry leader has praised growers for continued hard work in producing what could be another national bumper crop in 2022.

Grain Growers Australia chairman Brett Hosk ing, of Quambatook, said the year was ‘testa ment’ to growers and their ability to make a difference.

“We are looking at a really significant national crop again this year and we have been supported by some good weather conditions, but it has brought a whole heap of challenges,” he said.

“We had flooding right through New South Wales and Queensland and into Victoria we saw growers battling to get crops into the ground, supply chain disruptions, workforce disruptions, costs of inputs, and disease outbreaks to a scale that we’ve never seen before.

“Yet, despite all that, growers have gotten on with it and done a really good job.”

Mr Hosking said he was ‘quietly optimistic’.

“We had a good start in most of Victoria but we had a dry winter. It’s probably only late August and early September that things have started to pick up and now it’s getting quite wet, which is what we want at this time of year,” he said.

“We always say a spring can make or break any season and every season, it seems to be true.

“Everyone will give you a different answer on when they would like it to stop raining but for western Victoria, I think conditions are probably about ideal now. We wouldn’t want it to stop completely but it could ease off a little bit and we would feel pretty comfortable.”

Mr Hosking said prices had softened on grain in recent months, but it was not all bad news.

“As the Australian crop looks more certain, that eases crop prices a little bit,” he said. “We’ve had users in the trade be a little more confident in the supply of grain that’s on the horizon.”

Grain prices remain steady with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry reporting Australian export prices, at September 15, no more than one percent higher or lower than the week previous.

However, the prices are between 16 and 31 per cent higher than prices at the same time last year.

Milling wheat was exported at $540 a tonne, feed wheat sold for $495 a tonne and feed barley was exported at $456 a tonne. Canola was ex ported at $1027 a tonne.

In the Wimmera, AWB recorded bid prices for APW1 wheat at $353.25 to $358; barley at $263 to $269.25; and canola at $679.25 to $685.50.

Mr Hosking said other factors putting down ward pressure on prices were geopolitical.

“We’re seeing grain starting to flow out of the Black Sea area and Ukraine, in particular, but also Russia to an extent — and that supply of grain going onto the global market means prices ease,” he said.

“That’s applied to all grains and the ones that have taken the biggest hit would be canola, giv en that Ukraine is a friendly competitor of ours when it comes to canola markets, particularly in supply to the European Union.

“I think growers are happy for Ukraine to be exporting again, even if we have had to suffer a bit of price-pain to get there.”

Sanctions on barley from Australia to China are continuing to put downward pressure on prices.

Mr Hosking said it was estimated barley prices would be up $50 if the malt barley market to China reopened.

“China is the biggest maltster in the world and it pays a premium for the high, consistent quality malt barley that Australian growers are so good at producing,” he said.

“We have lost that premium and now a lot of our barley is exported as feed to countries like Saudi Arabia. They’re still good markets and re liable markets but we’re just missing out on that malt premium. The grain is also having to travel a little bit further, so it costs more in shipping.”

Mr Hosking said in the meantime, there were new opportunities elsewhere with barley heading to South America for malt.

“We have been able to open up some new malt barley markets but it’s only a handful of vessels that have taken barley over there at this stage,” he said.

“We hope that will continue, but they are not replacing the demand that was going into China.

“Hopefully we’re going to receive a report from the World Trade Organisation by the end of the year about our challenge against the sanc tions imposed on us.”

In the opposite trend, some pressures are con tinuing to keep prices from falling drastically.

“We know China has had one of the worst droughts it has ever seen right through its grain belt and are continuing to suffer from that,” Mr Hosking said.

“It has been a massive purchaser of wheat out of Australia and we can’t see that demand easing for quite some time.

“We’re still seeing stocks rebuilding in oth er Northern Hemisphere countries following a pretty bad drought last year and a below-average season this year in parts of Europe, parts of North America and Canada.

