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A QUARTER of workers in Victoria's larger meat processors will have to be tested for COVID-19 every week, in an initiative announced by the State Government today.

A strong cold front produced widespread moderate falls in South Australia and southeast Australia, while a trough brought thunderstorms with moderate falls to northwest parts of the Northern Territory.

WA's Pastoralists and Grazier Association has come out in support of a move to end AWI spending on its digital information and wool trading platform WoolQ.

AUSTRALIAN lamb and sheep prices could remain historically high this year, but are not expected to return to the levels of early 2020, according to the latest industry projections.

WESTERN Australian government officers will investigate livestock identification and regenerative agriculture practices overseas to fulfil their 2020 Churchill Fellowship obligations.

The VFF today announced the formal notice of the 2020 VFF elections and is calling for nominations across a wide range of representative positions.

GOVERNMENT-LED environmental and carbon reforms are underpinning the biggest surveyed drop in New Zealand farmer confidence in three years.

NOW is the time for Merino producers to prepare for the industry's recovery and produce sheep that can be accredited as non-mulesed, don't require heavy chemical use and grow high quality premium-priced wool ...

PRICES for young Merino ewes surged on AuctionsPlus in a reduced online offering last week, driven by continued strong buying into the central west and Riverina regions of New South Wales.

NEW Zealand's lamb turn-off is expected to be down more than four percent this year after drought conditions impacted the country's flock.

AUSTRALIA'S fodder industry needed to focus on producing better products year-round for livestock producers, according to the sector's new leader.

GREATER alignment between education and career path development in the sheep industry is necessary to ensure people with a diverse range of knowledge and capabilities are attracted, according to Nuffield scholar Jamie Heinrich...

MORE Victorian farmers are expected to be eligible for bushfire recovery assistance with the expansion of the Emergency Bushfire Response in Primary Industries Grant Program.

• Search for NSW growers mulesing sheep without pain relief
• Seasonal climate outlook Oct to Dec
• Wool prices rebound at auctions
• Recruitment
• Forward wool market
• NSWDPI Young Farmer Business Program

LAMB prices rebounded this week as demand and inadequate quality supplies direct to abattoirs forced major processors back into saleyards.

A BRITISH Texel ram lamb has set a new world record price equivalent to more than A$667,000 in the Scottish National Texel Sale at the Lanark Agricultural Centre in Scotland.

SPRING is likely to be wetter than average across much of Australia, with a greater than 60 percent chance in most areas and a greater than 75pc chance in much of the eastern half of the mainland.

FINE wool prices lifted in Melbourne and to a lesser extent in Sydney this week, but the market's eastern states benchmark indicator dropped further as medium Merino and crossbred values weakened.

A LACK of offshore confidence again hampered the spot auction and forward wool markets this week.

Episode three of MLA''s Feedback podcast has been released, with segments on genetic selection, on-farm research, pasture dieback, objective measurement technology and Olympians participating in its education program.

• AWI directors should take pay cut
• Sheep industry and RDCs fail to meet reproduction rate target
• Colac processor maintains production
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• Analyst - cropping is risk to WA sheep meat production
• Terrica aggregation sold

LOW pressure systems, cold fronts and troughs generated widespread moderate falls over the southeast quarter of the continent, while a strong cold front brought moderate falls to western parts of Western Australia.

NEW South Wale's wool industry was not ready or willing for mulesing to be banned within 18 months, a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday.

THE New South Wales bluetongue virus (BTV) transmission zone has been extended further south following the second detection of BTV in Shoalhaven cattle herds this winter.

DATA-DRIVEN decision-making in the Western Australian sheep industry has been given a boost, with the state's popular Sheep Notes reference publication going online.

PRACTICAL options for lowering on-farm carbon emission are outlined in Agriculture Victoria's updated 'Making cent$ of carbon and emissions' booklet.

