issue 31 december 2013 the lucerne leader · issue 31 december 2013. the world’s leading...

the lucerne leaderissue 31 DECEMBER 2013

The world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking

GM-THEMED SYMPOSIUM DRAWS

A CROWD OF 150

In this issue:

GM - Themed Symposium 1

Market Reports 4

Momentum Energy offer 8

Lucerne Bailing Day 9

Centre Pivot Variety Trial Update 10

Water Meter Survey 11

Golden Dodder Update 11

Protection of Irrigation Systems 12

Fertiliser Trial Update 13

Lucerne Seed at Adelaide Show 13

Agronomy Report 14 The True Value of Price Paid 15

New Executive Committee Member 16

Chairman’s Message 17

Latest Export Figures 17

THE LUCERNE LEADER ISSUE 31 DECEMBER 2013 PAGE 1

Good people to know

By Guy Cunningham, Executive Committee Member, Ph: 0429 875 422

Continued over page

Our 2013 symposium was held on Thursday, 14 November at the Keith Institute. The theme was “GM lucerne: friend or foe?” and included speakers both in favour of GM-lucerne and those against.

Lucerne Australia does not presently have a formal position on GM-lucerne but believes that this topic required more awareness and understanding, both from those who advocate Roundup Ready lucerne and those who are anti-GM.

Over 150 growers and industry stakeholders attended this event, which provided objective discussion about what it means for growers, seed cleaners, contractors and marketers in the future.

There is no doubt in my mind that this event increased awareness of GM and enabled those attendees to consider what might be the best options for the Australian lucerne seed industry in the future.

From my perspective, the take-home messages from each speaker were as follows:

FGI has successfully developed and adopted a GM technology in lucerne and now sees it as profitable business for them. They have been able to

command a premium over conventional varieties and see this continuing. Growth in the area of GM crops has grown substantially, from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 170 million hectares in 2012. GM crops were deregulated in 2005-06, which meant it could be used any place in USA without restriction, and deregulated in Canada in 2013. Bill also focused on other new traits, including drought tolerant lucerne, herbicide tolerance plus reduced lignin and more digestible fibre.

SGI’s Australian production is nearly all exported, which is representative of the larger industry in Australia. A large amount of our market, particularly our high value customers such as Saudi Arabia, would either be lost immediately or at risk if Australian lucerne seed was not guaranteed free of GM seed. By definition, this includes freedom from AP levels of GM i.e. adventitious presence at low levels due to cross pollination or contamination while processing. Conversely, there is no real opportunity to develop extra market share if we did have GM lucerne for export.

Phillip outlined his concerns with the USDA registration process and his

Dennis Jury, SGI

Bill Knipe, Forage Genetics International Phillip Geertson, USA Grower:


GM-THEMED SYMPOSIUM DRAWS A CROWD OF 150 CONTINUEDBy Guy Cunningham, Executive Committee Member, Ph: 0429 875 422

ongoing concerns with contamination in non-GM areas. This is mainly due to cross-pollination by honey bees, leaf cutter and alkali bees combined with unmanaged and feral lucerne. These concerns would be supported by scientific argument in Australia also. His concerns over Glyphosate residue in soils with repeated application would seem to be at an anecdotal level but would bear further investigation.

Chris extrapolated his knowledge of both GM crops and existing Glyphosate resistance in Australia’s weed population. Glyphosate is now quite old technology and has a suite of problems already. Over reliance of Glyphosate is already regarded as poor practice, regardless of the GM of the crop it is used on.

Assessment of any “GM event” by the OGTR is based primarily on human health and safety criteria along with containment of the genetic material within the trial or event. Public opinion is not a factor that is considered, compliance with existing legislation is the overriding factor.

There is great potential for increased yield and quality of nutritional value in genetic manipulation of other pasture species, particularly perennial ryegrass. This needs to become part of any discussion on lucerne rather than focusing on Glyphosate resistance. Public opinion will likely not be based on scientific arguments on this topic. In my opinion, organisations like Lucerne Australia will be vital in this regard.

James demonstrated the likely outcomes of over use of pesticides. In comparison with cotton, our crop is grown in a cooler climate which slows down pest numbers and activity. However, we are vulnerable to increasing spells of heat rapidly building pest numbers. Our main pest’s lifecycle involves a migratory/hibernation phase which continually imports genes in the pest population susceptible to the current pesticides. R & D and even label recommendations for existing products are limited by the small size of our industry. If gene technology produces a BT type plant resistance to pests, a single gene may not be sufficient. It may also be useful to think about working on the genetics of the pest not the plant. Again, LA would be crucial to facilitate this type of program.

Lucerne seed production in the USA is high-risk, high-return farming. Yields of 1200 to 2200 pounds on irrigated fields justify high inputs. Their production areas are now segregated into Grower Opportunity Zones (GOZ). These are based on production of lucerne for AP Sensitive or AP Tolerant markets for GM contamination. It is hard to see this approach working in Australia as geographical segregation may be hard to achieve in our area. In my opinion, the seed production area in the USA continues to diminish this may be affected by mandated levels of bio fuel in the future.

L-R: Rod Deide (FGI), Scott Campbell (Grower), Graham Ramsdale (Tatiara Seeds) and Nathan Smith (Heritage Seeds).

L-R Grower member Charlie Hilton talks to Tom Little about the Momentum Energy offer for members.

Outgoing Executive Committee member Shane Oster and wife Kirralie.

