Agribusiness

Chain Volume 10 Number 1

2010

•BEEF•FUTURE FARMING•WATER•SUSTAINABILITY & ENVIRONMENT•RURAL PROPERTY MARKET•EDUCATION & TRAINING•BEST PRACTICE•FARM

MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT•CASHFLOW MANAGEMENT•IRRIGATION•LANDSCAPES•WINE & VITICULTURE•RESEARCH•BREEDING•SOILS•SALINITY
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 CONTENTS

VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1
AGRI
Published by:
business
3 Beef Industry
9 Cattle, Meat + Livestock
ABN 30 007 224 204
430 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
10 Future Farming
Tel: 03 9274 4200 Fax: 03 9329 5295
Email: media@executivemedia.com.au 12 Cashflow Management
Web: www.executivemedia.com.au
14 Agricultural Chemicals
Editor-in-Chief:
Ric Navarro 23 Risk Management
Email: ric.navarro@executivemedia.com.au
26 Best Practice
Advertising Enquiries:
Phil Haratsis 30 Sustainability + Environment
Tel: 03 9274 4200
Email: phil.haratsis@executivemedia.com.au
40 Education + Training
Printed by: Arena Printing Pty Ltd
42 Salinity
Front Cover: Goulburn-Yass Superfine Wool
Breeder John Ive, measuring dam salinity on
his property, Talaheni. Read John’s Dam
45 Farm Machinery + Equipment
Salinity Report Card on page 42.
Photo by Graham Tidy, The Canberra Times. 52 Water
53 Crisis Support
54 Rural Property Market
The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents
are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of
the text of contributions contained in this publication 60 Irrigation
or for the consequences of any use made of the
products, and the information referred to in this
publication. The editor, publisher, printer and their staff 63 Landscapes
and agents expressly disclaim all liability of whatsoever
nature for any consequences arising from any errors
or omissions contained in this publication whether
64 Innovation
caused to a purchaser of this publication or otherwise.
The views expressed in the articles and other material
published herein do not necessarily reflect the views of
66 Research
67
the editor and publisher or their staff or agents. The
responsibility for the accuracy of information is that of Breeding
the individual contributors and neither the publisher or
editors can accept responsibility for the accuracy of
information which is supplied by others. It is impossible 69 Soils
for the publisher and editors to ensure that the
advertisements and other material herein comply with
the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). Readers should
70 Crops
make their own inquiries in making any decisions, and
where necessary, seek professional advice. 71 Weeds
© 2009 Executive Media. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part, without written
permission is strictly prohibited. 72 Wine + Viticulture
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 1
 Modern spaces

ST HILDA’S SCHOOL created by St Hilda’s

School for interactive
learning and research
INVITATION The Gold Coast’s St Hilda’s
School opened its $5 million
Centre for Scientific Learning
and Research, a ‘green’
designed learning space for
creative teaching.
“Students are no longer
passive in their learning,” said
Head of School, Mr Peter
Crawley. “Active students,
St Hilda’s Head of School invites prospective families to tour creating and nurturing their
the new $5 million Centre for Scientific Learning and Research.
learning, inevitably means real
The centre’s creative design, featuring six teaching laboratories, research is undertaken at school. We needed a building that would
is equipped with the latest information technology and offers allow us the freedom to develop this learning style.”
students an incredible facility for the study of the Sciences. The facility’s six laboratories allow students to engage in long-term
To book your tour, contact the Registrar on 07 5577 7232 experiments. Every lab connects to the internet, has a set of laptop
or email enrolments@sthildas.qld.edu.au computers and interactive whiteboards that increase student and
St Hilda’s School is an Anglican Diocesan day and boarding school teacher flexibility. The modern document readers have photographic
located on a magnificent 14-hectare campus in central Southport. capabilities that can capture to microscopic levels. Air conditioning and
The School has strong traditional links with electricity are earthpowered.
Australia’s rural communities and is committed At the opening, The Archbishop of Brisbane, The Most Reverend Dr
to innovative teaching programs catering for the Phillip Aspinall spoke of the importance of science to the modern world.
learning needs of girls. St Hilda’s School has converted its old laboratories into classrooms
Boarding Bursaries are available for Years 6 to 12. for interactive learning for the Middle School.
St Hilda’s School is an Anglican Diocesan day and boarding school for girls
located at Southport on the Gold Coast. The 14-hectare campus is home to 1250
girls from Pre-Preparatory to Year 12. Boarding is available for Years 6 to 12.
SHGS1206

For more information

A Top Queensland Performer in NAPLAN and OP 1-15 Results Margie McGregor, Marketing Manager (07) 5577 7255.

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2 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 BEEF INDUSTRY

Carbon Neutral Beef –

An Inconvenient Truth
By Andrea Koch
(continues over page)

Kinross Wolaroi School, Orange

WHAT
WHA
AT DO WE OFFER...
OFF
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CAREER OPPOR
OPPORTUNITIES
TUNITIES
OFFICES A
ATT THESE
T LOCATIONS
LOCA
ATTIONS
Charters
ters Towers
o
131 Gill Street, Charters Toowers,
ower QLD 4820 Phone: 07 4787 4933 Coeducational from Pre-Prep to Year 12 with separate
Mt Isa
Shop 3, 12 Marion Street, Mt Isa, QLD 4825 Phone: 07 4743 4599
boarding sites for boys and girls from Year 7...
Alice Springs
1/75 Smith Street, Alice Springs, NT 0871 Phone: 08 8952 9099

FREE CALL 1800 808 782

www.kws.nsw.edu.au
59-67 Bathurst Rd, Orange 2800
email: info
info@rite.com.au
o@rite.com.au
Ph: 02 6392 0300 or admin@kws.nsw.edu.au
www.rite.com.au
www.rite.com.au

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 3

 BEEF INDUSTRY
“A vegetarian in a Hummer
produces fewer carbon emissions
than a meat eater in a Toyota Prius”
A child, from the film Meat the Truth.
T
his statement sums up the growing rhetoric against
agriculture, and in particular beef and livestock,
from many in the world who are concerned about
climate change.
Much of the debate emanates from a report published
by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
(UN FAO) in 2006, Livestock’s Long Shadow, which
attributes 18 percent of global green house gas (GHG)
emissions to livestock, more than that generated globally
by transport. In Australia, agriculture is attributed with
contributing 16 percent of national GHG emissions, 75
percent of this from livestock, mainly in the form of
methane from ruminants. Methane is about twenty times
stronger than carbon dioxide in its greenhouse effect, so
when methane emissions are converted to “carbon
dioxide equivalent” (CO2e) as a common denominator
for measuring GHG emissions, methane tends to tip the
scales.
As advances are made in strategies to reduce fossil
fuel based energy and transport, the next big focus for
climate change mitigation is on the food system, with
beef being singled out for particular attention. Anti-meat
campaigns are multiplying, with a multitude of movies
such as Meat the Truth, websites and books suggesting
that we humans must drastically reduce or even stop
eating meat altogether, in order to mitigate serious
climate change.
From the Australian livestock farmer’s perspective, this
must seem ludicrous, yet another assault on farmers
who are already struggling with drought, decreased
terms of trade, increased input costs, succession issues
and in some cases, banks hovering with threats of
foreclosure.
Whether you agree with the notion of human induced
climate change or not, that fact is that the world is now
slowly grinding its way towards economies which rely
less on the emission of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases to provide energy – be it fuel,
electricity, or food. The agriculture and food production
sectors will be required to make adjustments in this
transition, just as the energy and transport sectors are.
The proposed Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction
Scheme (CPRS) is not adding much comfort to the
farming sector, with the treatment of agriculture
remaining uncertain. The Australian government has
stated that it will wait until 2013 before deciding whether
4 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
to include the agricultural sector as an emitting industry
under the scheme. So far, almost all of the debate has
focused on the emissions side of the scale, that is the
role of agriculture in producing GHG emissions, and the
point in the market chain at which entities are required to
hold permits to emit GHGs.
The future of agriculture in a GHG obsessed world
does not look bright. As it currently stands, carbon
trading is all downside for the Australian farm sector.
There is hope however, which has been ignited and is
now being flamed by the Carbon Farming movement in
Australia and internationally. The hope lies in the other
side of the scorecard which is the role of agriculture in
reducing GHG emissions. Agricultural systems and land
management practices for crops and pastures which
lead to the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere
into long lived soil organic matter pools are slowly being
recognised as a major “sink” for carbon. What is slowly
emerging is that the farming system used makes all the
difference between food and fibre which is “carbon
negative” versus food and fibre which is “carbon neutral”,
or even “carbon positive”. These practices, which can be
referred to collectively as “carbon farming” are the
antithesis of the high GHG emitting, industrial agricultural
systems which are the basis of the 2006 UN FAO report.
As these systems slowly gain recognition, and the
potential of soil as a significant sink for the existing
legacy load of CO2 in the atmosphere, interest from
farmers is mounting. “Growing” soil carbon while they
grow food and fibre may lead to an additional revenue
stream in the form of carbon credits. Instead of just
bearing the cost of GHG emissions, farms which are
demonstrably sequestering soil carbon will generate
tradeable credits in the carbon trading market. Whether
or not these soil carbon credits are tradeable under the
CPRS will depend entirely on whether, after 2013, the
agricultural sector is permitted to generate and trade in
such credits. Until that happens, soil carbon credits
remain tradeable in Australia on the voluntary market,
which is not insignificant.
So what is carbon farming? It is not a silver bullet, but
a range of farm land management practices which lead
to the net sequestration of carbon out of the atmosphere
and into the soil. These practices have in common a
series of basic principles, including:
• Maintenance of 100 percent ground cover
 GRACEMERE SALEYARDS
weigh up the difference

GRACEMERE SALEYARDS
For fifty-six years the Gracemere Saleyards has been used as a marketing vehicle by cattle
producers to trade livestock whether they be prime or store cattle to a bevy of buyers
competing in an open market. This time honoured tradition has witnessed little change other
than the introduction of liveweight selling in the late 1970s. Liveweight selling saw the
imposition of curfews with carriers having to deliver stock before the 9pm deadline [twelve
hours prior to the commencement of sale].
Improved facilities have seen enhanced service delivery with new selling pens,
unloading/loading ramps [single & double deck], truck-wash, clearing dip, high-mast
lighting, selling ring, agent offices, buyers lounge, cafeteria, toilets, conference facilities,
undercover arena, stables, small stock facilities, truck parking and car parks, reticulated
water and sewerage.
What does the future hold for producers? In the past two decades many producers have
sought to maximize their returns by selling direct bypassing saleyards. This has seen the
demise of a number of saleyards and the development of new facilities in many of the
regional centres. Issues of animal welfare, environmental controls, and safety all add to the
changes incorporated in a modern selling centre and it is apparent these changes will
continue as the industry develops. The modern producer is taking advantage of technology
whilst developing skills in better managing his or her business. Saleyards are no different,
embrace change, use it or lose it.
BEEF INDUSTRY
• Reduced soil disturbance such as zero till
• Increased soil biota, by reducing application of
chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
• Utilisation of deep rooted perennials as grazing
fodder, or in conjunction with cropping
• Increased biodiversity, both in flora and fauna
• Increased farm and soil hydrology
Carbon farming covers a fairly broad church of
systems and approaches and farmers who utilise these
systems have experimented with various aspects of one
or more of these methods to work out what suits their
farm the best. What is common to all of them however, is
the increased levels of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) that
are generated.
There are a number of recognised land management
systems which come under the banner of carbon
farming, and which utilise these principles in various
ways. These include:
• A range of grazing management systems and
approaches which regulate the time and intensity of
stock access to pasture, followed by long periods of
Images of Michael and Louisa Kiely on their farm in Gulgong, NSW
time for plant recovery
• Pasture cropping, a zero till, direct drill system of
planting annual crops into perennial pastures
• No kill cropping, a system which utilises Coulter type
implements to sow into existing plant and litter cover
• Water management systems which manage the
overall hydrology of the farm, including natural
sequence farming and Yeoman’s Keyline System
• Biological Farming, a range of natural products used
to stimulate the growth of soil biota
• Composting
• Restoration of grassy woodlands by planting trees as
supplemental livestock fodder
The good news is that Australia has some amazing
“Carbon Cockies” who are already putting the theory into
practice, with incredible results. Farmers across Australia
are now utilising these systems across a wide range of
farm types including beef, sheep, cropping, mixed
cropping and livestock and horticulture. For some of
these Carbon Cockies the key issue has been land
regeneration, for others drought proofing has been the
prime motivator to make the change to these systems
which work more closely with the ecology of the land.
The benefits to these farmers extend beyond just
increasing soil carbon.
WA farmer Bob Wilson is a member of the Evergreen
6 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
Group of farmers who are focusing on growing
perennials to combat erosion and salinity. Wilson has had
great success with growing deep rooted evergreen
perennial tagasaste in the sandy soil of his farm in the
West Midlands region, 400 km north of Perth. Farms in
this region have suffered with significant salinity and
erosion problems under “traditional” farming methods.
Using tagasaste as fodder for cattle, and also as a wind
break has reduced erosion to zero and helped
significantly with managing salinity issues. Wilson’s farm
has maintained an income in the significantly drier years
that the west has experienced in recent times (the
records show that climate change has already hit the
hardest in that region of Australia). By implementing
carbon farming methods, Wilson and other farmers using
this approach have actually reversed the grave threat of
desertification of this particular region by building and
maintaining soil health and preventing sandy topsoil from
blowing into the sea.
In Western NSW, farmers Col Seis and Bruce Maynard
have spent the past twenty years developing innovative
cropping and grazing systems which utilise deep rooted
perennials. Seis practices “pasture cropping”,
maintaining native perennials and cropping directly into
the thick litter that they produce. He has discovered that
perennial and annual species grow happily together.
Sheep are also grazed in this system. His chemical
inputs are dramatically reduced, which lowers the overall
cost of production. Seis has been measuring soil carbon
on his property for a number of years, and notes that in
addition to increasing soil carbon, the ecological function
of the soil has improved, which has led to increased soil
water holding capacity and improved nutrient availability.
Maynard has taken a similar approach. His “no kill”
farming system also utilises native perennials, but
eliminates chemical and fertiliser inputs and uses
tyneless Coulter type implements to sow dry in order to
minimise land disturbance. Input costs, including fuel, are
significantly reduced. Diesel use for example has been
reduced by 80 percent. Maynard’s system also utilises
time control grazing, and he is finding that increased
plant biodiversity supplies secondary compounds to
cattle which can assist rumen function and reduce
methane production.
Tim Wright from the Northern Tablelands in NSW is a
pioneer of cell grazing, and has spent seventeen years
drought proofing his farm by increasing stock levels but
 The Port of Brisbane is Australia’s premier beef handling
port delivering product to the Asian market quicker than
its Southern counterparts.
The port provides infrastructure to store and ship chilled and frozen meat worldwide to the major destinations of Japan, the
USA east coast and South Korea.

Brisbane handles 56% of the country’s containerised market, of which 35% is chilled and 65% is frozen. In the past 12 months
to June 2009, shipments of meat through the Port of Brisbane totalled 51,554 teus up 2% compared to the previous year.

Over 30 shipping lines are actively involved with the export of beef through the Port of Brisbane, and the port’s two container
stevedores, DP World Brisbane and Patrick Terminals, offer over 2,350 reefer points. Patrick is increasing its reefer plug
points from 1,124 - 1,348 to accommodate future growth in the trade.

The Brisbane Multimodal Terminal the logistical interface between rail, road and sea offers exporters an efficient and reliable
supply chain network, with the capacity to store over 80 containers at any one time.

The two new emerging markets of East Asia and South East Asia continue to drive volumes, compensating for the decrease
in volume to the more traditional market of South Korea. Queensland, as the nations largest beef producer with 12.2 million
head of cattle in June 2008, is a major driving force in Australia’s export beef market.

The Port of Brisbane Corporation is optimistic about long-term growth, and is committed to the continued investment in
port infrastructure that will help sustain Australia’s trade well into the 21st century.

We’re built for beef.

If you’ve got beef to export, why not speak to Australia’s leading beef port? At the Port of Brisbane, we
provide specialist advice and logistical assistance to all customers of our world-class, purpose-built
facilities. For more information please contact our Business Development Manager, Andrew Brinkworth.
P: +61 7 3258 4728 E: Andrew.Brinkworth@portbris.com.au portbris.com.au
ACN 124 048 522

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 7

BEEF INDUSTRY
grazing them intensely for short periods of time. His
average paddock size has gone from 240 acres to 32
acres. Wright argues that traditional European based
approaches to grazing do not provide enough time for
soil and pastures to recover from droughts. By allowing
pastures sufficient recovery time following intense
grazing, the hydrology of the soil is improved, leading to
increased water holding capacity which is maintained
during dry periods.
Ann Williams is a member of the Conservation Farming
and No Till Association (CANFA). Williams has
significantly increased carbon and nematode levels in the
soil on her Central West NSW farm, by implementing No
Till in combination with composts. She has been so
impressed by the improvements to her soil and resulting
yields that she is now undertaking a master’s research
program at the University of New England to investigate
the biological properties and soil amendments in the No
Till cropping system.
These farmers and others have showcased their
approaches at the annual Carbon Farming conferences,
held in Orange NSW over the past three years. These
conferences, convened by Carbon Coalition leaders
Michael and Louisa Kiely, are a gathering of farmers,
scientists from CSIRO and universities across the
country, government agriculture and climate change
departments, Catchment Management Authorities and
vendors who have cottoned on to the potential of carbon
farming, and are now working collectively to ensure that
agriculture does not get left behind in the great climate
change debate. The Kielys have worked tirelessly to get
soil carbon sequestration onto government and scientific
agendas and have networked internationally to ensure
that Australia is leading the world in the development and
recognition of carbon farming practices.
Of major note at the 2009 conference was the
announcement that it is now easier for carbon farmers to
generate tradeable credits on the voluntary carbon
trading market in Australia. Prime Carbon operates the
scheme, providing baseline benchmarking of carbon
8 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
levels on registered farms, and conducting ongoing
measurement and audits to determine increases in soil
carbon levels. Credits are collectively marketed by Prime
Carbon to companies that are seeking to offset their
GHG emissions. Prime Carbon envisages that by 2013,
one million hectares of Australian farming land will be
converted to carbon farming practices. It aims to provide
the benchmark for regionally focused carbon exchange
programs in Australia.
SA farmer Errol Koch who has been farming in upper
South Australia for over fifty years, attended the Carbon
Farming conference in 2008. He is not too sure about all
this “climate change business”, but he came away from
the conference filled with hope. After ten years of dry
seasons and sparse spring rains, with neighbours who
are on a knife’s edge with bank finance and farmers in
the region on suicide watch, it was a wonderful thing for
him to listen to the “Carbon Cockies” get up and talk,
farmer after farmer, about how excited they are to be
farming. They shared their stories about the rejuvenation
of their land, the drought proofing of their farms, and the
increased profitability of their businesses.
Carbon arming is the reply to the anti-beef and
agriculture rhetoric. The goods news is that carbon
farming systems are not only good for the climate, they
are also good for Australian farmers, and that is good
news indeed.
For more information:
http://www.carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au
http://www.carboncoalition.com.au/
http://www.canfa.com.au/
http://www.pasturecropnokillcrop.com
http://www.evergreen.asn.au/
http://www.primecarbon.com.au/
Written by Andrea Koch, Sustainable Food Advisor, Sydney NSW.
ajkoch@bigpond.net.au
Andrea Koch is a writer, educator and adviser with a specialist focus on
sustainable food. She works with government, business and consumer groups
on finding sustainable solutions to issues of food security, urban food supplies
and sustainable agriculture.  Andrea can be contacted at ajkoch@bigpond.net.au,
or on 0408 030 081.
 CATTLE, MEAT + LIVESTOCK

How resilient are

Australian
Producing, buying or
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producers?
This extraordinary decade has
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he 8-year drought (including two one-in-one news, analysis & forecasts in
hundred year events), BSE and food safety Australia & around the world.
scares, volatile currency markets and now the Read MLA’s publications
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and statistics – Meat
extraordinary on their own, let alone in the same decade.
& Livestock Weekly,
Yet Australian producers have expanded beef and Cattle & Sheep Industry
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lamb production since 2000 by making changes such as
Market Reports, and
increased specialisation in breeding, growing or finishing; many more.
building feedlots; adopting drought strategies; and
Get up-to-the-minute information on
making feeding and breeding changes and general cost
MLA’s website www.mla.com.au
savings.
red meat market news
Market signals have played a major role in ushering in daily & weekly livestock market reports from
the National Livestock Reporting Service
these changes, with generally strong prices on offer for
on-line access to one of the best red meat
the right article. Unlike previous severe droughts and databases in the world & ABARE farm data
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marketinfo@mla.com.au or phone 1800 675 717. Web: www.mla.com.au

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 9

FUTURE FARMING

Future of farming
a question of scale

After a decade of drought, incredible pressure from an aggressive

international marketplace and years of uncertain income, the Australian
farming industry may yet have reason to be optimistic. Recent rains and
new drought funding provisions may herald that the worst has passed,
but a decade of job losses and an ageing workforce means the sector
must undergo a massive recruitment program if it is to survive.