• Pre-shift COVID testing could help maximise regional meat jobs
• AuctionsPlus results
• Combating attacks from activists
• Next online GSSA session
• Mulesing ban will lead to chemical dependency - NSW Farmers
• Fed suport of QFever vaccine trials

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a series of warnings to sheep graziers in the eastern states with a risk of losses today and over the weekend from cold temperatures, showers, snow and westerly winds.

MEAT & Livestock Australia will hold a webinar to explain the new-look Sheep Genetics search site and take user feedback next week.

The wool price benchmark slumped to its lowest level in eight years this week with insufficient demand for the national offering to sustain values.

WESTERN Australian farmers remain optimistic about the long-term strength of the wool industry, despite the current challenges of COVID-19 impacting consumer demand and causing market disruption, according to NAB.

THE tough week for auction sales was reflected in the range of prices paid on the forward market. All forward trading activity was centred around the Spring and early Summer.

• Sheep Genetics database search angst
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• AWI launches Change Makers + video
• NSW superfine growers'' Cleckheaton win
• BoM raises ENSO to "La Nina Alert"
• Melbourne''s open cry auctions continue
• ICMJ Webinar Series

AUCTIONSPLUS analysis has shown multiple/single pregnancy scanning of Merino ewes generated an average $23/head sale online price advantage over ewe lots with only wet/dry details, over the last six months.

VICTORIAN meat processor Midfield has had to fly in coronavirus-free inspectors from interstate to keep its plant running after a brief closure last week to test all its workers for COVID-19.

SURFACE and upper-level troughs brought moderate falls to eastern Queensland, and a deep coastal low produced widespread moderate rainfall in central and eastern New South Wale, with heavier falls along the coast.

WESTERN Australian sheep producers are being urged to wean lambs no later than 14 weeks after lambing starts to optimise lamb and ewe production, and pasture benefits.

NEW research that sheep and beef producers can apply directly on their farms will be presented in an online forum this Friday.

• Red meat sector supports Vic.Premier''s ''stay at home'' message
• SA''s OJD incursion from WA sheep
• NSW students winning ag career app.
• Full wool Merino ewes carryng multiple lambs make $284 on AuctionsPlus
• LLS webinars on silage-NSW producers
• AgForce - Q Fever vaccine needed

THE global wool industry was urged to unite against common competitors and challenges, and growers were told to tell their story to counter animal activists, at the first Wool Connect conference last week.

PRICES lifted for Merino ewe and wether lambs, and first cross ewe hoggets, on AuctionsPlus last week, but fell for most other categories.

AGRIFUTURES Australia is encouraging the sharing of stories of the nation's agricultural women with the launch of a social media hashtag #hatsofftoruralwomen in the lead up to the International Day of Rural Women on 15 October.

ALL new and imported second hand quad bikes sold in Australia must now meet the first stage of the government's mandatory safety standard after it came into effect on 11 October.

A FREE course in cash flow management will be run by Agriculture Victoria and AgBiz Assist later this month.

A SERIES of cold fronts brought moderate falls to south-west Western Australia, and western Tasmania, while moist onshore flow produced showers along the east coast of Queensland and New South Wales.

BLUETONGUE, anthrax and footrot diagnoses have been crucially ruled out in recent sheep and cattle disease inspections in NW NSW.

VICTORIA'S Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes has offered no insight into how the state's red meat processors might progress to lower COVID-19 workforce restrictions as the spring lamb turn-off begins.

AUSTRALIAN Merino producers have spent a record of $1.55 million in three hours today at the Kerin Poll Merino sale at Yeoval in NSW.

WATER trading will be the focus of the first in a series of irrigation webinars to be run this Spring by Agriculture Victoria.

• Vic. processor restrictions to stay
• Nationals leader calls for roadmap to open up meat processing
• Lamb campaign lauds community legends
• Store sheep demand on AuctionsPlus
• Inverell stock agent wins ALPA  Young Auctioneers Competition
• Recruitment

VICTORIAN farmers have called for the State Government to empower the regions in the state's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing an Agriculture Workers' Code and easing meat processor workforce restrictions.

