This week, Dairy Council President Phil Depiazzi is representing Western Australian dairy farmers at the Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) forum to develop an Australian dairy industry vision and strategic priorities drawing on the work done by the Horizon 2020 project and the Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) Summit. Both the Horizon 2020 and the ADF Summit had members of the WAFarmers Dairy Council involved in these programs, ensuring our members were represented.    The objectives

Meat and Livestock Australia and LiveCorp have released an innovative and easy-to-use app to assist in improving animal welfare. Below is a statement from Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce on the project: Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, welcomed the development of a new App for those working in the livestock industries and congratulated Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and LiveCorp on building such an innovative tool for industry. “Since I’ve been Minister for Agriculture I’ve worked

Australian Wool Exchange invites all woolclassers and growers to attend a Wool Forum in Katanning on Thursday, June 19 from 7pm to 10pm at the Katanning Leisure Centre. This successful forum provides the opportunity for woolclassers and woolgrowers to meet, ask questions and receive feedback on issues important to them. Program Key Note Speakers Prof. David Lindsay, University of WA “Is science able to make the wool industry more competitive?” Hear about the current projects and

The Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association (ACTFA), with the support of the Victorian No-Till Farmers Association, will hold the CTF 2014 conference in Mildura from 26 to 29 August, 2014. CTF 2014 will present the expertise and experience of farmers, engineers and scientists from grain, vegetable and fodder industries across Australia. With a general theme around low rainfall zone farming, other important aspects of CTF will also be explored in interactive sessions with plenty of

Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, has announced a review of the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS), which provides free financial counselling to farmers in financial difficulty. “In April, I asked the National Rural Advisory Council (NRAC) to conduct a review of the RFCS to ensure it is working effectively to support farmers and producers,” Minister Joyce said. This is a business-as-usual review as part of routine governance processes, with NRAC due to report to the

WAFarmers has nominated three dangerous regional roads for the RAC Risky Roads campaign. Members are urged to make their own nominations based on the roads in their area. Usually, the Risky Roads list is dominated by metropolitan roads, which does not reflect the real situation of dangerous roads in regional communities. Head to https://riskyroads.com.au/ and nominate a road today.

The WAFarmers Beekeepers Annual Conference will be held on Friday, June 6 at the Country Comfort Inter City Perth in Belmont. The conference features speakers presenting on a range of issues of relevance to beekeepers, including Australian Honey Bee Industry Council chairman Ian Zadow, Capilano beekeeper services manager Bill Winner and Department of Environment and Regulation strategic projects coordinator Abbie Crawford. Attendees to the conference will have the opportunity to vote on the Australian Honey

Nominations are now open for the Farmer of the Year Award, hosted by Kondinin Group and ABC Rural. WAFarmers urges members to consider nominating someone they know for one of the eleven categories open this year. Each category winner automatically qualifies to be in the running for the prestigious Australian Farmer of the Year accolade. The 2014 Australian Farmer of the Year Awards will include the following categories: Livestock Producer of the Year Dairy Farmer

Next week sees nearly 50 delegates from Australia’s extensive industries, federal and state government and research bodies meet in Brisbane to ‘kick-off’ the implementation of the National Wild Dog Action Plan. The National Wild Dog Action Plan is a national plan and presents as a model that could be adapted for other pest management programs. The Wild Dog Action Plan is a showcase of industry and government working quickly together to identify a collaborative and

Amid challenging budgetary conditions, WAFarmers is pleased to see the Federal government largely stand by its commitments to agriculture in line with identifying the sector as a key pillar of the Australian economy. The agriculture sector was preparing itself for a much tougher budget amid repeated rhetoric that everyone would have to share the burden of repair, WAFarmers President Dale Park said. “Following the recent Commission of Audit report and talk of difficult conditions, we