Date of publication: 11 April 2019 In Australia today, around one third of commercial farmers are members of their state farming organisations. Benchmarked against public sector unions recording a 38% membership, and private sector unions which record only around 10%, this is not bad.  But even today with our strong and loyal members, WAFarmers is down to just 1250 members and six staff which means the critical mass to shape ever more complex policy issues

This election budget was fairly predictable for the agriculture sector, not surprisingly most of the farm specific commitments are eastern state centric, which is expected with the drought and flood plus a Federal Election just around the corner and so many marginal seats in regional New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Ignoring the billions in tax cuts that will never get through the senate unscathed, what we really welcome, is the reduction in the company

Date of publication:  23 November 2018 It’s easy to be a free rider, to be a leaner rather than a lifter.  We see it all the time in communities; there are those who step in and front up, putting their time and money into supporting their schools, sporting clubs, and community groups.  And then there are the leaners, those who lean back and enjoy what’s been achieved by others and can often be heard complaining

Date of publication:  9 November 2018 Farmers long ago worked out that the safest topic to talk over the farm fence to friends, neighbours, in fact anyone, is the weather.  Too wet, too dry, too hot, too cold, it’s much better to complain about the season than to get into much more sensitive topics like politics or sex. But sometimes we have to venture into areas that are a little more sensitive. As employers, workmates,

Date of publication: 21 November 2018 Today is National Agriculture Day; a day to stop and consider where your food and fibre comes from, and appreciate the incredibly diverse and innovative industry agriculture is. Agriculture plays a unique role in our society and is a major economic driver and the lifeblood to our rural communities. It is an industry underpinned by innovative individuals who run their businesses in an increasingly complex and challenging environment.  Agriculture

Date of publication: 23 October 2018 The anti-live export campaign in Australian is driven by millions of dollars of international funds to shut down a legitimate trade undertaken by one of the world’s leaders in setting commercial livestock animal welfare standards. The outrage has made it imperative that Australian producers work hard to ensure the Australian public is aware of the reality of what closing the trade would mean. Not only will it impact on

Date of publication: December 2018 The Australian farming sector is one of the least subsidised in the world and as a direct result it is one of the most efficient. Our farmers have increasingly been forced to rely on their own capital reserves to get their farm businesses through drought years. WAFarmers sympathises with our eastern states cousins who are battling through a tough dry spell and we are only too aware that we endured

Date of publication: 8 October 2018 The vast majority of food found in your local supermarket has been produced with the aid of agricultural chemicals; without them, domestic and global food production would be massively reduced, there would be less variety on our supermarket shelves and a heftier price tag on most foods and beverages. Australian agriculture is highly diverse and includes industries such as livestock production, grain production, horticulture, dairy and aquaculture, just to

Date of publication: 28 September 2018 Modern communication across the Western Australian Wheatbelt is totally reliant on two key forms of infrastructure; road transport and mobile phones. To compete in today’s highly competitive globalised world of agriculture, our world class farmers and agri service businesses need world class infrastructure.  Unfortunately, what we have is far from it.  Both state and commonwealth governments have failed to keep pace with the speed of change in broadacre agriculture

Date of publication:  1 November 2018 I read with interest in the Friday October 26 West Australian, Christie Kingston’s article Farmers on the Front Line of a Changing Climate.  It is written from the perspective of a farming family from Goomalling who are obviously concerned about the implications of climate change on their farm business. They are not alone; Western Australia’s 4000 Wheatbelt farmers have been cleverly managing the short and long term climatic impacts