“Those sorts of things are putting a little bit of support under prices so they’re not dropping away as much as they would otherwise.”

Biosecurity action call

A new state biosecurity statement is lying groundwork for how government can best man age potential risks of pests and diseases to land and waters.

The Victorian Government wants to strengthen its resolve on biosecurity. The statement sets out ways industry and government can work togeth er to protect the environment and economy.

Developed in collaboration with industry lead ers, Traditional Owners and national and state peak bodies, the statement offered people a chance to define what biosecurity meant to them.

Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney said as biosecurity risks increased and became more complex on a global scale, government agencies, businesses, organisations and individuals had a role to play.

“This statement is a game-changing approach to biosecurity that focuses on every single Victo rian to play their part and ensure our communi

ties, environment and economy remain healthy, safe and resilient,” she said.

Ms Tierney said through defining biosecurity, why it exists and how people have a role to play, the statement highlights how actions and choices can have significant impacts on land, waters, communities and culture.

Biosecurity is a collective effort to prevent and manage the harms caused by pests and diseases, and the impact they have on farming communi ties, natural landscapes and the safety of food and fibre production; to ensure people can move freely, gather, care for and connect to Country, produce safe and clean food, and enjoy the beau ty of the outdoors, Victoria’s farms, environment and animals need to be protected from harmful pests and diseases.

The statement also identifies opportunities for ‘citizen scientists’ to get involved, with accessi ble toolkits to help identify pests and diseases.

Devil in detail of environment rule

The European Union passed a bill last week that could have unintended consequences for Austral ian agriculture and the beef industry is particularly con cerned.

The EU Environment Council says the new rules “are intend ed to prevent timber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, beef, soy and derivative products from en tering the EU internal market in the future if their production has caused deforestation.”.

The good news for Australia is that the laws will only ap ply to deforestation that occurs after 2020. Victoria already has very tough laws so we shouldn’t be too concerned.

The problem, Australian Beef Sustainability Frame work chairman Mark Davie, a Queensland producer, says is the term ‘deforestation’ hasn’t been defined to apply to only native vegetation.

“Ten percent canopy cover and five-metres high is de

clared a forest. I think the big challenge is that they’ve cen tred this commitment around the definition of a forest from a satellite — it doesn’t take into consideration the management of regrowth,” he said.

“They haven’t got the tech nology to determine if some body is knocking down lantana or getting rid of rubber vine or many of the weed species that encroach on our environment.”

German Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said the Environment Council’s deci sion was an ‘important step’ towards better protection for forests worldwide.

“The decision of the EU member states sends an im portant message that the EU is honouring its responsibility to global forest conservation,” she said.

“It is taking concrete steps so that it will not worsen the climate change and biodiver sity crises. We have made a good start.

“I hope that we will soon be able to go further and in clude additional products such as natural rubber and other eco systems such as savannahs and wetlands in the regulation.”

This legislation has the most popular support of any in the EU for some time. So it’s going to be very difficult for Aus tralia to raise its voice above the ‘real’ major deforesters like South American and Indonesia to say, ‘wait a minute, we’re just trying to clean up some weeds, here. This is not de forestation; it’s land manage ment’.

There’s little doubt the EU has the best of environment preservation intentions.

But as always, the devil is the detail and Australia doesn’t want to be collateral damage.

Kaniva Nhill

Dimboola Horsham

Dooen launch nears

BY MICHAEL SCALZO

International directors of an Aus tralian-Japanese agriculture venture have visited their near-launch ready Dooen facility as the company seeks to capture an expanding Japanese hayimport market.

Australian and Japanese directors of hay exporter Johnson Asahi say production at the company’s new facility should start late next month.

Builders are finalising stage-three of the site’s construction.

Johnson Asahi, a joint-business venture started in 1995 between J.T. Johnson and Sons and Asahi, has reinforced its plan to transfer its entire Horsham production to the new Dooen site by 2025.