L-R: Grower Laura Hawkins, Marcus Oldham student Harry Kelly and Speaker Christopher Preston.

Dr Christopher Preston, University of Adelaide:

Greg Barber, OGTR:

David Nation, Dairy Futures CRC:

James De Barro, Alpha Group Consulting:

Mark Wagoner, USA-based GM lucerne Grower:


There is anecdotal evidence of Glyphosate residue interacting with plant nutrition, particularly trace elements. The USA experience also highlights the need for a multi-prong attack on any weed spectrum in GM or conventional crops. In the end economics will prevail and Australian lucerne growers will plant varieties which are in demand by our export customers.

Regardless of the emotional arguments, South Australia has a moratorium on any GM crops until 2019. It would seem unlikely that any company would introduce GM lucerne

GM-THEMED SYMPOSIUM DRAWS A CROWD OF 150 CONTINUEDBy Guy Cunningham, Executive Committee Member, Ph: 0429 875 422

into Australia at this stage as there is adequate production in the USA. At this stage, even FGI seem to regard Australia’s production area as niche, GM free lucerne.

In addition, there were a minority of anti-GM representatives, not directly linked to the lucerne industry, present on the day. They represented organisations such as Gene Ethics and GM Cropwatch.

While not formally presenting the philosophy of these lobby groups, it is fairly clear. Their opposition to GM food and fibre is based on emotion. However, they will adopt a scientific trial or experiment if the conclusion is

Dennis Jury, Russell Davies and Mark Harvey from SGI.

L-R USA GM lucerne grower Mark Wagoner and James De Barro from Alpha Group Consulting at Keith.

L-R: Grower Ian Hunt, Grower Josie Hunt and Peter Ellison from Landmark.

L-R Grower Owen Croser and Coorong District Councillor Jeff Klitscher.

L-R: Dave Lewis (PIRSA), Rob Kerin (MC), Charlie Hilton (Grower), Colin Trengove (University of Adelaide), Nicola Raymond (LA), Andrew Lake (Pristine Forage Technologies) Joe Cook (Grower).

favourable to their arguments. I believe that if an opportunity does arise for our industry to profit from biotechnology, organisations like Lucerne Australia will be crucial to facilitate a sensible and scientific discussion of this topic in the public arena.

Following the symposium, many attendees said that the event provided quality speakers with excellent content and delivery to increase the awareness of GM technology. Many questions still remain as to whether Australia will progress down the GM lucerne route, if and when the moratorium is lifted.

L-R: Growers Julian Desmazures, Rick Munro and Adam Desmazures.

Martin Hockey Soil Planners:

Bill Knipe’s closing remarks:


Let’s face it, the lucerne market is never a dull one, well this season is no different. After the highs of the yields at harvest, coupled with good demand from the Middle Eastern region of the world, things have swung around considerably to weaker demand and hence a drop in pricing. Having said that we must remember that prices to growers and customers are still trading at historically high levels.

Calendar year to date (until end of September), Australia has exported 7018mt of seed to the world. Saudi Arabia 3172mt has dominated the destination of choice as has the USA 2075mt, whilst the Netherlands 390mt (for re-export), South Africa 360mt, Sudan 260mt, and Taiwan 212mt have figured prominently. This level of export activity is great to see. However, the big unknown is how much of this stock is being exported “intercompany” to the USA and not to an end user.

Whilst there has been a slow-down in demand into the Middle East region, there is some demand out of European countries such as Italy as “local production” has faltered somewhat ensuring they need to purchase stocks. Being a notoriously cheap buyer, the prices are not overly exciting but the reduction in the $AUD against the Euro is assisting somewhat. We have also

transacted some sales to Argentina in recent weeks although these have been small in tonnages to date. Morocco is another current buyer but as some public seed has been traded very cheap into this market already, prices on offer don’t interest our business at present.

Talking of the Middle East, many customers in this region are now faced with having stocks that are overpriced in the current market. This has resulted in customers wanting credits on stocks, and I have even heard of containers being unwanted now that they have arrived. Never a dull moment!!

Domestically the autumn/winter selling season was average or even slightly below average as many farmers looked to grow cheaper annual feed to service their livestock requirements. Spring has been average to date and we hope that the upcoming autumn in 2014 will see producers return to perennial plantings once again.

The pricing outlook for the upcoming harvest is a real unknown. If we were to have an above average harvest and continue to have good levels of carry

we could expect the market pricing to soften. However the market also revolves around worldwide production and in particular the US and as we all well know it’s not in the bin until it’s in the bin.

It will be interesting to see how the 2014 lucerne harvest pans out. There is a high level of confidence that dryland production will perform well and it could have a significant influence on the final yields. All indications out there point towards another good season, but as we all know, a lot can happen between now and harvest!

SEEDMARK & HERITAGE SEEDS MARKET REPORTBy Craig Myall, International Business Manager, Ph: 0407 620 580

Contact:

Craig Myall International Business Manager 0407 620 580Colin Grant Seedmark International Sales & Marketing 0403 465 515Robert Hedge Heritage Seeds Sales & Marketing 0421 585 644Jeremy Gittins National Production Manager 0417 338 078 Nathan Smith SE Pasture Production Manager 0408 655 220 Steven Dukalskis SE Pasture Production Manager 0434 072 544

“The pricing outlook for the upcoming harvest is a

real unknown.”


