AgWatchers

#130 Ukraine Grain Deal and Falling Livestock Pricing.

Just the two of us. A lot happening in ag markets at the moment. The big news over the past week has been the 'deal' to open up a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports. We also cover the falling livestock prices in recent months and some discussions about a global downturn.
 
 

#129 Two long years of AgWatchers

It's been an interesting two years. COVID, FMD, invasion of Ukraine, a new Australian government, and so much more. Clearly, the biggest event was the start of the AgWatchers podcast, Australia's most amateur agricultural podcast. The tables are turned on this podcast as we enlist a professional for our 2-year anniversary. Warwick Long, ABC Countryhour, turns the tables on us as we have a chat about the past two years. 

#128 The Facts on FMD from the Chief Vet

We talk to Mark Schipp, the Australian Chief Veterinarian Officer. In this podcast we go through the facts about FMD (and LSD/Varroa mite). 
 
Are we prepared? Are feral pigs a risk? Do footbaths work? Do we need to ban Bali trips? What is the compensation? What is the risk? What are the controls in place? and a few other topics. 

#127 Road Trippin

Wheat down, canola down and cattle down. We are back from a week or so on the road presenting around the country. After we get over the first few minutes of meandering through what we learnt on the road, we cover off the big drivers of the livestock and grain markets. 

#126 The Presidents views on the industry.

In this episode, we recorded live from the stage of the VFF livestock and grains conference in Ballarat. We had a chat Steve Harrison (Livestock President) and Ashley Fraser (Grains President) about the big issues impacting agriculture from changing governments to labour requirements. 

#125 Flowing through the big topics.

This week we did a joint episode with FlowFM, a South Australian radio channel. In this episode, we chat about food inflation, labour, government protectionism and a whole lot more. 

#124 Getting our meat trade back

We have a chat with Andrew Henderson, consultant and chair of the SAFEMEAT advisory group.If FMD hits Australia, the impact could be $300m per week in lost trade, and your sheep/cattle will lose their value. Exotic diseases are on the border. We have a chat with an expert on livestock traceability to discuss, firstly what happens to trade if we get FMD, and the debate around EID tags (and the database). 

#123 Restocking livestock, China barley ban and ’opening’ of Ukraine.

Just the two of us, as we talk about livestock and grain markets. 
 
The restock in Australia, the destocking in the USA - what could this mean in the future?. We talk about FMD, as a risk factor to the grain industry, the 're-opening of Ukraine grain' and the two years on from the barley ban. 

#122 Day Zero for Water?

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” – Benjamin FranklinIn this podcast, we chat with Jay Famiglietti, a professor from the University of Saskatchewan, and former NASA chief scientist. This is a sobering discussion on areas of the world, that are at major risk of running out of water, and the need to be more efficient with our water usage - something Australia is already top-notch at. Jay is a regular commentator on the risk of declining water availability around the world, including in the major aquifers. He was recently involved in the Day Zero documentary and runs his own podcast on water.  Watch the Day Zero Documentary here, and catch up on the What about Water podcast here

#121 Carbon Dating

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about carbon markets, we wanted to chat with someone about it from a market point of view. So we had a yarn with Andrew Glass, of Viridios AI about carbon and ESG markets. Andrew has a background in commodity trading (grains, minerals and energy) and has switched to carbon. This discussion looks at carbon from a markets/economic point of view. 

#120 Be profitable in agriculture

We have a chat with Kate Burke, the principal of Think Agri and author of 'Crops People Money & You'.This is a huge conversation covering a range of topics around one of our favourite topics - profitability. We also cover some controversial topics. 

#119 We take on diversity.

When everyone thinks the same, nobody is thinking. 
At AgWatchers we are a diverse pair, at least from our backgrounds. Diversity has been a big talking point when we have been at events in recent weeks. 
We have a chat with Kristina Hermanson, about what is diversity, and is it really needed?

#118 Wheat to the moon

A very quick update. Wheat prices are up 13% since last week, or A$80. It's been a big week. We have a quick chat about some of the major drivers of the market and what to think about it. French wheat downgrades, global stocks down and the Indian 'ban' on exports. 

#117 Livestock in sheep shape.

We have a chat with the newly minted CEO of Sheep Producers Australia, Bonnie Skinner. A lot is happening in the livestock space which has an impact on sheep (and cattle). We cover off on sheep live export shemozzle, if ALP win is it banned or not banned?
The difficulty in wool, and the 'fight for acres'. How do you keep growing the wool industry if there are no shearers. 
Food and mouth disease was discovered close to Australia in Indonesia, just a few weeks after discoveries of lumpy skin disease. Does this pose a risk to the Australian livestock space?

#116 The Cupid of Agriculture

He's done more matchmaking than tinder and match.com combined. We talk to the living legend that is Ryan Hoiberg (Rimfire Resources), the inspiration of the 'Chris Hoiberg Tangent'. We brought him back to discuss the issues facing Australian labour at both a farm and corporate agribusiness level. 

#115 Government created black swans

A quick update for the start of the week, as we debate the risk of government interventions in markets. Are government interventions good or bad, we look through the past and present interventions and how they impact - usually through unintended consequences. 
 
Remember - Sharing is caring. 

#114 Inflated interest in inflation

We have a chat with Matt's old colleague from his currency trading days at ANZ, Dion Ciavola. Dion runs his own money transfer service (Forex Sport). We chat about the inflation numbers, the likely increase in interest rates, and recent slide in the A$. Lower A$ is good for exports, but bad for imports. 

#113 What is in store for fertilizer pricing?

We talk to regular AgWatchers guest Chris Lawson, head of fertilizers for the analyst firm CRU. In this discussion, we talk about the impact of Russian sanctions, new plants in Australia, Sri Lanka banning synthetic fertilizer, where prices in Australia will go and a lot more. 
 

#112 Elections, Lumpyskin and diverse opinions.

We have a chat with Gillian and Mark Fennell about a huge range of issues around rural politics, the cattle industry and the outbreak of lumpy skin disease. An interesting point we talk about is diversity of viewpoints when it comes to making decisions. Happy Easter all. 

#111 Indian FTA, US Crop disaster? and livestock into China

A quick market update on the main drivers in the livestock and grain markets. We spent the weekend. Topics covered include US crop conditions, Indian free trade agreement and why it is better for livestock and a few others. Remember to share about.