Author: TRAVIS KING

DESPITE the sharp rise in sheep export prices over the past eight months, demand for Australian sheep in the Middle East is holding strong.

And this demand is not expected to drop off according to Livecorp livestock services manager Peter Dundon.

Mr Dundon, who is based in Bahrain, said if Australian producers were debating whether they should be sticking with sheep or not, he would strongly suggest they do.

“While there is some resistance to the higher prices, importers are still keen to source Australian sheep simply because of the food security issue,” Mr Dundon said.

“While the fact that there are higher prices has seen some importers look to northern Africa to source sheep, no one can guarantee supply like Australia can.

“Bahrain demands 2500 sheep per day and Australia supplies 95 per cent of that market.

“If the trade to Bahrain stopped tomorrow, a whole lot of people would not have access to fresh meat.

“Somalia is probably our biggest competitor and are closest to Australian sheep in price, but Somalian sheep are about half the weight. They dress out at 11 kilograms as opposed to Australian sheep that have a 21-23kg carcase weight.

“Northern African countries also continually have issues with Foot and Mouth Disease and Rift Valley Fever and that disrupts supply.”

Mr Dundon admitted that there had been a marked change in the composition of the sheep that have been exported live to the Middle East in the past five years.

“We are now sending lighter sheep than we used to, but that is a reflection of the changing Australian sheep flock,” he said.

“Sheep are now being turned off at a younger age, so they are going to be lighter.

“Weights are also influenced by seasons. Seasonal conditions over the last couple of years have probably contributed to lighter weight sheep coming through, but at certain times of the year there are good heavy wethers sent over.

“I think if there is a readjustment to the Australian sheep flock and more people go back into sheep you will start to see heavier weights coming through again.”

Mr Dundon said there were more ewes being exported now compared to five years ago.

“This is concerning because, while some importers are happy to take them, we would rather see those ewes remaining in Australian paddocks and being used for breeding,” he said.

“The fact more ewes are now exported is an indication Australian farmers are going out of sheep and we want more sheep being produced not less.”

Source: http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/livestock/sheep/live-export-demand-defies-rising-prices/1725447.aspx?src=enews

Posted: 18 January 2010 under Agribusiness worldwide, australia.
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THE ability of microscopic plants to increase soil carbon and nitrogen levels may hold the secret for land managers in Australia’s arid landscape to benefit from bio-sequestration, according to rangeland ecologist Wendy Williams of the University of Queensland.

It is good news for producers who graze livestock on the arid or semi arid rangelands - regions with less than 500mm of rainfall - which form more than 70 percent of Australia’s landscape.

“Simple, microscopic plants grow on the soil surface of these areas, generally forming large masses or colonies which are visible on bare soil between plants or on rocks,” Ms Williams said.

“These single-celled micro-organisms were once called ‘terrestrial blue green algae’ and are now more correctly known as cyanobacteria, and well-managed grazing practices can encourage cyanobacterial soil crusts to thrive within their natural environment.”

Ms Williams explained that through the process of photosynthesis, cyanobacteria utilises carbon dioxide and converts it into biomass while replacing oxygen back into the atmosphere.

They thrive in harsh environments ranging from the Antarctic to hot deserts and rock surfaces where temperatures exceed 70 deg C.

“Ancient cyanobacteria were so productive that they changed earth’s atmosphere from a CO2-rich state to the oxygenated atmosphere that supports life as we know it today,” she said.

“Recent research on a global scale shows cyanobacterial soil and rock crusts account for significant amounts of net terrestrial carbon and more than 40 percent of biologically fixed nitrogen.

“This nitrogen is in a form immediately available to plants and is crucial to carbon capture.

“Increasing the terrestrial carbon sink can be tricky, as Australia has limited water and nutrients, however, place cyanobacteria in the picture and the situation appears much more favourable.

“Cyanobacteria are a natural asset in the Australian landscape and in that context are freely available to be used for our benefit - for example, Queensland has abundant cyanobacterial crusts on soil and rocks across the Mulga lands, Channel Country, Gulf Plains and Cape York.

Source: http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/cyanobug-unlocks-soil-carbon-potential/1662585.aspx?src=enews

Posted: 3 November 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide.
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A FOOD guide revealing which companies are believed to be using undeclared genetically engineered (GM) ingredients will step into a breach left by the Government’s failure to reform inadequate food labelling laws, the guide’s publishers say.

Greenpeace released its Truefood Guide yesterday, with Cadbury, Western Star, Kraft and Woolworths, along with the baby food producers Karicare and Nutricia, among the dozens of companies named because they either do not have a clear non-GM policy or have refused to reveal whether they use GM ingredients in their products.

Nestle, Foster’s and Schweppes are among the hundreds of companies listed which have instituted a ban on the use of GM ingredients.

The guide comes as locally grown GM canola oil is about to enter the human food supply for the first time, making its way into a wide range of products from margarines and dairy products to breads and confectionery.

Consumers will have no way of knowing whether they are eating food made from GM ingredients, however, because oils, starches and sugars are some of the products the Australian food regulator has exempted from mandatory labelling regarding their GM status.

Greenpeace’s GM campaigner, Rochelle Porteous, said the guide would equip Australian consumers with the same level of information enjoyed by people living within the European Union, where all GM ingredients must be labelled on processed foods.

”Consumers have a fundamental right to know what’s in their food and how it is produced,” she said.

A comprehensive review of the country’s present labelling laws was announced by a joint state and federal government ministerial council on Friday.

But the council’s decision to allow food manufacturers to continue concealing the trans fat content of their products has angered health and nutrition experts.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand has defended the decision, arguing that manufacturers in general were reducing the amount of trans fat they used and the average Australian was consuming less of the fats than the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of less than 1 per cent of total energy intake.

Source: http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/gm-food-guide-out-to-name-and-shame/1662469.aspx?src=enews

Posted: 30 October 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide.
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