21 Dec 02 | It has been touted as the "natural way" to harvest wool; injecting a protein into animals, causing a clean break in the fibre to enable the fleece wool to be captured in a net covering the animal. When the concept of nets and breaking fibres f
21 Dec 02 | THE flock in one of Victoria's bigger sheep nurseries, the Hay, NSW, district, has been decimated by drought. According to a survey of farmers by the Hay Rural Lands Protection Board, just 400,000 sheep remain in its area - 40 per cent of the
21 Dec 02 | THE average farmer will drop from a $50,800 profit last financial to post a $54,000 loss this financial year, if a new set Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) price and production forecasts released this week prove co
21 Dec 02 | FARMERS will be slugged an extra one cent a litre on their diesel from January 1, when a new Federal Government diesel levy begins to kick in - prompting condemnation from the National Farmers' Federation. NFF president Peter Corish is fuming
21 Dec 02 | AN angry Itochu Australia managing director, Tony Wilson, this week hit out at brokers who refused his request for a two-week extension to pay for wool bought at auction last week. Last week Itochu boycotted several brokers' catalogues at auc
21 Dec 02 | MORE than 5000 farmers in the Mallee and the northern Wim-mera are now eligible for immediate cash grants and interest rate subsidies after the Federal Government this week extended its $368 million drought relief package to new areas. Besides
21 Dec 02 | Store steer prices have leapt as much 50 per cent in the past month, prompting speculation about when the bull run might end. Feeder steer contracts, live exports and producers in southern coastal areas, with feed and water, are presently prov
21 Dec 02 | THE future of the Geelong saleyards has been thrown further into doubt, with one of its four selling agents this week withdrawing from selling at the centre. Wesfarmers Landmark notified the local stock agents' association on Monday that it wo
12 Dec 02 | UP TO a third of registered woolclassers from a decade ago have failed to take part in the woolclassers development program. With only days to go to complete the compulsory program, the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) has told Stock & Land tha
12 Dec 02 | JOHN CARSON VICTORIAN Premier Steve Bracks yesterday called on the Prime Minister John Howard to reconsider the Federal Government's basis for excluding the Wimmera and Mallee in this week's $368 million drought-response package. In a lette
12 Dec 02 | A THREAT by Australian Wool Innovation's outgoing managing director Col Dorber to launch legal action against the company's new board was averted yesterday following a termination agreement reached between the two parties. In a statement AWI c
12 Dec 02 | The National flock identification scheme (NFIS) has gained modest pace since the first tags were released in July. About a quarter of a million tags have been sold to producers wanting to be included in the NFIS this year. According to Aust
12 Dec 02 | JOB losses in rural Victoria are mounting as the drought forces regional companies to deal with an immediate reduction in business and anticipate a worsening economic climate. Grain-related businesses are especially hard-hit. Victorian rail op
12 Dec 02 | VICTORIA's live sheep and cattle trade is back in full swing, with at least eight shipments due to sail from Portland and Port Adelaide between now and mid-January - putting a large dent in stock numbers in supply areas and a floor price under th
12 Dec 02 | RESEARCH and development to promote sustainable agriculture has been earmarked by Victoria's new Primary Industries Minister Bob Cameron as one of his big priorities in the new job. The former WorkCover and Local Government minister Mr Cameron
12 Dec 02 | FARMERS across Australia appear to be taking the view that things can only get better. According to Rabobank's quarterly rural confidence survey released this week, confidence in the farm sector has improved in the past three months, despite t
05 Dec 02 | THIS year's national winter grain crop is set to be one of the lowest on record as the latest forecast estimates production to be 16.2 million tonnes, down by 21mt, or 57 per cent, on last year's crop. In its December crop report released this
05 Dec 02 | THE merger terms between fertiliser giants Pivot and Incitec are no closer to resolution, two months after the two companies agreed to merge their operations. Incitec was last week forced to appoint a board sub committee to review the merger d
05 Dec 02 | ON THE fertile Canterbury Plains of New Zealand's South Island, they grow wheat crops averaging 9.7 tonnes a hectare. Many achieve 12 to 14t/ha and one grower with irrigation last year hit 16t/ha, accepted on the plains as the unofficial world re
05 Dec 02 | LESS than a week after the Victorian state election the Victorian Farmers' Federation is already mustering its forces to protect the value of country votes in future elections. Reform of the Victorian Parliament's upper house is one of the eas
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