Agribusiness buzz in brief

The five seat board presently includes chairman and former southern NSW grower, Tim Watson, now living in Victoria, and Namoi Valley farmer and accountant, Juanita Hamparsum.

Mr Watson said Namoi's previous constitution requiring an equal mix of growers and non grower board experience was viewed as too restrictive.

No concerns about modifying the rules were raised by farmer shareholders prior to last week's annual general meeting, which recorded a 98 per cent special resolution vote to drop the grower quota rule.

"We still believe grower representation should be reflected on the board and we intend to have at least two representatives from the industry, but that should not be mandated to a set number," Mr Watson said.

SunRice directors will be required to buy a minimum number of publicly traded B-class shares, equivalent to a year's board fees, if shareholders approve at the company's August 24 annual general meeting.

The new share rights plan, designed to increase the board's alignment with the interests of shareholders, will permit directors to sacrifice a full year's board fees to qualify for their shares.

The AGM, in Jerilderie, will also see independent director Luisa Cantanzaro, standing for re-election by A-class (grower) shareholders.

Mining and agribusiness billionaire Andrew Forrest's appetite for Bega Cheese continues to grow, with his West Australian's family investment trust Tattarang lifting its stake in the national dairy processor to 11.5 per cent.

The latest 4.55 million share acquisition cost $15m and gained Tattarang another 1.5pc of the company.

Dr Forrest's tactical advance takes advantage of a general slide in Bega's share price in response to rising cost pressures, including much more competitive farmgate milk prices which started the new financial year about 30pc higher than 12 months ago.

Flooding, freight chain disruptions and costs and the impact of Russia's Ukraine war on global markets have also gnawed at Bega's balance sheet, although it reported to investors many of its rising business costs had now been passed on as higher wholesale prices.

Bega Cheese shares have slipped in value from $5.03 each in April to be about $3.45 this week, although they dropped as low as $3.20 in mid July.

Sydney-based cold-pressed, extended shelf life milk processor, MadeByCow, is seeking fresh investment backing so it can double its weekly processing capacity to 200,000 litres next financial year.

The specialist high pressure processor, which does not use homogenisation or pastuerisation to kill bacteria, yet produces milk with a six week refrigerated shelf life, has gradually gained retail space in Coles and Woolworths supermarkets since launching in 2016 and also sells in 750 independent stores, primarily in eastern Australia.

The company plans to install more high pressure processing gear and increase its marketing efforts to double its representation in Coles and Woolworths to about 800 and 500 stores, respectively.

Bottles of 1.5 litre MadeByCow full cream and lactose-free milk lines retail for a pricey $5.35 each.

Part of the 61-strong Saab 340 turboprop fleet flying with Regional Express is to be converted to zero emission to electric engines.

Rex has formed a partnership with Dovetail Electric Aviation, a joint venture between the owner of Sydney Seaplanes and Dante Aeronautical, a startup company based in Australia and Spain which is pioneering clean aviation solutions.

The new Dovetail partnership will develop and certify the retrofitted electric engines onto legacy aircraft, starting with regional and general aviation aircraft.

Rex is to initially provide one plane as a testbed, as well as its engineering and technical expertise, maintenance support, storage facilities and workforce accommodation.

Deputy chairman, John Sharp, was "proud and excited" to be at the forefront of developments in sustainable regional aviation "helping our national efforts in achieving net zero emissions by 2050".

Meanwhile, Rex has taken delivery of a new 34 seat Saab aircraft to help it accommodate service increases on 11 key regional routes in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, including flights from Sydney to Broken Hill, Coffs Harbour, Merimbula, Orange, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga; Melbourne flights to Mildura and Devonport, and an Adelaide to Port Lincoln run.

Steel products maker, scrap metal recycler and steel manufacturing business, InfraBuild, will close its southern NSW silo building business at Jindera, near Albury, next year.

Several factors, including skills shortages and broader market conditions led to the decision to cease manufacturing silos once current order obligations are met at the site, which employs five full time staff.

Production of other non-silo products will shift to the company's Geelong site in Victoria.

Distribution and processing executive general manager, Greg Jones, said various options were considered before deciding to close Jinderra, including a potential sale.

"The longer transition period will ensure our existing silo orders are fulfilled by mid 2023 and it gives us time to work with our staff to explore alternative roles at nearby InfraBuild sites, and provide time for our distributors to plan their next steps."