D
espite several external elements overwhelming the
Australian agricultural industry, the sector has managed
to boost its production. The gross total value of
Australian agricultural manufacture increased 4.4% from 2007–
08 to $45.2 billion in 2008–09. The increase was attributed to
improved seasonal conditions in some areas, but varied from
commodity to commodity and region to region.
Australian farms directly employed 317,730 people from
November 2008, though a decade of drought has resulted in
approximately 90,000 job losses. As the nation’s largest food
and fibre exporting territory, Victoria generates 26 per cent of
the nation’s total goods produced, valued at $9 billion per
annum.
According to the City of Greater Geelong’s Bulletin report,
the estimated annual total output for the Barwon region’s
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector is $794 million.
Ensuring our agricultural future remains robust means we will
need to replenish approximately one-third of farmers within the
next ten years due to an ageing workforce, according to
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Andrew Broad. Mr
Broad says the primary focus for the VFF is ensuring farms are
brought back to full production, lobbying the government for
assistance for drought-ravaged farmers and farming safety,
rather than focusing on re-skilling those leaving the sector.
“We’re not in the space where we’re re-training; we’re in the
space of giving farmers skills and market knowledge and
understanding.”
While it hasn’t been the VFF’s core role to assist with
advancing technologically, the VFF has worked closely in
partnership with Geelong’s Southern Farming Systems. “We’ve
provided a lot of market intelligence, so we’re helping people
understand the market and how to grow their business and
increase their profitability,” Mr Broad said.
The VFF believes there needs to be a significant effort in
regional development to diversify regional economies not just in
Geelong and Ballarat, but in towns like Horsham, Kerang,
Ouyen and others, to encourage investment in farming.
Victorian farmers have proved resourceful in the face of
protracted drought and
economic downturn by adopting innovative crop production
methods. In particular, the grain sector has developed an
improved no-till technology, better spray management and has
trained in how to calendar sow. Dairy sector farmers have also
discovered how to milk on minimal water allocations, and for
the land sector, farmers have learned how to grain feed
livestock.
“It’s been really quite dramatic, the ability of the farmer to
adapt in a dry environment,” said Mr Broad, who reports that
the procedure of altering crop-sowing dates has also proved
effective.

10 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1


“We farm almost completely differently on our farms, from a
grain’s perspective, than what we did ten years ago. In the past
we used to wait, we used to get earlier rains and so we’d be
more reliant on clover-based pastures and grass-based
pastures; now we actually sow a batch of oats-type pastures.
We’re on no-till, whereas it used to be full cultivation. We’re on
wider row spacings, we’re using press wheels, and we’re using
GPS technology, higher break-out times, differing fertilisers, GM
(genetic modification) technology and differing marketing
techniques,” he said.
In fact Mr Broad reports that it’s an understatement to say
there have been some superior advancements made over the
last five years within the agricultural industry.
“If you compare agriculture with any other industry, we’re
actually the leaders at adapting to change and new technology.
We’re by no means dragging our feet; our productivity gains
are unparallel to any other industry across the country. Our
biggest concern at the moment is we’ve had a run of dry years.
We’ve now got a reasonable low price and we want to maintain
that youth in our industry because some of the greatest
productivity gains are achieved by farmers who are thirty-five
and under.”
A primary focus for the VFF is attracting new blood to
agriculture, which is a constant challenge.
“In my area there are not a lot of young farmers farming, but
then you step out from my area a little bit and there’s plenty. So
it sort of peaks and troughs, but then we’ve got to look a little
bit more at how we support our younger farmers.”
Research agronomist, Rohan Wardle with Southern Farming
Systems, who is predominantly involved in the grain sector,
delivers a more dire prediction: “I think the last ten years of
drought has pushed a lot of youth away from the industry,
which we’ll probably never get back. We need some good
housing, because they often pretty much get a dog box. And
starting off on a pretty crap wage is always a way of keeping
[young workers] for one day and they’re gone the next.”
Farming is struggling to compete with the mining industry,
which unlike the rural industries experienced booming
conditions and attractively high wages over the past decade.
Attracting and retaining young farmers is not simply about
numbers. With youth comes new ideas and a greater interest in
new technologies, which brings productivity gains like those
the industry has recorded over the past year.
“Variable rate technologies and all that kind of thing is certainly
driving a lot of productivity gains and ways of bringing youthful
people back into the industry for sure,” Mr Wardle said.
Though from a financial standpoint, he believes government
should fund the majority of training and luring people to work
on farms to guarantee the quality of our future food supplies.
“The problem is that fluctuating grain prices and fluctuating
returns makes farmers hard to invest in; in training and in staff,”
said Mr Wardle. “They can afford them this year, but they can’t
afford them next year; they’ve invested all these dollars in
training and it walks out the door.”
Fortunately, he says hi-tech advancements have been a
lifeline for some.
“Technology in the cropping industry has certainly pulled a lot
of guys out of wool and into cropping because of GPS and
yield mapping and all these things that they can automatically
get a response to. It’s like ‘righty-oh, I know what my crop’s
doing; I can see what’s happening in my paddock, I know how
I can improve that next year, pretty much,’ so they certainly get
that automatic response which is fantastic.”
However, Mr Wardle said farmers aren’t devising new ways
to live off the land.
“You’re either a dairy farmer or a sheep farmer or you’re
growing crops or you’re doing both. But other than that…it’s
pretty limited. I think you’ll find that a wool-classer will be a
wool-classer for a while and might do a bit of shearing and
then they might go home and grow a few crops, but other than
FUTURE FARMING
that, that’d be as far as it goes.”
Meanwhile president of the Royal Geelong Agricultural and
Pastoral Society (RGAPS), David Heath, offers a local
standpoint. He says Geelong agriculture operates slightly
differently in that most of the farming land around the city is run
by part-time farmers who work in town. Their holdings are
smaller areas and pressure from people buying rural land for
lifestyle reasons and suchlike has meant full-time farmers in the
region are far fewer.
Yet, says Mr Heath, many of those farmers are also farming
on a far broader scale than before, often share-farming or
contracting or running many of those areas purchased for
lifestyle purposes.
“Geelong isn’t a big farming community. For starters, there’s
only farm land to the north. We haven’t got the double mass.
Even Ballarat is a far bigger agricultural town than Geelong.
And we have so many other industries going on that agriculture
disappears out of the perspective a bit,” Mr Heath said.
While there’s been debate as to what extent Australia’s $4.6
billion dairy industry — Australia’s third largest agricultural
sector — is in crisis, Mr Heath says the dairy industry is
practically non-existent in Geelong due to drought and fiscal
decline.
“It’s contracted back to the wetter country, going further
south. So there’s virtually no dairying in the Geelong region;
you’ve gotta go to the other side of Winchelsea, around Colac
to find it — there are a few dairy operations but not many
about.
“With the last 10 or 12 years that we’ve had on top of the
economic conditions we’ve had this year for dairying, many
people have dropped out of dairying and are running more
extensive-type cattle/sheep operations or cropping
operations,” he said.
Mr Heath also agrees that the ageing population is a concern
and points to the difficulty of drawing young people to the
stock industries. Evidence of the decline can be seen – in a
state that used to boast a thriving wool industry, there is not
even one full-time person person teaching wool classing in
Victoria.
“Some of the trade-type services like wool classers are going
to be difficult attracting people to. It’s also difficult to attract
good young workers for diesel machinery apprenticeships,”
said Mr Heath. “The one bit where I do get a little bit worried is
about wool classers and where they’ll all come from. But it’s
been talked about. All my working life I’ve heard this: ‘I don’t
know where we’re going to get the shearers for the sheep,’ but
I’ve yet to see sheep left with wool on them.”
Overall, as operations grow larger and more efficient,
opportunities reduce as a consequence, though Mr Heath
believes abundant good training is available within agriculture.
“We still have a very vital, vibrant agricultural sector despite
everything and with far less people in it. And they are generally
far better trained and working just as hard as they always did,
achieving far more with far larger equipment,” he says. “There’s
less stock numbers and far more cropping, which has been
one of the declines in people working in the industry because
you need more labour when you’re working with stock than
you do with crops, and the increase in area under crop and
decrease in area under livestock has had a fair balance on
that.”
Mr Heath says that as no group adopts technology faster
than farmers, they can use technology rather than labour to get
the job done. He also refutes that access to technology is
inadequate, as suggested by a recent parliamentary report.
“It [the technology] mostly comes from private resource and
we pay dearly for it,” Mr Heath said. “We use all those
technologies. I work with a cropping operation house. All our
work is on satellite guidance; agronomists are doing all the
work. It’s quite phenomenal the scale we work on.”
Terry Broun Jnr
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 11
CASHFLOW MANAGEMENT

Cashflow a key challenge

for agribusiness
Drought and climate change may get all the press, but cashflow management
looms large among the major challenges facing agribusinesses.

T
he availability of cash is critical for business
success through good and bad times. Being out
of pocket can have a domino effect on other
parts of the business.
According to Khan Horne, General Manager of
Agribusiness at NAB, businesses need to tighten their
belts when conditions are tough to squeeze cash out
of the business while still remaining profitable.
“If a business has cash available there may be
attractive investment opportunities that can be fully
maximised in the short or long term,” he says. “If the
money will be needed in a few months for planting or
restocking, there is no point locking it up long term,
but that doesn’t mean it can’t be put to good use.”
High interest Business Cash Maximiser accounts
can be a good short-term solution, as can term
deposits.
Farm Management Deposits are a good option if
cash is available over a longer period.
However, prioritise purchases and look at how these
assets are funded, as there may be alternatives such
as leasing.
4. Manage risk to protect profits and create
certainty.
Protecting your future cashflow from the effects of
external influences can be a smart move. Risk
management solutions can include fixing interest,
hedging exchange rates and taking a forward position
on prices. The right insurance – for people as well as
buildings and equipment – is also important.
5. Use your networks.
See what the neighbours are doing, attend
courses, and keep learning. It’s also a good time to
be talking to your team of experts -your accountant,
financial adviser and your local NAB
Agribusiness Banker - about your business, where
you want to take it and what the economic
environment means for you.

The right levers The biggest challenge

When looking to maximise your cashflow, not
everything can be changed at once. As such, care
needs to be taken in considering what levers can be
pulled to improve it in the short, medium and long
term.
Mr Horne offers five tips to help businesses
manage their cashflow:
1. Understand the difference between cash in
the bank and cashflow.
Cash in the bank is only a ‘point in time’
measurement, before paying creditors, overheads
and fixed costs. Cashflow is more dynamic, and
takes into account income being received and
expenses being paid out over a period of time.
2. Control and reduce operating expenses.
Make sure you fully understand the true cost and
profitability of everything you do, and how it aligns to
your business plan. Talk to staff to get their buy-in
and ask them to help you to identify and reduce
costs.
3. Release cash invested in fixed assets.
Capital investment in production technology will
help to boost business efficiency over the long term.
Cashflow was chosen as the biggest challenge facing
agribusinesses in a survey conducted by NAB and
Galaxy Research in April 2009, with 56% of 914
agribusiness respondents (owners of managers of a
business employing 1-29 people) selecting it as a
‘challenge’, and 37% nominating it the ‘biggest
challenge’.
Agribusiness respondents also listed drought and
climate change as challenges to be faced in the
future.
NAB has been helping farmers and other
businesses manage cashflow for more than 150
years. NAB’s agribusiness bankers are specialists
who understand the cyclical nature of the industry
and the challenges being faced.
NAB Agribusiness can provide assistance and
insights to help review the current situation of your
agribusiness and plan for the future.
For more information, contact your local NAB
agribusiness banker, call 13 10 12 or visit
nab.com.au/agribusiness.

Important Notice: NAB has not taken into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and recommends that you consider whether any
advice in this article is appropriate for your circumstances.

About NAB Agribusiness

National Australia Bank (NAB) Agribusiness employs more than 580 agribusiness banking specialists in 110 metropolitan and regional locations
Australia-wide. The Agribusiness team use their local and industry knowledge to better understand the unique environmental and economic needs
of farmers and businesses beyond the farm gate - whether they provide inputs into agriculture or process, distribute or market primary produce.
NAB’s flexible range of agribusiness products and services is delivered by listening to and working with customers, to tailor the best packages and
advice for their businesses. For further information please visit www.nab.com.au/agribusiness.

12 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS

Help create a cleaner Australia

with Century Batteries
Used lead acid batteries contain hazardous materials which if not handled correctly
could prove harmful to humans, wildlife and the local environment.

I
t is estimated that 1 in 5 Australian
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a serious environmental and health risk,
particularly when we consider that 98%
of a used lead acid battery is recyclable
CenturyYuasa, Australia’s oldest and
most recognised automotive battery
manufacturer has launched a National
Battery recycling program designed to
help reduce the impact of scrap batteries
and help protect the environment for
future generations.
Steve Hermann, General Manager of
CenturyYuasa’s Automotive division says:
“As a responsible business it is
important that we manage the ‘cradle to
grave’ process of manufacture,
distribution and responsible disposal of
used batteries.
In many cases we have found that
people are simply unaware of how or
where to dispose of their used batteries
correctly and as a result we often see
batteries discarded with household
waste, at local refuse sites or dumped on
road sides.
Our scheme provides motorists,
homeowners and businesses with the
outlet and resources to dispose of and
recycle their used batteries correctly.
Through a national network of
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14 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 FUTURE FARMING

The Farmer
wants a future
Special Feature: Adapting to a Changing Climate

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 15

FUTURE FARMING
The future of
farming in Australia,
and our access to
the freshest food at
the best price, will
depend on how well
farmers adapt to the
changing conditions
they face on land.
Story: Georgie Oakeshott
and Geoffrey Maslen
Plenty to think about
Most farmers are already weather obsessed. They have to be.
Their livelihood depends on the right mix of temperatures and
rainfall. Timing is everything. There’s talk of ‘good years’ and
‘bad years’ but not much talk of a ‘normal’ year anymore — if
there ever was such a thing.
Because of this long history of dealing with changeable
weather, farmers have developed a great deal of skill in
managing variations in climate. But what if some of these
changes become permanent? What does a hotter, drier, more
variable climate mean for Australia’s $33 billion agricultural
industry?
According to one of Australia’s leading scientific researchers,
climate change is already having an impact on the way we farm
in this country.
“Looking at average temperatures across Australia, a cold
year now is a warm to hot year in the time of our grandparents.
At current trends of temperature increase, it’s probably only
nine or 10 years away before the coldest year we experience
will be hotter than the hottest year ever experienced by our
grandparents,” says Dr Mark Howden from the CSIRO Climate
Adaptation Flagship.
“When you think of it like that, it’s pretty inconceivable that
we could keep doing the same things exactly the way we used
to do,” Dr Howden says.
It’s not hard to find examples of how Australian farming is
already responding to changes in climate. There’s cropping in
places previously considered too wet for crops, and farmers
moving away from irrigated crops into livestock. There’s also
the example of a peanut company which expanded its
operations into the Northern Territory where it’s wetter.
“We’re already seeing responses both at an individual level
and at a company level,” Dr Howden says. “Some farmers
would say explicitly they’re not doing this because of climate
change and that they don’t believe in climate change, but
nevertheless they’re having to change their practices. In a
sense it by-passes the issue of what’s causing these variations
in climate. Farmers are going to have to change their
management anyway.”
16 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
In 2007, Dr Howden shared a Nobel Peace Prize for his
contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, which identified Australian agriculture as particularly
vulnerable to changes in climate.
The panel’s report warned of potential negative impacts on
the amount of produce, quality of produce and reliability of
production, and on the natural resource base on which
agriculture depends.
These conclusions are based on projections of hotter, drier
conditions across much of Australia, including temperature
increases between 0.6 to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 and
between one to five degrees Celsius by 2070.
These projections, on the CSIRO website, say rainfall over
southern Australia is expected to decrease by 10 per cent,
while northern area may see changes between minus-10 and
plus-five per cent. This rainfall is expected to be more intense
over most areas in summer and in autumn, and in northern
areas in winter and spring.
In its submission to the House of Representatives inquiry into
agriculture and climate change, CSIRO says primary industries
need to anticipate these changes, be prepared for uncertainty,
and develop and implement adaptation strategies now.
Calling for an unprecedented level of forward planning, the
CSIRO submission tells the Primary Industries Committee that
the impact of climate change and the need to adapt are
already unavoidable. In some cases, large scale
transformational responses will be necessary “which may
involve the translocation of entire industries”.
Chairing the inquiry is Dick Adams (Member for Lyons,
Tasmania) from the island state famous for its fresh produce,
wine and cheese. He’s confident the inquiry will throw some
light on the direction needed to minimise the risks and
maximise the opportunities.
“Farming has a long history of changing in this country but,
given climate change, this committee wants to look at the way
we use land, soil and water in a new way so we understand
what climate change means to agriculture. We’re keen to see
what people are already doing, what people think we should be
doing and what direction we should be going,” Mr Adams
says. (continued on page 18)

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“Putting our resources into black holes is not where the
future is and is not a good way to spend the public dollar. I
think the Australian people would rather be assisting
enterprises that have a business plan looking to the future; that
will adapt to climate change and the issues that confront us in
the next 20 to 30 years. We’ve also got to look at the
opportunities at the enterprise level and look at where we’re
going in a world sense. I think farmers will get left behind if they
don’t adapt and look for opportunities.”
Adapting to climate change in the wheat industry, for
example, includes changing the planting times to suit the new
conditions, changing row spacing and planting densities, and
using new technologies to concentrate water into the crop.
“We’re just starting a program to have these climate-ready
crops available to be rolled out in the future, so rather than
waiting for the future to hit us, we’re trying to be prepared for
it,” he says.
Of more immediate concern to the National Farmers’
Federation, however, is the government’s mitigation strategy to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In its submission to the inquiry, the peak farming organisation
is warning that the immediate challenge of adapting to
mitigation policies may be a far greater challenge for farmers
than adapting to climate change itself.
It says the government’s proposed carbon pollution
reduction scheme has the potential to reduce the value of
Australian agricultural production by $2.4 billion per annum by
2020, and $10.9 billion per annum by 2030 compared to what
would otherwise be the case under a business as usual
scenario.
The farmers’ federation says over 1.6 million jobs, 20 per
cent of our exports and the vast majority of the food we
consume depend on the ability of our farmers to meet climatic
changes. It has called for increased research, a new model for
drought support, and national coordination of research,
development and extension services.
It is also calling for massive funding boost to improve our
forecasting capability, steering the committee towards a
drought information system in the United States
(www.drought.gov). That system provides information right
down to local county level on soil moisture, rainfall, run-off,
stream flows and early warning systems, with a priority on
preparedness.
This kind of information rich farming will be critical to the
future success of agriculture. According to Dr Howden, future
farming will be more opportunistic, risk sensitive and targeted,
18 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
where famers are not just doing the same thing year after year,
but are varying according to the circumstances.
“Even under the worst climate change scenarios we’ll still
see agriculture practiced in this country, but it could look quite
different to what it is now and be practiced in different places,
and the detail of that practice will be quite different indeed,” he
says.
“The demand for agriculture and food products generally is
going to increase because of increased economic growth and
affluence in countries like China and India, but also because
our population across the globe is growing rapidly. We’re
looking at having to double food production by 2050 and
because we only have a limited amount of agricultural land that
means we’re going to have to significantly increase our
agricultural production.”
So rather than a bleak future of drought and despair,
successful management of climate change should lead to a
productive and lucrative future for farming in this country.
It’s a sentiment echoed by a Wall Street veteran who recently
told an Australian television audience that agriculture is about
to become one of the most exciting industries in the world.
According to Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, people
who produce real goods will be the ones driving Lamborghinis.
His advice to anyone interested in making money is simple: go
become a farmer.
Beyond doubt
Within Australia’s farming community, among men and women
who are ever-watchful of the land that is their livelihood, there
are doubters.
Almost one in five farmers surveyed in Tasmania is openly
sceptical about climate change — a scepticism fuelled by their
recent memory of a potential disaster that became a fizzler.
“They distrust scientist to the extent that they believe climate
change is just another ‘Year 2000’, invented for media hype
and money,” says Frank Vanclay, a professor of rural and
environmental sociology at the University of Tasmania.
“Many farmers were required to outlay much effort and cost
to become Y2K compliant and they now feel duped by what
they perceive as a scam. This distrust creates a great deal of
resistance to even considering the idea of climate change,”
Professor Vanclay says. “Arguably farmers need to prepare for
climate change in order to create benefits and avoid costs. Yet
resistance to taking action to adapt to projected changes in
climate or to mitigate emissions is widespread.”
Professor Vanclay and his PhD student Aysha Fleming were
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FUTURE FARMING
among the first to make a submission to the Primary Industries
Committee inquiry into climate change and agriculture. The two
researchers conducted a survey of apple growers, dairy
farmers and farming consultants. Professor Vanclay says that
although the research was based in Tasmania, he believes the
results are widely applicable elsewhere across Australia.
Despite the minority of farmers who claimed change was
another Y2K scam, most of those interviewed accepted it was
occurring and about half said they had noticed the effect on
the Tasmanian landscape as well as on their farms. Yet, while
acknowledging the reality of global warming, only on in five
thought it was caused by human activity and a third were even
undecided.
“They were distrustful of government actions taken to
penalise farmers, especially during times of drought and
financial strain when they are already struggling,” the
researchers say in their submission. “They were angry that their
current efforts to be environmentally sustainable were not being
recognised or valued, especially as carbon stores in pasture,
soil, orchards or shelter belts will not be recognised, at least
under current plans.
“Some (34 per cent) are worried about the future of the
planet to the point that their concerns inhibit action. They feel
overwhelmed, that the planet is already on a path to
destruction, or they feel it is beyond the scope of their lifetime
to create a solution and that it will be a problem for future
generations.”
The challenge facing the House of Representatives Primary
Industries Committee is to identify appropriate government
action to tackle the manifold problems climate change raises.
“The impacts of climate change are not just biophysical, they
also have economic and social dimensions,” says the
submission to the inquiry from the Climate Change Research
Strategy for Primary Industries network.
The network is a collaborative partnership between rural
research and development corporations, state and
Commonwealth primary industry departments, and university
experts. It says there is a role for government to “assist
individuals and communities moving from declining industries
to emerging ones, while minimising social dislocation and
dysfunction.”
There will need to be greater investment in rural research and
development, commercialisation, extension and training, the
network says, to develop and equip the next generation of
researchers, decision makers and leaders in the fields of
agriculture, natural resource management and climate change
20 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
Tipping Point
A better understanding of human impact on land is vital in helping
to determine how humankind should work that land in the future.
For the past 20 years, Peter Gell has been collecting core sample
two and three metres deep into the earth from sites across
south-eastern Australia. The cores contain material that has built
up over hundreds and even thousands of years. Back in their
laboratory at the University of Ballarat, Professor Gell and his PhD
students study the different layers they collect to determine the
changes that have occurred over these long periods.
They are able to build up a picture of climate variations and what
the vegetation was like stretching back beyond the arrival of
Europeans to the time when only Aborigines occupied the land, as
they had for perhaps 50,000 years. “I’ve deliberately focused on
the last couple of thousand years of change to provide more of a
context for people to understand the impact the arrival of
Europeans had on our landscape,” Professor Gell says.
“We want to understand what the baseline ecosystems were like
and what the natural responses were in a landscape where
Indigenous people lived with nothing like the technology we have.”
Professor Gell is a “palaeo-ecologist”, an expert on terrestrial and
wetland ecology, fire and vegetation history — and climate change.
As Director of the Centre for Environmental Management at
Ballarat, he is also convener of a national network examining the
impact of people on Australian ecosystems, as well as heading an
international network on the effect of humans on the world’s lakes.
“I try to compare what Australia has experienced in the recent
past with current forecasts to get some idea of how scary the
rapidity or magnitude of change is for the future.”
As part of his research, Professor Gell has uncovered evidence
that the incidence of fires increased dramatically with the arrival of
Europeans after the 1830s. Contrary to conventional beliefs, the
first squatters burnt the land far more regularly than Aborigines ever
did, he says.
“Victoria’s early settlers turned most of the original forests into
woodland and most of the woodland into grassland so, although
the total ‘fuel load’ has decreased, conditions for bushfires within
the remaining forests are different now than they were 300 years
ago.”
Some biologists believe the Earth has reached a tipping point
where human impact on the world’s ecosystems has been so
severe, it is too late to prevent a global disaster. Despite all he
knows about what has happened to Australia in general and the
Murray River basin in particular since Europeans arrived, Professor
Gell is not as pessimistic as some.
He takes heart from the work of Brian Walker, a research fellow
with the CSIRO’s sustainable ecosystems. Dr Walker is renowned
for his work on resilience: the capacity of a system to absorb
disturbance and to undergo change while still retaining essentially
the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks. He
co-authored a 2006 book with David Salt, Resilience thinking:
Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world (Walter
Reid: Books).
“We might have reached a tipping point but that doesn’t mean
we are on an inexorable slide into the abyss,” Professor Gell says.
“We may have just kicked over to a different system but as that
system is likely to be less productive and sustaining, we have to
work out how the new system operates and what it takes for
humankind to continue to exist.”

