Agmates

Giant Fertilizer Company Incitec Pivot has used its market domination to rip millions of dollars out of farmers pockets.

INCITEC Pivot has almost trebled annual profit to a record ($614.3 million)……

Australia’s largest fertiliser maker’s net profit for the year ended September 30 hit $614.3 million, from $205.3 million a year earlier …….

Incitec had earnings before interest and tax of $969.1 million, more than three times fiscal year 2007’s $312.5 million, primarily reflecting higher manufacturing margins, the company said.

This is an obscene profit increase at the expense of farmers.

Still thats supply and demand when your a farmer. Pivot Supplies, then demands you pay any price they ask.

Incitec Pivot have clearly price gouged farmers as the manufacturers. Add that to the resellers making more than their fair margin at the retail end as evidenced by Elders recent profit announcement, farmers really have been the victims of corporate greed this last 12 months.

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The much laundered new era of Federal - State cooperation has fallen apart.

The Federal Governments battle to gain control of the Murray Basin Water took an ugly turn this week with Federal Water Minister Penny Wong dropping a ‘water bomb’ on the Victorian State Labor Government Premier John Brumby [pictured] .

“In an aggressive play that was dropped on the states by surprise, Federal Water Minister Penny Wong declared that grants for small-scale farmers to cease irrigating will be paid only to those whose home state has agreed to the Commonwealth’s demands over abolishing certain trading rules.

The move has renewed tensions between the Rudd and Brumby governments over reform in the Murray-Darling Basin and forces the Brumby Government to effectively choose between two groups of farmers.”

Struggling small irrigators have been lining up to take advantage of the exit grants scince they were first announce 2 months ago.

“Pressure from the Commonwealth intensified over the weekend when Ms Wong declared that farmers could not access the grants - worth up to $150,000 - until their home state had met the Commonwealth’s demands.

The incentive package has been offered only to “small block” farmers - those with less than 15 hectares of land - and is of most significance to farmers in Victoria’s Sunraysia district.”

Once again small farmers will be left high and dry whilst the Brumby government digs its heals in.

“The Brumby Government vowed to continue fighting to protect the 4% trading cap until late 2009, when it is scheduled to rise to 6%.”

It would be a real treat and a novelty for Australia to have just one State Political Leader who’s planning and policies had a longer time frame than the next State election.

Can there be a better example than the Murray Darling fiasco for the need to rid ourselves of the blight on our nation that is our system of State Governments?

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Queensland Senator and Leader of the Nationals in the Senate Barnaby Joyce. From his desk Senator Joyce writes on the impacts of the Rudd Governments Emissions Trading Scheme on the State of Queensland:

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With Queensland’s largest export being coal, the Government’s planned emissions trading scheme is a direct hit to the State’s bottom line. The ramifications of the emissions trading scheme will be felt by the people of Queensland more than any other State.

Not quite what we expected from a Queensland Prime Minister.

This Government tax grab in the form of a “Carbon Pollution Reduction” plan will be a price mechanism to reduce the competitiveness of the coal and aluminium industries, followed by the agricultural industry in the not too distant future.

In the interim, the mountainous State Labor debt will continue to grow. Queensland will be facing a debt of AU$65 billion, when you consider the addition of an emissions trading scheme. Such a burden carries major ramifications for the State, from overlooked infrastructure to the collapse of public private partnerships.

When all is said and done, we will be able to say with confidence that the Labor Party has been the author of a complete economic fiasco for our State.

Mr Rudd’s catchphrase of “I’m from Queensland, I’m here to help” has proved prophetic for the people of Queensland. His belligerent persistence to chase an emissions trading scheme will be factored into the decisions of the international participants in our economy and the domestic aspirations of everybody from the commercial hub in Brisbane to the industrial hub of Townsville, to the export hub of Gladstone and flowing through to the domestic tourism industry in Cairns.

The economic development inspired by mining will be something for the history books.

The people of Queensland will be happy to know that in his earnest self-righteous endorsement of Queensland’s path to perdition, Mr Rudd’s epistle was based on economic conditions that are so far from the reality of where we are now, his oversight is nothing short of overwhelming.

Being the largest exporter of seaborne coal in the world, Queensland has more than 30 billion tonnes of identified resources of black coal in situ. In addition, the Sunshine State is one of the largest beef producers by region in the world and is one of the fastest growing value adders of bauxite in aluminium production.

Responsible for such a notable contribution to the Nation, Queensland has a great deal to lose at the hands of this imprudent plan. We have a whole new theory of economic decoupling, only this time we will see a separation between Queensland and prosperity.

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If the Federal government were to adopt the recommendations of the Productivity Commission’s draft report into drought assistance for farmers and rural businesses will will see many rural communities decimated. Farmers will abandon some properties and small rural communities will become ghost towns.

Sensationally the report that reads like the work of the ‘grim reaper’ recommends that all current drought assistance being paid should be be scraped by June 2010 regardless of the season conditions that prevail between now and then.

Under the Commissions shock recommendations the only assistance available to farmers after 2010 will be income support (dole), which will be means tested, only available after any Farm Management Deposits have been used and only for a maximum 3 year period. Farmers will also have to go through a full review each 6 months to continue to receive assistance.