MOST sheep and lambs sold dearer online last week as a doubling of the store lambs offering on AuctionsPlus helped set a new record of 182,726 head, up 101,727.

A RECORD number of sheep and lambs has been inspected in abattoirs under the National Sheep Health Monitoring Project.

A NEW regional digital technology hub is expected to be operational and online before the end of 2020.

NEW South Wales farmers are being urged to check any Paterson's Curse infestations for insect damage this Spring, before undertaking costly spraying.

BIDDING on the forward wool market followed the spot auctions last week as physical sales started in a positive vein and gathered momentum into the close.

IMPROVED demand for Australian wool spilled over to boost AuctionsPlus online sales last week with buyers and exporters purchasing 165 bales in the seven days up to last Thursday.

• Grower plan to end WoolQ online platform investment
• Wool prices continue to rise
• Online wool conference growers / retail
• John McKillop appointed as RMAC chair
• Aus. crop program likely to favour feed grain production
• Sheep sire project "Yardstock" celebrates

DECLINING grower levy proceeds to Australian Wool Innovation from falling prices and production has prompted a former director to call for the company's board to take an immediate 50 percent cut in fees.

AUSTRALIA'S sheep and wool industry and levy-funded bodies have failed to meet a target to raise average reproduction rates by 10 percent between 2012-17, a new report has found, while the nation's flock remained historically low and sheep meat demand stayed strong.

COLAC sheep meat processor, the Australian Lamb Company, has dropped its afternoon shift, but maintained production after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

A COMPLEX low and cold fronts generated moderate falls over south-east Australia, and widespread snow fell over elevated locations in the region.

THERE is a risk of a continued move away from wool and sheep meat production towards cropping in Western Australia, leading industry analyst Mecardo has found.

THE 15,990 hectare Terrica aggregation in southern Queensland's Traprock region has been added to the impressive grazing property portfolio of BRW rich-lister Michael Gordon and well-known sheep breeders Will and George Grimwade.

• AWI gm for operations moving on
• Wool joins race for protective finishes
• AuctionsPlus livestock results
• Young NSW Auctioneers to Dubbo
• MLA looking for sheep meat R&D
• Boost for Vic online marketing

AUSTRALIANS can now show their support for farmers by wearing their very own limited release 'I Love Farmers' t-shirt.

INNOVATIVE wool grower-funded exclusion fence-building machinery has been enlisted to build the 115 kilometre-long second stage of the $25 million South Australian Dog Fence rebuild.

RECENT wool price rises are encouraging more Australian growers to send clips to auction, despite volatility continuing last week, as the benchmark price indicator lifting 50 cents.

SHEEP Producers Australia has appointed two candidates - analyst Robert Herrmann and producer Bindi Murray - for vacant positions on its board.

WOOL forward trading continued last week, albeit within a wide range, while volatility continued in the Australian spot auction market.

MERINO ewe, lamb and wether prices lifted on AuctionsPlus last week, as the online offering dropped by 12,184 head to 70,903.

VICTORIA has announced more than $200,000 in funding for two programs to kick off National Farm Safety Week in the state.

LIVE sheep exports remain a key pathway for Middle East markets as chilled carcase exports are impacted by COVID-19 travel bans, Meat and Livestock Australia said this week.

THE first section of the once-in-a-generation $25 million rebuild of the South Australian Dog Fence has been completed.

NEW South Wales farmers have been reminded they have just over a month to complete their annual land and stock returns.

A COVID-19 outbreak linked to major Victorian abattoir JBS Brooklyn has tripled in size this week, as state authorities battle a wave of infections in businesses, aged care facilities and the community.

COLD fronts brought moderate falls to south-west Australia, meanwhile a cold front and a complex low produced widespread moderate falls in eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria.

AUSTRALIAN farmers are taking full advantage of low global fertiliser prices, but Rabobank has warned that COVID-19 had amplified the risk of isolated shortages and resulting price increases.

FREE webinars on Queensland sheep management, sheep meat and wool prices, and Australian water market issues will be held over the next two weeks.