sciences.
“Farmers cannot rationally respond to climate change and
adapt to its likely impacts without basic information about what
changes may occur in their climates and the implications of this
for their agricultural practices,” the network’s submission
states.
The network also sees a need for social analysis to consider
the impacts of climate change on rural communities and to
better target government’s social spending in those
communities.
The capacity of rural communities to respond to changing
circumstances is also addressed in other early submissions
sent to the Primary Industries Committee. A network in Victoria
called the South West Climate Change Forum has devised a
system to assist its rural community, including farmers. The
group says its success comes from the forum working with
local, regional and state government departments and
authorities to develop what it calls “climate change adaptation
strategies throughout Victoria’s south-west”.
The forum evolved from discussions among western
Victorian dairy farmers about the lack of planning to prepare for
climate change. The first meeting of interested parties occurred
in June 2007, culminating in the group’s formation. It now has
representatives from water and catchment management
authorities, the main regional primary industries of dairy,
seafood, timber, cropping and livestock, plus groups with an
interest in sustainability.
Members of the forum have spoken to more than 500
primary producers at industry field days and to more than
2,000 rural people involved in primary production at workshops
and other meetings. Through articles in newspapers and media
coverage on television and radio, the group estimates that
information on climate change specific to the region and
primary producers has reached most farmers in the south-
west.
In pointing to the applicability of the forum model, the
submission notes that most government agencies and industry
groups associated with primary production were looking for
leadership on climate change and welcomed a
grassroots-driven organisation taking responsibility for delivery
of information to their member and stakeholders. It highlights
the importance of a “single entity collating and coordinating
climate change information for primary producers that is
relevant to the region and its primary industries and provides a
conduit for information and funding from government
agencies.”
“It helps minimise duplication, encourages cooperation and
partnerships and created a high profile hub for the members
involved. [The forum] is viewed by stakeholders as agile,
motivated and proactive which has contributed to the support
the forum has won. Industries and agencies have welcomed an
independent and ‘neutral’ body which was initiated and is
driven by the grass-root members.”
Submissions have also arrived from individual farmers. One
came from Dr Kath Cooper and Mike Elleway, farmers and
seed-growers in the South Australian Mallee country. The two
urge governments across Australia to provide more support for
the farming community, declaring that the country “needs
full-time, professional, career farmers who are able to live, able
to buy food, get health care, have their children educated, have
a holiday from time to time, and have access to affordable
water, power, communications and transport”.
“Career farmers need income security. If farmers are in a
reasonable financial position, it is amazing how well they can
adapt to the impacts of climate change and produce well
without further help. The government needs to enable farming
to become a sufficiently financially rewarding activity. Farmers
can still produce a lot in a variable climate, but their production
needs to be rewarded, particularly in consideration of their
ever-increasing input costs. Some food production may need
FUTURE FARMING
to be subsidised and/or a minimum price guaranteed.”
The Cooper-Elleway submission argues that farmers are in a
good position to do environmental work for the benefit of the
general population and payment for this would contribute to a
farmer’s viability despite variable seasons. For example, they
could help control pests such as foxes, rabbits, cats, goats
and other feral animals. They could also clear weeds such as
box-thorns on and off their properties, fence off scrub and
watercourses, and sow sand hills with trees to reduce erosion
and increase biodiversity.
“All this costs money and time, and as farmers get poorer,
less of these activities are possible. So help keep farming viable
by paying for environmental work. Other on-farm activities,
such as hosting wind and solar electricity farms, should be
supported [and] governments need to enact policies to
encourage more locally-based farming support industries.”
The submission makes a plaintive plea to reverse the effects
of globalisation by keeping the manufacture of farm machinery
in Australia. Local manufacturers can act more quickly and
appropriately in responding to the needs climate change
imposes, rather than having to rely on sourcing all agricultural
machinery needs from overseas, the writers argue.
“Local business can maintain and quickly adapt their
machinery for fighting bushfires, ameliorating flooding from
cyclones and, as when needed, when preparing for a war.
Farmers and local manufacturers need to be helped to remain
viable. Incentives need to be given to stay rather than allow
companies to move offshore to find cheap labour.”
The shortest submission so far is from Sandor con Kontz
who also says the solution rests with Australian farmers
themselves. In less than 50 words, Mr von Kontz tells the
committee what the government should do: “Since I am a
simple farmer please do not expect an elaborate submission.
My idea is simple. I am absolutely positive that the answer to
the problem of climate change lays in our way of managing
land. My idea is: pay farmers a basic wage for land
management which counteracts climate change.”
Pick of the Crop
Dairy farmer Tom Pearce doesn’t know whether it’s climate
change or seasonal variations, but years of unreliable rainfall
have sparked an efficiency drive on his family farm, which is
delivering excellent results.
“We’re trying to be more efficient with less,” he says, “and
we’re still getting the same amount of milk.”
With 500 animals including 200 milking cows needing
constant care and attention on their dairy farm near Bega
(NSW), the Pearces work “flat out” in the good times to
maximise the value of every drop of water and every blade of
grass.
“The cheapest feed for us is grass, and without rain we have
to buy in grain and hay and that’s where it gets expensive,” Mr
Pearce says. “So we have to adapt, and that’s why we’re still
here.”
His attitude and leadership has won him a spot as one of this
year’s Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Young Achievers, a
group of seven young Australians selected from across the
state for their contributions to their communities.
They all agree the weather is the biggest topic of
conversation amongst farmers at the moment. They also
believe younger farmers in particular are taking advantage of
new techniques and technologies to improve farm efficiency
and sustainability.
While they come from a range of backgrounds with different
experiences of life on the land, they all share a fierce
determination to see farming overcome its many challenges to
thrive and prosper.
Speaking at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, these “achievers
today, leaders tomorrow” had a clear message for the
parliamentary inquiry into agriculture and climate change:
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 21
FUTURE FARMING
farmers are brilliant adapters, just keep them involved in the
decision making process.
Adapting to drier conditions for the Pearce family has meant
being more careful with their water, getting maximum value
from their pastures and downsizing their herd slightly.
“I think farmers are good adapters as long as they’re involved
in the process and not forced to do things,” says Kellie Cooke,
a milk supply officer on the NSW north coast.
“A lot of farmers are sceptics and you’re never going to get
them to come across [to climate change] but as along as you
don’t force them into things, and you work with them, they will
adapt and it will be OK,” she says.
Two recent floods demonstrated to her the enormous impact
weather has on farmers’ lives, regardless of how such events
are labelled. Blackouts disrupted milking routines, while flooded
roads made milk collections impossible.
“I know in most other areas in Australia it’s been getting a lot
drier, but for us it’s been either colder or wetter,” she says.
“If floods were going to become significantly more regular,
then farms on the flood plains would have to move. Even
though on the coast the high rainfall is ideal for dairy farming, if
it’s going to continually flood, meaning constant animal health
issues and soil issues, then they’re going to have to shift.”
Liz Pearson, raised in Guyra and now working for an animal
health company in Cootamundra, believes farmers are very
resilient.
“I’m very optimistic about the future of farming, with the
company I work for highly involved in developing technologies
which are making farmers more efficient and sustainable,” she
says.
Through her involvement in the feedlot sector, she’s seen
improvements especially with water use, which will be good for
the industry’s future.
Junee agronomist Tim Stivens shares this optimism about
the future but thinks farmers have reached a point where they
are almost as efficient as they can be, and need policy support
from the government to guarantee their income.
Farmers and the impacts of climate change
The House of Representatives Primary Industries and Resources Committee is investigating the role of government in assisting Australian farmers
to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The committee is considering how farmers are or could be adapting to climate change, and the potential impacts on downstream processing.
It is looking into the role of government in assisting farmers to shift towards farming practices that promote resilience in the farm sector, and
government’s role in promoting research, extension and training that assists farmers to better adapt to climate change. The role of rural research
and development is also being examined.
“We can’t grow some products for the price we can import
them, and farmers don’t really have control over those sorts of
things,” he says.
“Farmers are just about at the peak of their efficiency and
they need secure margins or prices to stay viable. Farmers
have done just about as much as they can do. There needs to
be a policy framework to secure their future.”
He says farmers are already adapting to the changing
climate, with a massive shift away from conventional farming
practices such as ploughing and sowing, to practices using
direct drill machinery, water conservation, retaining stubbles,
and running less livestock to retain ground cover and water.
Mr Stivens says some of the older farmers aren’t convinced
about climate change, but younger farmers are embracing new
technologies and practices.
“If you talk to the older generations, those which are
beginning to step away from controlling the farms and working
the land, they reckon climate change is a furphy. They think it’s
just a made up bureaucrat word to give someone a job in
parliament.
“But talk to the younger farmers, those stepping in now who
have had experiences outside farming, they’re a bit more wary
of climate change and the direction it’s going to push
agriculture. They’re trying to understand what it means, and if
farming is going to be viable in our area.”
To a large extent that viability will depend on rainfall, always a
big topic of conversation in Riverina town of Leeton, where
Shannon McCormack has spent the past 12 months working
with farmers “doing it tough”.
“Being a strong irrigation area they’ve been struggling a lot
with water allocations and trading, and they’re really struggling.
They want some rain and keep hoping and praying it will
happen.”
He says the younger farmers are “opening their minds” to
new and better practices and looking for more efficient ways to
farm, but it’s a constant contest between the climate and
money. (continued on page 24)
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AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 23

FUTURE FARMING
“The climate’s got to be right for you to make the dollars,” he
says. “In farming, the highs are really high but when it’s low, it’s
really low.”
Tired of waiting for a break in the weather, some farmers
have moved out of cropping into lambs, he says. Others have
made the tough decision to sell, which often comes with
additional heartache when properties fail to return the prices
the owners thought they were worth.
It’s even worse when they can’t sell, even though they want
to, which Orange agronomist Melissa Lauff has seen
happening.
“I’ve been hearing farmers say ‘if we don’t get a good year,
we’re out’, but then if it doesn’t rain land values are down and
they can’t sell,” she says.
“There are farmers who have lived their whole lives on the
land and they’re saying this is the worst it’s ever been. They’re
constantly looking for new ways of doing things because
they’re accepting this is the way it’s going to be, that it’s never
going to get back to how it used to be.”
She would like to see more financial assistance for farmers
when times are tough to help them plant their next crop, or buy
their next lot of cattle, just until they’re “back on their feet”.
“In my area around Orange, the government has just
cancelled drought assistance and a lot of people are upset
24 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
about it because we’ve had some rain but not enough,” she
says.
According to Patricia Cooke, from near Cowra, the seasons
have definitely changed. “You can’t plan as much as you used
to, and you just have to work day by day,” she says.
She would like the parliamentary inquiry to consider ways to
promote information sharing, suggesting a series of rural
forums where farmers could get together with their mates to
discuss the challenges they’re all facing.
“Farmers are more likely to take it seriously if they don’t have
someone dictating what they have to do. They need to be able
to get together to discuss things. It’s better that way. And if we
don’t do it now, who knows how our industries will keep
going.”
Whatever the weather, young farmers like Tom Pearce will
keep doing the best they can to adapt, modernise, be more
efficient and sustainable, while also hoping for a return to more
favourable conditions.
“I guess it’s in the back of people’s minds, the climate
change thing, but we’re taking each day as it comes…and the
rainfall is always a day closer,” he says.
For more information, visit www.aph.gov.au/pir or email
pir.reps@aph.gov.au or phone (02) 6277 4500.
(source: About the House)
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BEST PRACTICE
Camilo Olives
The history of Camilo Olives is
something of an agricultural fairy-
tale. The family-owned business,
managed by mother and daughter
team Joan McGovern and Anne
Rathjen, has all of the elements of a
classic story – humble beginnings,
some obstacles along the way, and
a happy ending.
26 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
B
ut the journey has only just begun for this boutique olive
oil producer. Established in 2002, Camilo Olives have
waited until now for their first ‘on’ year – a year of full
production that has reaped great rewards. Camilo was
showered with awards during the latter part of 2009 for its
quality olive oils, taking out a clean sweep of gold medals at
the Melbourne Show, and two silvers in Sydney – all before the
official launch of the Camilo brand.
This is a remarkable achievement for such a young company.
The olive groves for Camilo’s impressive oils were planted less
than a decade ago, in 2002, on a property just outside of
Geelong.
Joan and Peter McGovern moved from Melbourne to
Geelong for career reasons – Joan has a background in PR
and communications – and set about a rigorous search for the
right property. “We wanted at least 100 acres, a reliable supply
of water and a view because we had moved from Tasmania in
1996 and really wanted a place we could enjoy as a lifestyle as

well as an income generator,” says Joan.
Establishing a nationwide name in olive oil was not their first
priority when the McGoverns arrived in Geelong, but, having
been inspired by a friend’s grove of a few hundred trees, they
purchased 136 acres of land nestled between the Inverleigh
flora and fauna reserve and the Leigh River, with the intention of
creating a sizeable grove of their own.
When the decision had been made to establish the grove,
the McGoverns were surprised (and delighted) to be told by
their daughter Anne that she would pursue a Degree in
Agricultural Business. While Anne undertook her studies, the
first 20 acres of the grove was planted, and Camilo Olives was
born.
For the first few years, the team at Camilo Olives were, as
Joan says, “‘green’ to farming and to olives and took all the
advice received.” As with any new endeavour, the McGoverns
discovered along the way that not all advice is good advice,
having mounded their olive rows (creating a ‘hill’ effect along
Pictured: Joan McGovern (right) with daughter Anne.
BEST PRACTICE
the rows), only to have to mow them on a slant from that point
on. Says Joan, “we have learned to live with leaning on the
mowers but if we could, we would happily flatten the ground.”
One of the biggest lessons learned through the planting and
cultivating process was the amount of water that was needed
to grow olives – a difficult lesson to learn during an extended
drought. “Our trees were planted early on in the drought years.
Our irrigation system didn’t work for years, and it was only a
couple of years ago that we could ensure that our trees
received the water they had been begging for,” says Joan.
“People tell us that olives don’t need much water, but they do
during their establishment years. Our seven-year old trees are
probably really only five years in maturity but they virtually sang
their way through the last season and happily surrendered a
fantastic crop.”
Joan notes that ‘it takes five years to produce an olive
harvest of reasonable quantity, seven years to start breaking
even and 10 years to be in full production.” During the growing
years at Camilo Olives, the family set up a small processing
plant on their property for future use, and used it to process
olives for other growers, honing their skills at the same time.
When it came time to harvest and process their own produce,
Anne did most of the processing, which resulted in a fine
quality Ligurian oil that won a silver medal at the 2009 Sydney
Royal Fine Food Awards.
In order to ensure that Camilo’s brand would be established
as soon as production commenced, the family worked on
creating labelling and a recognisable brand name image,
assisted by a Melbourne design company. The result is
beautiful packaging, depicting an olive tree behind the
company’s distinctive Camilo logo. Joan acknowledges the
importance of good branding. “We get a continuous stream of
compliments for our branding, and I know that it helps to sell
the product.”
Beyond the branding, however, the product contained within
must be superior quality as well, a feat that Camilo has
certainly achieved. “There’s nothing more important than
putting quality inside – and that has been our main aim since
the inception of the grove,” says Joan.
Joan and daughter Anne set about training their palates to
recognise a good oil. Both women trained to become Victorian
Sensory Panel members, which has stood them in good stead
to identify a quality product – undoubtedly one of the reasons
that Camilo has managed to achieve such high-grade
production so quickly.
The main olive variety at Camilo is Ligurian, and the others
include Kalamata, Pendolino, Corregiola and Koroneiki. In
2009, Camilo produced three distinct extra virgin olive oils – a
Koroneiki/Frantoio blend, the silver-medal winning Ligurian, and
a Koroneiki/Barnea blend. The Koroneiki/Frantoio blend swept
a lot of prize categories, including best in show at the 2009
Royal Melbourne Show. The oil was awarded gold in the
commercial bulk robust category, won the commercial
category championship trophy, and won the Victorian Trophy,
which is awarded to the highest scoring of the Victorian-grown
gold medal winning oils.
Camilo also produces infused oils with hints of chilli, garlic,
and even mandarin, as well as baked and pickled olives, and a
moisturiser.
The family behind Camilo Olives is rightfully delighted that
they’ve achieved such success from the effort that they’ve put
into their property. “Suffice to say we are very proud, happy
and now running very hard to make sure that we meet our
customers’ needs, market demands, and make the most of
what has been a brilliant year,” says Joan.
If 2009 is anything to go by, the future holds only good things
for Camilo. With full production now underway, and the
company growing out of its youth, Camilo is sure to prosper,
and head towards that fairy-tale ending.
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 27
BEST PRACTICE

Tablelands-based farmers
take out 2009 Conservation
Farmer of the Year Award
At the 2009 Conservation Agriculture and No-till Farming Association (CANFA)
conference dinner in Dubbo, the winner of the 2009 Conservation Farmer of the
Year Award was announced as being Murrumbidgee tablelands farmers, John and
Robyn Ive from Hall.

ABOVE: John and Robyn Ive with CANFA executive officer, Neville Gould and CANFA chair, Anne Williams, receiving the 2009 Conservation Farmer of the Year Award in
Dubbo

O
ne of the award judges, Ian Packer from the Lachlan
Catchment Management Authority said that this year’s
group of eight regional finalists was very diverse, from
stock only through to cropping across every landscape and soil
type possible, from three regions within the catchments being
the slopes, plains and tablelands.
The Central West, Lachlan, Murray and Murrumbidgee
catchment-based farmers were judged following nomination,
with on-farm inspections by representatives of CANFA, the
Catchment Management Authorities and the 2008
Conservation Farmer of the Year winner, Matt McKenzie.
The Ives were selected from a group of three regional
winners who included:
• Slopes: Andrew and Delwyn Clifton, “Fairfield”, Corowa
• Plains: Tony and Tanya Wright, “Bundy Downs”, Peak Hill
• Tablelands: John and Roby Ive, “Talaheni”, Hall
Mr Packer said they saw evidence of a vast array of
innovative ways to reduce inputs, monitor systems, address
climate change and develop unique markets, and for all, soil
health was a high priority.
Stubble maintenance and no till was high on the agenda to
address soil structure, organic carbon and compaction,” he
said.
In accepting the award last night Mr Ive said that while being
focused on superfine wool production on their Yass Valley
property, in order to achieve those ends they need to look after
the land to the greatest extent possible.
“We believe that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage
it.”
Receiving the award on his birthday, Mr Ive also won a
$5,000 GPS guidance system at conference, donated by GPS-
Ag. He made the comment at the dinner that he was not sure
how the sheep would react to it.
For more information about the Conservation Farmer of the
Year Award contact:
Neville Gould
Mob: 0427 452 488
Tel: 02 6845 1044 (CANFA office)
Web: www.canfa.com.au

28 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

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SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT

An answer to climate change

could be right under our feet.
Nature’s Way
Story: Georgie Oakeshott

When the McKellar family started farming at ‘Inveraray Downs’ in northern New
South Wales back in the 1960s, the cultivators turning the soil in preparation for
planting were continually being clogged by giant earthworms.