Small Businesses in Rural towns will receive nothing in the way of drought assistance.

The report recommends:

• Doing way completely with current interest rate subsidies by June 2010.
• Income support at the same level as the dole be would be only available to individual farming families for 3 years in any 7 year period.
• Income support to be reviewed every 6 months
• Income support only available to farmers with overall assets, (including the Family Home on the property) worth less than $3 million.
• No assistance will be available for rural businesses.
• The $150,000 farm exit grant to be scrapped from June 2009.
• Farm Management deposits to be retained, but should be drawn down first before farmers are eligible for any other assistance.

The reports recommendations reveal a bleak outlook for drought stricken farmers and rural communities.

Commenting on the report Acting Ag Minister Martin Ferguson guaranteed that existing rules of exceptional circumstance would not change for anybody currently receiving assistance.

The Commissions final report is due out in February 2009.

Since 2002 approximately 30,000 Australian farmers have received drought assistance totally over $1 billion dollars.

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G’day All,

I’m back on air. Had a few issues to deal with over the last 48 hours. You know - life gets in the road of the important sometimes.

So here comes a flood of stuff that I’ve been thinking about and working on. Thanks for your patience.

Plan B

As well as the life stuff I have also been doing a heap of work on the auction / classified side of the site. All of the Rural / farming stuff is now under the Heading - “Farming, Livestock Rural”. Click here to see what I’m talking about.

I’ve moved to open the site up so that people other than farmers can list and sell items by auction or classifieds.

I’ve done this because the long term viability of Agmates depends on the success of the auctions / classifieds section as it funds the news site. The number of visitors to Agmates is continuing its strong growth with 10,200 unique visitors last month (that means if you visited the site everyday you only get counted once in that number) and we have already gone over that this month.

However we are not seeing a corresponding growth in Farmer listings. Its a pity as I had hoped we could keep the site a ‘farmer and rural only site’. So I am implementing the Plan B as I’m concerned that Agmates might perish while we wait for that side of the business to take on with the farming community.

So what you now see is that the farmer auction / classified side of Agmates is now a Site within a site if you like.

That is all of the features are still there but are now behind the “Farming Livestock Rural” Icon (the windmill) on the front page.

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To see the Properties for sale just click on the New Property icon pictured, the Green house.

In the next week or so we will be adding Houses and also commercial property.

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And Finally to See Businesses that are advertising on Agmates click on the globe icon (looking for a business) on the front page.

This too will be changing with all of the business that service rural & regional Australia to be moved. Some already have with more changes to come.

The ultimate goal is that when you’re looking for a Business, Professional Service or a Rural Contractor that you’ll be able to come to Agmates and at a click of a mouse find exactly what your looking for and be able to email or phone them straight away.

Thats no to say Agmates does not need your support.

We have 1,000’s of visitors looking for stuff as well as reading our news and your opinions - but we don’t have enough listing for those visitors to look at and buy.

If you value Agmates as your totally free and 100% independent rural and regional media than do what you can to support us by using it to market / advertise your goods and promoting the community to others.

If you don’t value the Agmates community, then don’t do anything. You are all adults and will only do what you want to do. It’s totally up to you.

Anyway - thats just an update for you all.

Cheers - Your Agmate - Steve

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JBS Swift announced last week that it was not proceeding with the purchase of Australian beef processors Kilcoy Pastoral Co (QLD) and Harvey Beef (W.A).

Now JBS has hit another hurdle in the US with its proposed purchase of the nations 4th largest meat processor National Beef Packing Co.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago to block JBS-Swift & Co.’s proposed acquisition of National Beef Packing Co., contending the deal would cause financial hardship on consumers and producers and harm industry competition.

The Attorneys General of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming are joining in the lawsuit.

The DOJ concluded that combining JBS-Swift and National Beef, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. beef packers, respectively, would result in lower prices paid to cattle suppliers and higher beef prices for consumers.

In court documents, the department deal also would eliminate a “competitively significant” packer and place more than 80 percent of domestic cattle slaughter capacity in the hands of three companies: JBS, Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc., the department said.

Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement.

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“The combination of JBS and National will likely lead to grocers, foodservice companies and ultimately American consumers paying higher prices for beef.

It will also lessen the competition among packers in the purchase of cattle that has been critical to ensuring competitive prices to the nation’s thousands of producers, ranchers and feedlots.”

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JBS announced in early March it had reached agreements to purchase Kansas City, Mo.-based National Beef ($465 million), Smithfield Beef Group ($565 million) and Australia’s Tasman Group ($150 million).

A DOJ spokesman said the department is not challenging JBS’s proposed purchase of Smithfield Beef Group, the nation’s fifth-largest beef packer, or the Five Rivers cattle feeding operation.

Source: Meatinplace

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The Global Credit Crisis has dominated the news for the month, yet there has been virtually nothing written or said by Agriculture Industry leaders on the impacts on, or consequences for our rural industries.

Yesterday Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke [pictured] finally took a leadership role by summonsing representatives of Agricultural groups, accountants, the National Rural Advisory Council, ABARE and the big banks to Sydney for a crisis summit.

