AgWatchers

#174 We welcome our robot overlords

We have a chat with Tim Neale, founder of DataFarming. Tim is a straight talker when it comes to ag and ag tech and was a guest on episode #78 (click here to listen).
In this podcast, we chat about artificial intelligence, the GPS failure last month, insurance in agriculture and a whole lot more. 

#173 Watt’s up? A chat with the ag minister.

After a year in the ag portfolio, Murray Watt finally comes onto the Agwatchers podcast for a chat. 
Our discussions include live export, trade with China, farm labour, biosecurity (and levies), foot and mouth disease, and much more. Remember to subscribe and share with your friends and family, etc. 

#172 The silence of the lambs

In this podcast, we chat with Clarice Ané van den Berg, a farmer from Limpopo in South Africa. This podcast is another in our series with the Global Sheep Forum (link here), and we discuss a range of topics; Foot and Mouth disease, wild animals, cheap South African labour and more.

#171 Biosecurity budget - a levy or a tax on farming?

The budget announcement this week included increased funding for biosecurity, which was welcomed by most in agriculture. The concern was that some of this extra funding would come from a 10% increase in farmer levies. 
Colin Bettles, CEO of Grain Producers Australia, came onto the podcast to discuss this issues and his feelings about it. As always, we cover a few tangents. 

#170 Two bob’s worth

We chatted with Australia's current longest-running federal minister Bob Katter, from far north Queensland. We hear Bob's views on ethanol, farm labour, land clearing laws and much more. 

#169 Guns, germs and succession (from Australia).

We have a chat with Trevor Whittington, CEO of WA Farmers. We chat about government intervention, sheep live exports (and EID tags), the succession of WA from Australia, gun reform, trade with China and a whole lot more. 
 
A longer form podcast this time. 

#168 Grain and Graze - Market Update

No guests today, just us having a chat about markets. A few tangents along the way, but we discuss cattle prices, grain markets and anonymous fertilizer trolls. 

#167 Educating the next generation about agriculture

"City folk don't understand anything about agriculture". This is a comment we hear a lot, and one of the best ways to get over the rural-metro divide is to educate the next generation. 
We speak with Luciana Mesiti, the CEO of the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA), about the challenges and benefits of teaching agriculture in the curriculum. 

#166 Littleprouds scorecard for Watt.

In this episode, we are joined by David Littleproud, leader of the Federal National Party and former Minister for Agriculture.David has never been afraid to put an opinion forward, much like the podcast hosts. In this episode, we are given a review of the government's and Murray Watts's performance, his views on his time in the ag minister role, and discussions about the live export of sheep, biosecurity and farm labour. 

#165 Australia and China enter into couples therapy.

A follow-up episode examining further the positive news in relation to the Chinese agreement to expedite their review of the barley tariff. We are joined by GM of policy at Grain Growers Limited. We cover off and debate the change and what it could mean for trade and Australian farmers. 

#164 China back for barley?

A quick market update on livestock, followed by a discussion of grains. We discuss the news of the thawing of relations with China in relation to barley. 

#163 Agricultural Truths - Emma Uncut.

We have an open discussion with Emma Germano, mixed farmer and president of the Victorian Farmers Federation. We cover advocacy in agriculture, the merry-go-round of policy money, the hypocrisy of labour unions and much more. 

#162 Opening a potash mine

On this podcast, we have a chat with Ignacio Salazar, CEO of ASX-listed Highfield Resources. 
The global potash industry is centred around a couple of main players, and Highfield is in the process of setting up a potash mine in Spain. We chat about the difficulties in getting a project like this off the ground and what it means for fertilizer markets. 

#161 Fertilizer price crash.

We don't often have repeat guests on the podcast but we have made an exception for Chris Lawson. Chris is the head of fertilizers at CRU and is providing us with an update on a whole range of issues around the fertilizer space. 

#160 Affairs in the Aussie Sheep Industry.

In another of our partnership podcasts with the Global Sheep Forum, we talk to Georgia White from NSW. 
 
We discuss the affairs of the sheep industry; live export, mulesing, fashion, fake meat and a lot more. 

#159 The loosest market update

A market update, which does admittedly get a bit loose. We cover Russian grain deals, carbon markets, sheep and cattle markets, live sheep export, fertilizer and GM wheat. 
 

#158 Carbon Cowboys

"I'd rather die than sell carbon credits."This week at the ABARES conference, we listened to Fiona Conroy, a livestock producer from near Geelong, discuss her farm and environmental markets (namely carbon). In this presentation, Fiona discussed points never usually mentioned in reference to carbon markets - the risks that farmers face in selling credits. We thought we would get her onto the podcast to have a chat about her views. 

#157 Some market musings.

It's been a while since we have conducted a quick market update. In this episode, we have a chat about mutton markets, cattle projections, grain pricing, fertilizer pricing and our usual tangents.

#156 Terrible Trudeau and sheep in the snow.

As part of our Global Sheep Forum (Next Gen Producers), we have a chat with Matt Francisco. 
Matt is a 1st generation sheep farmer on the outskirts of Toronto. We chat about the issues facing him and the industry as a young farmer in Canada. 

#155 Free trade ain’t free

We have a chat with Patrick Hutchinson, CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council. Patrick is open for a robust discussion as always and we cover off on free trade, labour and policy.