PGG WRIGHTSON SEEDS MARKET REPORTBy Travis Munday, International Marketing Manager - Australia, Ph: 0408 838 687

After such a large harvest, it has been great to see strong demand, sales and exports for Australian seed, something everyone in our industry needed.

The market has softened slightly over the course of the year, which had to be expected given the volume of seed the market has had to shift and it is pleasing to see now that the majority of seed has been sold domestically or exported and has now turned into cash for the growers and companies.

Cash flow is still a critical part to all our businesses and is hard to create further opportunities without it.

Prices for seed have been firmer at current levels since September whilst markets around the globe have slowed in the past 4-6 weeks and are making further sales more difficult.

As I write this, I am currently in Argentina and the demand for seed is higher than I expected. It is looking like we will make further sales in the coming days and potentially be able to supply more seed than the previous year. The demand has been for proprietary products and new multiplication contracts for next season but common seed is still a hard sell.

Argentina in the past has been a regular importer of more than 4,000/mt of seed per annum from the USA, Canada and Australia. The combined total imports of the last two years has been less than 3000/mt and is likely to be less than 1200/mt this coming season. A lot of

this is to do with local non-certified seed production within regions inside the country and the declining pasture grazing for meat exports due to restrictions and government tariffs imposed.

United States non-certified market has slowed in conjunction with demand for US seed into Mexico and the Middle East.

Saudi Arabian market has been very strong this year, with record exports into this country and currently their internal market demand is terrible and the major companies are caught up holding large stocks of Australian seed.

Parts of the North African markets still require further seed for shipment prior to our next harvest.

Canadian harvest was affected by the lengthened cold period and we have seen some quantities of seed move in during September and October. We may still see more demand if their market is strong but at the moment we will need to wait and see.

November would normally indicate a period of potential sales for Argentina and then the next biggest market is not until the Middle East and USA start buying from new crop. And if this is the

case we will see a lot quieter period until April next year now and seed in the market that has not moved will potentially price soften further to meet opportunistic markets or sales until then.

My main concern moving forward is the current situation in Saudi, and the reported sheer volume of un-sold seed sitting in warehouse after their main sowing months of September and October. This in turn has the possibility of a lot lower demand at the start our next harvest. Common seed sales will have some opportunities but could also be price sensitive to enable it to move, I believe the closer we can get to nil carryover by February 2014 will only put our industry in a stronger position and better prepared for whatever the harvest or markets will bring moving forward next season.

At the moment it is good to see the crops for next year are looking good. Dryland areas have received some rain. Our production team is out and monitoring our proprietary fields. Take this opportunity to also talk to them about your common pasture seeds you may still have on hand or be harvesting this coming year and also pulses if you have them. Look forward to another kind summer period for the current lucerne seed production.


NARACOORTE SEEDS AND SA SEED MARKETERSBy Jamie Tidy, Ph: 0427 621 944

The trading season has been a tough one for lucerne. Trading started strong early but as the demand started to disappear, prices slowly started to head south. The Aussie dollar very briefly went under 0.89c and at this point there was a flurry of activity with lucerne as well as other pasture seed commodities. As quick as the dollar retreated is headed north again and has consistently hung around the 95c mark which has disrupted regular trade. In my opinion the continued strong Aussie dollar is a significant factor in trade being weaker than expected over the past three months.

There is still carryover seed in the system of both certified and uncertified seed. Prices being offered from overseas are lower than what we can make work

back to the growers so we are currently playing a waiting game and trying to get overseas clients to lift their prices. Trade into the Euro zone is being helped with the lower Euro. However, as mentioned earlier, these buyers are historically cheaper buyers so much trade is unlikely due to prices being offered.

Over the last 3-4 seasons with worldwide stock being short there has always been strong money for the uncertified varieties to fill various voids or gaps in the market. With a strong harvest for both Australia and USA behind us it has been a lot more difficult to move u/c seed. I feel this will only get harder if we have another strong harvest. My advice would be to start converting u/c weaker stands back into certified varieties to

increase your marketability.

We still have some area available for production so if you have interest please contact our production guru Josh Rasheed – 0427 790 655.

Although I could not attend the GM symposium, the feedback through our office was very strong. I congratulate the Lucerne Australia Executive on pulling together such an excellent event. Thanks for your support over the last 12 months.

SEED GENETICS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTDBy Dennis Jury, General Manager, Ph: 0400 489 082

After good solid sales to the key Middle East market straight off new crop as a result of a couple years of tight supply due to poor Australian crops, there has been a bit of a slow-down as these markets took a breather to assess their situation. Quality related softening in domestic hay prices in Saudi Arabia along with some labour force issues putting a question over the profitability of hay production there along with expectation that there could be some price retreat related to the good Australian crop saw some hesitation from that market. However we expect there should still be strong uptake into this market in the first half of 2014 as underlying demand remains.

Argentina as a total market has been in decline for years due mainly to increases in crops such as corn and soybean as well as government policies that have discouraged meat and dairy exports. There has also been a reasonable local crop in recent years, drier than normal conditions limiting forage planting and a reluctance to pay the higher prices that have been prevailing in recent years. We are currently visiting this and other South American markets and there does appear to be some good interest. What comes from this will be dependent on good rains falling during December to promote planting as it is anticipated that Argentine farmers will invest in planting lucerne if cropping prospects are good.

The EU harvest this year was mixed with the French crop around average to a bit above while the Italian crop was back. This has created some demand for product but at price points well below where we are prepared to sell, however this could help move some of the lower value Australian crop that still appears to be around.