PARTS of New South Wale's south coast are expected to have a higher than normal fire potential due to long-term dry conditions in areas that did not burn in 2019/20, according to the latest Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook.

• Victoria - shearer and wool handling training 
• NSW - sheep mulesing ban bill
• Record AuctionsPlus sheep turnover
• ifarmwell podcast 
• Scanned in-lamb first cross ewe prices defy online trend
• Online wool offering snapped up 

After 23 years in the rural property marketing game, including the last nine as head of CBRE Agribusiness, high-profile property identity Danny Thomas has called time, taking on a number of new challenges.

• Florida Station - NSW
• Broadwater Statiion - Qld
• Burngrove - Qld
• Minjah - Vic 
• Arthurs - NSW
• Culbara - NSW
• Harvest Home Station - Qld

• Dalkeith - Qld - EOI 10/12
• Mount Cooper - Qld - Auction 15/12
• Weroona - NSW - Auction 16/12
• Longford - NSW - Auction 18/12
• Niminbah - Qld - Auction 18/12
• Wattombri - NSW - Auction 18/12
• Maryfield Limbunya - NT - EOI 14/01
• Oaklodge Feedlot - Qld
• Gilgai Farms - NSW

DECEMBER to February is likely to be wetter than average for nearly all of Australia, with a greater than 70 percent chance of rainfall in most areas, with the exception of Tasmania.

WOOL prices generally steadied in Australia this week, with improvements in fine and medium Merino fleece and carding type values in some auction centres.

MEAT & Livestock Australia is looking for two new members for its Sheep Genetics Advisory Committee.

GOAT producers can undertake rapid on-farm worm egg count testing without having to send dung samples away to laboratories, a study of a new diagnostic technology has found.

The most successful farmers overseas have mastered staff retention and are considered 'employers of choice' in their industry and community, a former Nuffield scholar's research suggests... 

FORWARD wool trading stabilised this week as the physical auction market steadied after weeks of volatility.

Agricultural fund manager, Laguna Bay has agreed to sell its flagship Victorian Western District cropping and livestock holding, Banongill Station, for a figure around $80 million to a consortium of local farming families.

Australia's largest dairy operation, Tasmania's historic Van Diemen's Land Company, is reportedly on the verge of being offloaded by its Chinese businessman owner Xianfeng Lu.

• Acacia - Qld
• Mundibulanga - Qld
• Tomoo - Qld
• Yambutta - Qld
• Besm - Qld
• Spring Ridge - NSW
• Nardoo - Qld
• Eulameet - Vic
• Locksley - NSW

• Fishtail - Qld - Auction 30/10
• Murilla South - Qld - Auction 12/11
• Burngrove - Qld - Auction 18/11
• Sugarloaf - NSW - Auction 19/11
• Green Valley - NSW - Auction 19/11
• Inverary - NSW - EOI 25/11
• Lindleigh - Qld - Auction 27/11
• Beaumont - NSW - Auction 27/11
• Hayes Creek - Qld - Auction 03/12

RENEWED demand from mainly China has lifted the Australian wool market this week, raising crossbred and Merino fleece prices.

SHEEP, beef and crop farmers now have an app to help them understand their potential opportunities from carbon-reducing activities.

VICTORIAN farmers have elected the first female president and vice president duo in their farmer organisation's 41-year history under its current structure.

BROAD wool-buying interest pushed the spot auction market higher this week as exporters and processors finalised their prompt purchases ahead of the Christmas/New Year recess.

If you're a youngster looking to launch your career in the livestock industry in the new year, and don't know where to start, here are a few resources that might help you on your way.

AUSTRALIA'S sheep flock is in recovery mode and especially among Merino flocks, according to preliminary results from the industry's October wool and sheep meat survey.

SAM Kekovich's return and the re-election of South Australian sheep producer Andrew Michael were among the sheepy highlights at the MLA annual general meeting yesterday.