30 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1


F
orty years on, those “three-foot worms” are long gone but
a second generation McKellar is doing everything he can
to get them back. Working overtime to restore soil fertility
and wishing he could start all over again, Cam McKellar regrets
the impact that traditional chemical farming has had on their
land.
“Basically we stuffed it,” he says of the soil which went from
a healthy carbon level of three percent to under one percent in
30 years.
The turning point came in the 1990s when costs were
spiralling out of control and, plagued by headaches from
chemical herbicide, Cam McKellar began questioning the way
things were done and realised there was another, more
environmentally friendly way.
He turned to biological farming, which meant winding back
the use of chemical fertilisers to restore the soil’s health. Not
only has the soil improved but his plants are healthier, bushel
weights are higher and the end product is more nutritious.
“Biological farming is taking better care of your soil biology
and plant nutrition,” he says. While it’s taken 10 years, soil
carbon levels are improving, insecticides are hardly ever
needed, fungicides are non-existent and the worms are coming
back.
“We basically had to start from scratch but now we’re seeing
the results. The soil is totally different to what is was 10 years
ago. It looks good, it smells good, and I’m enjoying farming
again.”
McKellar’s Spring Ridge property was recently visited by
members of the House of Representatives Primary Industries
Committee who came to the Liverpool Plains to meet farmers
at the leading edge of adaptations that could play a vital role for
agriculture as it deals with the impacts of climate change.
Cam McKellar believes increasing soil carbon levels has the
potential to solve one of the nation’s biggest environmental
challenges.
“If we did this across western New South Wales we’d fix the
Murray Darling system in a matter of five or 10 years. You
would have your water cycle back to where it’s meant to be
and everything would be pretty sweet. I know that’s a big call
but it would be lovely to see.”
Not far from Spring Ridge, Quirindi farmer David Wallis is also
seeing the benefits of biological farming.
Faced with a 95 percent reduction in his water allocation and
knowing that carbon increases the soil’s ability to hold water,
David Wallis used biological farming techniques to increase his
soil carbon levels from two to three percent, which is close to
the optimum level in these heavy black soils.
“The biological principles change your thinking a bit,” he
says. “It’s sometimes referred to as ‘soft’ farming. We don’t use
acid based fertilisers anymore. We actually spray nutrients on
that will feed the life in the soil to build up the bug life in the soil
which helps create nutrients for your plants.”
He told MPs that biological farming has improved both the
health of the soil and the health of his plants. His lucerne is
now 80 percent ‘solid stem’ which is better and stronger than
the ‘hollow stem’ lucerne which used to dominate his crop.
Breeza farmer Andrew Pursehouse is another Liverpool
Plains innovator who has had to make changes to cope with a
68 percent reduction in his water allocation.
Instead of cultivating the soil, he has adopted a no-tillage
technique on some parts of his property to conserve soil
moisture, and it’s worked. Along with a few other adjustments,
the no-tillage approach has helped achieve the equivalent of an
additional six inches of rainfall per year.
“The whole thing is a really wonderful story,” he says, “and if
you combine legumes in there as well to provide organic
nitrogen, it’s a wonderful system we now have in place.
“These black soil plains have a tremendous water holding
capacity and in days gone by to eliminate weeds we farmed
the land and cultivated the weeds. That was actually creating a
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
sealed off zone which limited moisture penetrability of the soil,
and the big heavy tractors were basically acting as
compactors.
“Now under no-tillage farming the tractors are lightweight
and they use defined, controlled traffic lanes. We’re finding the
soil is more porous, stubble retains moisture and a lot of our
earthworms have come back. They didn’t like the tillage.”
The achievements of these farmers on the Liverpool Plains
are something Primary Industries Committee member Tony
Windsor (Member for New England, NSW) describes as cutting
edge.
“The farming community isn’t sitting around waiting for the
climate to get drier,” Mr. Windsor says.
“In fact the farming community already knows some of the
answers to a lot of the problems and the political process has
to go back to the grassroots and, rather than impose policy on
them, actually ask some of these people how to get the
answers, because the answers are there.
“Lifting carbon levels from two to three percent may not
sound a lot but that’s a 50 percent increase in the amount of
carbon being stored in the soil.
“If you could improve the capture of carbon in our soils by 50
percent across the good soils in Australia or even the good
soils in the world, there would not be any need for an
emissions trading scheme. We would have that problem
solved,” Mr. Windsor says.
Primary Industries Committee Chair, Dick Adams (Member
for Lyons, Tas) says there clearly needs to be more research
and support for their findings.
“I think we went out to save the world and environmental
science became the sexy thing, but now some of that effort
needs to be put back into agriculture. We need to encourage
people to look in these areas, to study these areas and get
degrees in these areas which are important for growing food
and fibre in Australia.”
At a public hearing in Canberra, committee members heard
from one of Australia’s leading soil scientists, Christine Jones,
who believes soil carbon is the prime determinant of
agricultural productivity, landscape function and water quality.
“In our never-ending quest for technological quick fixes we
frequently overlook the obvious, the simplest and most
effective solutions,” she told the hearing.
“Without doubt, increasing the level of carbon in agricultural
soils is the most obvious, simple and effective solution to
climate change. But we cannot increase soil carbon unless we
change farming methods,” she said.
The statistics speak for themselves. In little over 200 years of
European settlement more than 70 percent of Australian
agricultural land has become seriously degraded.
On average seven tonnes of topsoil is lost for every tonne of
grain produced. At the same time there has been a reduction
of between 50 percent and 80 percent in the organic carbon
content of surface soils.
“Losses of carbon of this magnitude have immeasurable
economic and environmental implications,” Dr Jones said.
“Further, the carbon and water cycles are inextricably linked.
Humus holds approximately four times its own weight in water.
The most beneficial adaptation strategy for climate change
would therefore be one that focuses on increasing the levels of
both carbon and water in the soils.”
Warning that a fundamental redesign of food, fuel and
fertiliser production is vital to the survival and profitability of the
Australian agricultural sector, Dr Jones said landholders are
realising they need to change.
“I cannot tell you how many people at recent workshops
have almost been in tears saying ‘we know we need to
change, we desperately need information’. They’re ripe for
change,” she said.
According to Dr Jones, the answer is based on a simple,
natural process involving green plants which draw down
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 31
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
carbon from the atmosphere. This is then converted to stable
soil carbon through microscopic organisms around the plants’
roots.
“All living things are made of carbon and the carbon cycle is
the basis of all life on Earth. We need to learn how to properly
complete that cycle, how to draw down excess CO2 from the
atmosphere and sequester it in a stable, life-supporting form in
the soil.
“The sequestration of CO2 requires a green plant. The
conversion of the liquid carbon in the plant to a stable soil
carbon requires a microbial bridge. Life in the soil cannot
flourish in the absence of green plants, nor can it tolerate a
constant barrage of toxic chemicals.”
The reason many current land management systems are
failing, she said, is because green plants are only present for
part of the year, with bare ground the remainder of the time. It’s
vitally important that soil be covered with living plants in all
seasons, particularly summer.
She believes perennial groundcover has multiple agricultural,
ecosystem and landscape benefits, including erosion control
and combating weeds that colonise land when it’s empty.
Using a technique known as perennial cover cropping,
annual grain or fodder crops can be direct drilled into dormant
perennial group cover with excellent results.
In fact, she said, in 2007 the only grain harvested in the
Geraldton region in Western Australia was from crops sown
into pasture by the WA Department of Agriculture and Food.
“These crops yielded over a tonne per hectare when
everyone else’s crops simply died. It was because the perennial
pasture had improved the soil and helped the ‘pasture crop’
survive under extreme conditions.”
Another positive outcome of this ‘year-long green’ agriculture
has been an increase in biodiversity such as snakes, lizards,
birds, even marsupials like bettongs which feed on fungi and
earthworms.
“We thought their absence was due to predators but it was
actually due to lack of food supply and lack of habitat. Now we
have the year-round grass cover there, although there are still
32 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
plenty of foxes and feral cats around, I am seeing more and
more bettongs all the time. I’m blown away every time I see
one,” she said.
Dr Jones told the committee the federal government could
fast track the adoption of innovative, productive farming
technologies through a proposed Green Agriculture
Stewardship Scheme (GASS).
The scheme proposes to provide incentive payments of
$200 per hectare for the establishment of green agricultural
sites to provide on-ground proof of resilient high quality
profitable agricultural production, active soil-building, carbon
sequestration, biodiversity enhancement, improvements to
landscape function and the aesthetic benefits of year-long
green farming techniques.
Dr Jones said these sites would serve as design and
innovation templates for expansion to other properties in their
designated region as well as nationally and internationally.
“As a result of the measured and publicised benefits of the
stewardship scheme, it is anticipated that regenerative farming
techniques would be widely adopted throughout the
agricultural community, hence not requiring further government
funding other than an initial five year allocation.”
Dr Jones told the committee that if there was government
support to encourage landholders to make some of these
changes, there would be no valid reason for the Australian
agricultural sector to be a net emitter of CO2.
“It would require only a 0.5 percent increase in soil carbon on
two percent of agricultural land to sequester all Australia’s
emissions of carbon dioxide. That is, the annual emissions from
all industrial, urban and transport sources could be
sequestered in farmland soils if incentive was provided to
landholders for this to happen.”
This may sound too good to be true, but if it is true, it’s one
simple solution to save agriculture, the environment and the
planet all at once. And all along it was right under our feet.
For more information on the inquiry into farmers and the impact
of climate change visit www.aph.gov.au/pir or email
pir.reps@aph.gov.au or phone (02) 6277 4500.
 Standby power can make up to 10% of your electricity bill, so Sally saves energy by switching
off her appliances at the power point. If only she could switch off Mike’s snoring as easily. Visit
energy.com.au to see what we can do for you.
ENA0654/S/AC
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
There’s no place like home
Formed through a partnership between energy giants Hydro Tasmania and China
Light and Power (CLP) Group, Roaring 40s vision is to be a leading renewable
energy developer in Australia.
W
ith a focus firmly on growth opportunities in the wind
energy market in Australia, Roaring 40s existing wind
farms in Tasmania and South Australia will be
complimented by further projects currently under various stages
of construction. Roaring 40s values reflect our mission to
successfully provide renewable energy solutions through
processes that are transparent, environmentally responsible
and beneficial to the community. Backed by over ninety years
experience in the energy field, the Roaring 40s team has the
specialist knowledge and skills to manage the entire spectrum
of the project life cycle, from concept through to commissioning
and ongoing operation and maintenance. At Roaring 40s, we’re
not just creating energy solutions, we’re creating the future.
Since 2005, Roaring 40s had built a reputation as one of the
leading foreign wind energy developers in Asia. Now we’re
concentrating all of our efforts in Australia, bringing with us the
experience and expertise that we’ve built up overseas. Through
the sale of our Asia based assets, we’re now focused on
34 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
helping local economies back home via major wind energy
projects, like the Musselroe project in north-east Tasmania and
Waterloo in the Clare Valley region of South Australia. These
projects will provide valuable and much needed employment
opportunities, as well as providing long term renewable energy
solutions to help Australia lower its carbon emissions and
create a better future for our children.
Now that’s what we call “thinking energy”.
The increasing demand for renewable energy and the
relatively small footprint of wind farming on most agricultural
business activities means that wind, the farm’s untapped
natural resource, has the potential to make a substantial
contribution to the total farm income.
At Roaring 40s we are continually searching for properties
that have wind potential.
If you would like to learn more about wind farming, and what we
do at Roaring 40s, visit our website www.roaring40s.com or
contact us via email at infoaustralia@roaring40s.com
 With your help,
we can farm for
the future too.

Contact Roaring 40s on 03 6213 4301

or email infoaustralia@roaring40s.com
w w w. r o a r i n g 4 0 s . c o m
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
Better Weather Ahead
More accurate weather forecasts will help
people who rely on them.
Story: James Nicholson
You would think the Bureau of Meteorology would be every
farmer’s best friend. For more than a hundred years, Australia’s
agricultural sector has relied, to a greater or lesser extent, on
essential information from the national weather forecaster.
T
he weather, and more to the point weather forecasting,
plays a critical role in the strategic decision-making
processes that drive Australia’s $47.5 billion agriculture
industry.
Indeed, the bureau attracts a staggering nine billion hits a
year to its website, and accounts for more than 45 per cent of
all Australian government web traffic.
But the current reality is that the friendship is being stretched
in places. Frustrated by what too often turn out to be
erroneous forecasts, farmers are asking serious questions of
the bureau and its capacity to deliver skilful, accurate seasonal
predictions that can feed into key land-management decisions.
A 2007 report based on data compiled by the bureau and the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry found that 76
per cent of farmers considered forecasting not to be reliable,
and 73 per cent considered it not to be accurate.
As the South Australian Farmers Federation told the House
of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee
earlier this year, “The lack of accuracy of the current modelling
36 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
methods and long-term predictions makes them a less than
useful tool for agricultural farming systems within South
Australia.
“Agriculture has long called for the accurate long-range
climate forecasting to improve decision making and risk
management on-farm, but we now question if we are pursuing
the ‘holy grail’.”
The complex and highly technical science behind weather
forecasting, and the innovation that drives continual
improvement in forecasting accuracy, are central to
decision-making across the economy, from the farming sector
to water resource management, the mining, construction,
tourism and aviation industries, as well as emergency response
management.
Alert to the far-reaching and potentially disastrous
implications across multiple industry sectors of inadequate
weather prediction systems, the Minister for Innovation,
Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, requested
the committee to inquire into long-term meteorological

forecasting in Australia.
The committee, chaired by Maria Vamvakinou
(Member for Calwell, Victoria), was asked to
report on the efficacy of current climate
modelling methods and techniques, and
long-term meteorological prediction systems, as
well as innovation in long-term forecasting
methods and technology. It was also invited to
examine the impact of accurate measurement of
inter-season climate variability on
decision-making, potential applications for
emergency response to natural disasters, and
systems and research in use overseas that could
have application in Australia.
“Weather plays a huge part in the lives of all
Australians,” Ms Vamvakinou said. “Even simple
daily activities are determined by the weather,
and having access to accurate weather
forecasting is essential.”
“In particular, accurate long-term forecasting is
essential for many of our industry sectors, for
example our agricultural industry. Without
accurate long-term forecasting, the planting of
crops reliant on seasonal rains is a risky
business. ”
The committee has heard evidence from
farmers groups, state government departments,
several individual scientists and some federal
government agencies including the Department
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Land and
Water Australia and CSIRO. It also heard from
the Bureau of Meteorology, which bears
legislated responsibility for the collection of
meteorological data and the forecasting of
weather and the state of the atmosphere. That
responsibility includes the issuing of warnings for
severe weather associated with events likely to
endanger life and property.
The bureau supports ongoing research in
weather forecasting principally though its
partnership with CSIRO in the operation of the
Centre for Australian Weather and Climate
Research (CAWCR). This unincorporated joint venture brings
together relevant research and development expertise from
both partners.
In its submission to the inquiry, the Bureau of Meteorology
noted the importance of meteorological forecasting and climate
modelling to Australia’s economic, environmental and social
wellbeing and prosperity.
“Australia’s location and size exposes it to a range of weather
extremes such as heatwaves, bushfires, cyclones, floods and
storms. Predictions of weather and climate at timescales from
hours to days and across seasons can influence decisions that
range from emergency management procedures and systems
through to when or whether to plant particular crops,” the
bureau said.
At the heart of the investigation into the adequacy and
accuracy of current long-term forecasting methods is the reality
that seasonal weather forecasters find themselves caught in a
hiatus between a traditional method of forecasting, which has
become outdated and ineffective, and a new method which is
yet to be properly developed.
Forecasters have traditionally based their predictions on
statistics gathered over time. Essentially, they collect
observations about past or present conditions that influence
weather, and use those observations to predict meteorological
conditions into the future. The flaw with this ‘statistical method’
is that it assumes previous weather and climate patterns will be
reliable indicators as to what might be expected in the future.
Climate change, however, has rendered this method almost
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
useless, as the bureau’s acting chief climatologist Michael
Coughlan told the committee.
“By characterising the climate of the past and understanding
again where you are now, you can go back to that record and
extract similar occurrences of conditions like we have now,” Dr
Coughlan said. “If one can find those similar conditions in the
past they can use that history of how the climate evolved from
those conditions to forecast conditions.
“The problem we are experiencing now is we are seeing a
very unstable climate regime or, to use the statistical term,
non-stationary climate….In other words we are experiencing
climatic conditions that are not well represented in the past.
That then compromises our statistically based forecast.”
CSIRO told the inquiry the existing seasonal forecasts for
Australia have “reached the summit of their ability”, while the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry described the
inaccuracy of current long-term meteorological forecasting as
one of the great barriers to its wider adoption for
decision-making among farmers.
“Current long-term meteorological forecasts are primarily
based on averages taken from historical climate data,” the
department’s submission said. “In light of the international
scientific consensus that human activity is increasing
atmospheric carbon emissions and enhancing global warming,
scientists widely acknowledge that historical climate records
are no longer adequate predictors of future climate.”
The alternative, emerging forecasting method into which
research and development investment is increasingly being
directed is what scientists term ‘dynamical modelling’. Here,
forecasters model current conditions using the equations of
motion and laws of physics to predict future conditions.
The transition from statistical forecasting to dynamical
modelling has not yet eventuated, either internationally or at
home. But, according to the Centre for Australian Weather and
Climate Research’s deputy director Thomas Keenan, the latter
technique has the capacity to provide a much more
comprehensive data set and brings the hope of being able to
deliver far more accurate predictions.
“In a statistical relationship you may focus just on
temperature or rainfall, but in these physically based models
you can actually look at the soil moisture, the temperature, the
winds, the rain and have a much more comprehensive
description,” Dr Keenan said. “That enables a much larger
product set or information source to be available, apart from
improving the overall predictive skill that is obtained through
these types of techniques.”
The committee has heard that research is underway to
replace the all-but obsolete statistical forecasting methodology
with the more current dynamic system upon which farmers and
other users could better rely. CAWCR has been developing
successive versions of a dynamic modelling system for
seasonal forecasting called POAMA (Predictive Ocean
Atmosphere Model for Australia). The model has been used to
undertake experimental forecasts of sea surface conditions in
the Indian Ocean, which is believed to be an important driver of
climate variability for Australia. According to the Bureau of
Meteorology, indications are that POAMA is better equipped
than current statistical approaches to provide long-term
forecasts.
The other major project to promise improved seasonal
forecasting is ACCESS (Australian Community Climate and
Earth System Simulator) which is expected to deliver
improvements in the simulation of El Niño, the Indian Ocean
variability, local weather phenomena and tropical processes.
Not withstanding this early promise, Land and Water
Australia’s ‘managing climate variability’ program coordinator,
Colin Creighton, told the committee how the research agenda
could be progressed more quickly.
“Obviously, more investment is needed,” Mr Creighton said.
“We really do not have enough money for what we need to do.
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 37
SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT
Whether it is for emergency services or agriculture or whether it
is urban water authorities, it does not matter. Everyone is
looking for better forecasts with more certainty and longer lead
times.
“Obviously, we need international collaboration. We cannot
do it alone. While I talk about an Australian system, we are
really talking about a global system. There is some good work
going on in Europe and India and so on. We must recognise
that this is long-term research. You do not get the results in
three years. It might take five years.
“Last but not least, as you will probably hear from others, we
need a new supercomputer every five or 10 years. That is the
reality of where we are going in much of this science.”
The broad benefit of improved seasonal forecasting and its
influence on decision-making was articulated in several of the
submissions, and by witnesses who appeared in person.
CSIRO listed a number of examples of how different sectors
used forecasting to inform specific decisions. They include
irrigation and cropping decisions affecting the use of irrigation
water; dry-land cropping decisions affecting sowing dates, the
area, variety and fertiliser application; emergency services
decisions affecting planning for likely extreme events; and
tourism decisions affecting the planning capacity and services
according to seasonal weather.
“Reliable seasonal forecasting has considerable potential to
deliver tangible benefits for forward planning and business The science of prediction
operations in agriculture and water resources, and other The Bureau of Meteorology refers to long-term meteorological
industry and government sectors and the broader community,” forecasting as “seasonal forecasting”, and defines it as forecasting
CSIRO noted. “Some benefit already exists but would be weather “from one to several months in advance”.
enhanced through improved seasonal forecasting, clarification Seasonal forecasting is distinct from short-term weather
and education about how to interpret and apply forecast
forecasting (hours to several days ahead), and from climate-scale
appropriately, and therefore increase user-confidence about
projections, which examine changes in climate on time-scales from
what seasonal forecasts do and don’t offer.
years to centuries.
“Better information about Australia’s potential future climate
is central to decision-making for individual enterprises and for Both weather forecasting and seasonal forecasting involve the
policy planning,” the department noted in its submission. collection of empirical observations about past and present weather
“Understanding climate variability at seasonal timescales, and conditions, which then form the basis for making a forecast of the
having relevant long-term meteorological forecasting tools, will future weather.
greatly assist risk management strategies at an enterprise Seasonal forecasting provides an assessment of the likely
level.” weather conditions average throughout a coming season, such as
The key for farmers is to know how much faith to pin on whether it is going to be drier or wetter than normal, hotter or
weather forecasts and to understand how best to use the colder.
information, according to Peter McIntosh, a principal research Like most types of predictions, seasonal weather forecasting is
scientist at CSIRO.
uncertain because it involves making a prediction about future
“The information has to be part of an overall risk
events within a complex system. Scientists are trying to work out
management system,” Dr McIntosh said. “They cannot take
how to improve the accuracy of forecasts by researching ways of
just that information and just decide to either plant or not plant
on the basis of that forecast. They might plant less area or they using sophisticated computer models and laws of physics to make
might delay planting or, if it was a dry year, they might plant a their predictions.
different variety that matures earlier—those sorts of decisions. According to CSIRO scientist Peter McIntosh, it is the ocean that
“They might decide to put less fertiliser on at the start, if the is the key to the longer time scale of the whole climate system,
forecast was bad, and delay it to top dressing and wait to see if upon which seasonal forecasts are based.
they got rainfall. There is a number of ways you can use the “The important thing is the sub-surface ocean temperature,” Dr
forecast information that is not black and white. The pay-off is McIntosh said. “That is the whole basis of seasonal forecasting:
in the long run. In any one year a forecast could be wrong and knowing that the ocean controls the long time-scale and knowing
a farmer could come unstuck. That is why I think they should something about the subsurface temperatures of the ocean.”
not follow the forecast only. They have to take a whole bunch Understanding of the ocean is enhanced by an international
of other things into consideration and just make slight changes
network of 3,300 ‘argo floats’, small robotic probes which are
based on the forecast.”
seeded planet-wide about 500 km apart and which float well below
And while some have described the attainment of accurate
seasonal forecasting capability as the ‘holy grail’, others have a the surface, recording important information about the ocean.
real hope that the research being undertaken through CAWCR Nevertheless, the task of interpreting these complex data and
will soon deliver dynamical seasonal forecasts that are translating them into seasonal weather forecasts remains a
substantially more accurate than what is currently available. thankless one—a reality which the Bureau of Meteorology points
For the struggling farmers and others who rely on accurate to with four short unattributed lines on its website:
long-term forecasting, those improvements can’t come fast “Many critics, no defenders,
enough.l Weather folk have two regrets.
For more information on the inquiry into long-term meteorology When they hit no one remembers,
forecasting, visit www.aph.gov.au/isi or email When they miss no one forgets!”
isi.reps@aph.gov.au or (02) 6277 4594