The US crop has shaped up to be on the light side across the board with adverse weather conditions in some of


SEED GENETICS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD CONTINUEDBy Dennis Jury, General Manager, Ph: 0400 489 082

the major seed producing areas leading to reduced yields and damaged seed. This on top of low inventories of winter active varieties and good domestic demand for dormant varieties to replace losses from winter kill of lucerne hay production fields in the US mid-west has resulted in a shortfall across all dormancy classes. This helps to shore up demand for Australian origin seed going to the US for on sale into their domestic and export markets. An added factor is the growing use of GM lucerne in the US leading to reduced availability of conventional seed for markets that demand seed absolutely free of GM contamination such as Saudi Arabia.

This is a potential benefit to Australian lucerne seed producers to be able to supply product free of contamination with GM seed given our GM free lucerne status at present. There are no GM

events for lucerne approved with the Office of Gene Technology Regulator and the GMO moratorium in South Australia, the main production area, has bipartisan support and is currently in place until 2019. In order to ensure this opportunity is not lost it is critical that we maintain a GM free lucerne seed production system by ensuring no lucerne seed is introduced into the production areas that has any traces of GM in it. The Australian Seeds Federation and Lucerne Australia are working on an industry protocol to minimize the risk of this occurring.

Taking all of the above market factors into consideration we believe there is global capacity to absorb the larger than average Australian crop at reasonable prices given some time.

In light of this it causes those of us in the market for the long term benefit of

growers, marketers and buyers dismay that rouge traders continue to use opportunities presented by distressed/cheap sellers and any favourable currency movements as a means to offer product at substantially lower than market prices. While often a relatively small volume of product available at these prices this seriously undermines the good work of proprietary marketing companies to hold prices at long term sustainable prices for all. Given the lack of carryover from previous harvests looking at the export statistics year to date since the 2013 crop came on stream it would appear that a good proportion of the Australian crop has already been accounted for. With no substantial volume of lucerne seed to come from any source apart from the 2014 Australia harvest there is still ample time to account for the remaining seed inventory.

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LUCERNE BALING DAY SUMMARY By Nicola Raymond, Executive Officer, Ph: 0439 538 332

It wasn’t just Executive Committee Members Bruce Connor and Shane Oster’s excellent culinary skills on show at the Lucerne Australia baling day on Thursday, 24 October. Over 40 growers and associates attended this event to hear from guest speaker Vicki MacDonald and view the hay-making machinery.

This event was held at Gumbowie, Willalooka, by kind permission of Guy and Sarah Cunningham and commenced with breakfast rolls and Farmers Union Iced Coffee, courtesy of Julian Manowski from National Foods.

Guest speaker Vicki MacDonald is a ruminant nutritionist who grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. She focused her presentation on lucerne hay and where

it fits into a dairy ration, dairy and beef cow requirements to maximise health, fertility and production, optimum requirements and qualities required in lucerne hay and feeding tests and how to read results.

When Vicki came to Australia in 1990, she joined the Barossa Valley feedmill ‘Laucke Mills’ as its ruminant specialist. In 1993, she joined animal health company, Elanco as its National Technical Consultant and then Dairy Business Unit Manager. And in 1997, she joined Meningie Fodder as its Nutrition Consultant.

Now, Vicky consults to dairy producers in the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu, Murray Bridge and Meningie regions for SBScibus. She is passionate about ruminant nutrition, combining pastures and supplementary feeding programs for maximum production. She is also a member of the South Australian Dairy Industry Development Board.

In addition to Vicki, attendees were showcased the latest products and services by local service providers and associate members Elders, Landmark and NAS Agribusiness.

At this event, Rabobank launched a member-only offer on finance for equipment/machinery. The offer included waiving of the $350.00 application fee and a 0.5% discount on current rates up until 30th November 2013.

Jonathan Chee from Momentum Energy was also in attendance to launch the new partnership with Lucerne Australia to provide members with a five per cent discount on power bills.

Following this, attendees viewed machinery supplied by JJ O’Connors, Farmers Centre, grower member Glen Simpson and grower member Joe Cook, which was then demonstrated in the field.

Growers in the paddock. Growers in the paddock.Ian Schulz from Elders showcases his products.

Grower member Glen Simpson’s baler. Grower member Joe Cook’s misting machine.

Breakfast with speaker Vicki MacDonald

“At this event, Rabobank launched a member-only

offer on finance for equipment/machinery.”


CENTRE PIVOT VARIETY TRIAL UPDATE By Adam Desmazures, Executive Committee Member , Ph: 0427 560 091

The Drop Tube Irrigated Lucerne Seed, Herbage Yield and Persistence Trial is a RIRDC-funded trial. Its aims are:

• to identify varieties of lucerne that are capable of optimising production, both seed and herbage within a given irrigation schedule with the aim of increasing net returns per mega litre of water pumped;

• to optimise seed production for the Australian lucerne seed industry in order to achieve higher net returns per hectare

• to measure and compare the seed and herbage yielding performance of new and existing commercial lucerne varieties;

• to measure and compare the seed and herbage yielding performance of experimental varieties of lucerne against current commercial varieties in order to identify and fast track superior genetics to the commercial market.

