Opinion Articles

National Ag Day

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 around the world is going through

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WAFarmers welcomes 1.5% wool levy

WAFarmers has welcomed the announcement today that wool grower shareholders have elected to vote for a 1.5 per cent levy rate change in the 2018 WoolPoll, as of 1 July 2019. WAFarmers Livestock Council Vice President Steve McGuire said this was a good result for the wool industry given all the challenges growers are facing at present, particularly those in drought affected areas. “WAFarmers supported Wool Producers Australia (WPA) recommendation of 1.5 per cent levy rate and

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Opinion Articles

They Just Want to Ban It

Social license to operate; what exactly does it mean?  It’s a phrase that is increasingly bandied about in the media, pushed by various activist organisations seeking to drive their political agendas, and are repeated by politicians who fail to recognise that the words often don’t represent the real views of the community. The term first emerged in the 1990s linked to debates around the merits of mining and gambling licences.  It was defined as the

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Public Consultation for Department of Transport Review of Regulations – Towed Agricultural Implements

The Department of Transport (DoT) is currently undertaking a review of Part 13 – Towed Agricultural Implements, of the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Regulations 2014 and is seeking submissions from other interested parties, into this review. WAFarmers Transport Committee has compiled some suggested answers that may assist growers in completing the survey. As transport is critical to our membership, it is important that members take their time to complete and submit the survey.  Survey closes Friday 16 November.  Download

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WAFarmers welcomes long awaited export licence approval

WAFarmers welcomes the long awaited decision by the regulator to approve the export licence of Rural Export and Trading WA (RETWA), the Australian company that Kuwait Livestock and Transport and Trading (KLTT) operate through. WAFarmers President Tony York said this is a positive step forward for the live export trade in Western Australia. “The Western Australian agriculture industry has felt tremendous stress over the past four months due to the sudden halt in live trade,

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Recommendations for the Western Dairy Board nomination

The Western Dairy board selection panel met last week and interviewed who we considered to be two outstanding candidates for the advertised vacancies. Our view was that they each bring different strengths to the board and were able to demonstrate this most convincingly via the interview process. For us, the particular strengths that Andrew Jenkins offers is his astute understanding of the business of farming, his obvious interest in pasture production and the need to

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Heavy Vehicle Accreditation review: Give us your feedback!

Deloitte are undertaking a review of the Western Australian Heavy Vehicle Accreditation system. As part of WAFarmers due diligence we are looking for feedback from our members through this survey below which will allow us to provide adequate suggestions to Deloitte.   FIND THE SURVEY HERE Please provide feedback before Thursday 18 October.  Thank you and we appreciate your help! 

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Changes to OHS penalties

The State Government recently passed new legislation that increases the penalties for breaches of the OHS Act. This is the first step in the McGowan Government’s efforts to include Western Australia in the harmonised national laws. The Bills for the harmonisation are being drafted, this will be read into parliament in the government’s first term. Western Australian farmers should be aware of their ongoing responsibilities for themselves, employees, family and contractors while they are the

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ABC Four Corners provides misconception of glyphosate

In response to the Four Corners episode aired on the ABC last night 8 October, WAFarmers has concerns over the misrepresentation of glyphosate. WAFarmers Grain Council President Duncan Young said the portrayal of glyphosate as a cancer causing agent has been blown out proportion by the Four Corners programme. “The programme lacked substantial scientific evidence and rather relied on pseudo-scientific claims and hearsay that glyphosate was responsible for causing farmers cancer and was the sole carcinogenic involved in the

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WAFarmers visit to Capital Hill to keep live sheep trade on agenda

WAFarmers President Tony York spent two days in Canberra during the last sitting of Federal Parliament to meet with a range of Government, Opposition and Crossbench MP’s to discuss and raise the importance of the live sheep trade to WA producers and its contribution beyond the farm gate. Mr York said that the recent changes within the Federal Cabinet along with the new leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, it was important for WAFarmers to demonstrate our

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