38 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 SUSTAINABILITY + ENVIRONMENT

Carbon footprinting:
time to pick up the pace
By Tim Harford

Euan Murray grew up on a sheep farm in southern Scotland; now he is in charge of

“carbon footprinting” for corporate clients of the Carbon Trust. “If I ask my old man,
‘What’s the carbon footprint of a sheep?’ he looks at me as though I’m mad,” he
explains. “But he can tell me the stocking density, what he feeds the sheep, and he
can answer those questions as part of running his business.”

Q
uite so. Carbon footprinting, the study of how much from a cappuccino, 10 billion times over.
carbon dioxide is released in the process of producing, In the case of the cappuccino—or at least, a typical, generic
consuming and disposing of a product, is all about the cappuccino—the climate change impact probably comes from
specifics. This is a refreshing change from the politics of the milk. I say “probably” because we don’t know for sure.
climate change, which is all about the generics. We Murray’s best guess was based on his work on milk chocolate.
hear promises from our leaders of big change Milk makes up one-third of a chocolate bar by mass, but is
in the future, without any credible plans responsible for two-thirds of the climate-change impact of the
right now. entire production and consumption process.
I first approached Murray to Switching to espresso might be in order; so, too, might a
ask him about the different diet for the cows. It is hard to make generic
climate change recommendations, though: even the particular soil on which
impact of a the grass grows on which the cows feed alters the climate
cappuccino. change calculus.
A year The carbon-footprinting process often produces surprises.
and An environmentally conscious consumer in the crisps aisle of
the supermarket will probably be thinking about packaging or
“food miles”. The Carbon Trust reckons that about one per
cent of the climate impact of a packet of crisps is from moving
potatoes around.
The largest single culprit is the production of the nitrogen
fertiliser, and half of the climate impact in general takes place
at the agricultural stage. The point is not that agriculture is
always the problem, but that it is very hard for a well-
meaning consumer to work out what the green
purchasing decision actually is.
For this reason, the Carbon Trust has a carbon
labelling scheme. The trouble is that many
consumers simply do not care enough to pay
more or choose a less enjoyable product
simply because of the low carbon label.
half A government role is necessary, then,
ago, I but it is even harder for governments
wrote about the to regulate such fine details. All this
question, pointing is why economists continue to
out that meeting any advocate some kind of carbon
of these grand targets price, which would give an
in a sensible way would incentive to everyone
require billions upon billions involved in these complex
of small decisions. supply chains to trim
The cappuccino’s climate carbon dioxide
change impact depends on whether emissions.
the café is double-glazed, the decisions A modest and
the staff and I take to get there, the diet of credible price for
the methane-producing cow that produced carbon is slowly
the milk and the source of power for the becoming the
espresso machine. conventional policy
Last week I pointed out that there are around 10 wisdom. It is a shame
billion products in a modern economy; that means we still don’t have it.
that the problem of reducing carbon dioxide emissions Also published at
is “simply” the problem of reducing carbon dioxide emissions ft.com.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 39

EDUCATION + TRAINING
Learning for a Future
in the Bush
Building capacity for economic, environmental and social outcomes across
Australia’s vast rangelands – 75 percent of the land mass – is the aim of an exciting
educational initiative specifically designed to address widely perceived deficiencies
in tertiary education.
T
he Rangelands Management
coursework program is exciting
because it offers improved access to
higher education, highly relevant courses
focusing on current and emerging issues,
and strong growth in participation by 30-
50 year olds in this educationally
disadvantaged region.
The growth in enrolments of 650
percent during the past three years is no
accident. The development of the
program by Rangelands Australia has
been one of the most highly strategic
knowledge and skill development
initiatives in Australia. It has been
underpinned by surveys of knowledge
needs and gaps, research on learning
preferences, engagement of hundreds of
stakeholders in guiding curriculum and
course development, and innovative
support for mature-aged students in
remote areas.
The many benefits of this educational
approach are now being realised at
40 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
personal, enterprise and community
levels:
• Personal benefits include greater
capacity to represent rangeland
interests and advocate for enterprise
and regional outcomes; increased
options for self-employment and
diversification; increased options for
career advancement and career
changes; and greater awareness of
the critical issues facing rangeland
enterprises and regions.
• Enterprise-level benefits include lower
costs and improved profitability;
enhanced land condition; better
management of trade-offs between
production and conservation
objectives; better decision-making
and risk management; greater
capacity for innovation and managing
change; and better management and
retention of the next generation.
• Community benefits include greater
awareness of national and global
John Taylor receiving the
2009 Australian Rural
Education Award from
Emmy Terry, President of
SPERA, on behalf of the
Rangelands Australia team,
the Rangeland Champions
network and The University
of Queensland.
issues facing regions, stronger
leadership, and changing perceptions
of the value of higher education.
This ground-breaking initiative is a
product of Rangelands Australia, a centre
within The University of Queensland’s
Gatton Campus. The centre recently won
the 2009 Australian Rural Education
Award, presented by the Society for
Provision of Education in Rural Australia
(SPERA), in recognition of excellence in
rural education, expansion of educational
opportunities, and efficiency and
effectiveness of education.
It is the first time this award has been
conferred on a university-based
education initiative. In accepting the
award, Rangelands Australia director
John Taylor acknowledged that the
program’s success was a great
testament to the benefits of strategic,
participatory, student-centered and
demand-driven approaches to the
provision of higher education.
LEARNING
FOR A FUTURE
IN THE BUSH
Are you seeking …
• Relevant and contemporary courses to
expand your knowledge and skills?
• Solutions to current and emerging issues
in the bush?
• Practical and up-to-date management
information, and applying it to your enterprise
or region?
• A higher qualification to further your
career or influence?
• An interesting and different course
or two to finish your higher degree?
Have you considered the Rangeland
Management coursework program?
This practical and innovative program offers …
• Flexible entry – with or without a degree
• Some Commonwealth-supported places
• Study in external mode; from home, guided
by experienced facilitators and stimulated by
interactions with people across Australia
• Study in intensive mode; meet with the
facilitator and fellow students at a week-long
workshop in a local centre
• Study in a small group at a local centre over a
week in intensive mode
• Out-of-hours support through a national
network of Rangeland Champions
• Nationally and internationally recognised
qualifications.
For more information on courses and enrolment
Phone 07 5460 1660
Email rangelands@uqg.uq.edu.au
Website www.rangelands-australia.com.au
Applications for enrolment close:
Semester 1, 2010 – 31 January 2010
Semester 2, 2010 – 30 June 2010
Visit our website for all the necessary forms
Proudly supported by
Yes, it’s different to other postgraduate
coursework programs in many ways …
• Program structure has been shaped by
450 stakeholders engaged in 24 focus groups
across Australia
• Course content and resources have been
influenced by over 250 experienced land
managers, advisors, scientists, etc in
scoping, writing and review of the courses
• Courses are practical and highly relevant to
workplace, business and people’s future
• Involves industry and professionals in the
delivery of courses
• Courses are aligned with industry, community
and government priorities through a focus on
‘triple-bottom-line’ sustainability.
Rangeland-specific courses include …
• Sustainable production systems and regions
• Building effective stakeholder engagements
• Global and national trends, local scenarios
• Diversification and new industries
• Managing self, developing and retaining others
• Advanced rangeland ecology
• Property, catchment and regional planning
• Grazing land management
• Rangeland monitoring and adaptive
management
• Rangeland pest animals, weeds and biosecurity
• Animal nutrition and behaviour
• Animal wellbeing and health
SALINITY

Dam Salinity
A report card on our risk and progress
By John Ive, Talaheni

Salinity is widely recognised as one of the more serious land degradation

processes that are affecting our agricultural lands—whether irrigated or dryland.
Likewise it is generally recognised that the cause of salinity is a discrepancy in the
water-balance equation, usually as a result of replacing deep-rooting perennial
vegetation with shallow-rooting annual crops and pastures that have been the
backbone of Australia’s agricultural scene for many decades.

T
he events that trigger increasing incidence of salinity can be
separated in both time and space from the areas that are
affected. It may take many decades before saline water
tables rise sufficiently in response to widespread clearing of
perennial vegetation to cause the visual blot on the landscape that
signals reduced productivity and risk of secondary erosion. More
telling is the separation in space where consequences of activities
undertaken in one area may turn up many kilometres away due to
the quirky nature of complex geomorphology below the soil’s
surface. As a result, actions taken by individual landholders to
combat salinity impacts on their properties may be unsuccessful
within a time frame acceptable to landholders and more tellingly,
benefits may be realised in a diffused and probably undetectable
manner on distant properties.
This has been the argument for agencies to adopt a whole-of-
catchment approach where studies are undertaken not only to
identify the hotspot sub-catchments but, with greater
understanding of the prevailing hydro-geological processes, areas
contributing most to the catchment’s salinity hotspots can be
identified. For properties where there is a close proximity between
the casual areas and the affected areas, then landholders can take
a similar approach with benefits to themselves and their near
neighbors. Such is the case at Talaheni, a 245ha property in the
Yass Valley on the Southern Tablelands (NSW). The Yass Valley has
long been recognised as a salinity hotspot gaining unflattering
front-page headlines in the 1980s with: Yass the dryland salinity
capital of New South Wales.
By way of background, the area hosts tightly folded, but
severely fractured multiple and diverse beds (slates, sandstones
etc.) of Ordovician meta-sediments. The diverse characteristics of
the sediment beds have, over geological time, resulted in
formation of strikingly different soil types in very short distances.
As a result rocky ridges bound variable slopes which in turn abut
deeper alluvial flats as shown in a stylised cross-section (Figure 1).
A traverse of such a cross-section covers a range of soil types,
each with distinctive physical characteristics that interact differently
with rainfall with subsequent consequences for salinity in the valley.

42 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 SALINITY

Figure 1: A typical cross-section of the Yass Valley reflecting the different soil types
associated with landscape position. Each soil type has its own unique characteristics
including infiltration rate and soil-water holding capacity. In general infiltration rate is
highest and soil-water holding capacity lowest in the landscape.

From the perspective of dryland salinity the important point of

the soils associated with such a transect is that infiltration rates
decrease and soil-water holding capacities increase as one moves
from ridge to flat. The stony ridges provide high infiltration rates
and an elevated hydraulic head yielding groundwater at pressure
to the lower flats. Consequently the ridges have low salinity risk
per se; and unfortunately little agricultural potential. Ironically the
risk generated by the ridges is ‘transported’ to the nearby much
more productive flats little by little depressing their productive
potential.
The crux to any management action is to monitor the response
to those actions. The old adage is: if you do not measure it you
cannot manage it. Normally salinity conditions are monitored via a
network of piezometers which allow water table levels to be
regularly measured and salinity of the water table assessed. Over
time, trends can be established in response to management
actions. However, the cost of installing a piezometer network is
Figure 2: Salinity levels of 38 farm dams (blue dots) which have been attributed to
significant and cannot be undertaken with normal farm equipment each dam’s catchment area as measured in March 2008. The highest salinity levels
and requires specific technical skills. An alternative may lay with (red) occur in the north, north-east sector. The salinity levels can be looked at in terms
the farm dams which dot the agricultural landscape. Such is the of current vegetation types (Fig. 6).
case on Talaheni where 38 dams are available to keep an eye on
salinity trends which give much wider coverage than the twelve
piezometers installed at significant cost.
The argument goes that dams can reflect the salinity status of
their respective catchments with salt content the combined result
of two main sources. Firstly, if a saline water table is closer to the
surface than the bottom of the dam then, depending upon dam
level and seepage rates, saline water will seep into the dam; the
closer the water table is to the soil surface the more seepage will
contribute to the dam’s stored contents. Secondly, evaporation
from saline seeps in the dam’s catchment leaves salt on the
surface which, when rain results in runoff, moves salty water to the
dam. Therefore the salinity of a dam’s water is a cocktail of the Figure 3: Change in salinity of the dam which, at the time of the first measurement,
salt-laden runoff and saline seepage from any elevated water had the highest salinity level. The decline in salinity level has averaged over 200 EC
units (μS/cm) per year over the past ten years at a relatively constant rate.
table. Periodic measurement of the salinity levels of farm dams can
give an insight into the trends in salinity across a property, indeed a Dam salinity measurements have been taken on Talaheni since
group of properties and also differentiate dam catchments on their 25th December 2000 which spans an extended period of below
salinity status. Because of the seasonal nature of rainfall, average rainfall conditions which started its downturn in December
monitoring dam salinity levels is best undertaken at a similar time 2000. Choosing the dam which initially had the highest salinity
of the year. level and tracing its fate over the period shows an impressive and
Given annual average evaporation from a farm dam in the Yass consistent decline in salinity levels at an average rate of over 200
region is about 1700mm per year – that is, about the third of the EC units per year (R2= -0.938, Figure 3) and now compares
depth (and half the volume) of an average farm dam, the salt favorably with Canberra’s domestic water supply which is currently
concentration in the dam increases over time with ongoing 85 EC units. Given the strength of the relationship (Figure 3) the
evaporation. In the absence of any runoff the salt concentration of salinity level of the dam prior to commencing remedial action in
a little-used dam would double in a year. As the dam fills, the salt 1980 could arguably have been over 6000 EC units; this would be
concentration is diluted although more salt would be received with consistent with the extent of dryland salinity symptoms apparent at
the incoming runoff. Once full, further runoff will lead to some the time (e.g. saline seeps occupied 23 per cent of Talaheni, now
flushing with increasingly less saline runoff. However, in drought less than one per cent) and the water table decline since 1990
periods runoff declines and dam overflow becomes a rare event. when direct weekly measurements commenced. For comparison,
Therefore during dry periods one would expect salinity levels to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) preferred upper limit for
increase during periods of below average rainfall due to ongoing human consumption is 800 EC units and sea water is 54 500 EC
elevated evaporation rate combined with relatively salt laden units.
although limited inflows and reduced opportunity for flushing. The decline in the dam’s salinity level is seen as a particularly
Simultaneously however, drought conditions reduce recharge, and significant response to the ameliorative actions taken to address
the water table declines with subsequent reduction in salt dryland salinity, as the decline has been achieved during a
accumulation at the surface as seeps recede. Additionally a lower prolonged dry period during which salinity levels of farm dams
water table reduces the opportunity for saline seepage into dams. would be normally expected to increase due to higher evaporation

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 43

SALINITY
and reduced inflows. Indeed the catchment of this dam includes
the area where work was initially started in 1988 to address salinity
with the planting of four hectares of the high recharge ridge to
native trees and reinvigorating declining exotic perennial pastures
on the flats by landscape fencing to allow better grazing
management and strategic use of fertiliser to foster greater pasture
vigour and production. Furthermore, the trend shown by this dam
is consistent with the average trend across all dams (Figure 4),
although the average trend is, by definition, not nearly so dramatic
viz., 36 compared to 212 EC units per year, reflecting the greater
annual decline in salinity levels for dams with the highest initial
salinity level. Consequently salinity levels of all dams are now
significantly below the WHO upper limit.

Figure 4: The mean salinity response of the 38 dams on Talaheni over the past ten
years which has seen an average decline of 36 EC units per year R2= -0.849). Figure 5: SPOT5 image of Talaheni reflecting tree coverage, primarily on central ridge
which has high recharge potential; and the mosaic of different vegetation types which
Each dot (Figure 4) represents the average of the thirty-eight can be interpreted from Figure 6.
individual dam measurements and gives an overview of the decline
in salinity. The fact that salinity levels of dams have declined
relatively consistently during the extended dry period is seen as
evidence collaborating with the decline in depth to and salinity of
the water table as recorded by weekly measurement since 1990
from a network of piezometers.
Returning to spatial variation in salinity levels across Talaheni
(Figure 2) and attributing the salinity level of each dam to its
catchment, it is obvious that the northern portion of Talaheni is
expressing higher salinity levels in the farm dams than the
southern area with a secondary pattern of dams higher in the
landscape having lower salinity levels than their lower counterparts
– reflecting in part the reduced opportunity for sub-surface
seepage into such dams. The salinity map can be compared with
the SPOT5 image (Figure 5) and the farm plan land use map
(Figure 6) which show the distribution of various forms of
vegetation which have been chosen in accordance with soil and
landscape characteristics.
Interestingly for the majority of the piezometers, the water level
is lower than the bottom of the piezometer so it is no longer
possible to monitor the water table and therefore keep an eye on
the salinity situation; on the other hand all dams continue to hold
water and to receive sporadic inflows when rainfall permits thereby
offering an ongoing opportunity to continue to track the response
to dryland salinity management.
Dryland salinity management has included the establishment of
trees on the high recharge areas where soil characteristics
(particularly soil-water holding capacity) were an anathema to the
establishment and persistence of vigorous perennial pasture. Tree Figure 6: Current farm plan reflecting fencing pattern based on soil and landscape
characteristics and the different vegetation types which have been tailored to these
establishment has involved grazing management during dry and characteristics.
subsequent favourable rainfall periods where seed trees remained
and planting tubestock in areas lacking seed trees. Exotic From the evidence gathered over the past ten years, farms
perennial pastures have been established on flats and lower dams have provided a means of keeping a track on the response
slopes, areas often reclaimed from severe salinity conditions. The to managing dryland salinity providing an ongoing report card of
selection of appropriate vegetation and its management has been encouraging success. Over the same period nearly all of the
assisted by the refencing of Talaheni on major soil and landscape piezometers installed for monitoring progress have progressively
characteristics (Figure 2) with fences often closely coinciding with gone dry in response to below average rainfall and provide no
dam sub catchment boundaries which assists in identifying and insight to the improved salinity situation over the past ten years.
targeting management appropriate to the sub catchment. Contact the author: talaheni@webone.com.au

44 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 FARM MACHINERY + EQUIPMENT

Back, Better Than Ever

T
he expanded Defender model range is now available in
Australia, with a number of new derivatives that cater for
both lifestyle and commercial buyers. The 09MY Defender
model line up now includes five 110 wheelbase and three 130
wheelbase variants, offering features that apply to off road
users or heavy duty payload seekers.
With the new expanded Defender range Land Rover now
presents users with a strong and highly differentiated alternative
for the heavy duty 4WD pickup sector: permanent 4WD, two
wheelbase offerings, efficient 2.4 litre common rail engine, six
speed manual transmission and use of alloy body panels.
Defender dates back to 1948 when the Land Rover Series 1
was launched. In the sixty one years since its launch, Defender
has developed an iconic profile and has become the authentic
vehicle of choice for extreme conditions. Almost 1.9 million
units have been sold to retail customers, utility service
providers, armed forces and NGOs in over 100 countries.
Defender customers worldwide value its legendary strength, • 130 Crew Cab HCPU (High Capacity Pick Up)
robustness and performance alongside its class-leading blend For users who require serious payload carrying capabilities,
of towing and load-carrying versatility. It’s the unique all Defender 130 models are fitted with heavy duty suspension
combination of these attributes that accounts for Defender’s and chassis reinforcements to provide a class leading GVM of
exceptionally high levels of customer loyalty. 3,500kg. The Defender 110 models can specified with
The Defender model range consists of the following: Electronic Traction Control to provide even greater levels of off-
• 110 Station Wagon road performance.
• 110 Single Cab Chassis Land Rover is immensely proud of Defender’s reputation for
• 110 Single Cab Chassis HCPU (High Capacity Pick Up) off-road supremacy and dependability, it will get you there and
• 110 Hard Top back, regardless of climate or terrain. Now with this extended
• 110 Crew Cab Pick Up range, Defender offers even more specialised variants to better
• 130 Single Cab Chassis suit the off road and load carrying requirements of its
• 130 Crew Cab Chassis customers.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 45

FARM MACHINERY + EQUIPMENT

The PullzAll is the extra

hand you need
If you’re out the back
paddock and your fence is
falling down.
If your trailer needs a tow
in Tamworth.
If you are welding in
Wagga Wagga.
If you just need another
set of hands to pull you
through the day – The
PullzAll is for you.