The Dooen site will work in tandem with the existing Horsham plant in the mean time, before stage-four of construction — the Horsham to Dooen relocation.

Asahi director Yoshi Kubo and Asahi strategy officer Kristy Kurisaki visited the Wimmera this month to explore the new 5000-square metre facility and hayprocessing machine, expected to produce between 15 and 20 40-foot containers of processed hay each day when operational.

Mr Kubo said the new facility was cru cial for the company to grow in parallel with an expanding Japanese market.

“This facility will be very helpful to add production capacity,” he said.

He lauded the quality of Victorian hay and said Japanese buyers’ preferenced the hay Victorian farmers produced.

“This hay is easy to export because our buyers know it is easy to use. Our custom ers know it for its soft texture and high sugar content,” he said.

“We import 50,000 tonnes of hay into Japanese markets, and we expect the ton nage to grow.”

Johnson Asahi Horsham general man ager Andrew Hayward said the company bought agricultural products from about 120 suppliers, with the Johnson brand having collaborated with several farming families for five generations.

Company director Mark Johnson said hay-suppliers had ‘trust’ in the business relationship and belief in Johnson Asahi’s Wimmera expansion.

“Hay takes up about 70 percent of John son’s business and these farmers trust us,” he said.

“This $20 million dollar facility, and with more to spend when we start stage-four of Dooen’s construction, remains a big investment and it is something our farmers really believe in.

“They are all supportive and it means, over the years, we have not had to expand our buyer base a whole lot. We stick with

our current buyers, and they are backing us in – so we do the same with them.”

He noted Johnson Asahi’s exports fitted the region’s farming rotation because the company bought vetch-wheat and oaten hay and allowed farmers a continuous buy er — a system that supported the business relationship.

However, Mr Hayward said staff shortag es had impacted rapid worker recruitment as Johnson Asahi sought to a variety of recruits for the new facility.

“It has been very difficult to find people,” he said. “We are looking for a variety of workers across the site including produc tion and administration and we are still advertising.

“We want to hire a diverse and Wim mera-based workforce and we are eager to promote apprenticeship opportunities and broader careers in what is an Australian wide agricultural industry.”

Johnson has operated the Australian arm of the business, the growers and suppliers of hay product since the joint-venture 27 years ago; while Asahi has handled sales and dairy farmers in Japan.

J.T. Johnson and Sons continues to op erate independently within the remainder of its international export business in hay and pellets.

Directors are planning an official launch of the Dooen facility later in 2022.

Lamb numbers rise

Lamb numbers at Horsham Regional Livestock Exchange have increased in September.

With no sale last week, the most recent market report on September 14 recorded a yard ing of 3100 lambs.

The previous week saw 4450 lambs and 2150 sheep yarded.

Numbers fluctuated between 1250 and 3300 head in August.

Graham Pymer’s latest mar ket report noted the quality of lambs yarded was ‘very good’.

Light trade weight new sea son young lambs sold from $152 to $175 a head and av eraged 775 cents a kilogram, while medium trade weights sold from $181 to $184 a head and averaged 785 cents a ki logram.

Heavy trade weights sold for $204 a head with the export weights selling from $214 to $230 a head and averaging 830 cents a kilogram.

Medium and heavy trade weight old lambs sold from

$164 to $192 a head and aver aged 730 cents a kilogram.

Export weights sold from $185 to $223 a head to average 700 cents a kilogram.

Extra heavy weight old lambs sold from $213 to $240 a head.

Medium and heavier merino lambs sold from $152 to $172 a head to average 640 cents a kilogram. Hoggets sold from $134 to $169 a head.

Light weight sheep sold from $56 to $66 a head. Medium weight sheep sold from $87 to $111 a head with the merino mutton averaging 450 cents a kilogram, and heavier merino ewes sold from $128 to $164 a head.

Heavy merino wethers sold from $162 to $184 a head with the heavy merino sheep aver aging 490 cents to 520 cents a kilogram.

