New field pea
A NEW field pea PBA Butler will be grown commercially this year.
The release of the new pea variety by commercial seed company Seednet was developed by the Agriculture Victoria breeding team.
Pea breeder Garry Rosewarne said trials had shown the pea to be high yielding and have high levels of bacterial blight resistance.
In wetter years, PBA Butler will outyield other varieties, but Dr Rosewarne said it might not be the best in drier seasons.
Phosphate profits
RUSSIAN fertiliser giant PhosAgro has not been impacted by the lack of demand for phosphate (P)-based fertiliser in Australia, with strong demand from India and Brazil boosting profits.
The company reported a 13 per cent increase in year on year profits for the first quarter, benefitting from strong P prices caused by a slowdown in production in the US.
Dry conditions mean Australian demand has been sluggish, but the surge in demand from India and Brazil has well and truly overshadowed this fall.
Grain traders fined
MULTI national grain traders Bunge and Cargill are among five grain trading houses fined in Brazil for alleged activities involving illegal clearing in Brazil’s Cerrado region.
The Cerrado runs through much of Brazil’s south-central region and is one of the fastest growing grain producing areas of the country.
Part of the land rush has involved clearing of forests.
The five grain buyers, Brazilian business ABC Industria e Comercio SA, JJ Samar Agronegocios Eireli, Uniggel Protecao de Plantas Ltd along with Bunge and Cargill, were fined for buying soybeans produced on illegally cleared land.
Russian record
Russia is on track for a record year for wheat exports according to UkrAgroConsult data.
The organisation found wheat exports from Russia for the first nine months of the 2017-18 marketing year were up 41 per cent year on year.
From July 17 to the end of March this year there were 30.8 million tonnes of wheat exported from Russia, which is already more than the entire 16-17 marketing year.
New port work started
Construction of the $115 million Lucky Bay port facility on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is due to begin next week with the company constructing the facility hoping it will be ready for the 2018-19 harvest.
A number of local businesses have been awarded construction contracts, with project developer T-Ports appointing local construction company Ahrens to manage the 358-hectare Lucky Bay port site, near Cowell.
The company is expected to start constructing the shallow harbour grain terminal in mid-July with a projected completion date for Stage 1 during December, in time for shipping of the 2018/19 grain harvest.
The construction at the bunker sites is set to begin next week, with the commencement of earthworks at both Lucky Bay and Lock.