C
onvenient, portable and easy to use, it is an ideal
weapon in keep in your arsenal. The PullzAll can lift
or pull up to 454 kilos, making light work of heavy
jobs. This tool will replace manual winches and chain
blocks. It is in essence the modern day electrical block
and tackle. The PullzAll is perfectly suited to the work of
farmers, mechanics and labourers everywhere.
Fencing. Welding. Lifting. Pulling. You can do it all
yourself.
The PullzAll is available in two models, a 24V cordless
with rechargeable battery pack and a standard 230V AC
corded model. Supplied with 4.5M of 5.5MM wire rope,
the PullzAll features one touch forward/ reverse modes,
rear swivelling anchor hook, variable speed control for
procession placement and electronic load limiter with
LED indicator for operator feedback. The cordless
PullzAll weighs 8.2Kg and comes packaged with
charger and spare 24V rechargeable battery, while the
corded PullzAll weighs just 7Kg and runs on standard 230V AC of work just one man can do. Its uses range from construction,
power. Both models are capable of lifting or moving up to iron work, auto shops, equipment and plant maintenance,
454Kg. machine shops, garages and pipe fitting to erecting and
The PullzAll can make a tremendous difference in the amount maintain fencing, moving or disassembling heavy machinery or
simply loading and unloading heavy equipment.
The PullzAl is especially easy to set up and use. Simply
attach the anchor hook to your chosen mount point, unspool
the wire rope using the hook strap for safety and attach to your
load. Select either variable speed mode for short distance
pulling for fine positioning or full speed mode for long distance
pulls.
The PullzAll is generating a lot of buzz in retail circles,
undertaking a national television advertising campaign and now
stocked at Mitre 10 stores. The PullzAll takes the labour out of
every lifting job you can think of. Manufactured by Warn
Winches, who are regarded worldwide as the best winch brand
on the market, the PullzAll is supported by Ateco through its
Australia wide distribution network for sales and parts support.
For more information visit www.pullzall.com.au or
call 1 300 669 951 if you are interesting in stocking the PullzAll.

46 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 05,,s,)&4s$2!'s(!5,
THE LIGHTWEIGHT PORTABLE LIFTING DEVICE.

Those back breaking days are over. With new PullzAll™ where you want it. And for flexibility, PullzAll™ comes
you now have a portable, handheld power machine in corded or cordless models with an extra battery.
weighing only 7kg*, that is designed to pull, lift, haul The new lightweight PullzAll™ has real pulling power.
or drag up to 450 kilos at the flick of a switch. The only thing you have to weigh up is how many jobs

PullzAll™ is a one man workforce, equipped with a it can tackle. *Corded model

4.5 metre wire rope and a variable speed trigger for Check withenquiries
Wholesale your local hardware or tool supplier or
welcome
precise control. It features an integrated directional
WWWPULLZALLCOMAUsphone 1300 669 951

switch that enables you to instantly change direction,

giving you the ability to stop and hold a load exactly

EM081308_CM
FARM MACHINERY + EQUIPMENT

Life on the Land just got easier

thanks to Century Batteries
Century’s Ultra Hi Performance Severe Service battery represents the latest in
performance and reliability for trucks, farm and heavy equipment.

U
nlike many imported batteries which
are designed for European markets
and colder climates, Century’s Ultra
Hi Performance Severe Service battery is
made here in Australia for our conditions.
It features many substantial design
improvements to deliver what heavy
equipment and plant operators really
want, longer life and ultra reliability with
less down time.
Designed for more than just starting
power, the Ultra Hi Performance Severe
Service battery can sustain constant
current loads to power on-board
accessories.
Thicker, more durable components
provide improved corrosion resistance,
reduced water loss and longer battery life
whilst Century’s exclusive Platelock™
design and specialist Glass Mat
separators, bind the battery plates
securely together to resist the effects of
vibration damage and help prevent early
battery failure.
Backed by a fully comprehensive 18
month nationwide warranty, the Ultra Hi
Performance Severe Service battery
features a built in easy to read water
indicator to quickly determine fluid levels
whilst the maintainable design enables
easy access to top up electrolyte levels
for maximum control over battery life.
In today’s competitive world of
batteries one name is synonymous with
quality, durability and reliability—Century
Batteries.
Century batteries have been
manufacturing and designing batteries
here in Australia since 1928 and in this
time have developed the engineering and
manufacturing expertise to produce a
range of superior quality batteries better
suited to Australia’s harsh climate and
extreme working environment.
Not all batteries are created equal—
Choose a Century Ultra Hi Performance
Severe Service battery and see why it’s
earned the trust of Australians on the
land.
For more information on the Century
Severe Service Battery and the complete
Ultra Hi Performance range call 1300 362
287 or visit www.centurybatteries.com.au

48 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 FARM MACHINERY + EQUIPMENT

Rollerdown for better barley,

canola harvesting
P
hillbourne offered the market a new
style of pickup during 2005.
Rollerdown is a name coined to
describe the mechanised hold down. It
has now become a byword for better
harvesting canola and barley. In
December, it had about 300 Rollerdown
units working in Australia. Phillbourne no
longer sells the older style units. It is sold
as a triple package of pickup, falsefront
and Rollerdown that combined as one
unit usually matched to a particular
harvester.
Two other ways to buy Rollerdown are
as kit to add to older-style machines, or
as a conversion of an older-style pickup.
The Conversion is getting popular and
Phillbourne can convert an older machine
for about one third of the cost of a new
Trio. Phillbourne has a policy of
continuous improvement. Its latest
success has been the introduction of Phillbourne now offers heavy duty fuel For further information contact:
rubber coated drive rollers. They reduce trailers with steel tanks, regulation lights Phillbourne Manufacturing
belt slippage which increases the and brakes etc. Sizes are 2000L and Tel: (08) 9041 2066
harvesting window in awkward 4000L and these are available with or Fax: (08) 9041 2073
conditions. without pumping equipment.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 49

 know the road ahead

Visit our website and access latest releases and reports,

ABARE surveys, download data, register for conferences
or contact ABARE for more information
on +61 2 6272 2010 or abareproducts@abare.gov.au

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics

 FARM MACHINERY + EQUIPMENT

The only thing more impressive

than John Deere equipment?

The people standing behind it.

When you buy a piece of John Deere equipment there are many
features, options and extras to help increase your productivity and
SUR÷WDELOLW\EXWWKHPRVWLPSRUWDQWDVSHFWFRPHVDVVWDQGDUG
Professional support from the John Deere dealer network. Our Parts
Distribution Centre houses over 85,000 lines; available to be shipped
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, our network of 207
dealerships have an extensive range of maintenance parts in stock,
at your disposal. All our equipment is fully supported by one of the
broadest dealer networks in the agricultural business, so advice,
parts and service are all readily available when needed. 1800 800 981 | www.JohnDeere.com.au

John Deere announces new equipment name

and numbering system

W
hat’s in a name? Quite a bit actually – especially when
it comes to tractors. John Deere announces it’s
currently transitioning to a new name and number
system for its full line of tractors with the introduction of the new
5D, 5E, 5M, and 6D Series Tractors.
“The updated name and numbering system is unique to John
Deere and allows for a more consistent approach to naming our
equipment around the world,” says Kevin Platz, John Deere
Strategic Marketing. “This new system allows customers to
more quickly and easily identify the engine horsepower of a
tractor, its capability, and its size by looking at the hood decal,”
Platz adds.
Each new tractor model number has six available positions.
The first position is a number and represents its size. The
second, third, and fourth positions are numbers and denote its
relative metric engine horsepower according to 97/68/EC This new system does away with the word thousand in the
Standards. The fifth position is a letter and indicates its series title. The name and numbering switch will not be
capability and/or price level within its family. immediate for all John Deere tractors. Instead it will be phased
in over time when new product families are introduced.
6 1 1 5 D -
For more information, visit our website at
Capability, Specific www.JohnDeere.com.au or FREECALL 1800 800 981 in Australia
Size Engine Horsepower
price level configuration
to contact your local John Deere dealer.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 51

WATER
Water is tomorrow’s Gold
The cool waters are setting people’s hearts on fire. Water is slowly and steadily
climbing up the trading charts and the government is slowly buying up water
trading licences whilst placing an embargo on issuing new licences.
T
here is a reason for that: water is a scarce and vital
commodity. The people left with the licenses are now
sitting on gold and you know how gold prices are at the
moment.
In September 2009, hundreds of water trades in Victoria
were allowed after a 10 per cent cap on entitlements was
officially granted.
Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding says removing the cap
on non-water users will give irrigators greater choice.”It also
frees up water to be purchased from sellers as part of the
Australian Government’s buyback program to return water to
the Murray River for the benefit of the environment,’’ he said in
a release.
The cap on the volume of water entitlements that can be
owned by non-landowners had been in place since 2007. The
10 per cent restriction had existed to ease concerns that big
corporate clients would gobble up vast amounts of water and
control the market price.
How River Murray Water came about
From the mid-1990s, a number of factors have been
influencing Australian water authorities to create more
business-like arrangements for water delivery services. The two
most important factors are:
Separating service delivery from regulatory and resource
management policy matters so as to achieve clear and
effective outcomes; and
Putting pricing for services on a clear basis which removes
cross-subsidies, promotes efficiencies, and ensures
sustainability of the assets of the business through full cost
recovery.
52 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
The Council of Australian Governments, when endorsing in
1994 a strategic framework for the efficient and sustainable
reforms of the water industry, specifically required the Murray-
Darling Basin Ministerial Council to put in place: ‘arrangements
so that out of charges for water, funds for the future
maintenance, refurbishment and/or updgrading of the
headworks and other structures under the Commission’s
control be provided.’
In response to these various drivers, the Ministerial Council
decided that a ‘water business’ should be established with the
mission:
“In accordance with the Council of Australian Governments
water resource policy and Murray-Darling Basin Commission
policies, to contract with each owner of the water to provide a
delivery service which generates adequate revenue to allow
effective maintenance and long term replacement/creation of
assets and the move towards a positive real rate of return in
accordance with a timetable agreed with the owners of the
business.”
Following developmental work by an advisory committee,
River Murray Water was established on 1 January 1998 as an
internal business unit of the Commission. A Board operating as
a committee of commission guides the activities of River
Murray Water.
Further information:
• www.environment.gov.au/water/
• www.g-mwater.com.au/water-resources/
catchments/uppermurraybasin
• www.abs.gov.au/ausstats
 CRISIS SUPPORT

It’s okay to ask

for help…
It’s okay
to ask for
help…

Call Mensline Australia for help and

information about:

M
ensLine Australia has supplied telephone support to
• Difficult situations at work
rural men since the drought began, through the
• Changes in relationships
recent fires, floods, and the global financial crisis. The
pressures have been, and continue to be considerable. We • Being a good father
recognise the cost to family, community and livelihood of men • Dealing with separation
being out of sorts and respond to them day or night • Coaching and counselling.
throughout the year. We have a call-back service to support
Talk it over with specialist professional
people over time, ideal for those too far from other services or
waiting for an appointment.
counsellors, 24 hours a day,
Every month roughly 4000 men call MensLine Australia, seven days a week for the cost of a
mainly to discuss relationship and family matters. The service local call.
was designed for and about men and their issues, the popular
www.menslineaus.org.au website provides up to date
information and tips on subjects like managing separation,
1300 78 99 78
www.menslineaus.org.au
dealing with anger, unwanted pregnancy, first time dads etc.
and the web forums help men speak to others in similar
situations.
MensLine Australia provides a no-blame, no-shame ear, as
well as additional information and referral options. Stop
problems becoming a crisis and pick up the phone.
The cost of a local call provides a professional, totally
confidential and anonymous safe place to ‘talk it over’. It’s
okay to ask for help ... don’t let isolation get the better of you;
A service managed by Crisis Support Services Inc.
break the silence and call MensLine Australia.
MensLine Australia is a joint venture of Department of
Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
(FaHCSIA) and Crisis Support Services Inc (CSS). CSS also
manages a number of other services including beyondblue Info
Line, SuicideLine (Victoria), and Suicide Call Back Service.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 53

RURAL PROPERTY MARKET
Bruce McGregor, National Rural Manager, First National Real Estate
Stock and Station in the blood
R
aised in the small town of Woodenbong, right on
the Queensland border, Bruce McGregor has
experienced the ongoing change of rural and
regional agency over many years.
Bruce’s earliest memories are of the mid-fifties cattle
sales at Woodenbong saleyards and his excitement for
and interest in the saleyards and stock sales has
remained a life-long passion. He commenced work as
junior in 1968 with Reg Lehman and Sons in Kyogle
before joining Elders’ Goldsborough Mort for service in
Grafton Forbes Bourke Dubbo and Mudgee branches.
That experience provided a foundation for a career
based in rural property marketing across central NSW,
specialisation in auction marketing and support services
for regionally based agents.
Bruce now works for First National Real Estate, a real
estate cooperative that was founded in country Victoria
in the early 1980s and now boasts some 500 members
across Australia and New Zealand. His role as National
Rural Manager involves the development of the
network’s rural chapter, working with far-flung members
to ensure their needs are heard, and the recruitment of
new rural estate agencies.
The network has spent recent years rebuilding itself, in
preparation for the opportunities that lie ahead as
54 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
independent and franchise agents face the necessity to
embrace technology as one of the fundamental, new
competitive arenas of the business. Superior systems
combined with Best Practice Quality Assurance and
Search Engine Optimisation is seen as a winning
combination that will assure that First National’s agents
continue to deliver the best property services available in
Australia.
‘The network is positioning itself for growth through a
completely re-built suite of technology, products and
services. This, combined with a totally refreshed brand
will increase the network’s exposure across rural and
metropolitan Australia. Its industry leading technology
and national referral network, combined with the
independent skills and local knowledge of agents at the
farm doorstep, gives the network a leading edge’ says
McGregor.
‘First National is committed to building its already
substantial presence in rural Australia, so, I’m actively
seeking to recruit quality rural agencies. Our technology
advancements will help insure we provide not only up to
the minute market advice to vendors, but also a
comprehensive service to provide property details and
regular contact with potential buyers and investors
seeking rural property’.
Thousands of rural properties
Thousands of properties
One great address
One great address
Offering a broad range of rural properties, as well as:
‡2IIIDUPLQYHVWPHQWV ‡5HWLUHPHQWSURSHUW\ ‡&LW\DQGFRDVWDOUHWUHDWV

Local knowledge, national strength.

Choose First National to buy or sell your rural property.

firstnationalrural.com.au
RURAL PROPERTY MARKET

Carbon Credits, Sustainability,

Climate Change – Green Issues Abound
The rural property market, like most real estate markets, traditionally moves in
cycles of seven to ten years, with positive growth historically occurring over the
longer cycle. However, its values are additionally influenced by a wide range of
factors encompassing commodity prices, economic conditions and seasonal
climates. These variances make it difficult to forecast national trends.

A
ustralians are being bombarded with a multitude of
opinions, reports and ‘expert’ predictions concerning
environmental issues as the information age makes global
research and information instantly available to everyone.
In a recent survey, 90 per cent of the Australia’s CEO’s
admitted they did not fully understand the potential impact of
the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on their business, so it’s
perhaps not surprising that estate agents and their customers
may struggle to appreciate the potential effect of environmental
issues on the property market.
First National Real Estate has little doubt that the changes in
rural enterprise, as a result of altered environmental
circumstances, will influence property management, values,
livestock husbandry, farming and irrigation practises which will,
in turn, drive and direct the level of market activity for all types
of rural enterprises.
Farmers will need to endeavour to improve the value of their
assets while developing management protocols to meet with
community expectations and government directives.
Maximising capital growth will require long-term planning of
farm management practices and comprehensive record
keeping.
Environmental matters such as toxicity, chemical usage and
land management cannot be ignored and improved
infrastructure for animal husbandry as well as occupational
health and safety protocols will be necessary. Water supply and
its usage will only become more contentious.
Around the world there is significant and growing support for
action to address climate change. First National believes a
majority of Australians want to see action from government, but
remain uncertain about how and where they can contribute to
change in their own domain.
First National has determined it can play a role by educating
the thousands of people it comes in contact with through its
property services every day of the week. Forging an alliance
with Greening Australia and Archicentre, it has developed a
series of educational materials that help improve energy
efficiency in homes and is encouraging consumers to plan
native gardens in an effort to help the unique Australian
environment and to reduce water consumption.
The one certainty in this overall landscape is that Australian
ingenuity will come to the fore and environmental challenges will
be addressed.
The value of rural enterprise land will continue to grow as the
world endeavours to feed a rapidly burgeoning population from
farmland, which will remain under pressure from expanding
urban areas and mining interests. Australia will be competitive in
providing rural commodities and traditional farming families will
continue to be underwritten by investment interests both locally
and internationally.

56 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 WATER

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDY:

Using technology
to save water
By Dennis O’Brien, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.

With climate change expected to raise temperatures worldwide and make

rainfall patterns harder to predict, pressure is mounting on farmers—who
use up to 60 percent of the world’s fresh water—to cut back on water use.
Nowhere is the US water supply a more severe problem than in the
Southwest, where droughts are common, reservoirs are closely monitored,
and population growth is increasing demand. 

