Page 15 - National Poultry Newspaper

Farmers thankful for support on challenging day
NATIONAL Farm- ers’ Federation CEO Tony Mahar said the so-called ‘world’s big- gest’ action had failed to have the impact and reach organisers desired, reflecting the group’s out-of-touch sentiments.
“These people are opposed to pets, guide dogs and even aquari- ums, their views are not representative of the general community.”
However, Mr Mahar said at least one farm and numerous supply chain businesses had been subject to inva- sions, and these stunts were enough to leave the sector feeling frustrated.
“Around 6am on the day, extremists unlaw- fully entered a Queens- land dairy, directing explicit language at the farmer and frightening
the cattle to such an ex- tent they jumped fences. “Meat processors in
Yangan, Queensland; Goulburn, NSW and Laverton, Victoria were also targeted by small groups who chained themselves to equipment and shut down operations for a number of hours.
“We thank the police in these states for act- ing quickly, and in many cases we are aware the offenders have been charged.”
These actions were ac- companied by a large event in Melbourne’s central business district, which included obstruct- ing the entrance to the SeaLife Aquarium.
Mr Mahar said Aus- tralians had rallied be- hind farmers throughout the day.
“We’ve been buoyed by the outpouring of
support for our farmers, from individuals, from the media and from poli- ticians – including from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the Attorney General Christian Porter and Agriculture and Wa- ter Resources Minister David Littleproud,” he said.
“We certainly have ap- preciated the well wish- es and I have to say, mutual outrage, felt by our fellow Australians.”
Mr Mahar said despite being besieged by chal- lenges such as drought and in some cases floods, Australian farm- ers continued to produce safe, quality food and fibre in accordance with world’s best practices.
“We take the respon- sibility of meeting com- munity expectations very seriously and will always commit to doing better
where needs be,” he said. “We are proud of what wedoandhowwedoit, and will gladly welcome visitors to our farm, as long as we are given the chance to officially
grant entry.”
Mr Mahar said the
NFF was in conversa- tion with the Federal Government about pos- sible avenues of legal re- course and continued to work with its members to implore state govern- ments to toughen tres- pass laws.
“We acknowledge the Federal Government’s move to recently amend privacy laws to prevent the sharing of farmers’ private address details,” he said.
“We still await ac- tion on stripping Aussie Farms of its taxpayer- funded charity status.”
McDonald’s influence on the supply chain
THE news that a third of McDonald’s eggs in its US supply chain are now sourced from cage free systems three years after the fast food giant announced it would be totally cage free shows its impact on the supply chain.
The fast food giant, which was established in 1940, buys about two billion eggs a year – almost 2 percent of the total in the US.
And when it made its announcement to go cage free in September 2015, more than 200 other food businesses announced they would follow suit and change their sourcing policy.
McDonald’s has opted for an aviary-style barn system for its new cage free eggs, which are sup- plied in the US by Cargill,
which highlighted strong demand for eggs in the US in its Q3 2018 results.
As the supply of cage free eggs has grown in the US, the price differential has shrunk.
At the beginning of 2017 it was $US1.80/ dozen, compared with just $US0.81/dozen late last year, according to Bloomberg.
It demonstrates the power such a large player at the end of the supply chain has on its suppliers, and the impact it can have on farming practices.
Consider other major retailers and foodservice providers that have an- nounced changes to their sourcing policy.
Nestle, for example, is committed to cage free eggs globally by 2025 and will switch to slower-
growing broiler breeds for its poultry meat products in the US and Europe by 2024 and 2026, respec- tively.
Perdue Farms in the US, which now produces 95 percent of its poultry anti- biotic free, advertises the fact it does so openly.
In the UK, windows in broiler farms will soon be more or less universal, and almost every retailer in the country has an- nounced a move to cage free eggs – whether free range or barn replaces them remains to be seen.
Cargill egg sustainabil- ity lead Kristin Tupa said, “McDonald’s works hard to know its supply chain well and understand the chal- lenges producers face.”
“This is important be- cause together we are lit- erally creating the supply of cage free eggs.”
Originally published by Jake Davies at poultry world.net
Farmers2Founders
workshops facilitating
emerging entrepreneurs
AGRIFUTURES Aus- tralia is proud to sup- port Farmers2Founders, a new entrepreneurship program designed to support primary produc- ers adopting emerging technologies, new busi- ness models and embrac- ing changing consumer markets.
The F2F program has been designed to help producers build their en- trepreneurial and techno- logical skills so they can solve real industry issues, capitalise on and commer- cialise new technologies and bring novel, high-val- ue products to market.
AgriFutures Australia senior manager Business Development Jennifer Medway helped the F2F team kick off the program recently with a series of workshops, and presented at the first workshop in the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland.
Ms Medway said it was really encouraging to the see the number of produc- ers looking to diversify and adopt emerging in- dustries in the Atherton Tablelands.
“For the industry to re- alise the National Farm- ers’ Federation’s target of a $100 billion agricul- ture sector by 2030, the growth of new industries will need to be much more rapid,” she said.
“The Atherton Table- lands or ‘the food bowl’ of the northern tropics has a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the sundry of emerging industries.
“Through F2F and other AgriFutures Australia pro- grams we’re working with individuals, businesses and emerging industries to sup- port their establishment and growth.”
tralia, aim to expose farm- ers to the latest trends and benefits of emerging new agriculture, food and fibre technologies, and show how these cutting-edge technologies can benefit their business.
“As a F2F project part- ner, AgriFutures Australia will also host a dedicated F2F workshop for our in- dustries later this year,” Ms Medway said.
Following the work- shops, farmers who are ready to transform their businesses on-farm and beyond the farmgate can apply for the F2F inno- vators or early adopters streams in agtech, food- tech and food innovation.
Partner and CEO of AgThentic Sarah Nolet and CEO of Food Futures Company Dr Christine Pitt established Farmers- 2Founders after they saw a gap between the agricul- ture and tech communi- ties and knew a unique project was needed to solve the problem.
According to Sarah, F2F’s aim is to elevate the role of producers to solve real problems.
“Producers have hard- won expertise, insights, context and networks,” she said.
“We must unlock this potential and enable pro- ducers to catalyse more high value agrifood in- novations.”
The next round of F2F workshops will be held in Gippsland, Victoria and Bendigo, Victoria on May 22 and June 18, respec- tively.
F2F is supported by Ag- riFutures Australia, Aus- tralian Wool Innovation, Grains Research and De- velopment Corporation, Meat & Livestock Aus- tralia and Wine Australia.
The regional workshops,
in locations across Aus- www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, May 2019 – Page 15