• to conduct the proposed trial within a drop tube centre pivot irrigation system with current best district practices using the knowledge of specialised agronomists, growers and research organisations;

• annual plant persistence evaluation of different winter activity lucerne groups; and

• to measure and compare the seed and herbage yielding performance of new and existing lucerne varieties between the proposed drop tube centre pivot irrigation trial and the current border check irrigation trial.

The trial site is a designated area inside a centre pivot circle that is situated on property at ‘Kinyerrie’, Keith.

The trial site was initially sown in 2010

and the first seed harvest done in 2011.

This years’ herbage cut of the trial was conducted on 29 October 2013. The results are summarised in the graphs below. The full results will be collated and become part of the trial booklet.

The trial booklet will be distributed at the trial site field day prior to the 2014 harvest.

On 29 October, the whole pivot, including the trial site, was mown. This was done two weeks earlier than last year with the managers of the pivot wanting a second cut of hay before locking up for seed production.

Overall, the pivot is looking very healthy and weed free.

Photos taken in early October show the difference in persistence of varieties over the period of the trial. This will be worth taking into consideration when viewing the trial site in March. We thank RIRDC for their ongoing support to this trial.

Trial Site photos, taken October 2013.

“This years’ herbage cut of the trial was

conducted on 29 October 2013.”


WATER METER SURVEY By Bruce Connor, Executive Committee Member, Ph: 0428 835 310

Well most of us are into the watering season again and that first load of diesel has been delivered.

The first irrigation start-up of the season can bring some problems we didn’t know we had, such as flat batteries, dodgy contactors and noisy centre drives. But the thing that annoys me most is the water meters.

Water meters to me are an important tool that I use to calibrate application rates. It can also be used to give an early heads-up that a pump is on its way out or your bore water level has dropped.

I have both mechanical and electronic water meters installed and within both types some are good and some are not.

Meters have been an ongoing issue for years. I struggle to know what type to get and who will back-up their meters enough to give decent repairs and quality maintenance service.

With this in mind, Lucerne Australia has recently applied, and been successful, at getting funding under the Irrigation Innovation Grant stream of Natural Resources South-East to conduct a survey on water meters.

The purpose of this small project is to gain a good insight into which type of meters are out there on farm, which ones are most reliable, serviceable, and whether there is a particular company willing to back up their product. An understanding of how regularly water meters require repair or servicing, which provide the greatest longevity and which breakdown most often will be identified.

It will be conducted with growers affiliated with Lucerne Australia who manage irrigation for lucerne seed and hay production on their properties.

The project will include a desktop review, telephone interviews, and online survey, liaison with meter resellers and a final report with recommendation for members. Correlating this information and supplying it to you when either purchasing new meters, or just servicing existing ones.

So, it would be appreciated if you could take note of the brand and type of meters you have around and think about the positives and negatives you have had with your water meters. Were certain meters an easy fix or a headache? We will be contacting you soon.

Happy Watering!

“Meters have been an ongoing issue for years.”

“think about the positives and negatives you have

had with your water meters.”

GOLDEN DODDER PROJECT UPDATE By Nicola Raymond, Executive Officer, Ph: 0439 538 332

On 4th July 2013, Lucerne Australia submitted an application for funding under “Caring for our Country” to mitigate the spread of golden dodder in the Australian lucerne seed industry. With a change of government there still hasn’t been an outcome as to whether we’ve been successful.

The purpose of this application was to obtain funding to ensure that the uptake of the new technology – PCT test – is optimised and protocols surrounding the test are robust. Activities to be implanted in the application included

the need to develop sound sampling strategies for the PCR test, correlating PCR readings, developing industry protocols and implementing a communications strategy to lucerne seed industry stakeholders.

With the 2014 harvest approaching we know that we cannot continue to wait for the outcome of our application for funding, and that we must implement as many protocols as possible to minimise spread with the funds that are available within the industry.

Consequently, a meeting will be held at the Keith Institute on Thursday, 5 December at 9:30am to prioritise activities and how and when to implement them.

Are you interested in attending this meeting? If so, please let us know. The industry has exhibited strong support to manage golden dodder with excellent industry engagement over the past 12 months and we must ensure that this continues for the 2014 harvest.


PROTECTION OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS USING SAFETY CONTROLS By Les Scott, Workshop Manager, Ph: 08 8755 1968

When it comes to protecting our diesel motors, the watch dog, (murphy panel) is a simple but effective piece of equipment which is almost bullet proof, it monitors temperature oil pressure and can have many other features added to enhance the control of your system.

Example of Murphy panel Often when a mechanical failure occurs the motor will continue to operate without pumping water. This scenario can result in a very expensive process to get the system back up and running, the cost of these repairs can be greatly reduced if a flow switch is fitted. Recently we have had some difficult times trying to recover what is left of pumps at the bottom of bore holes with moderate success. (if the motor had stopped after water stopping, the pumps may not have come apart.) Some installations are fitted with a flow switch on the discharge pipe to stop the drive motor when the pump stops; this relatively cheap item could literally save many thousands of dollars in your repair bill.

Example Of flow safety switch Most installations are equipped with a nipple welded in the discharge pipe to enable a safety flow switch to be installed and wired back to the watch dog, if not it is relatively easy to weld one in. The flow switch cost is around $300.00 plus installation not a lot of money when you could potentially save 20 to 30k.on a repair bill. To ensure any safety device is effective it should be serviced and checked for correct operation on a regular bases If you are interested in having your already installed switch tested, or you would like to fit one please call I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a safe and very happy Christmas a prosperous new year from all of us at Vermeeren Bros Manufacturing PTY LTD

OK this is fantastic and proven safety system for your stationary pump motors

FERTILISER TRIAL UPDATE By Lisa Charlton-Fatchen, Vice-Chairman , Ph: 0408 856 445


We are now into the exciting time of the year for the fertiliser trial, which is a RIRDC-funded trial.

