(FarmersEdge.ca)

Major investment to build Farmers Edge’s data power

Canadian precision agronomy and farm data management firm Farmers Edge plans to keep taking its services to previously underserved acres around the world, with a major cash infusion from a group of its backers. Japanese commodities trading and investment firm Mitsui, Toronto commercial real estate company Osmington and the Green Growth Fund operated by investment […] Read more

Australia’s Treasurer Scott Morrison, shown here earlier this year, has blocked the sale of S. Kidman’s farmland holdings to overseas bidders. (ScottMorrison.com.au)

Australia blocks foreign firm’s deal for largest farm owner

Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Thursday blocked the sale of the country’s largest landowner, private farming group S. Kidman and Co., to foreign investors, saying an agricultural area the size of South Korea should remain in Australian hands. Ownership of farmland is a sensitive political issue in Australia amid concerns that foreign buyers are […] Read more


Research plots at Southern Farming System’s Inverleigh location.

Herbicide resistance rampant in Australia

In Australia, herbicide resistance is an industry-wide problem that needs solutions

Western Australia’s farmers are fighting herbicide resistant weeds by doing everything from burning windrows to using chaff carts. But what works in one state doesn’t necessarily translate to another. In the state of Victoria, the longer growing season means much of the annual ryegrass has fallen into the base of the crop by harvest, says […] Read more

The Ute (short for utility vehicle) is the typical Australian farm truck. The classic Toyota is the most popular.

These Utes are real road warriors

The tough, left-drive trucks driven by Aussies bring to mind those crazy Mad Max vehicles

The most obvious difference between road travel in Canada and Australia, is those blokes down under insist on driving on the wrong side of the centre line. A feat that requires a little concentration the first time you try it — if you’re used to Canadian highways. Australian farmers who’ve learned to adeptly shift gears […] Read more


PHOTOS: Getting around in Australia

Scott Garvey's recent trip down under gave him a chance to see how some Aussie farmers travel

Australian farmers who’ve learned to adeptly shift gears with their left hand have the same basic needs as Canadian farmers when it comes to getting around. They need a pickup to use on the farm and to get them to town, and they need heavy trucks to haul livestock and grain. But from there, things […] Read more

Seeding near the Goyder Line, Peterborough, South Australia.


Australians resilient to herbicide resistance

After the Millennium Drought, Australian farmers handle herbicide resistance with confidence

To understand how Australian farmers handle herbicide resistance, it’s useful to know about the Millennium Drought. The drought stretched over a decade and tested farmers’ mettle. But they emerged from those dry years with heightened confidence, says Brad Collis, editor of Ground Cover. “The industry’s come through it in very resilient frame.” Collis credits agriculture’s […] Read more


Time will tell if the Aussie beef market maintains its strength.

Optimism stoked the Australian cattle market

Indicators favoured a strong cattle market in Australia but time will tell if strength will be maintained

Earlier this year I participated in a webinar sponsored by Meat and Livestock Australia and came away with some incredible optimism and understanding more clearly why the Australian cattle frenzy is continuing. The stars are indeed lining up in 2015 for Australian cattle producers and the new record prices set on a daily basis from […] Read more

Australia’s premiere farm equipment expo, Commonwealth Bank AgQuip showcases 64 acres of farm-related exhibits.

AgQuip, one of Australia’s premiere farm machinery shows

The large outdoor equipment expo near Gunnedah, NSW, attracts visitors from across the country

When the annual Commonwealth Bank AgQuip farm equipment show rolls around each August, the small city of Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia (where the event is held) gets inundated with visitors from virtually every region of the country, not to mention foreign visitors. In fact, the demand for hotel accommodations becomes far greater than what’s […] Read more


PHOTOS: AgQuip farm equipment show in Australia

AgQuip’s 64 acre outdoor site gets roughly 3,000 exhibitors and organizations jammed into it. An interesting mix of Australian-, European- and North American-built equipment and vehicles are on display which included three different brands of Canadian-built seeding equipment. The event has a strong attraction to urban residents, some of whom travel long distances to come and spend a day […] Read more

This Droughtmaster heifer was one of the animals on display at the breed exhibit during the Commonwealth Bank AgQuip event in Australia in August.

Cattle bred for Australia’s north

Grainews in Australia: With a little Canadian help, producers down under created Droughtmaster cattle

There probably isn’t a cattle farmer anywhere across the Canadian prairie in January that wouldn’t gladly trade places with an Australian farmer, particularly when the mercury disappears in the bottom of the thermometer. But the generally balmy climate down under isn’t without its challenges for stock growers either. The conditions cattle must contend with in the northern […] Read more