Heavy crossbred ewes sold from $133 to $180 a head.

Rams sold from $35 to $85 a head.

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CELEBRATING GROWTH: At Dooen were, from left, Johnson Asahi Horsham general manager Andrew Hayward, director Mark Johnson, Asahi director Yoshi Kubo and Asahi strategy officer Kristy Kurisaki.

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Opportunity spotlight

Alarge crowd at Birch ip Cropping Group’s Main Field Day has heard from disease experts, a mus ter dog trainer, researchers and farmers.

Field Applied Research, FAR, Australia disease expert Nick Poole’s message to attendees at the field day was to ‘mind the gap’.

Agriculture Victoria disease experts Grant Hollaway and Hari Dadu joined Mr Poole for a question-and-answer session.

He said in order to maximise and optimise economics during this high yield-potential sea son, people should keep ‘mon ey leaves’ protected.

“If Flutriafol was used on fertiliser at sowing, when that third leaf emerges, flag -2, we need to be actively keeping it clean,” he said.

“While chemistry has im proved over the years, they are still better protective rather than reactive. We need to be looking to get fungicides on before disease appears.”

Mr Pole said if the top ‘mon ey leaf’, flag leaf, was infected then first fungicide decisions were left too long and would leave a gap.

“It’s as simple as saying I need to protect the leaf at growth stage 31, 32 and then the flag leaf at growth stage 39, with the gap not to exceed four, at a stretch five weeks,” he said. “Mind the gap.

“What has happened is peo ple who haven’t used Flutriafol have put it on too early with the broadleaf spray, then decided the flag leaf needs protecting.

“The gap is too big to protect the money leaves.”

ABC Muster Dogs trainer Pe

ter Barr, of Pinnaroo, was also a highlight with his working dog demonstration.

Mr Barr’s message to farmers looking to train their dog came down to making sure the dog is a ‘best mate’, and spending time with them.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot of time but it needs to be focussed time, where all your attention is on them,” he said.

Former Hawthorn captain Ben McEvoy discussed how he would apply lessons learned

in football to farming. He said staying focussed was important both in football and farming, and a success mindset played a major role in future achieve ments.

Collaborators also brought the organisation’s research to life, including GRDC NVT re sults, pulse agronomy, Septoria management in the low rainfall zone, silicon trials, soil carbon work, BCG’s herbicide matrix, year-round fodder trials and animal biosecurity.

Skills solution quest

National Farmers’ Federa tion leaders have commend ed the federal government for promising immediate action on increasing skilled migra tion and simplifying enterprise bargaining after a Jobs and Skills Summit.

President Fiona Simson said the Summit was a ‘useful’ ex ercise in bringing people to gether to create reform.

“Increasing skilled migra tion and simplifying enterprise bargaining will certainly help meet skills gaps,” she said.

“We’re also pleased to have reached a tripartite agreement with key unions and govern ment to implement a range of agreed improvements to skills and training, workplace safe ty, housing, and the Pacific Australian Labour Mobility, PALM, Scheme.

“We look forward to engag ing in that newly formed work ing group to fast-track progress on these key issues.

“We also recognise improved flexibility for pensioners wish ing to access the workforce but note this still falls short of calls by the NFF, National Seniors Australia and other business groups.”

Ms Simson said the farm ers’ federation planned to work constructively with the govern

ment to promote simpler, more accessible enterprise bargain ing while avoiding negative outcomes.

However, she said solutions to filling tens of thousands of roles within agriculture in the immediate term remained un clear.

“While much of the discus sion at the summit centred on migration for highly skilled workers — which is undoubt edly a challenge for agriculture — we are still left wondering how we will plug the yawning gap in lower-skilled workers,” she said.

“We know the PALM isn’t the answer in isolation.

“We know domestic workers aren’t here in the numbers we need.

