Agribusiness buzz in brief

Top growth spots were scattered around South Australia, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, NSW and Queensland.

Annual vacancy growth in those states ranged from 10pc to 59pc according to latest data from the Regional Australia Institute.

The only region with fewer vacancies in April 2022 than a year earlier was western NSW around Dubbo, down 13.2pc to 1392, after a peak in jobs on offer in late 2021.

Biggest monthly vacancy growth from March to April 2022 was in SA's Port Augusta and the Eyre Peninsula region, up 5.9pc to 630; regional Northern Territory up 4.5pc to 912; ACT up 3.4pc to 8328; Blue Mountains, Bathurst and Central West NSW, up 3pc 2346, and the Gold Coast, up 2.6pc to 6943.

However, the biggest annual growth to April was outback Queensland up 59pc; Victoria's Geelong and Surf Coast region, up 54pc; Queensland's Sunshine Coast, up 39pc; Central Queensland, up 37pc, and Gippsland in Victoria, up 36pc.

The RAI said unemployment in many regions was well under 2.5pc.

Fast food group McDonald's home delivery service, coffee and an increasingly popular smart phone app have helped propel the company to a 14 per cent profit leap to $236.4 million in 2021.

McDonald's Australia's revenue for the calendar year climbed from $1.7 billion to $1.8b despite the COVID-19 pandemic's social distancing and lockdown restrictions.

In fact, the US parent company's dividend from Australia was more than double the previous year at $270m, while its tax bill jumped from $79m to $101m.

The Australian business has nearly 1000 outlets, and despite the pandemic and acute labour shortages in some markets, opened 21 of its trademark family-friendly restaurants last year.

The MyMacca's digital app generated 30m orders, while 10pc of all McDonald's orders went to home delivery customers.

Japanese global financial company, Nomura Group, and trading giant, Mitsui and Company, will take control of Sydney-based land assets and natural capital manager New Forests, which includes part ownership of the big Lawson Grains property portfolio.

Lawson Grains, established by Macquarie Bank, was sold to New Forests and Canada's Alberta Investment Management Corporation eight months ago for a price speculated to be around $550 million.

Sydney-based New Forests manages a diverse 1m hectare global portfolio of timber plantations and conservation areas, farmland, carbon and conservation finance projects, timber processing and infrastructure worth $7.8 billion.

Mitsui, which already held a 23 per cent stake will lift its holding in New Forests to 49pc while Nomura takes 41pc and 10pc of the business will go to New Forests employees.

Founder and chief executive officer, David Brand, stays with the company until June, 2025.

Infant formula business Bubs Australia has locked in a jackpot deal to supply 1.25 million tins of product to the US to help ease a North American milk powder product shortage.

The agreement sent Bubs shares leaping about 50 per cent to peak at more than 70c this week before falling back to about 62c each.

The company, which began selling toddler formula in the US last year, will supply its Bubs Supreme A2 cow's milk protein formula, Bubs organic grass fed formula and Bubs Easy-digest goat milk infant formula products.

It said 500,000 tins were ready for immediate export and a further 750,000 would be in production in the next few months at its Victorian plant in Dandenong.

The US government is fostering initiatives to approve extra imports after major local supplier, Abbott Laboratories, closed its Michigan processing plant early this year when two babies reportedly died after being fed formula made at the site.

Beston Global Foods has defied the 3.2 per cent national decline in milk production, increasing its intake 8pc in the first half of 2021-22, and is on track to lift the year's processing volume by 10 million litres to 155m.

Chief executive officer, Fabrizio Jorge said the company's key product portfolios, including mozzarella cheese, lactoferrin, whey, cream and meat processing, all outperformed last year's production numbers.

Much of South Australian-based Beston's milk supply requirements had also been contracted for next financial year as it focused on making the most of its Murray Bridge dairy plant's specialty cheese lines.

Beston has also partnered with Mondelez Australia's Mount Gambier plant to supply milk for cream cheese to be sold under its Edwards Crossing label.

It recently announced a raft of senior staff appointments following Mr Jorge taking the CEO's job, including Nick Wagner's promotion to chief financial officer, and former Fonterra technical executive, David Isherwood, becoming chief manufacturing officer, a role which replaces the chief operating officer position.

The Australian Taxation Office has developed a range of resources to help agriculture sector workers get their tax right in preparation for July 1.

The ATO says lodging a tax return doesn't have to be hard yakka thanks to tips it has to help employees understand what work related expenses they can and can't claim.

A work-related expenses guide for agriculture has also been translated into several other languages.

For taxpayers lodging claims online, the ATO suggests the best time to submit their return is from late July by which time information from employers, banks and health funds will be automatically included in a tax return.

Once an online tax return has been lodged it should take about two weeks to be processed and its progress can be monitored by logging into ATO online services through myGov or using the ATO app.

The Australian Agricultural Company's chief financial officer, Nigel Simonsz, will leave the company at the end of July, moving from Brisbane to a new role closer to home in Melbourne.

AACo confirmed his resignation, saying it was undertaking an executive search to find a new CFO, during which time its internal financial capabilities would ensure an orderly transition.

The University of Southern Queensland, based in Toowoomba, is marking 55 years since opening to 140 students and 13 staff as Queensland Institute of Technology's Darling Downs' campus.

The name later changed to The Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, then the University College of Southern Queensland in 1990, and finally USQ in January 1992.

University of Southern Queensland vice chancellor, Professor Geraldine Mackenzie, said reaching the latest educational milestone, including 30 years as a university, marked a significant contribution to southern Queensland communities.

Notably, in the past five years remarkable progress had been achieved, including the opening of the $16 million Agricultural Science and Engineering Precinct, the discovery of exoplanets at USQ's MINERVA-Australis facility, and becoming one of eight national Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs.

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