Australia’s farmers slaughter cattle, swelter out of record-hot 2013

A searing heatwave is baking central and northern Australia, piling more misery on drought-hit cattle farmers who have been slaughtering livestock as Australia sweltered through the hottest year on record in 2013. Temperatures have topped 40 C in large parts of Australia’s key agricultural regions for most of the past week, with the mercury topping […] Read more



Australian beef exports seen at record in 2013-14

Australia will export a record amount of beef in 2013-14, driven by strong demand from the United States and emerging markets, including China, the government’s official forecaster said on Tuesday. Beef and veal exports in the coming season were expected to total 1.07 million tonnes, up from a record 1.015 million this year, the Australian […] Read more




Australia nudges up wheat estimate

Australia, the world’s second-largest wheat exporter, raised its production estimate for the current marketing year by a fraction from its December estimate, as the crop largely escaped damage from a heat wave and floods this summer. The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecast wheat production of 22.077 million tonnes for […] Read more

Australia’s GrainCorp knocks back ADM bid

Australia’s GrainCorp knocked back a US$2.8 billion takeover offer from Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) on Thursday, saying the bid undervalued the grains handler after a bumper harvest delivered a record annual net profit. The U.S. agricultural giant’s bid comes at a time of dramatic consolidation in the global grains sector amid intense competition to feed […] Read more


Australia’s early wheat harvest shows lower protein

The early wheat harvest in Australia, the world’s second largest exporter, is showing lower protein scales and poor yields, analysts and traders said, heightening concerns over global grain supplies as shipments from top exporters dwindle. Farmers are finding lower-than-expected protein scales in New South Wales and Queensland, the states responsible for producing top quality hard […] Read more