Agribusiness

AgriFutures Cultivate Program closing soon

THE AgriFutures Cultivate Program, designed to provide promising career prospects in the growing chicken meat industry, is nearing the end of its application period.

AgriFutures Australia has collaborated with the chicken meat industry to introduce the program which presents an exceptional chance for people interested in animal welfare, sustainability, and innovation to kickstart a career in a thriving sector.Successful applicants to the program are provided a full-time position in the industry, accompanied by professional development opportunities and mentorship from industry experts. They will also attain a Cert III in poultry production or food processing, advancing alongside a network of peers.Executive general operations manager at Inghams, Susy Klein, said this was a valuable opportunity, suited to people looking to start their career. “I encourage all interested individuals to submit an application before November 13 – it's a great chance to embark on a career in the unique and rewarding chicken meat industry and requires no prior experience,” Ms Klein said.AgriFutures Australia managing director, John Harvey, said the Cultivate Program offered a unique pathway into the agricultural workforce, targeting individuals who may not have previously considered a career in the chicken meat industry."Providing the next generation of workers an unparalleled chance to immerse themselves in animal welfare, sustainability, and innovation through the AgriFutures Cultivate Program is just one day AgriFutures is investing in the next generation of talent for the sector,” Mr Harvey said.Baiada Poultry Group human resource manager, Laura Rankin, echoed Mr Harvey’s sentiment, emphasising the range of relatively unknown opportunities in the sector."We see this program an excellent opportunity to ensure we are building career pathways for our future leaders. We are an industry that continues to grow and we can offer excellent career development for anyone starting their career or wanting an industry change.”Australian Chicken Meat Federation CEO, Mary Wu, said the program offered a significant opportunity for aspiring individuals to contribute to a sector that plays a vital role in meeting domestic and global food needs.“This program not only helps address the growing demand for chicken meat in Australia and worldwide, but also supports people to join a growing industry committed to world leading production standards through fostering innovation and technology,” Dr Wu said.More information at agrifutures.com.au/cultivate, and submissions before Monday, November 13, 2023.

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Farmers back carbon credit review but find contradictions in existing system

THE FARMERS for Climate Action group has welcomed today's release of the Chubb Review into Australia’s carbon credit scheme, but warned the final report did not "properly address the fundamental issue of the integrity of existing carbon credits".

Nevertheless, Farmers for Climate action have caqlled on the Federal Government to implement all of the Chubb Review's recommendations,

The Chubb Review came about after whistleblower professor Andrew Macintosh, from the Australian National University (ANU), resigned from the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee after pointing out problems with several of the methods producing carbon credits. Prof. Macintosh was subsequently backed by major carbon credit players making up around half of Australia’s carbon credits. 

The review has recommended major overhauls to the system, but does not acknowledge any problem with current credits.

Farmers for Climate Action strategy director, Cambell Klose said Australia's farmers relied on the integrity of Australia’s carbon credits to maintain the value of, and income from, their investments into growing carbon crops.

“Farmers for Climate Action welcomes recommendations made by the Chubb Review to end the multiple conflicting roles of the Clean Energy Regulator, give new life to the integrity committee, and to end new projects claiming carbon credits under avoided deforestation," Mr Klose said.

“The review puts forward sensible recommendations which are a step forward in fixing the problems, yet fail to acknowledge any problems.

“It is contradictory to offer solutions without acknowledging the problem. This review skates over the idea that there are any issues with the current market. Australian farmers who have invested in growing carbon crops are the ones who pay the price when integrity issues with carbon credits are revealed because it reduces confidence in the market and the price paid for carbon credits," he said.

“We also encourage governments to remember that offsets can only be a small part of Australia’s emissions reduction. Stopping emissions at the source is the most effective way to stop emissions.

"We support the Federal Government's announcement that it will adopt the recommendations from the review."

The review into Australia’s carbon credit scheme, the Chubb Review, was commissioned by the Federal Government in September 2022 after concerns were raised about the integrity of the scheme. 

Concerns were raised by companies making up a significant portion of Australia’s carbon credit system, who revealed they also had issues with the integrity of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued to farmers or businesses who were reducing emissions with one ACCU for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, stored or avoided.

Farmers for Climate Action is a movement of 7500 farmers calling for strong economy-wide climate policies.

www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au

 

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Australian wool industry protects itself with blockchain

THE AUSTRALIAN wool industry and its partners have begun tracing the lifetime journey of authentic wool products by utilising blockchain technology.

