Agribusiness buzz in brief

The year's 13,000 tonne harvest has finally ended, but 2022 will be remembered as a tough season with cool and wet weather creating issues for walnut growth and harvest delays.

Australia's walnut production is set to be worth $95 million by 2030.

Around 40 per cent of locally-grown walnuts are exported, with the sector capitalising on its ability to be a reliable and premium quality supplier to northern hemisphere markets in their off-season.

Australian Walnut Industry Association president, Michele Valier, said young trees were coming into production and more new areas were being planted.

The nuts were rapidly gaining popularity as a plant-based source of protein, with scientific research showing a handful of walnuts (30 grams) eaten daily as part of a healthy diet could promote heart health, improve blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, with no impact on body weight.

SunRice has flagged "particularly favourable trading conditions" in the final months of its 2021-22 trading year ahead of releasing its full year results on June 23.

Strong trading conditions have enabled the national rice exporter to wrap up grain sales from the 2021 harvest pool and increase the payment price range to be made to growers - up from a minimum $410 a tonne for medium grain Reiziq to $420/t.

The final pool payment will be confirmed later this month.

Meanwhile, the company's A-class grower shareholders last week re-elected Rice Marketing Board nominees, John Bradford and Ian Mason to the SunRice board at a special general meeting.

Although Mr Bradford and Mr Mason received 75.7 per cent and 67.7pc support from participating voters, the ballot attracted a total of 31 and 41 respective 'no' votes, reflecting some grower friction with the automatic process of RMB nominees joining the SunRice board.

West Australian fertiliser manufacturing hopeful, Strike Energy, is to move its planned $3 billion urea plant from a site proposed at Geraldton to a 3500 hectare farm above the South Erregulla gas fields in the state's Mid-West.

The property was recently purchased for $13.5m

Strike expects the new location will cut about $85m from its construction costs by avoiding the need to pipe gas about 100 kilometres to the coast.

Strike claims the urea fertiliser process it plans will have carbon emissions of just 0.38 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of fertiliser produced, or only a sixteenth of the emmissions produced by existing urea plants.

However the project is also dependent on Strike finding sufficient reliable flow gas reserves underground and supporting equity partners to help pay for the development.

Cotton Australia's 50th anniversary is being recognised by the Farm Writers Association of NSW with a focus on the fast expanding sector at its June 24 monthly lunch forum.

A panel of growers and traders will discuss the big question - Can cotton maintain its momentum?

Speakers will be Toowoomba-based broker and Northern Territory cotton share farmer, Pete Johnson, LFS Agri; Cotton Australia director and Queensland farmer, Fleur Anderson, and Cotton Seed Distributors director and 2021 Australian Cotton Grower of the Year, Tony Quigley, from Central West NSW.

With cotton prices at an exceptional $950 a bale, or more, and a new breed of pioneers developing ambitious ventures across northern and southern Australia, cotton is an industry on the move.

Regardless of wet weather setbacks, this year's 5.5 million bale harvest is set to be worth about $4 billion.

Sumitomo representative on the Nufarm board of directors since 2012, Toshikazu Takasaki, has resigned following the Japanese multinational's decision to offload its final 16 per cent stake in the Australian crop chemical business.

Nufarm chairman, John Gillam, said he and fellow directors thanked Takasaki-san for his unwavering dedication and support to the Nufarm business for almost a decade.

Meanwhile, directors Peter Margin and Lynne Saint have both picked up extra Nufarm shares as part of fee sacrifice payments under a directors'share rights plan.

Mr Margin acquired 4197 shares and Ms Saint 7631, worth $22,663 and $41,207 respectively.

Elders has completed the sale of its 30 per cent ownership stake in short term livestock finance business, StockCo, to New Zealand-based banking group Heartland.

The deal was part of a full $143 million sale involving all of StockCo's shareholders.

Elders will book a non-underlying profit on the sale of between $20m and $22m, but will continue offering Stockco finance products to its clients for the next five years.

In NZ Heartland Bank provides livestock finance similar to StockCo, plus other rural loan options, and reverse home mortgages in Australia, giving older home owners options to withdraw equity from their property.

Television chef and business owner, Adam Liaw, has launched Australian Made Week at Melbourne commercial catering equipment manufacturer, Luus Industries, urging consumer support of local makers and growers for far-reaching benefits for all Aussies.

Australian Made Week runs until June 12, during which Mr Liaw, as ambassador for the promotion, is encouraging shoppers and businesses to seek out and buy genuine Australian products bearing the trusted green-and-gold kangaroo logo.

He said Australian family businesses such as Luus were crucial contributors to the economy, representing 67 per cent of all Australian businesses and 55pc of private sector employment.

Recent Roy Morgan research showed nearly three-quarters of those surveyed were concerned about the number of products sold in Australia which were made overseas.

Australian Made Week 2022 follows on from the success of last year's inaugural campaign.

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Water monitoring technology business Farmbohas appointed former real estate website technology engineer, Fabien Ruffin, as its chief technology officer, overseeing the development of all facets of Farmbot technology.

He joins Farmbot after 13 years at the Domain Group, one of Australia's largest real estate websites, and more recently as the CTO of Insurtech scale-up, Wilbur Solutions.

With Farmbot well into its journey from start-up to scale-up and international trials underway, his rich background would be invaluable through this period of growt," said managing director Andrew Coppin.

"By having a clear technology development strategy we can be sure that Farmbot continues to provide farmers with the tools they need to better manage their on-farm assets, and run more sustainable and productive businesses."

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, in conjunction with its partners, including local Community Banks, has awarded 178 first time students more than $635,000 as part of its 2022 Scholarship Program.

Established in 2007, the initiative has provided more than $11 million to 1336 students and is one of the country's leading, privately funded, scholarship programs.

The program gives students opportunities to access a range of scholarships - up to the value of $5000 - to help ease financial burdens associated with the transition to tertiary education.

Scholarships are primarily funded by Bendigo's Community Bank network to help with the cost of travel, accommodation, tutoring, course materials or study equipment.

Among those awarded this year were 15 scholarships of $5000 for rural and regional students, from Bendigo and Adelaide Bank; four scholarships of $5000 for two years for Indigenous students studying at university or TAFE, from Bendigo Bank; 12 scholarships (including two Indigenous) of $5000 for students desiring to to contribute to the agricultural sector, from Rural Bank and a variety of scholarships from different community banks which focusing on university, TAFE, and secondary school study.

Recipients' studies include agriculture, information technology, commerce, architecture, science, education, health, hospitality and engineering.

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