August 2014

Landholders planning to control wild dogs, foxes and emus have been urged to examine commercial bait supply sources and consider alternative options as soon as possible to ensure their control strategies remain on track. From 1 September, supplies of 1080 impregnated oat baits will no longer be available from the Department of Agriculture and Food, as alternative commercial products are now available on the market. The department will, however, continue to supply strychnine alkaloid crystals

Growers will have the opportunity to review a new approach to the selection of wheat varieties at this year’s Dowerin Field Days. Department development officer Georgia Trainor said the new information, which is based on the Grains Research Development Corporation’s National Variety Trial (NVT) project, provided more detail on how the varieties had performed over a number of years in different environmental conditions. “This means that it will be easier for farmers to see trends

Consumers will be able to support local farming when WAFarmers launches its own brand of milk later this year – the first household staple to be available in WA for the direct benefit of local farmers. The landmark initiative will see a portion of proceeds from sales of the milk used to support the farming industry of Western Australia, including through market development. WAFarmers President Dale Park said the initiative would ensure WA farming remained

WAFarmers congratulates meat councillor and member Hayley Goad on being selected as the WA State finalist for this year’s Cattle Council of Australia NAB Agribusiness Beef Industry Rising Champions Initiative. Hayley is one of seven State finalists chosen from a competitive field who are participating in a three-day program in Canberra commencing today. During the program, the finalists will meet with industry leaders, participate in personal development activities and policy subcommittees, as well as network

WAFarmers hosted a beef forum, Future Opportunities for Beef, on Wednesday in Busselton. More than 70 producers, industry representatives and interested parties congregated at Abbey Beach Resort to hear from speakers including Senator Richard Colbeck, Meat and Livestock Australia Managing Director Richard Norton, Minderoo Group Investments Manager John Hartman and Agricultural Connections Australia Director Steve Meerwald. Senator Richard Colbeck, parliamentary secretary to the minister for agriculture, addressed the crowd about the recently secured Free Trade

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has hosted its third Blueprint for Australian Agriculture forum, bringing together over 100 organisations across the supply chain to pursue the collective priorities for Australian agriculture. The full statement: Federal Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce MP confirmed the Blueprint will complement the Government’s Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper: cementing its importance as a key visioning document and strategic plan for the sector. Minister Joyce and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Joel Fitzgibbon

Farm business managers can find out more about concessional interest rate loans at upcoming field day events in Dowerin, Newdegate and Mingenew. The second application round of the Australian Government’s Farm Finance Concessional Loans Scheme is open in Western Australia. The scheme assists farm businesses who are experiencing some debt servicing difficulties but are commercially viable in the longer term, by providing loans at a concessional interest rate to undertake productivity enhancement activities. The scheme

Industry representatives, research organisations, consultants, community members and government agencies are invited to a forum to hear about decision-making approaches to be considered for investing in the future of natural resource use in WA agriculture. The Department of Agriculture and Food is hosting the Laying the groundwork for investment in the sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture forum in Perth next month. Department Agriculture Resource Risk Management executive director John Ruprecht said by investing

WAFarmers Grains section made a submission on the Inquiry into the Australian Grains Network to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Reference Committee on August 8, 2014. It provided an opportunity for the WAFarmers Grains Council to comment on the recent Tier 3 rail closure and the future of the grains industry in relation to supply chain efficiencies, grain marketing and export arrangements, competition constraints and transparency. Some key points of the submission