Visiting University of Arizona research specialist Patrick Royer

(foreground) records the water advance time in a cotton furrow while
ARS physical science technician Dick Simer measures the furrow water
depth. The data is used to estimate the actual amount of irrigation water
that infiltrates at sections along the cotton furrow.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 57

WATER
A
RS scientists in the Southwest are developing tools
aimed at saving every possible drop with the help of
satellite data, computer models, remote sensing, and
other technologies. At the Arid-Land Agricultural Research
Center in Maricopa, Arizona, Doug Hunsaker is developing a
sensor system that can determine the water needs of small
clusters of crops. And at the Jornada Experimental Range in
Las Cruces, New Mexico, Al Rango is beefing up computer
models and the network of sensors scattered throughout the
Rocky Mountains that help forecast runoff into the Rio Grande,
a crucial water source for farmers in Colorado, New Mexico,
Texas, and Mexico.
Impact of Altered Snowmelt
The Rio Grande gets more than half of its water from snow
melting off the Rockies in southern Colorado and northern New
Mexico, a region where population growth is straining water
supplies. Climate change is expected to diminish those
snowpacks and alter when water flows from them into rivers,
says Rango, a hydrologist.
Snow starts melting in the New Mexico mountains in late
March and continues until late August. But climate change
could disrupt that cycle. Temperatures in New Mexico have
increased about 2˚C in summer and about 1˚C in winter over
the past 10 or 20 years. That rise is expected to continue,
producing earlier snowmelt and altering when water becomes
available for crops grown in the Rio Grande basin, such as
cotton, onions, chillies, and pecans, Rango says.
With climate change expected to alter snowmelt patterns,
researchers need better information. Rango is a principal
investigator for part of a 5-year National Science Foundation
project that will help states collect better data on water
supplies and help scientists better understand the effects of
climate change on water supplies in the Southwest. Research
is also being conducted by New Mexico State University, New
Mexico Tech in Socorro, and the University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque as part of the project.
Rango and his colleagues have spent 30 years predicting
snowmelt runoff levels with a computer model he developed in
the late 1970s and has been upgrading ever since. His
Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) uses climate-change
algorithms, imagery of snowpacks from National Aeronautics
Agricultural engineer Doug Hunsaker performs precise irrigation scheduling of cotton at the Maricopa Agricultural Center in Arizona.
58 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
and Space Administration satellites, and data from ground-
based SNOTEL sensors in 11 western states to measure water
levels. Information is transmitted to relay stations and posted
by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
online at
www.id.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/siteinfo/typical_snotel.html.
Rango and his team will install 5 new gauges in the NRCS
SNOTEL sensor network and upgrade 12 others, all in New
Mexico, to improve runoff forecasts from snowpack. Rango’s
research should help farmers decide which crops to plant and
when to plant them. It will also help public officials decide how
reservoirs should be operated, whether reservoir water should
be stored or released, how much water should be used to
generate electrical power, how flood-control measures can be
implemented, and how much water should be reserved to save
endangered species.
“Change in timing and quantity of runoff is something water-
management agencies need to know. They don’t know what
the effects on the water resources will be, and they need to
know because water-management policies may have to
change,” Rango says.
Tracking Water on Small Parcels
Traditionally, farmers irrigate by the calendar, but that can be
wasteful—at times giving crops more water than they need.
But Doug Hunsaker is using an assortment of remote-sensing
technologies—sensors mounted on tractors or planted in the
soil, along with an unmanned aerial vehicle and an occasional
helicopter flight—to find ways of conserving water by
estimating crop needs at specific sections within fields, rather
than assuming those needs are the same in all sections of the
field.
Hunsaker is testing a tractor-mounted visible and near-
infrared sensor on small fields of cotton and wheat. The
sensors, initially designed to detect nitrogen levels in soils, use
red and near-infrared signals to estimate evapotranspiration—
the amount of water transpired from a plant plus that
evaporated from the soil. The sensors take readings as the
tractor goes up and down the field during cultivation. They look
and work like small cameras and are equipped with a global
positioning system so they can give a precise reading of the
location where the data was collected.
 WATER
In Hunsaker’s system, data on soil moisture levels and water threshold, we know it’s time to water, and we know how much
use by plants—collected from the tractor-mounted and it needs. We’re able to monitor with a kind of a ‘chequebook’
ground-based sensors—would ultimately be tied into data approach,” he says.
beamed from satellites.
The research is part of Pasture, Forage, and Range Land
Hunsaker is also using remote-sensing data collected from Systems (#215) and Water Availability and Watershed
an unmanned aircraft—on loan from the University of Arizona— Management (#211), two ARS programs described on the World
that provides additional information on crop water use as it flies Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
over a field. Helicopter flights, made once every two weeks as
To reach scientists featured in this article, contact Dennis O’Brien,
part of Hunsaker’s fieldwork, also provide complete remote- dennis.obrien@ars.usda.gov,or USDA-ARS Information Staff,
sensing images of the entire field. Data collected by the www.ars.usda.gov/News/News.htm
helicopter flights is a proxy for information that will one day be
collected by satellites.
“As technology improves, satellites will be able to do what
we now do with helicopters so that farmers will be using
satellite imagery to determine water needs,” Hunsaker says. He
has used the technology to study the water needs of camelina
and lesquerella, two oilseed crops, but has focused mostly on
small fields of cotton and wheat. He is currently testing the
technology’s effectiveness at determining actual soil moisture
levels and growth rates in a 12-acre cotton field, divided into
16 plots, and he plans tests in a wheat field of comparable size
in 2010.
Farmers are already using remote-sensing technology to
monitor crops and field conditions, but the goal is a new
system capable of collecting data that farmers can use to
determine daily water needs of smaller field sections. Ideally,
farmers could identify areas with low or high water needs and,
using either a drip or a sprinkler system, adjust irrigation levels
based on the data.
Hunsaker compares the system to keeping a checkbook of
each plant’s water needs. “There’s a reservoir of water in the
soil. Each day it’s depleted by the plant, and we’re keeping Before takeoff, physical scientist Andrew French prepares camera equipment for
track of that. Once the water amount reaches a certain airborne multispectral imaging. The data collected is used to estimate crop water
use.

Hydrologist Al Rango (foreground) and former postdoctoral research associate

Enrique Gomez-Landesa evaluate output from predictive models of water runoff
into the Upper Rio Grande basin.

View of cotton field from helicopter showing reflectance tarps used in calibrating Physical scientist Tom Clarke aligns ARS-designed radiometers for monitoring
multispectral imagery equipment. cotton growth. The radiometer clusters are installed in a digital network that is a
low-cost way to deliver real-time crop information over the Internet.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 59

IRRIGATION

Management of irrigation
water storages: carryover
rights and capacity sharing
By Neal Hughes and Tim Goesch ABARE research report

This article is a summary of the full report and represents the first part of a two part project investigating the management of irrigation water
storages. The report focuses on the economics of storage management and the potential advantages of a capacity sharing approach. The
second part of this project examines in detail two capacity sharing schemes implemented in Queensland – St George and MacIntyre Brook. The
results of the second part of the project are presented in a subsequent ABARE research report: Capacity sharing in the St George and MacIntyre
Brook irrigation schemes in southern Queensland. For further information about the full version of both of these reports, visit: www.abare.gov.au

Water storage management
Water storages (reservoirs) play a vital role in the supply of
water for irrigation farms. Storages smooth variation in the
supply of water and in the value of water over time. Appropriate
management of water storages is particularly important in
Australia, given the extreme variability of inflows and
predictions of lower and more variable inflows within the
Murray-Darling Basin because of climate change.
The management of irrigation water storages involves
comparison of the benefits of consuming water today against
the expected benefits of storing water for future use. In
Australia, state governments have traditionally centrally
managed the major water storages, making decisions on water
allocations (water released for consumption in the current
period) given prevailing storage levels. However, determining
what proportion of available water to store for the future (and
how much to consume now) is a complex problem given the
presence of substantial uncertainty over future inflows and
water demands.
Centralised storage management
For a centralised storage management policy to achieve an
efficient allocation of water across time and across irrigators, a
number of conditions must be met. First, the dam manager
requires complete information on the water needs of irrigators.
Second, trade in water allocations must be efficient and
costless. Under these conditions, the optimal aggregate
amount of water would be released each period and this would
be efficiently allocated across individual irrigators via trade in
water allocations.

60 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1


In practice, these conditions may not be met and a
centralised approach may lead to an inefficient allocation of
water. In particular there may be asymmetric information
between the storage manager and irrigators, and transaction
costs in water trade.
Asymmetric information
Asymmetric information means that irrigators are likely to have
information on their water demands that is not available to dam
managers. Obtaining information on water preferences from
individual irrigators may be difficult for a number of reasons.
First, water preferences are likely to vary significantly across
different irrigators because of differences in crop types.
Second, irrigators’ water preferences are likely to be subject
to significant change over time. With asymmetric information, a
central manager may implement a sub-optimal release
(allocation) policy, that will ultimately reduce average returns to
irrigators in the long run.
Transaction costs in water trade
Transaction costs refer to costs incurred when making an
economic exchange. There is evidence to suggest that
irrigators face significant transaction costs when trading water
allocations in the Murray-Darling Basin. Water trade can be
subject to both direct financial transaction costs such as
government and brokers’ fees, and non-financial indirect
transaction costs such as time costs incurred by irrigators.
Under a simple announced allocation system, substantial
temporary trade in water allocations may be required to
achieve an efficient allocation of water across different irrigators
in each time period.
High and low reliability entitlements
High and low reliability entitlement systems (referred to as
general and high security entitlements in New South Wales) are
relatively common in the Murray-Darling Basin. High and low
reliability entitlement systems have the potential to reduce
temporary water trade requirements, and reduce irrigators’
exposure to transaction costs, by providing water rights which
more closely match the reliability preferences of individual
irrigators (Freebairn and Quiggin 2006). However, systems of
high and low reliability entitlements do have a number of
practical limitations.
Implications for investment
While not considered in detail in this report, in practice it is likely
that storage management policies will have important
implications for irrigator investment decisions. For example,
storage management policies, by influencing the yield-reliability
of water entitlements, will tend to influence the relative
attractiveness of different irrigated activities. In the long run, a
fixed centralised storage policy may act as a constraint on
irrigator investment, for example preventing an optimal
distribution of low and high flexibility irrigation activities.
A water storage model
As a part of this study, an economic model of the water
storage problem facing a representative irrigation system was
developed. The model incorporates representations of the
demand for water by irrigators and the irrigation water supply
system (e.g. inflows, storage and associated losses). The
model is stochastic, in that inflows into storages and rainfall
onto irrigation farms are subject to random variation, based on
a defined probability distribution estimated using historical data.
The optimisation model developed was applied to a case
study region to demonstrate the potential benefits of
improvements in storage policy. The case study region is based
IRRIGATION
on the Murrumbidgee region in New South Wales. Although the
case study is intended to be illustrative in nature, the results
presented in this report are intended to be broadly applicable
to other regions. Model parameter values were set with
reference to historical data and estimates from econometric
literature.
Results
Using the model, an arbitrary ‘aggressive’ release (allocation)
rule was compared with a theoretically optimal release rule. The
estimated optimal release policy involves holding more water in
storage reserves, relative to the aggressive policy.
The estimated optimal release rule involves a small reduction
in mean water use, in turn for a substantial increase in mean
storage reserves. The optimal release rule acts to minimise
variation in the supply and value of water over time. The model
demonstrates that optimal storage policy can lead to an
increase in mean irrigator incomes and a substantial reduction
in variability of incomes. The model results show an estimated
increase in the mean economic value of water of 11.8 per cent
and a reduction in variability of more than 63 per cent.
A sensitivity analysis conducted using the model also
demonstrated that the gains from optimal storage
management (both in terms of mean and variability of incomes)
increase substantially as water availability reduces. The results
confirm that with greater water scarcity, there is more to be
gained by improving the management of irrigation water
storages. That is, when inflows are lower and less reliable,
there is more to be gained by holding water in storage to insure
against drought conditions. This is an important result given
predictions of reduced water availability across much of the
Murray-Darling Basin in the future because of the effects of
climate change.
Carryover rights and capacity sharing
An alternative to centralised storage management is a
decentralised approach, in which individual irrigators are given
greater control over storage decisions. Decentralised
approaches have the potential to address the problems of
centralised storage management. In this report, two
decentralised approaches to storage management are
considered: carryover rights and capacity sharing.
Carryover rights
A carryover right allows water users to hold over a proportion
of their seasonal water allocation for use in future seasons.
Carryover rights have been in place in many New South Wales
and Queensland irrigation systems for some time and have
recently been introduced into a number of Victorian and South
Australian systems.
While carryover rights may help irrigators overcome some of
the problems associated with central storage management,
carryover rights are an incomplete solution. Carryover rights are
incomplete because they do not explicitly define rights to
storage capacity or to associated storage losses. As such,
individual carryover decisions have external effects which
influence other users of the same storage. In an attempt to
minimise these external effects, significant restrictions are often
placed on carryover rights, which further weaken their
effectiveness.
Access to carryover water may also be subject to sovereign
risk, as has been demonstrated in a number of recent
instances where irrigators have been denied access to
carryover water during drought periods.
Capacity sharing
Capacity sharing is a system of allocating property rights to
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 61
IRRIGATION
water from shared storages proposed by Dudley (Dudley and
Musgrave 1988; Dudley and Alaouze 1989; Dudley 1990a;
Dudley 1992). Under capacity sharing, each entitlement holder
in an irrigation system is assigned a share of the total system
storage capacity and a share of total inflows. Users are free to
manage these capacity shares independently; determining how
much water to use (or sell) and how much to leave in their
share of storage.
Capacity sharing results in water entitlements which more
closely reflect the physical realities of the water supply system.
Unlike carryover rights, capacity sharing ensures that storage
space is efficiently rationed and losses are internalised.
Capacity sharing has a number of other potential benefits
relative to systems of carryover rights. Capacity sharing
replaces the traditional announced allocation system and, in
doing so, removes a layer of regulatory uncertainty. Capacity
sharing also involves redefining water rights at the source,
which offers a number of potential efficiency improvements,
including the potential to internalise water delivery losses.
One complication with capacity sharing is the occurrence of
internal spills – where individual water accounts reach capacity
and forfeit their inflows to other water users. However, the
economic costs of internal spills are negligible and internal spills
are likely to occur infrequently in practice. Another important
consideration in the transition to capacity sharing will be to
minimise any actual or perceived distributional effects, by
ensuring the newly defined capacity share water entitlements
adequately preserve all existing irrigator water entitlements.
Capacity sharing is typically considered in the context of
relatively simple water supply systems, where all water is
sourced from a single storage. While there may be some
concerns about the suitability of capacity sharing in more
complex systems, it is not obvious that the concept could not
be sufficiently generalised. The ability of the capacity sharing
framework to be applied to a range of more complex water
supply systems remains a subject for potential future research.
Concluding Remarks
Water storages play a vital role in the supply of water for
irrigation farms. Storages serve to smooth variation in the
supply of water and equalise the marginal value of water over
time.
The management of these storages is an important but
difficult task. Determining what proportion of available water to
store for the future, and how much to consume now, is a
complex problem given the presence of substantial uncertainty
over future inflows and water demands.
In Australia, major irrigation water storages are centrally
managed via the announced allocation system, where each
season a water manager determines the amount of water
available for use now (water allocations) given prevailing
storage levels. Under certain conditions a centralised approach
could achieve an efficient allocation of water resources;
specifically, if the water manager had perfect information on the
water demand preferences of irrigators and there existed an
efficient (costless) market in water allocations.
In practice, the water manager is unlikely to have perfect
information on the water preferences of irrigators. There is likely
to be asymmetric information; irrigators are likely to know more
about their water demands than the water manager. Also, there
are likely to be significant transaction costs in water trade. A
centralised announced allocation approach relies heavily on
trade in water allocations to allocate water between irrigators
with varying reliability preferences. Given these practical
difficulties, a decentralised approach, where irrigators are
enabled to make there own storage decisions, may be
preferable.
62 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
To demonstrate the potential costs of inefficient storage
management, an economic model of the water storage
problem facing a representative irrigation system was
developed. This model was applied to a case study region, the
Murrumbidgee. Model parameter values were set with
reference to historical data and estimates from econometric
literature. Using the model, a suboptimal aggressive release
rule was compared with a theoretically optimal release rule.
The estimated optimal release rule generated a small
reduction in mean water use in turn for a substantial increase in
mean storage reserves. The model demonstrated the ability of
the optimal policy to lead to an increase in mean irrigator
incomes and a substantial reduction in variability of incomes.
The model estimated an increase in the mean economic value
of water of 11.8 per cent and a reduction in variability of more
than 63 per cent. The model also demonstrated that the gains
from optimal storage management, both in terms of the mean
and variability of incomes, increase substantially as water
availability reduces.
In this report two decentralised approaches to storage
management were considered in detail: carryover rights and
capacity sharing. Carryover rights have the potential to
overcome some of the problems of centralised storage
management. However, carryover rights are an incomplete
solution, since they do not define explicit property rights to
storage capacity or to losses associated with storage. As a
result, carryover rights generate external effects, where
individual irrigator carryover decisions affect other irrigators in
the system. In an attempt to minimise these external effects,
significant restrictions are often placed on carryover rights
which further weaken their effectiveness.
Capacity sharing is a property rights system proposed by
Dudley (Dudley and Musgrave 1988), which involves redefining
water entitlements into separate storage capacity rights and
water/ inflow rights. Unlike carryover rights, capacity sharing
ensures that storage space is efficiently rationed and that
losses are internalised. Capacity sharing has a number of other
potential benefits relative to systems of carryover rights.
Capacity sharing replaces the traditional announced allocation
system and in doing so removes a layer of regulatory
uncertainty from existing water entitlements. Capacity sharing
involves redefining water rights at the source which creates a
number of potential efficiency improvements, including the
potential to internalise water delivery losses.
One complication with capacity sharing is the occurrence of
internal spills – where individual water accounts reach capacity
and forfeit their inflows to other water users. However, the
allocation efficiency implications of internal spills are negligible
and in practice internal spills are likely to occur infrequently.
Another important consideration in the transition to capacity
sharing will be to minimise any actual or perceived distributional
effects, by ensuring the newly defined capacity share water
entitlements adequately preserve all existing irrigator water
entitlements.
Capacity sharing is typically considered in the context of
relatively simple water supply systems, where all water is
sourced from a single storage. While there may exist some
concern about the suitability of capacity sharing in more
complex systems, it is not obvious that the concept could not
be sufficiently generalised. The ability for the capacity sharing
framework to be applied to a range of more complex water
supply systems remains a subject for potential future research.

The naked truth about
our landscape
Australia has been stripped bare of vegetation to expose the
surface that lies beneath.
S
cientists from CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy
Country Flagship have removed
approximately 90 per cent of Australia’s
vegetation cover from satellite images of the
continent to produce the most detailed available
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of its topography.
“The DEM will revolutionise geological
applications, land-use studies, soil science, and
much more,” CSIRO’s Dr John Gallant said in an
address to the Spatial Sciences Conference in
Adelaide.
“The DEM will revolutionise geological
applications, land-use studies, soil science, and
much more,” CSIRO’s Dr John Gallant, in his
address to the Spatial Sciences Conference in
Adelaide.
“Produced at a one-second resolution—about
30 metres—the DEM exposes intimate details
about Australia’s landscape features. As a result,
we can now clearly make out the shape of our
landscape and understand how water might move
across its surface, how it came to be its present
shape and how variable our soil terrains are.”
Since releasing the Digital Surface Model (DSM)
last year, the new vegetation removal process has
also resulted in a ‘spin-off’ vegetation height map
that may be useful for calculating biomass and
contributing to carbon accounting.
Satellite images near Culcairn in NSW showing the topography with vegetation (left) and without vegetation (right) by: CSIRO
LANDSCAPES
The DEM will provide a body of information
related to water resources and is a key activity
within the water information research and
development alliance between the Flagship and
the Bureau of Meteorology’s ‘Improving Water
Information Program’.
The final phase of building the one-second
resolution DEM will occur over the next year with
the inclusion of Australia’s river network to
produce a drainage-enforced DEM that will assist
the Bureau to generate water accounts for the
continent.
The DEM is based on the Shuttle Radar
Topographic Mission (SRTM) satellite data
collected by NASA during its Space Shuttle
mission in 2000.
The one-second DEM dataset is licensed and
managed by project collaborator Geoscience
Australia, and will be available from mid-
November to all tiers of Australian government. A
three-second version (approximately 90 metres) of
the DEM will eventually be available for public use.
For Further Information:
Dr John Gallant
Land and Water
Phone: 61 2 6246 5734
Email: John.Gallant@csiro.au
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 63
INNOVATION

Super foods
Value adding to our
natural produce
It can be difficult to make
the time or effort to
ensure that the
foods we’re eating
are giving us enough
nutritional value. Australian
scientists are on a mission
to remedy this problem, by
creating a new team of
vegetable super-heroes
that are nutritionally
enhanced to take the
difficulty out of making
healthy choices.