The approach is an initiative between Everledger, a global pioneer in provenance technology, and the not-for-profit body for the Australian wool industry, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI). 

Everledger and AWI, which is also the parent organisation for The Woolmark Company, have now completed their proof-of-concept stage. Information has been captured along the wool supply chain to enable verifiable provenance and chain of custody using blockchain technology. 

In line with AWI’s strategic response to enabling material traceability, capturing the flow of wool information enables verifiable claims of origin and sustainability, supports biosecurity efforts, and can deliver compliance and ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting efficiencies.

John Roberts, the acting CEO of AWI, said this offered value to all parties, whether that is attracting new buyers or higher prices for growers, enabling verifiable information for certifiers and regulators, or equipping apparel brands to have a robust point of difference with their finished garments. 

Mr Roberts said he was delighted that the project had materialised real industry examples of how this could be done, as well as generating insights from market participants about the value of these efforts.

“What is clear from this proof-of-concept is that there is demand across the value chain and by stakeholders for the wool industry to deliver on traceability, and we look forward to advancing on the gains made here as well as the recommendations made in the recently published Traceability in the Australian Wool and Sheep Industry report by WoolProducers Australia for the benefit of Australian woolgrowers.”

RIDING ON THE SHEEP'S BACK

Merino sheep are celebrated globally for producing the world’s finest, softest and most beautiful wool. Australia produces around 90 percent of the world’s fine apparel wool and this makes significant contributions to the Australian economy.

The fibre is natural, renewable and biodegradable. Mr Roberts said many Australian woolgrowers were able to demonstrate that their farms can sequester carbon, increase biodiversity and strengthen climate resilience, “but many of these important messages aren’t making it to market, or if they are, lack the substantiation to make the claims credible”. 

APG & Co has a portfolio of well known Australian brands including Sportscraft, SABA and JAG. APG was a proof-of-concept participant.

Genevieve Moody, social and environmental manager at APG & Co said of the experience, “The need for fully traceable apparel supply chains is of paramount importance not just for our business but for our customers as well. Due to the complexity of supply chain tracing, it was great to work directly with Australian Wool Innovation and Everledger to see genuine traceability improvements.

“Being a part of the proof-of-concept has not only allowed us access to a fit-for-purpose tracing solution, it has also provided the opportunity to discuss ethical and sustainability data collection points we would want to have integrated in future.

“It has been enlightening to be involved in the development of the tool, which can guarantee the authenticity and reputation of our claims. We look forward to continuing our engagement as this work matures into an industry solution.”

SUCCESSFUL PROOF OF CONCEPT

The proof-of-concept involved seven distinct supply chains tracing from wool growers, through brokers and export, to scouring, combing, spinning and dyeing, to weaving or knitting and the final product. It worked closely with all parties in those supply chains, as well as end-consumer brands, to understand the nature of business processes, the data available, and the types of claims different parties wished to make.

Key to the success was establishing a prototype tool that enables upstream or downstream supply chain participants to invite associated parties, helping to navigate supply chain opacity in a trustworthy manner. 

The information supplied was grounded in blockchain, offering immutable records authored by each party to be stitched together to create a full picture. The solution enables retailers or end consumers to be able to verify where and when the original wool was produced, and key stages in its journey to market. 

“We love working with visionary partners,” Everledger CEO Leanne Kemp said.

“Traceability used to be considered a nice-to-have, now in multiple supply chains and across many material types, it is essential.  Other industries, such as critical minerals and batteries are now rapidly responding to regulatory requirements for transparency and accountability, such as those coming into effect through the European Union in 2023, or to resolve questions of Modern Slavery or greenhouse gas emissions.

“AWI is taking a lead for other traditional industries in Australia to follow, and in doing so demonstrates both responsible leadership and an acute vision to see how blockchain combined with other technologies can generate significant economic value and sustainability.”

www.everledger.io

www.wool.com

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AgriWebb presses ‘enter’ on better farm production

By Leon Gettler, Talking Business

AGRIWEBB may be the perfect tech solution for farmers.

It is a farm management and supply chain management enablement software. It is a data-driven software platform committed to delivering the digital future of agriculture; transforming global cattle, sheep and dairy production by helping farmers with profitability, provenance and sustainability across the supply chain.