The post hay cut applications are scheduled for the dryland and irrigated sites for mid-November and mid-December respectively, with all in-season assessments to follow as scheduled. This includes SAP testing and NDVI analysis.

Fertiliser timings are applied for autumn, spring and post hay cut. In March 2013, both trial sites were soil tested to track any changes which may be occurring in the soils nutrient content/balance throughout the trial.

All actions relating to the trial establishment and management have been completed in a timely manner to ensure outcomes have been achieved.

On Friday, 15 November, Warrick and Nicola, along with trial project manager Neil Wittwer from Peracto SA, hosted the RIRDC Pasture Seeds Committee at both the dryland and irrigated trial sites. They were able to view the trial, the outcomes from year one, and expectations for the next few years of

the trial duration. The feedback from the Committee was very positive.

Finally, a trial site field demonstration walk is scheduled for mid-February 2014 where all farmers, associated and non-associated agricultural companies and local community people are welcome to join us at both the irrigation and dryland sites. At this event, year two yield results and in-field data will be distributed.

Last year, many attendees used their vehicles, rather than the bus. From 2014, only the bus will be allowed entry at the trial sites for biosecurity purposes. We look forward to seeing you there!

L-R: Neil Wittwer (Peracto SA), with John deMajnik, Keith Glasson, Warrick Thorpe, Chris Martin and Alison Robb at the trial site.

LUCERNE SEED SHOWCASED AT ADELAIDE SHOW By Warrick Thorpe, Chairman, Ph: 0400 852 010

Lucerne Seed was back on display at the Royal Adelaide Show this year as part of the grains section displayed in The Learning Centre Building next to the wood chopping.

Executive Committee Member Owen Croser has been involved with the Royal Adelaide Show Grains Section for many

years and was responsible for getting lucerne seed back on the radar at the event.

Some members submitted lucerne seed entries to the competition, and the first prize went to Daniel and Oliver Thorpe. Thank you to all participants who submitted an entry this year.

Daniel Thorpe, age 11, and Oliver Thorpe, age 9, collect their prize.

“From 2014, only the bus will be allowed entry at the trial sites for biosecurity purposes.”

Presently, lucerne seed paddocks are looking good across the district.

Dryland crops are budding up and starting to flower, although they will require additional rain to get the maximum yield potential, particularly on heavier soils. Similar hectares are being locked up to last year, which is still slightly down on the year before.

With irrigated paddocks, some are being locked up early for seed. However, because the hot, dry windy weather has held off the majority of irrigated

paddocks have opted to take another hay cut, aiming to lock up in start to mid-December.

Obtaining 100 per cent weed kill at winter cleaning on irrigation is becoming harder and harder to achieve. Having a terrific winter period – where weeds got away early and had great weather conditions for optimum growth – has made weed control harder.

The increase resistance with barley grass and paraquat is hugely evident this year after a terrific winter growing season. Larger weeds, lower stock numbers and ongoing resistance are making this a huge constant dilemma that will need alternative management tools going forward.

Insects have been steady to date. Aphids, heliothesis and mirids have all been within threshold, helping our beneficial insect numbers increase.

A larger proportion of lucerne seed growers were fairly happy with what they received last year and are going into this season with a positive outlook. From what I am hearing, the price will be relatively similar to that of last year, thus keeping growers and industry positive.

AGRONOMY REPORTBy Lisa Charlton-Fatchen, Vice-Chairman , Ph: 0408 856 445

“The increase resistance with barley grass and

paraquat is hugely evident this year.”

“Aphids, heliothesis and mirids have all

been within threshold, helping our beneficial

insect numbers increase.”

Meet Daniel.He’s a good person to know for insurance.

Daniel is your local WFI Area Manager. He’s a local just like you, so he finds it easier to understand your farm, business and strata issues. Daniel is able to assist you from your first enquiry right through to making a claim. That’s just one of the reasons why WFI, part of Wesfarmers Insurance, is a leading Australian farm, business and strata insurance company. So for friendly, personal service, call Daniel today.

Daniel Menzel | WFI Bordertown | 35 Dukes HighwayPhone 8752 0822 | Mobile 0427 097 587wfi.com.au

To see if our products are right for you, always read the PDS from theproduct issuer, WFI (ABN 24 000 036 279 AFSL 241461).


THE TRUE VALUE OF PRICE PAID LAUNCH OF THE LUCERNE AUSTRALIA GROWER SEED PAYMENTS TEMPLATE

By Warrick Thorpe, Chairman , Ph: 0400 852 010

Lucerne Australia is officially launching a member-only ‘Grower Seed Payments Template’ for all grower members. Read on to find out more.

With a multitude of payments on offer to growers, it is sometimes difficult to know for sure the terms and pricing on offer and its true value when comparing them. The easiest way to do this is to bring all payments back to a common date (e.g. 30 day payment in full), also allowing for any interest adjustments relative to payments made before or after in relation to this date.

This ‘common’ date is referred to as the net present value (NPV).