Concerns are rising about threats to Indigenous rock art at the West Australian site where Perth-based Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers plans to build a $4.3 billion urea plant.

The company is currently talking with traditional owners of land where the plant is proposed on the Burrup Peninsula in North West WA, near Kurratha, who fear the project will accelerate degradation of rock art estimated to be up to 40,000 years old.

Perdaman agreed not to begin any work on the three-year construction project before August.

However, the new federal government is also considering a request to invoke federal heritage protection laws which may involve an emergency protection order lasting three months.

Major domestic nitrogen fertiliser producer, Incitec Pivot, is relying on the Perdaman project to provide a new source of locally made urea after it closes its gas-hungry Gibson Island plant in Queensland next year.

Judy Brewer, wife of former Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, has stepped up to fill the patron's role her husband held with the Country Education Foundation after his retirement from politics.

Mr Fischer was patron for 15 years until his death in 2019 and the job remained unfilled until this year.

Foundation chairman, Nick Burton Taylor, said asking Ms Brewer to assume the position was an obvious and natural choice as she shared her late husband's dedication to improving educational outcomes and had a passion for rural and regional Australia.

For 25 years Ms Brewer, a former business and economics lecturer at Charles Sturt and La Trobe universities, has been a high profile speaker, writer and advocate on issues relating to education, autism and family carers.

AWN director, John Maher, has succeeded chairman of 11 years, Brendon Lunney, who steps back to be deputy chair as part of a board reshuffle.

Mr Maher has been a director of the agribusiness services company, formerly known as Australian Wool Network, since 2019.

He was previously managing director of Ruralco Holdings and chief executive officer of the Indigenous Land Corporation, and also held executive roles at Wesfarmers and AWB Ltd where he led Landmark's (now Nutrien) rural services business.

His appointment follows this month's retirement of long-serving director, Barry Walker, a board member since the company's inception in 1999, who served as deputy chairman for 23 years.

Managing director, John Colley, said the new board structure positioned AWN for the next step in its growth trajectory.

"John's extensive leadership and corporate governance experience, coupled with his track record in agribusiness, makes him the ideal person to fill the chairman's role," he said.

Founded as a specialist wool business in 1999, AWN rapidly grew to become Australia's largest independent wool broker, more recently widening its focus into diversified wool, livestock and property services at an increasing number of locations.

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents says travel professionals are doing their utmost to raise awareness of the necessary steps to keep the highly contagious foot and mouth disease out of Australia.

The industry was highlighting the importance of not bringing meat, dairy or animal products into Australia, including freeze-dried or frozen products; making sure footwear, clothing and equipment used near animals or in rural areas was cleaned properly, including shoe laces, and reporting any travel in rural areas or near farm animals on incoming passenger declarations.

The AFTA was also working with the Department of Agriculture to finesse resources for travel agents to provide customers.

"This is a significant threat that all Australians need to understand and take seriously," said AFTA chief executive officer, Dean Long (pictured).

"However, closing the highly important Indonesian travel corridor at this stage would be a very blunt measure with massive economic and cultural damage for the Australian marketplace and our travel sector when there are still prevention measures being fully deployed."

United Malt Group is looking for a new chief financial officer to replace Amy Spanik who leaves the company in October.

She has held the role since the company demerged from GrainCorp in 2020 to list as an independent entity, having previously worked with GrainCorp for 10 years.

Ryan Dutcher, who has been a senior finance team consultant to the company since January, has been appointed interim CFO and will be assisted by Ms Spanik as she transitions out of the company to pursue other opportunities.

Farmsafe Australia's next biennial national conference, titled "Recipe for Averting Disaster" will be held in Canberra on September 14 and 15.

Chair, Felicity Richards, said the event's theme was a vital element of the farm safety agenda, and reinforced the importance of keeping safety front of mind when farming.

The conference agenda includes a panel discusion on making training and certification more accessible and practical for farming, and presentations on child safety and mental health.

It will also focus on many of the intangible risks on-farm, including the blurred line between the home and the work environment, current labour shortages and resultant stress on workload, fatigue management, complacency, and mental health.

The conference follows a similar Farm Safety Week theme this month whereby Farmsafe shone a light on the many intangible factors impacting farm safety across Australia.

Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.