AgriWebb co-founder and chairman, Justin Webb, who had grown up on a farm in the Victorian  Western District, originally studied mathematics and had been working in finance.

His background in finance and machine learning allowed him to understand how to use tools and data to make improvements.

Mr Webb’s faming background also gave him the empathy to understand the farmers using the AgriWebb platform.

“I went back home and found that we were much like many farms right around the world, a lot of our production systems being made on pencil and paper, or what happened next door, on a mate’s farm in the neighbourhood,” Mr Webb told Talking Business

“We looked at that and thought, hang on, we should be able to digitise these records and empower ourselves to make data led decision making and on a farm, that’s huge increases in output, 7-10 percent year on year, for productivity, efficiency, genetics, operational protocol, all that stuff

“But then on a bigger scale, we start looking beyond the Western District, right around the world, there are farmers with ranches in the UK, US, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, all over the place are using this and therefore, we are able to able unlock at the processor and then at the retailer, this data that can be evidenced to the consumer to say, is my food healthy? Is it demonstrable animal welfare? And is it demonstrating environmental welfare?”

“These are the key decisions that are starting to define a lot of the purchasing decisions made in supermarkets as well as some of threats we have seen in the supply chain, very realistically with some of the empty shelves during COVID time.”

FARMERS ARE TECH SAVVY

Mr Webb said farmers were digitally savvy.

“They just don’t want bad tech and so you’ve got to build technology that understands and is empathetic to the way they work in the fields, when it’s cold, dark and they’ve been out there,” Mr Webb said.

“So make sure it understands their work, works with them and immediately adds value.

“Then at the same time, have an understanding of what are some of the best tools out in the space to bring to this industry.”

The size of the market is huge, he said. AgriWebb chairman and co-founder, Justin Webb with his young son, at home on Eddington Station in Victoria's remote Western District.

Globally, there is a commercial cattle herd of 800 million head. About 8000 farms are using the AgriWebb platform and about 250 new farming businesses join it every month.

There are 500,000 ranching operations in the United States, one million in Brazil, 60,000 in Australia that are in livestock, and about 40,000 in the UK.

AUSTRALIA CAN LEAD IN FARM INNOVATION

“There’s a lot of opportunity to innovate in, frankly, what’s been a digitally ignored industry,” Mr Webb said.

“In the start-up space that we are looking to export, there are very few industries that we as Aussies can sit front and centre.

“If you can make an agricultural business and agricultural technology work here in Australia, you are recognised as being a world leader internationally because we have some of the most diverse ecology, farming methodology production.

“At the same time, we’ve got leading edge regulations that need to be met for food security and, frankly, we’ve got a great brand.”

www.agriwebb.com

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

https://play.acast.com/s/talkingbusiness/interview-with-justin-webb-from-agriwebb

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Dairy farmers can seek help without fear of retribution says Ombudsman

THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said dairy farmers in dispute could get in touch with her office for initial guidance, without fear of retribution.

Ms Carnell is encouraging dairy farmers to contact her office for information about the Dairy Code of Conduct or advice regarding how to handle a dispute under the code.

“My office understands that it can be very daunting when a small or family business finds themselves in dispute with a large business -- especially when they rely on that business relationship for their income,” Ms Carnell said.

“We are here to help. The first step when a small or family business comes to our office is to talk about their situation. We can provide guidance on how to resolve disputes, even in the early stages.

“Rest assured that my office will not contact the other party involved, unless the dispute resolution process is formally entered into.”

The Dairy Code of Conduct applies to all milk supply agreements entered into, or amended, on or after January 1, 2020.  

“Under the Dairy Code, it is mandatory for processors and farmers to deal with each other in good faith,” Ms Carnell said. 

“Milk supply agreements are required to have an internal complaints handling procedure and a mediation process. A milk supply agreement may also have an arbitration option. My office can assist with mediation or arbitration if required. 

“We understand how important the farmer-processor relationship is and we work hard to assist with the dispute, while also respecting the business relationship.

“I want to remind dairy farmers in dispute that they don’t have to go it alone. Please reach out for help by calling my office," Ms Carnell said.

“In addition to the Dairy Code, my office can provide broader assistance to small and family businesses that need help with general business disputes, including issues with banks, or the ATO.”

More information is available about ASBFEO’s dispute resolution services at https://asbfeo.gov.au

Phone: 1300 650 460. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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