S
cientists from the Victorian Department of Primary
Industries (DPI) and The New Zealand Institute for Crop
and Food Research have been working on developing
these enhanced foods for over five years, due to increasing
public awareness of the role of vegetables in fighting serious
diseases, as well as mounting concern over vegetables
imported from overseas.
Leading the charge in the super food revolution is ‘booster
broccoli’, a new, naturally grown product from Vital Vegetables
that claims to contain over 40 percent more active antioxidants
than the broccoli usually found in shops. One of these
antioxidants is Sulforaphane, which helps eliminate free radicals
in the body, and is thought to have a preventative influence on
heart disease and some cancers.
The broccoli is bred from a strain of the brassica vegetable
that contains more naturally occurring antioxidants than others,
and is not genetically modified or artificial in any way, which has
traditionally been a major cause of concern for Australian
consumers. The broccoli is now available in shops around
Australia, plastic-wrapped to ensure that the nutritional value of
the vegetable is retained until it is consumed.
‘The intent behind Vital Vegetables was not only to create a
range of vegetables with known health benefits, but to ensure
that they were also commercially available to customers,’ says
Dr Rod Jones, Team Leader of Plant Physiology at the DPI.
And broccoli is only the beginning. Vital Vegetables plan to
introduce high-vitamin capsicum, and several lines of lycopene-
packed tomatoes into their range in the near future, and intend
on eventually releasing frozen options for their super vegetables.
Another superfood, developed by scientists at CSIRO, is
BARLEYmax, a high-fibre wholegrain that claims to amplify the
nutritional benefits of wholegrains. CSIRO’s intentions with the
production of BARLEYmax were similar to those of Vital
Vegetables. ‘Our initial aim with BARLEYmax was to enhance
the nutritional qualities of standard barley. Once this was
achieved, it was important to make the improved grain available

64 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1


to the consumer via the food industry so all Australians could
benefit from CSIRO’s breakthrough,’ says Dr Bruce Lee,
BARLEYmax was discovered as part of CSIRO’s
development of a collection of new non-genetically-modified
barley grains. A variety of BARLEYmax grains was bred using
traditional grain-growing methods, and CSIRO joined forces
with food manufacturers to make the grains available to
consumers.
CSIRO claim that BARLEYmax is a richer source of
antioxidants than apples and strawberries, has twice the
antioxidants of oats, three times the level of regular broccoli,
and four times that of tea.
BARLEYmax can now be found in two cereals, and by 2012
the intention is for BARLEYmax to be incorporated into a range
of foods, including traditionally wholegrain fare such as bread,
pasta and biscuits.
Eventually, it’s thought that BARLEYmax will enhance the
nutritional value of many foodstuffs, and a point of debate is its
inclusion in fast-food products. The CSIRO see their superior
wholegrain as a way of helping consumers to increase the
nutritional value of their food without having to compromise on
taste and convenience. Development of supergrain-enhanced
hamburger patties, sausages and cheeses is currently
underway, with the aim of providing fast food that looks, smells
and tastes like fast food, but has the hidden properties of
supercharged wholegrains.
Some believe that creating nutritionally advanced versions of
‘unhealthy’ foods is a move that will halt the progress of dietary
awareness amongst Australians, giving people an excuse to
continue eating poorer quality foods without the guilt associated
with their indulgence.
In addition, the national fear of genetically modified foods is
seeing some people reacting negatively to superfoods, with the
view that enhancing existing crops is a form of genetic
modification.
INNOVATION
BARLEYmax was discovered as a part of genetic modification
research, but is not a genetically modified food – similarly to
‘booster broccoli’, it is bred using conventional plant breeding
techniques, without the addition of any extra genes – the
hallmark of genetic modification.
Still others have claimed that the superfoods are trying to
attract consumers away from regular products by promising
more than what they offer in reality. The developers of Vital
Vegetables are quick to emphasise that their products are not
intended to detract from the health benefits of existing vegetable
products, or to replace the vegetables that are already available.
‘There’s been a lot of emphasis on the issue of prevention [in
relation to chronic diseases], and we hope that these products
that are now in the marketplace and others that are in the
pipeline will assist in improving public health,’ says David
Topping, Chief Research Scientist at the CSIRO Future Foods
National Research Flagship.
The team at CSIRO also point out that the act of enhancing
existing foods is a positive long-term goal that will ensure that
the diets of the public will contain as much nutritional value as
possible, even if they continue to eat the way they do now.
Down the road is scope for products that contain selections
of different types of produce aimed at targeting specific health
problems. Bags of lettuce could be designed to give maximum
benefits to a person suffering from arthritis, and a packet of stir-
fry vegies might contain the right nutrients to aid a diabetes
patient, essentially tailoring food to meet the nutritional needs of
the consumer. It’s a big proposition, but one that seems to be
becoming more likely as developments continue to occur.
The superfoods industry is on the brink of major
breakthroughs and significant expansion, promising big
changes in public health and the agriculture industry. Changes
are unlikely to occur faster than a speeding bullet, but they’re
coming, and when they arrive we could be leaping buildings in a
single bound.
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 65
RESEARCH
Aiming to lead the world in
agricultural modelling
CSIRO, Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) and The University of
Queensland have joined forces to develop world-leading agriculture modelling
technologies to help farmers improve crop risk management and profitability.
he joint venture has been
T formed to further develop the
Agricultural Production
Systems Simulator (APSIM) – a
computer simulation model which
takes into account many of the
factors affecting a farm’s success,
including different plant, soil and
management approaches, to
inform on-farm management
decisions.
APSIM has a broad range of
applications including: farming
systems design, assessment of
seasonal climate forecasting,
supply chain planning,
development of waste
management guidelines, risk
assessment for government policy
making, as well as guiding
research and educational
activities.
The APSIM Unincorporated Joint
Venture (APSIM UJV) Steering
Committee Chair, University of
Queensland Professor Kaye
Basford, said the recent signing of
a new APSIM agreement builds on
over 20 years of research and
places the joint venture at the
forefront of world agricultural
modelling research.
Director of CSIRO’s Sustainable
Agriculture Flagship, Dr Brian
Keating, said the initiative will help
Australian agriculture respond to
the critical challenges of
increasing productivity while
reducing its environmental
footprint.
“The APSIM research team is
well placed to build on its past
achievements and achieve new
innovations in knowledge-based
systems to support the
productivity gains and enhanced
management practices needed for
the future prosperity of Australian
agriculture,” Dr Keating said.
QPIF APSIM UJV Leader Dr
Daniel Rodriguez said in this time
of global change there is an urgent
need to help farmers capitalise on
opportunities.
“Recent advances in our
APSFarm tool, for example, which
66 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
provides virtual farm modelling, are
helping farmers and researchers
design more profitable and
resilient crops, practices and farm
businesses,” Dr Rodriguez said.
“Farmers have to contend with
reductions in the allocation of
water for irrigation and changes in
prices and that is where our work
can help farmers adapt.”
He said dryland farmers can also
benefit from the support available
through APSIM and APSFarm to
help identify more profitable
allocations of their production
resources between cropping and
livestock enterprises.
“The APSIM and APSFarm
models are also helping
researchers and farmers identify
optimum adaptation pathways in
the face of increasing climate
variability and climate change,” Dr
Rodriguez said.
According to project scientist,
University of Queensland Professor
Graeme Hammer, advances in
areas such as virtual crop
modelling are essential to meet the
growing demand for grain for
feedlots or ethanol production.
“To mitigate the impact of
climate change and diminishing
water supplies and meet the
demand for grain, scientists need
to find high-performing varieties
that best suit environmental
conditions and market
requirements – and we are doing
this through APSIM,” Professor
Hammer said.
“Major breakthroughs in
molecular technology mean
scientists can now engineer genes
for water-use efficiency and ideal
root-system architecture. Virtual
plant technology could provide the
answers for new-age crop
improvement.”
Initially the new APSIM UJV
Initiative will consist of CSIRO, the
Queensland Department of Primary
Industries and Fisheries and The
University of Queensland, but other
groups are being encouraged to
participate.
 BREEDING

New Ultrasound and Artificial

Insemination Techniques
Improve Sheep Breeding
Bred for meat as well as wool, sheep have been part of the American landscape
since colonial times. Now, advances in genetic research are changing breeding
procedures, leading to faster, cheaper, and more accurate techniques.

Western white-face ewes and lambs on a pasture at the University of Wyoming Livestock Farm, Laramie, with university student Kalli Koepke in the background.

Using Ultrasound for University, assistant professor Henry

Selective Breeding
New research is making it easier to
predict the future—at least as far as
lamb products are concerned. At
the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station
in Dubois, Idaho, research leader
Greg Lewis and his colleagues have
shown that ultrasound can be used
to accurately predict characteristics
that indicate carcass yield and value
in live sheep.
This could significantly improve
the speed and accuracy of
selective-breeding methods. Since
carcass data is difficult for
producers to obtain, many of them
currently rely on visual appraisals to
predict carcass traits before
choosing which sheep to breed.
Ultrasound provides a faster, more
accurate alternative.
To assess the reliability of the
technology, scientists captured
ultrasound images of 172 lambs
before slaughter. At Ohio State
Zerby coordinated the collection of
carcass-trait data for the lambs.
Lewis collaborated with ARS
scientists and Dave Notter, a
geneticist at Virginia Tech, to
analyse the data.
Results showed that a trained
technician can capture an
ultrasound image in about 30
seconds with reasonable accuracy.
Scientists can use the images to
estimate traits that influence the
carcass value of market lambs—
such as loin muscle area, loin
muscle depth, and back-fat
thickness.
Ultrasound is initially more
expensive than visual appraisals,
but the technique’s superior
accuracy may translate into better
economic returns through improved
evaluation and selection of breeding
stock.
Ewes and lambs on a pasture at the University of Wyoming
“Ultrasound is a great way for Livestock Farm in Laramie. Recent research by ARS may make
breeding-stock producers to get the artificial insemination of sheep easy enough for producers to
tackle on their own.

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 67

BREEDING
Animal physiologist Phillip Purdy uses a water bath to thaw frozen semen for use
in an insemination procedure.
data they need to make selection decisions,” Lewis says.
Reliable predictions are timesavers for breeders because
they enable them to make educated decisions about an
animal’s offspring without waiting for the offspring to mature.
While the technology is used routinely for cattle and swine, this
study demonstrates that it can also be applied to sheep.
Improving Surgical Artificial Insemination
Artificial insemination (AI) is an important tool for modern
livestock breeding—particularly for cattle and swine. But for
most sheep producers, AI isn’t a viable option. The ovine cervix
is relatively difficult to traverse with traditional AI tools, so
techniques that work easily with cattle have been less
successful with sheep. Surgical AI has a higher success rate,
but is prohibitively complicated and expensive.
At the University of Wyoming livestock farm in Laramie, professor Robert Stobart
(left) and Phillip Purdy prepare to artificially inseminate a Suffolk ewe using an
insemination gun and spiral catheter.
68 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
But help is on the way, thanks to research conducted by
ARS animal scientists at the National Center for Genetic
Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Researchers there are collaborating with scientists at the
University of Wyoming (UW) to improve semen handling and
artificial insemination on sheep farms. The work is being led by
NCGRP animal physiologist Phillip Purdy in collaboration with
animal geneticist Harvey Blackburn and UW colleagues Robert
Stobart and Brent Larson.
“Effective AI has two components: the ability to collect and
transport semen—either fresh or frozen—to producers around
the country and the ability to economically inseminate the
ewes,” Blackburn says.
The scientists first focused on semen collection, storage, and
transport. They found that sheep semen can be collected and
shipped—in cooled liquid form—overnight before freezing
without harming its in vitro quality. They also found that semen
could be cryopreserved—or frozen for later use—after shipping
without reducing its success in surgical AI.
Further studies compared semen that had been
cryopreserved immediately after collection to semen
cryopreserved after 48 hours—about the time required to ship
samples across the country. The scientists observed no
difference in quality or fertilisation ability nor in the average
number of lambs born to the ewes surgically inseminated with
those samples.
“These results show that there are many options available to
producers to help them select for desirable traits,” Purdy says.
Producers could, for example, use samples from around the
world, thereby expanding and improving their breeding options,
increasing the quality of their flocks, and providing a better
return on their investment.
This work also has benefits for conservators of genetic
resources, like the NCGRP, that gather and store genetic
materials.
“An efficient insemination method is important for our
conservation efforts,” says Blackburn, who heads NCGRP’s
National Animal Germplasm Program. “If we can do it more
efficiently, we can reduce the number of semen samples we
collect for preserving sheep genetic diversity.”
Better Nonsurgical AI
The scientists have developed a rapid, economical alternative
to existing surgical AI methods. The technique is an adaptation
of the method used in swine. The researchers used a spiral
insemination catheter to traverse the ewe’s cervix and deposit
thawed semen directly into the uterus. The method is easy to
learn and easy to perform. Each sheep takes about 2 minutes
to inseminate at a cost of $1.29, making it significantly faster
and less expensive than laparoscopic surgical insemination.
And it’s easy enough for producers to do independently.
Though quick and economical, the technique is less reliable
than existing AI methods. Early tests have had success rates of
about 55 percent when using fresh semen and about 10
percent when using frozen semen.
“This difference was not observed in the previous
experiments, because surgical inseminations deposit the AI
dose at the site of fertilisation, so minimal stress is placed on
the thawed sperm,” Purdy explains. “Sperm are generally
weakened by the freezing and thawing processes, and this
impaired function in thawed samples becomes more noticeable
when using the nonsurgical method because the sperm have
to travel farther to the site of fertilisation.”
The scientists are investigating how to hone the technique
and improve its success rate by improving the timing of estrus
and insemination.—By Laura McGinnis, formerly with ARS.
This research is part of Food Animal Production (#101), an ARS national program described on
the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
Phillip H. Purdy is with the USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation
Gregory S. Lewis is with the USDA-ARS U.S. Sheep Experiment Station
“New Ultrasound and Artificial Insemination Techniques Improve Sheep Breeding” was
published in the October 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Australia needs super soil for
high productivity
With increasing pressure on primary producers to increase their productivity,
irrigation researchers are seeking ways to improve the quality of irrigated soil, given
the vital role soil plays in plant health and productivity.
T
he National Program for Sustainable Irrigation (NPSI) is
funding a number of research projects all focused on
conserving and improving soils. In one such project,
University of Adelaide researcher Dr Rob Murray is investigating
the long-term sustainability of precision irrigation at sites in the
Barossa Valley, SA.
So far, Dr Murray’s team has found no evidence that drip
irrigation causes any problems for soil, but as vineyard water
use in the Barossa Valley is relatively low, further trials are being
completed in vineyards in Victoria and New South Wales.
“Virtually every soil we worked with already had very poor
structure, with low aeration and high resistance to penetration
by roots at depths of only 30cm,” Dr Murray said.
“What we’ve seen makes a strong case for intensive soil
preparation before permanent plantings of irrigated crops, and
for ongoing measures to conserve and improve the soil
structure that is created during preparation.
“Investments in these measures, such as increased use of
cover crops and reduced machinery traffic, would be returned
by efficient plants with extensive root systems that are not
addicted to frequent irrigation. With severe water restrictions
and increasing climate variability, these strategies will become
essential.”
SOILS
Soils Research Pty Ltd researcher Dr Bruce Cockroft, who is
working on another NPSI-funded project, also believes
changes in soil management could unlock far more dollars per
hectare and per megalitre of water for Australian farmers. He
studied the most productive soils all over the world, and
identified 24 key properties that are common to all the best
soils, the “super soils”, of the world.
“Because of the great age of our soils, there are several key
properties that are missing that cannot be changed,” he said.
“Our research is attempting to find alternatives to the key
properties of super soils. We have evidence from trials that
alternatives exist. Now we just need to find out how to build
them into our soils to make them super.” Dr Cockroft and his
research team believe they have found one way to build these
properties using rye grass.
“Good soil management is fundamental to good water
management”, said Guy Roth, NPSI Program Coordinator.
“That is why it is vital to have productive, healthy soil.”
Citation
Land & Water Australia. 2009. Australia needs super soil for high productivity. [Online] (Updated
April 17th, 2009)
Available at: http://lwa.gov.au/node/3206 [Accessed Thursday 17th of September 2009
12:44:16 AM ].
Article provided by National Program for Sustainable Irrigation
AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 69
CROPS
Rot resistant wheat could save
farmers millions
CSIRO researchers have identified wheat and barley lines resistant to Crown Rot –
a disease that costs Australian wheat and barley farmers $79 million in lost yield
every year.
C
rown Rot, which is a chronic problem throughout the
Australian wheat belt, is caused by the fungus Fusarium.
Dr Chunji Liu and his CSIRO Plant Industry team in
Brisbane are using sophisticated screening methods to scan
over 2400 wheat lines and 1000 barley lines from around the
world to find the ones resistant the fungal disease.
“The wheat and barley lines showing resistance to Crown
Rot are now being used in pre-breeding programs to
incorporate the resistance into adapted varieties for delivery to
the wheat breeding companies,” Dr Liu says.
Crown Rot infects many grasses and weeds found in wheat
growing regions and minimum till cropping encourages
Fusarium which survives in cereal stubbles.
Minimum till cropping minimises soil disturbance and retains
plant stubble from previous crops in order to promote soil
health and limit erosion.
Developing Crown Rot resistant wheat and barley varieties is
an essential strategy in fighting the disease.
70 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1
“As well as developing Crown Rot resistant varieties, we are
also studying how Fusarium invades the plant, how plants
resist Fusarium infection and what genes may be involved in
defending the plant against Fusarium or reducing its effect on
yield,” Dr Liu says.
Another of the most serious wheat diseases in Australia,
Head Blight, is also caused by Fusarium.
This work is being carried out with funding from CSIRO and
the Grains Research and Development Corporation and in
collaboration with numerous national and international groups.
Further Information:
Dr Chunji Liu
Principal Research Scientist
Plant Industry
Phone: 61 7 3214 2223
Fax: 61 7 3214 2950
Email: Chunji.Liu@csiro.au
 WEEDS

Queensland’s weed control

steps up to an international
platform
SOME of our Asian neighbours are using Queensland expertise to combat one of
the world’s worst invasive plants – Siam weed, or chromolaena as it is known
overseas.

Adult gall flies mating

C
hromolaena invades rainforests, smothers crops, young
plantations and native grasslands as well as being toxic
to livestock. Biosecurity Queensland scientist Michael
Day said the tiny gall fly (Cecidochares connexa) was proving to
be very successful in controlling outbreaks of chromolaena.
“The gall fly lays its eggs in the stems of the weed and the
feeding larvae cause the stems to swell, which kills the plant
and reduces the formation of flowers and seeds,” he said.
“This allows other more favourable plants such as food crops
to grow.”
Mr Day said the gall fly was first used by the Queensland
Government as a biocontrol agent in Indonesia in 1996, and Siam infested with gall fly eggs

then with great success in Papua New Guinea from 1998 until
2007.
“Word of the success of the PNG program has spread to
other neighbouring countries that are also battling infestations
of chromolaena,” he said.
“We conducted a similar project in East Timor in 2005 and
we’ve now been approached by colleagues in China and more
recently Thailand.”
Mr Day said that closer to home, Biosecurity Queensland
was leading the Siam weed eradication program in
Queensland.
“While we don’t have the large established infestations seen
in our neighbouring countries, we now have a tried and proven
biocontrol agent to release if needed,” he said.
“We are also ensuring the future biosecurity of our country.
By reducing the presence of the weed in neighbouring
countries we are reducing the possibility of any more of it
coming onto our shores. It’s a win-win result for all involved.”
The PNG project was part of an Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project to provide
support and training to countries that do not have the
necessary resources and expertise.
“Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries have a long
history of providing agricultural support to our neighbours,
especially in the field of biocontrol,” Mr Day said.
“Australia is only one of five major countries to invest in weed
biocontrol research. Not only does this mean we can help
countries without the same opportunities that we have, we also
have useful networks to call upon if we ever need assistance.”

AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1 • 71

WINE + VITICULTURE

Eighty acres, one hundred

percent carbon neutral
Wakefield Wines, based at the Taylors Winery in the Clare Valley, South Australia,
have accomplished a world-first achievement by producing a range of wine that is
completely carbon neutral.

T
he winery has long been part of the South Australian
landscape, and is committed to environmental
conservation. “Taylors Wines is a family owned wine
company operating in both rural and urban environments. This
direct link with the land, along with the long term view we hold
for our business development, results in a commitment to
operating in a manner that eliminates any negative impact on
the environment,” says Mitchell Taylor, Managing Director and
Winemaker at Taylors Wines.
In order for a wine to be 100 percent carbon neutral, the
entire winemaking process must be assessed, from the
preparation of the land for planting the vines, to the disposal of
the bottles.
In 2008, Wakefield enlisted the help of Australian-based
consultancy company Provisor, who specialise in the wine,
food and beverage industries. Provisor developed a Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) model to assess the whole range of
Wakefield’s Eighty Acres wines.
Assessment of the carbon footprint of the Eighty Acres wine
production process was separated into four categories, with
each contributing a different percentage to the overall product’s
carbon footprint. The categories were: Grape Growing and
Winemaking (28%); Production and Packaging (43%);
Transport and Sales (11%); and Consumption and Disposal
(18%).
This includes a partnership with Carbon Neutral, a not for
This process required Provisor to work with Taylors Wines, as profit company dedicated to the reduction of Australia’s carbon
well as all of their partners involved in supply and distribution, footprint through measuring, reducing and offsetting
to collect unique data about every product in the Eighty Acres greenhouse gas emissions. Taylors Wines purchase their
range. After the LCA had been completed, it was carbon offsets credits through Carbon Neutral in the form of
independently verified by RMIT University in Melbourne in May Verified Emissions Reduction Units (VERs), which each are
2009, and was found to be ISO 14044 compliant. equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide or equivalent
As a result, Wakefield Wines now have a comprehensive emissions avoided.
assessment system in place, with which they are able to Additionally, for each tonne of VERs that Taylors Wines
monitor the carbon efficiency of any of the wines in their Eighty purchases, Carbon Neutral will plant a tree which will provide
Acres range, and implement measures to negate any carbon environmental benefits such as wind breaks, improving
emissions that are detected. biodiversity and sequestering carbon, among others. The trees
A major element in the reduction of the winery’s carbon will be legally protected for 70 years.
footprint is its packaging. Wakefield has transferred the wine in As well as focusing on the Eighty Acres range of wines,
their Eighty Acres range from regular wine bottles into O-I’s Taylors wines also actively promotes other environmental
new LEAN + GREEN lightweight glass bottles. The decision not practices. Eco-Mapping is an integral part of the Taylors
to use PET bottles was made due to PET bottles not being winemaking enterprise, and helps to define areas of
impervious to oxygenation, which taints the quality of the wine. environmental concern within the business that require
As well as being committed to the environment, Wakefield is attention.
committed to quality, which means ensuring that the taste of Taylors has also built a state of the art water recycling plant
the wine isn’t detrimentally affected by the carbon neutral at its Auburn Winery in the Clare Valley, which recycles all of the
process. water from the winery and bottling hall. In addition, storm water
The LEAN + GREEN glass is 40 percent lighter than the is harvested via this facility for re-use.
glass that Wakefield originally used for its packaging, and the Compost, mulching and river regeneration are all key
use of these bottles significantly reduces the water and energy elements of Taylors’ sustainability focus, and the Sydney Head
consumption of production. Office is powered by green power. What’s more, sheep have
Of course, it’s impossible for any winemaking process to be been introduced into certain blocks of vines at the Albury
completely emissions-free, but it’s possible to drastically reduce vineyard to control grasses and weeds. This has reduced the
the emissions, and offset any that remain. need for pesticides, and provided manure as natural fertiliser
“For each and every bottle of Eighty Acres wine sold Taylors for the vines.
Wines is committed to offsetting 100% of the carbon emissions Wakefield’s 100% Carbon Neutral Eighty Acres wines can be
associated with the complete life cycle of that product,” says distinguished by the Wakefield 100% Carbon Neutral Leaf
Taylor. trademark on bottles and cartons.

72 • AGRIBUSINESS CHAIN V10#1

 On road to
a cleaner
future.

Used lead acid batteries contain materials which, if not disposed of

correctly, can be harmful to humans, wildlife and the environment.
98% of a used battery is recyclable – don’t discard old batteries withh
household waste, simply return them to your nearest Century Yuasa
approved battery recycling centre and help create a cleaner future.

To find your nearest Century recycling specialist visit the website

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or call 1300 650 702.