AUSTRALIA'S proposed sheep sustainability framework will improve industry transparency and build consumer trust in wool and sheep meat, according to the project's leader.

THE latest salary data shows salaries in the agriculture and farming sector are skewed toward the lower levels when compared to other industries, in a trend that will affect the ability of the ag sector to attract the skilled talent required to drive future growth, a recent report suggests.

AUSTRALIAN wool growers and brokers passed in or withdrew more than a quarter of the bales catalogued for sale in auctions this week as prices dropped lower.

IT was a quiet week on the wool forward markets, with activity limited to the nearby months, as the December 19 micron index traded at 1365 cents and 1370 cents prior to auctions opening on Tuesday.

• Shearer training to go online
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• RCEP to deliver wool tariff reduction
• Trade/heavy lamb buyers quality search
• WPA issues biosecurity warning
• WA producers''  say on ear marks

AWI''s general manager operations Nigel Gosse is moving on to take on the top job at real-time livestock auction app company FarmGate Auctions.

THE COVID-19 pandemic is inspiring some companies to add new protective qualities to wool and other textile fabrics to protect against the bugs that plague us.

YOUNG Merino and crossbred ewe prices edged higher on AuctionsPlus last week .

FINALISTS in the 2020 ALPA NSW Young Auctioneers Competition finalists will compete at the Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets on September 3.

MLA is seeking preliminary funding proposals from researchers for on-farm research, development and adoption projects that benefit sheep meat producers.

VICTORIAN Minister for Agriculture has announced $1.5 million in funding to help the state's farmers and producers to expand into online marketing.

• COVID risks - shearers and growers
• Weather alerts + video
• MLA webinar - sheep genetics
• Aus wool prices slump
• WA wool growers confident
• Wool forward market

DISEASES spread by feral cats can cost Australian agriculture up to almost $12 million each year and sheep producers can be the hardest hit, new research has found.

RESEARCH showing that sheep shorn more frequently have lower stress levels has been welcomed by Merino growers shearing more than once a year.

ONLY 25 responses had been received to a feedback survey on Australia's first Sheep Sustainability Framework up to this week.

IMPROVED buyer interest on the second day of wool auctions this week helped the market's price benchmark hold ground this week.

Regardless of your title or level of authority, trusting others and having others trust you in return are the most basic elements of being looked upon as a respected professional.

• First cross ewes with lambs profitable for NSW producer
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• Qatar import subsidy impact
• Minister bows out of Olsson-AWI dispute
• Sheep business to expand with $5.8m Genetics Australia deal
• New Vic animal welfare legislation

VICTORIAN sheep producer and garment label owner Peter Small is not alone in thinking that Australia's depressed wool market represents an opportunity - for any wool growers with cash to invest.

It looks like we are going to see an old fashion lamb supply vs demand bubble in September. The decision process: Do we want to shear them?..

AUSTRALIA'S wool market will need to be carefully managed when demand recovers post-COVID-19, according to national broker body leader, Rowan Woods.

AUSTRALIAN wool prices fell to their lowest benchmark level since 2002 this week as demand remained largely limited to China.

IT was another disappointing week for the spot auction market, with most Merino qualities easing by 80 cents.

A LIVESTOCK vessel carrying 43 crew members, believed to include two Australians, and almost 6000 cattle from New Zealand has disappeared in the East China Sea near Japan after issuing a distress signal during Typhoon Maysak early yesterday morning.

• Lamb producers to lose millions with COVID processor restrictions
• Midfield trials contact tracing tech.
• Spend more or less on wool marketing?
• Lamb consumption continues decline
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• Fed Govt invests in drought resilience
• ABARES:  No easy options for MDB

VICTORIAN sheep and beef processor Midfield appears to have avoided any spread of COVID-19 to its Warrnambool abattoir workforce after resuming operations yesterday.

NATIONAL producer body, the Australian Wool Growers Association, supports mandating pain relief when mulesing sheep in New South Wales, but rejects a proposed ban on the flystrike preventative practice in the state.