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“After the meeting, Mr Burke said bank representatives - including those from the big four banks - had given him and farmers assurances the financial meltdown would not swallow up this month’s interest rate cut, or block access to credit.

(I was) able to find out for the farmers … directly from the banks, that in the immediate term they are still open to business, that they are still providing credit to Australia’s farmers,” he said.”

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Farmers now want to know what the outlook is as commodity prices tumble and farm input costs soar. Minister Burke is gloomy in his outlook:

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“We still don’t know what the impact will be on global demand for Australian exports,” he said.

“Certainly it’s true that most farm inputs, such as fertiliser, such as chemical, such as fuel are imported, and so the lower dollar has an impact there.

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On top of these woes Australian farmers are waiting for the minister to spell out to the industry what the financial impacts will be of the proposed emissions trading scheme. Those impacts will be a double whammy as countries like the USA and the EU are expected to increase subsidies to their farmers and impose import tariffs on Australian Ag exports.

The Agmates community looks forward to Minister Burke now providing our Rural industries with strong and decisive leadership as we move forward in these unprecedented times of global economic turmoil.

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Have Your say! Has your bank passed on the interest rate cut yet?

Ben Pobjie over at New Matilda has written a good article on Senator Steve Fielding that is worth a read.

If you recall Agmates awarded Senator Fielding an “Onya” award for negotiating an exemption for farmers and Tourist operators from the impost of the governments Luxury car tax.

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“There is a vicious rumour doing the rounds that Family First is somehow a “religious” party. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a family party, and when it comes to politics, the term “family” is no closer to the term “aggressive religious fanatics” than “National Party” is to the term “redneck”.

The rumour is, clearly, merely a scurrilous tactic dreamt up by the leftist media in an attempt to distract people from Senator Fielding’s reformist legislative agenda.

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While the article - “Thank God for Steve Fielding” is ‘piss take’ on the senator, Agmates is a fan of Senator Fielding and the article gives us a bit of an insight to the man.

At Agmates we are 100% biased toward anything that is good for Rural & Regional Australia - and We Make NO apology for it. Thats why we like Senator Fielding.

He has a wacky sense of Humour, doesn’t take himself to seriously, has commonsense and his policies are ordinary Australian’s friendly, be they in the country or city.

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You didn’t want him. You didn’t vote for him. You don’t have the slightest idea what he’s talking about. But you need him, now more than ever. We all do.

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And all of that really matters now he has the balance of power in the Senate. I mean ‘Thank God’ he’s not another Brain Harradine.

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Got a tip off, article or have you seen a video or item you’d like to be seen by the Agmates Community? If so please email it to us at news@agmates.com

G’day Agmate’s.

Do you remember the last time you saw or read something that turned your whole belief system upside down.

I have an absolute treat for you today, thanks to Agmates reader Dr Christine Jones.

Michael Pollan [pictured] is a journalist, author, academic who has written an 8,500 word essay ( don’t fall over) “Farmer In Chief - An open letter to the US President Elect”. Published in the New York Times 9/10/2008.

This is a brilliant work that challenges everything I’ve believed about Western Industrialized Agriculture. Take the time to read it and see how you fare. Below is a short extract from just the first page. Read the entire essay here.

Look forward to discussing the issues with you.

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But the 20th-century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food.

Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis - a process based on making food energy from sunshine. There is hope and possibility in that simple fact.

Nations that opened their markets to the global flood of cheap grain (under pressure from previous administrations as well as the World Bank and the I.M.F.) lost so many farmers that they now find their ability to feed their own populations hinges on decisions made in Washington (like your predecessor’s precipitous embrace of biofuels) and on Wall Street.

They will now rush to rebuild their own agricultural sectors and then seek to protect them by erecting trade barriers. Expect to hear the phrases “food sovereignty” and “food security” on the lips of every foreign leader you meet.

Not only the Doha round, but the whole cause of free trade in agriculture is probably dead, the casualty of a cheap food policy that a scant two years ago seemed like a boon for everyone.

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(thanks Dr Jones)

Looking forward to your thoughts.

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Got a tip off, article or have you seen a video or item you’d like to be seen by the Agmates Community? If so please email it to us at news@agmates.com

Phillip Glyde, executive director of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) being interviewed on ABC’s Lateline Business last night.

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PHILLIP LASKER: “So you’re not forecasting a steep fall in Australia’s export earnings?”

PHILLIP GLYDE: “We actually haven’t done the numbers as yet for December when our next forecasts come out.

But if you look to the extent the Australian dollar’s fallen that’s actually going to provide some support for our export earnings.

In essence, it’s good news, a lot of the commodity contracts are written in US dollars and particularly for agriculture, I think there is a little bit of room for optimism there.

Lower exchange rate also means higher input costs but on balance, it is relatively good news in the short term.

Given the turmoil we’ve got, and the big uncertainty, of course, is the extent to which the economic slowdown in the West transfers through to China and the other Asian economies.”

Go the Asian Tiger economies.

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Got a tip off, article or have you seen a video or item you’d like to be seen by the Agmates Community? If so please email it to us at news@agmates.com