The WAFarmers Dairy Council is encouraged by reports of continued production growth in the Western Australian dairy industry, and commends companies for paying a sustainable price. This practice, the Dairy Council explains, instils confidence into the farming sector, encourages capital investment and inspires new people to enter the industry. According to Dairy Australia, the trend in production growth was in response to two of the state’s major processors paying a sustainable price and one of

WAFarmers is disappointed with the State Government’s proposed fracking and gas legislation currently before Parliament, stating it would be unlikely to garner support from farmers and freehold land owners. A Parliamentary Committee report on Implications for Western Australia of Hydraulic Fracturing for Unconventional Gas contained two recommendations in relation to the establishment of an independent arbiter for land owners and an agreement template for all parties, neither of which were included in the proposed legislation.

WAFarmers welcomes the announcement from the Federal Government in relation to amendments to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation. Effective from 31 March, the decision will ensure that the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) will assess the sale of critical state-owned infrastructure assets to private foreign investors. WAFarmers Chief Executive Officer Stephen Brown said the changes would further strengthen the existing framework. “By building on current rules which see the FIRB’s assessment of infrastructure required

A review of the backpacker tax has been applauded by WAFarmers, after the Federal Government admitted that the proposal could damage the Australian agriculture and tourism industries. The decision comes off the back of extensive petitioning against the proposal by WAFarmers, the National Farmers Federation and state farming organisations, in addition to backlash from other industry representatives and both current and prospective backpackers. Tourism Minister Senator Richard Colbeck said that “legitimate concerns” had been raised

WAFarmers approves the Federal Government’s decision to introduce an ‘effects test’ which will see farmers and primary producers have greater power along the supply chain. The effects test, based on a recommendation from the Harper Competition Policy Review, will replace the existing ‘purpose test’ thus shifting the emphasis from a business’ purpose in undertaking conduct to the effects that conduct will have on competition. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement at a joint-party meeting

Following the rejection of the Australian Grains Champion’s proposal by CBH Board, WAFarmers Grains Council President Duncan Young said the Council appreciated the concerns raised by CBH Board during the due diligence process. “A number of the concerns highlighted by CBH were the same as those of the Grains Council, which were raised when we met with both CBH and AGC at our last Grains Council meeting,” Mr Young said. “We encourage CBH to use

Three recent Dairy Industry Updates provided WA dairy farmers the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in industry products and services, and gave attendees insights into how the national peak body for dairy, Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF), and WAFarmers were working to benefit all members. The events, held in Boyanup, Metricup and Harvey, saw presentations from Bell Pasture Seeds’ Robbie Bell and Zoetis representative Michael Rose, both of whom offered valuable information about their

A brand new trailer has been donated by WAFarmers to BlazeAid, the volunteer-based organisation behind the rebuild of the Waroona-Harvey fire zones, after their ‘tradie trailer’ was stolen last month. Using a portion of the funds received through the WAFarmers Waroona-Harvey Fire Appeal, WAFarmers organised for a new trailer to be purchased within days of the robbery, with the trailer being delivered to BlazeAid recently. WAFarmers Dairy Council President Phil Depiazzi was present at the

The WAFarmers Grains Council maintains their position of supporting the co-operative model for Co-operative Bulk Handling (CBH) in the storage and handling of the Western Australian grain harvest, having discussed the matter at length at their latest meeting which concluded this afternoon. The policy position was reaffirmed following in-depth discussion with representatives from both CBH and Australian Grains Champions (AGC). WAFarmers Grains Council President Duncan Young said that more information was required by growers before a

AgConnectWA, the state’s premier youth agricultural group, will host a sundowner event in Esperance later this month, which will attract young farmers and agri-professionals from the Shire and surrounding areas. President Kallum Blake said the opportunity to meet members in the state’s south would be invaluable to the future direction of the group. “Last year we held our first sundowner for AgConnectWA members which was held in Broome and was hugely successful, so we wanted