VICTORIAN farmers will get two farm safety officers and increased online resources to improve on-farm health and safety after a $3million State Government grant.

ANIMAL health company Zoetis is continuing to support the mental health challenges faced by people living in rural Australia through its partnership with mental health organisation Beyond Blue. ..

MLA members are being encouraged to return their Levies Notice to ensure they secure their full voting entitlement for any ballots and board elections held by MLA in 2020-21.

MEAT & Livestock Australia has assured consumers the Stage Four COVID-19 lockdown processor workforce reductions in Victoria are not anticipated to create domestic product shortages.

ALMOST 60 percent of Australia's lambs were slaughtered through Meat Standards Australia-licensed processors last year.

WOOL sold strongly online this week despite Australia's physical auction market suffering one of its biggest falls in history.

SMALL Victorian meat processors will be exempted from workforce cuts being enforced as part of Stage Four COVID-19 restrictions coming into force across the state after midnight Friday.

IT was another tough August start to the wool auction season with a large fall in auction prices and forward trading dormant during the week.

• COVID- Vic processors
• Chris Howie''s livestock market wrap
• Weekly rainfall wrap + rain outlook
• Aus growers back non-mulesed future
• MLA''s new videos for sire selection

TROUGHS and onshore flow produced thunderstorms across the central west and central coast of Queensland, while a cold front brought moderate falls to south-west Western Australia.

A NEW sheep drench resistance status website developed by Zoetis has been welcomed by industry leaders, who are also seeking the establishment of an independent national database of worm resistance data.

A PRIME lamb liveweight on-farm grid has been launched by exporter Thomas Foods International across eastern Australia.

The Grassland Society of Southern Australia new chair Meg Bell believes the organisation's new management structure heralded an exciting era for the body.

ONLINE saleyard AuctionsPlus has appointed former Meat & Livestock Australia chief economist Tim McRae to spearhead their market intelligence, insights, and forecasting efforts after a big growth in platform usage.

VICTORIAN red meat processors in communities with no COVID-19 cases should not have their workforce levels restricted, according to Nationals leader Peter Walsh.

LEGENDARY lamb-based meals for Aussie heroes is the theme for Meat & Livestock Australia's Spring Lamb campaign launched yesterday. MLA said the new content series aimed to demonstrate the ease..

STORE sheep demand strengthened on AuctionsPlus last week, with prices and clearances increasing in several categories.

INVERELL stock agent Ben McMahon has won the 2020 ALPA New South Wales Young Auctioneers Competition.

Everyone has worked with a disengaged employee or co-worker at some time. They're easy to spot once you chat with them for a few minutes - instead of helping the business grow, they're likely to be dragging it down. Here's some hints to help spot them. ..

A CLAIM that Australian sheep producers use hormones that give them a cost of production advantage over United Kingdom farmers has been rejected by the peak body Sheep Producers Australia.

NOT mandating pain relief for mulesing will increase calls to ban the practice, with a premature cessation potentially leading to higher levels of flystrike in sheep flocks, according to a leading Australian and international animal welfare researcher.

FAMILY-OWNED Woodward Foods Australia claimed the champion lamb of show title for the second year in a row during the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show branded beef and lamb competition at the Brisbane Showgrounds this week.

COVID-19 cases in two Melbourne meat processing plants increased again this week, with Victoria reporting its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases.

Regardless of whether yours is a small livestock enterprise with one or two employees, or a processing plant employing 500, running an agribusiness is a juggling act, with multiple management responsibilities needing ongoing attention. One area on which managers cannot afford to lose focus is staff, particularly when this can impact on profitability and day-to-day operations.

AUSTRALIA recorded its lowest monthly national slaughter in more than eight years in May this year and the number of sheep processed halved compared to a year ago.

WOOL growers and sheep meat producers - the National Farmers' Federation wants to know if you need workers and how you source labour.

THUNDERSTORMS generated moderate falls across the northern tropics, south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, while a cold front produced moderate falls in south-east Australia.