Within the spreadsheet interest has been calculated daily. Therefore if you have a commodity (in our case lucerne seed), which has a lump sum payment

in full at 30 days and another at 60 days, we are now able to determine the NPV of the mount paid in full. Obviously the payment at 30 days is worth 100% (as per the 30 day terms agreed), whereas the 60 day payment is 30 days behind the agreed payment date and as a result in real terms is worth less.

Adding to this we have different payment systems within our industry where some agreements are paid in full on a particular date and others may have two or more payments due before full payment is made. Adding to this the price offered and the end price paid can vary from below promised, paid as promised or paid over and above. You can enter all of these scenarios in the spreadsheet.

Other times we may want to compare agreed payment terms as well as the

difference in yield. This too is achievable within the spreadsheet. You can see in the example the price in full (purple sections) is on a seed line that produced 90% of the seed line with multiple payments.

If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet, please contact Nicola requesting a copy of the Lucerne Australia Grower Seed Payment (LA GSP) spreadsheet.

There is a multitude of scenarios you can enter within the spreadsheet. An example of the page can be found below.

“If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet, please

contact Nicola.”

Lucerne Australia would like to thank outgoing executive committee member, and past Chairman, Shane Oster, for his diligent and substantial dedication to Lucerne Australia over the past eight years.

Shane’s record has been immense, achieving a multitude of positive outcomes for Lucerne Australia,

including recent activities such as winning the fight against a ban on the use of Diuron in lucerne, a leading role in commercialising the PCR test to reduce the threat of golden dodder contamination, and organising the speakers for the recent GM symposium. Shane will be solely missed but we wish him well in his future endeavours.

4 Naracoorte Apsley Road, Naracoorte SA 5271Phone: 08 8762 3055 Email: [email protected] areas throughout the South East and

Western Victoria

NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERBy Nicola Raymond, Executive Officer, Ph: 0439 538 332

We welcome Nathan Smith as a new associate executive committee member of Lucerne Australia, nominated at our AGM on Thursday, 14 November.

Nathan lives at Naracoorte and started work with Heritage Seeds in May as Pasture Production Manager. His main focus is to act as the principle point of contact for Heritage Seeds’ lucerne production growers. Prior to this, Nathan spent seven years as a field agronomist.

He has been heavily involved in the sporting community of Naracoorte

since 2002 after completing his SACE at Sacred Heart College in Adelaide.

Nathan looks forward to providing the executive committee with feedback on what is happening industry-wide from all angles – domestic, international and at grower level – whilst offering technical knowledge in new and current practices on managing and maximising lucerne production.


CHAIRMANS MESSAGE RAISING YOUR ENERGY LEVELS FOR THE BETTER! Warrick Thorpe, Chairman, Ph: 0400 852 010

The lucerne seed industry has a lot to be grateful for, even when things don’t always go to plan.

It never ceases to amaze me, the resilience and passion of all the sectors in our industry. Sometimes in life when things are full on, not going to plan or just straight out frustrating, it is hard to flip our thinking in the heat of the moment of all the good that is around.

As I mentioned at our recent GM symposium, our industry is full of great people, great characters with a can-do attitude, which makes our communities a place where Lucerne Australia is proud to be involved.

Flipping our thinking when times are difficult to looking for what we have achieved, what we can do, what we already have and the opportunities ahead, we can change our attitude on any given day.

When we focus on what we can do, we start to look forward again instead of being trapped in the past. The past must not be forgotten, but the future is based on our attitude today. Better attitudes

are more productive; they build people up and ultimately build better lives.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and dug deep to keep this industry going. The best part about being involved with Lucerne Australia is we can share the load when we need some extra support, and celebrate the successes together when things are going well.

As a another year comes to an end and we start looking for the opportunities for 2014, all of us on the Lucerne Australia Committee would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Month 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Year to date Difference

2012 & 2013January 147,729 813,822 501,139 310,144 245,741 -64,403February 42,479 350,273 317,070 445,793 118,025 -392,171March 109,692 439,554 479,471 130,625 269,091 -253,705April 258,273 387,218 183,775 385,262 424,057 -214,910May 186,195 608,247 51,539 594,069 647,509 -161,470June 218,096 1,124,046 271,574 721,122 1,509,605 +627,013July 575,981 884,697 503,509 951,685 1,510,278 +1,185,606August 753,615 1,069,250 568,791 430,924 1,482,357 +2,237,039September 300,074 1,004,594 482,668 726,310 811,667 +2,322,396October 326,594 1,310,180 433,397 509,447November 292,554 1,198,600 300,364 169,450December 1,072,484 1,389,586 330,326 483,832Total 4,283,766 10,580,067 4,423,623 5,858,663 7,018,330

This summary was produced using data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Lucerne Exports Statistics from AustraliaJanuary 2009 to September 2013

Quantities below are in kg

LATEST EXPORT FIGURES, COURTESY OF ASSOCIATE MEMBER TEAGUE AUSTRALIA

Month 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Year to date Difference

2012 & 2013January 147,729 813,822 501,139 310,144 245,741 -64,403February 42,479 350,273 317,070 445,793 118,025 -392,171March 109,692 439,554 479,471 130,625 269,091 -253,705April 258,273 387,218 183,775 385,262 424,057 -214,910May 186,195 608,247 51,539 594,069 647,509 -161,470June 218,096 1,124,046 271,574 721,122 1,509,605 +627,013July 575,981 884,697 503,509 951,685 1,510,278 +1,185,606August 753,615 1,069,250 568,791 430,924 1,482,357 +2,237,039September 300,074 1,004,594 482,668 726,310 811,667 +2,322,396October 326,594 1,310,180 433,397 509,447November 292,554 1,198,600 300,364 169,450December 1,072,484 1,389,586 330,326 483,832Total 4,283,766 10,580,067 4,423,623 5,858,663 7,018,330

This summary was produced using data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Lucerne Exports Statistics from AustraliaJanuary 2009 to September 2013

Quantities below are in kg

“Our industry is full of great people, great

characters with a can-do attitude.”


