Category: Industry Information

Miscellaneous information

QRIDA Information Session – Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants and Loans

Kalagro

KCGO MEMBERS INVITATION TO QRIDA INFORMATION SESSION
SPECIAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE RECOVERY GRANTS AND LOANS.

An information session has been arranged next Friday 15th March with Peter Crowley from QRIDA which is open to all growers within the Burdekin region.

Please refer to information flyer for further details.

Should members require assistance in completing/lodging grant application please do not hesitate to contact this office.

Les Elphinstone
Manager KCGO

thumbnail of Grower Meeting 15.03.19

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Tender for Medium & High Priority Water Acquisition – Burdekin/ Haughton

Kalagro

TENDER INVITATION FOR MEDIUM PRIORITY & HIGH PRIORITY ACQUISITION – BURDEKIN HAUGHTON WSS

Sunwater is inviting tenders for the acquisition of medium priority (MP) and high priority (HP) term allocations of water from Burdekin Falls Dam.

Customers can make offers for up to 42,000ML of MP and 5,000ML of HP water for a minimum 10-year term allocation, with Sunwater to assess applications based on considerations that include offer price, proposed contract length and volume required.

The tender process opens on Saturday 2 March 2019 and closes on Friday 29 March 2019 at 4.30pm.

The invitation to tender is available to all customers, but customers in the Lower Burdekin area – which is currently suffering from rising groundwater levels – will need to demonstrate that their water usage will not impact groundwater levels.

How to lodge your tender:

Customers can access tender documents by visiting http://www.sunwater.com.au/water-for-sale/expression-of-interest or calling Sunwater on 13 15 89.

Customers can lodge their tender in accordance with the tender documents by sending tenders to [email protected] or to Sunwater’s postal address.

The deadline for tenders is 4:30pm on Friday 29 March 2019.

Sunwater expects to be in contact with tenderers to advise of an outcome of the invitation to tender process within 6 months from the closing time.

Les Elphinstone
Manager KCGO

SRA Media Release – Adoption Group

Kalagro

SRA welcomes Mr Matt Schembri and Mr Peter Verwey to Adoption Group

SRA has appointed new staff to its Adoption Group, marking another step forward in the delivery of the industry-led Adoption Strategy.
Mr Matt Schembri and Mr Peter Verwey have joined SRA as Adoption Officers, working in the Central and Burdekin regions respectively.
SRA Executive Manager, Regional Delivery, Mr Ian McBean, said that Matt and Peter would work closely with SRA adoption and research staff, growers, millers, and other service providers to help industry improve productivity, profitability and sustainability. The Adoption Group provides a vital conduit between research and growers and millers, assisting industry to adopt practices and technology that improve their bottom line.
Matt Schembri comes to the role from recent work with Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisations in Central Queensland, working with farmers and graziers on Best Management Practice (BMP) programs and practice change. He is a former Research Engineer with the Sugar Research Institute and also has 10 years of experience growing sugarcane.
Peter Verwey comes to the role from work within agriculture in the Murray-Darling Basin, in particular working with farmers on irrigation infrastructure system upgrades. He is experienced in agricultural extension through BMP programs such as the cotton industry’s myBMP. He has also worked in North and Central Queensland in previous roles.
“Matt and Peter offer valuable skills and knowledge for the Australian sugarcane industry,” Mr McBean said. “They are looking forward to working with the local industry in their regions and delivering outcomes for growers and millers.”
Mr McBean added that SRA was well-advanced in delivering the industry-wide strategy for adoption services.
“Our SRA Regional Coordinators have established regional adoption advisory committees in each of the six regions to formulate and discuss local priorities. We are also soon to have our first meeting of the Industry Adoption Advisory Committee. Through this industry consultation, we will resource adoption activities that best fit the requirements of the region.” read more

Media Release – Indonesian Trade Deal

Kalagro

Indonesia deal a boost for Queensland agriculture

Queensland is in a prime position to capitalise on the signing of an Australia-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner welcomed today’s signing of the agreement, saying it will be a boon for exporters of Queensland agricultural products.
“By 2030, Indonesia is expected to be in the top five economies in the world, and its population of 270 million makes it one of our most promising export markets,” Mr Furner said.
“In 2017 Australia exported around $3.5 billion worth of agricultural goods to Indonesia. With this new Free Trade Agreement in place we would expect to see that total increase significantly.
“Our efforts to capitalise on those opportunities will mean more jobs in a stronger Queensland economy.”
Mr Furner said Queensland would be particularly advantaged by increased exports of live cattle, frozen beef and sheepmeat, sugar and dairy products.
“Under this Agreement, by 2020 almost everything we export to Indonesia will be either duty free or under improved preferential arrangements,” Mr Furner said.
“Indonesia will guarantee automatic issue of import permits for key products such as live cattle, frozen beef, sheep meat, feed grains, citrus products, carrots and potatoes.
“It will also benefit our grain growers, with Indonesia agreeing to import 500,000 tonnes of grain tariff free.”

Key FTA outcomes:
Live cattle: Duty free access for 575,000 head of live male cattle per year, growing at 4% per year to 700,000. A review mechanism in year 6 will consider subsequent increases.
Frozen beef and sheepmeat: Remaining tariffs on all Australian exports of frozen beef and sheepmeat into Indonesia reduced to 2.5% immediately and eliminated after 5 years.
Feed grains: Duty free access for 500,000 tonnes of feed grains per year (wheat, barley, sorghum), increasing at 5% per year.
Sugar: Cut the tariff on Australian sugar to 5% (from 8-12%).
Dairy: Eliminate 5% tariff for milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter. Elimination of 5% tariff for grated or powdered cheese.
Citrus:
Mandarins – Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 7,500 tonnes per year; tariff further reduced over time, down to 0% after 20 years for an unlimited volume
Oranges – duty free access for 10,000 tonnes of oranges per year, increasing 5% each year
Lemons and limes – duty free access for 5,000 tonnes of lemons and limes per year, increasing 2.5% each year.
Potatoes: Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 10,000 tonnes per year; after five years tariff further reduced to 5% for 12,500 tonnes per year, increasing by 2.5% per year.
Carrots: Tariff cut to 10% (from 25%) for 5,000 tonnes per year; tariff further reduced over time, down to 0% after 15 years for an unlimited volume.
Honey: Eliminate 5% tariff on Australian honey after 15 years. read more