“We need appropriate visa pathways to bring in workers from around the world, and to ensure they’re having a pos itive experience in regional Australia.

“We know that we’re short at least 172,000 workers across our food supply chain.

“We’re seeing this manifest in higher prices and supply disruptions on supermarket shelves.

“This isn’t just a farmer prob lem anymore.”

MINDSET: Wimmera farmer and former Hawthorn Football Club Captain Ben McEvoy, centre, pictured with Birchip Cropping Group chief executive Fiona Best, left, and chairman John Ferrier, right explained how he plans to apply the lessons learnt in football to farming.

Stud preparing for on-property sale

Melrose Merino Stud rams have been shown to lift fleece weight, in crease number of lambs weaned and reduce micron according to Austra lian Sheep Breeding Values, ASBVs, and Indexes in Merinoselect.

Melrose rams sold to a top of $3750 for a poll ram, purchased by Jim Burke of Willaura, at this year’s Glenelg Merino Field Day and auc tion. The stud averaged $3050 for four rams at public auction.

The stud offered 60 rams at its on-property auction in October last year, selling to a top price of $5800 for a 107-kilogram 17.8-micron poll ram at lot 1. Ashley McErvale, of Waterloo, purchased the ram.

This ram boasted an FP+ index of 176 and MP+ index of 188.

The on-property sale rams in 2021 sold for an average of $1981 with 58 of 60 selling at auction.

Melrose is offering a line-up of 60 rams, 41 poll and 19 horn rams on property at ths year’s sale on October 5.

Breeding sheep at Melrose re volves around utilising independent opinion and advice from renowned sheep classer Chris Bowman, using ASBVs and indexing in a considered approach to aid in classing ewes and selecting sires for breeding.

All Melrose rams are sold with Merinoselect ASBVs as well as raw data.

War support effort ongoing

BY MICHAEL SCALZO

ARupanyup-based national grain-farmer body spokesman has reminded growers a harvest appeal for Ukrainian farmers re mains open for donations.

Grain Producers Australia has con tinued to call for Australian grain farmers to donate proceeds from winter harvests to Ukrainian farm ers striving to manage their business during a Russian military invasion.

The Aussie Grain4Ukraine Fund raising Appeal aims to assist commu nities with ‘long-term recovery’ of damages during the conflict.

Ukraine was one of the world’s largest exporters of grain before the conflict, however export-limiting naval blockades, economic and lo gistical challenges, and obvious mil itary-based safety obstacles have re duced farming capacity.

Grain Producers Australia, GPA, southern director and research and development spokesman Andrew Weidemann, of Rupanyup, said there had been an uptick in awareness of Ukrainian farmers’ struggle since the initiative launched in April.

“Discussions with Wimmera farm

ers on Ukrainian grain, the conver sation does drift to discussion of the beneficial market for Australian grain growers during the conflict – howev er farmers have been asking ‘where’ they can put their grain to help with proceed donations,” he said.

“Some farmers just were not aware about our Grower Delivery Card with in the National Grower Register Sys tem – 1500 4442 – that is registered to Grain Producers Australia Limited.”

He said new problems for Ukrainian farmers emerged since the conflict started, including the loss of labour from farms to Ukrainian armed forces.

“A lot of their staff have joined the army, so many businesses have had their production cut to practically zero,” he said.

“Everyone working on this initia tive at GPA has the resolve to see it through – it is managed pro bono and all proceeds will be remitted directly to our networks of farmers overseas.”

The Australian-farmer led sub-com mittee of GPA members formed to drive the campaign has continued to encourage suggestions of support pro grams the money could benefit; sug gestions can be made via a portal on the GPA’s campaign webpage.

TOP SELLER: Melrose Merino Stud’s Warren Russell, right, pictured at last year’s on-property ram sale with top-ram buyer Ashley McErvale, centre, and Elders’ Elliot Linley, is preparing for the 2022 on-property sale next week.