Lisa Charlton, Vice Chairman Lisa has lived and worked as an agronomist in Tintinara for 11 years, specialising in

dryland lucerne seed, broad-acre cropping and pasture renovation. Lisa is also involved in transport company Frank Fatchen Pty Ltd at Tintinara. Contact: 0408 856 445.

Bruce Connor, Grower MemberBruce was born on the family dairy farm at Mt Compass. He relocated to a property at

Tintinara in the late-1970s to grow out replacement heifers. He and his family now farms beef cattle, cropping, dryland and pivot irrigated lucerne for hay and seed.

Contact: 0428 835 310.

Adam Desmazures, Grower MemberAdam runs the family-owned business with wife Michelle, a young family and parents. The

mixed farm has a self-replacing Merino flock, beef cattle and dryland lucerne for hay and seed, which is south of Tintinara. Contact: 0427 560 091.

Josh Rasheed, Associate MemberJosh was appointed as the Contract Cropping Manager and Pasture Advisor at Naracoorte

Seeds in 2011. In his role, lucerne is one of the major crops he is involved with. He was previously a Real Estate Agent at the family business in Meningie. Contact: 0427 790 655.

DO YOU KNOW THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS?

Warrick Thorpe, Chairman Warrick grew up at Meadows in the Adelaide Hills where the family-owned business runs a dairy farm. The business has expanded to the Upper South-East and now includes a property at Coombe producing lucerne hay and seed. Contact: 0400 852 010.

Guy Cunningham, Grower Member Guy farms with his wife Sarah and family near Willalooka. The business comprises a 300-cow stud beef cattle herd, dryland winter cropping and lucerne production, mainly aimed at seed with some hay sold off farm. Contact: 0429 875 422.

Owen Croser, Grower MemberOwen has farmed near Keith since 1983 growing wheat, barley, beans, canola and triticale. There are also beef cattle, sheep and a small feedlot. They have flood irrigation and grow lucerne for seed and hay production. Contact: 0407 718 761.

Nathan Smith, Associate MemberNathan lives at Naracoorte and is Pasture Production Manager at Heritage Seeds. His main focus is to act as the principle point of contact for lucerne production growers. Prior to this, Nathan spent seven years as a field agronomist. Contact: 0408 655 220

Nicola Raymond, Executive Officer Nicola is a communications professional with 16 years’ experience in the agricultural industry in both the UK and Australia. She is a farmers’ daughter from a 3,000 acre farm in Wales. Nicola travelled to Australia in 2007 as part of a Nuffield Farming Scholarship and became an Australian citizen in 2011. She resides with her partner on a property south of Keith. Contact: 0439 538 332.

Got a question for Lucerne Australia? Contact the Executive Officer or any of our Executive Committee Members who will be happy to help.

AJ Cotton & MA McDonald

Alpha Group Consulting

ANZ

Archards IrrigationAsure Quality

Clovercrest Consulting

Cox Rural Keith

Crop Monitoring Services

Elders Keith

Farmers Centre

Forage Genetics International

Frank Fatchen Pty Ltd

Gibbs Agricultural Consulting

Heritage Seeds/Seedmark

Associate Members/ Bronze Sponsors:Imperial Valley Milling Company

Incitec Pivot

JJ O’Connor E. Sons Pty Ltd

Jolpac Rural Supplies

Kongal Seeds

Landmark Keith

Lawrie & Co

Momentum Energy

NAB Murray BridgeNAS AgribusinessNaracoorte Seeds

Peracto SAPGG Wrightson Seeds

Pinkerton, Palm, Hamlyn & Steen

Rabobank Australia

SA Apiarists Association

Seed Distributors

Seed Services Australia

Seed Genetics International

South East Seed Exports

Tatiara Seeds

Teague Australia

Vermeeren Bros Manufacturing

Viterra Limited

WFI

Wickham Flower

Wise Farm Equipment

Zadow Apiaries

PO Box 505, KEITH SA 5267

Phone: 0439 538 332

email: [email protected]

www.lucerneaustralia.org.au Twitter: Twitter.com/LucerneAust

ABN: 38 226 068 425

Sponsors:

Momentum EnergyGold sponsor of Lucerne Australia

The world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking

RabobankGold sponsor of Lucerne Australia

Seed ServicesSilver sponsor of Lucerne Australia

Murray NankivellProviding financial advice

Pinkerton, Palm, Hamlyn & SteenSilver sponsor of Lucerne Australia

New Members:Archards Irrigation (associate), NAB Murray Bridge (associate), Peracto SA (associate), RJ & ED Sanders from

Tintinara (grower) and Ben Daniel from Kadina (grower).

WFIGold sponsor of Lucerne Australia Good people

to know

Wise Farm Equipment Silver sponsor of Lucerne Australia

Postage Paid

Australia

PO Box 505,

KEITH SA

5267Phone: 0439 538 332em

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