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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.   

"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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

As part of our Global Sheep Forum partnership, we had a chat with English sheep and cereal farmer Ed Brant from Lincolnshire.  We chat about trade, succession, issues with farming, brexit, Jeremy Clarkson and much more.

We have a chat with Steve Noa, founder of 'The Merino Polo'. We have a chat with Steve about setting up a business making merino polos for Australia.  We also chat about all things to do with working with Chinese suppliers and what is happening in the wool industry. 

Ryan Hoiberg of Rimfire resources joins the podcast to chat about labour issues. We cover the issues facing white and blue collar jobs and what graduates need to do to get a decent job.     

In the second part of our monthly series for the Global Sheep Forum, we have a chat with Brady Evans from Texas. When we think of Texas, we think oil and cattle - not sheep. Brady has set up a diversified business in the sheep industry, including retailing sheep meat in the small town of Snyder in West Texas.  We hear from Brady about the challenges and opportunities for US sheep producers. 

The socialist revolution starts here. Guardian rural editor Gabrielle Chan aka Chan Guevara has forcibly taken over the AgWatchers studio and is holding us ransom until we answer her questions.  We are forced through interrogation to answer questions for our 150th episode. We cover dumpster diving, fertilizer, carbon/biodiversity markets, competition and what's ahead in 2023. The revolution will not be televised. It will be over a podcast.

On this podcast, we chat with Alison Meagher, the butcher girl. We have a chat about being a butcher, the meat industry, access to offal and fake meat.  A great chat and will make you feel hungry. 

We have a massive labour shortage in Australia - what are the solutions? We are joined by Ronald Recinos, the Guatemalan Ambassador to Australia. Guatemala has a temporary guest worker program with Canada. Thousands of Guatemalans travel to Canada every year to work on agricultural and horticultural properties.  Guatemala would like to offer the same to Australia. Would this work? Let's have a chat and see. 

A quick update on markets with Matt and Andrew. Grains, livestock and the wider macro environment. 

We have Adam Clarke, a trade grain broker and high school friend of Matt, on the podcast this week.  In this discussion, we chat about the impact of wet weather on grain, how the market is performing and try and get some dirt on Matt from his high school days. 

In the first of our collaborations with the Global Sheep Forum. In this episode, we have a chat with Ben Galloway from New Zealand.  We chat about the issues facing agriculture in New Zealand, including carbon, labour and much more.  You can find more about the global sheep forum at www.globalsheepforum.com

We have a chat with R Kelly, also known as Rob Kelly. Rob is an old mate of the AgWatchers team and is the managing director of Agora Livestock, a new price discovery tool for the livestock industry.    He used to work in the grain industry and was one of the designers of 'Daily Grain' on the west coast. As always we cover a huge range of topics. 

We were joined to launch our collaboration with the Global Sheep Forum by Bonnie Skinner of Sheep Producers Australia and Nicholas Jolly of Beef + Lamb New Zealand.  On a monthly basis, AgWatchers will be collaborating with the Global Sheep Forum. We will be interviewing farmers from around the world to discuss the issues and opportunities they face. 

We have a chat with Marius Cuming about the recent AWI campaign about man made fibres. We also provide AWI with solutions to assist the wool industry grow and make more $

We have a quick chat about the volatility of the grain market, issues with livestock and the purpose of the fertilizer census. 

We have a chat with Elena Neroba, a grains professional from Ukraine. We found out about how Elena has been going since the war started, what the feeling on the ground is, and the impacts on the grain industry.    We also discussed the #GRAIN4UKRAINE campaign and why you should donate grain using NGR 15004442.

We have a chat with Patrick Hutchinson, CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council. We talk about the issues around labour in meatworks, the media response to FMD, and free trade agreements that are in progress - and a whole lot more.  

TEM is no more, but the journey is never over.  Today we engage in our next episode. In this chat, we discuss the evolution of TEM to EP3. Recently, we have agreed to take over the TEM website and rebrand to a new entity owned entirely by the two of us. Thanks for the support of everyone over the past two years and into the future. 

We invite regular guest (x6) Chris Lawson back onto the podcast to have a chat about the fertilizer market. Chris is the head of fert for CRU Group, an industrial and fertilizer analysis firm. 

A very quick discussion on the big drivers in the market. Red meat demand heats up, risk of higher fertilizer pricing and Putin helping drive grain prices higher. 

We have a market chat. Lots of livestock data out - FSR, Cattle on feed and sheep turnoff. The grain market has also come under a lot of pressure with pricing levels falling. 

We are joined by Bonnie Skinner, CEO of Sheep Producers Australia.  Our chit-chat includes discussions of traceability, the gov biosecurity response, Chinese trade ban rumours, our new intro music and inflation impact on demand. 

Senator Raff Ciccone joins AgWatchers for chit-chat. Raff has launched a senate inquiry into the government biosecurity response to FMD/Varroa mite, which is ongoing.  We chat about food security, biosecurity, ag labour, FMD, diversity of markets and local manufacturing of inputs. 

We have a chat with Dugald Saunders MP, the agricultural minister for NSW. Biosecurity has been the hot topic of the last two months, but NSW is battling through its own devastating outbreak - Varroa mite in bees.  In this short conversation, we have a chat about EID tags, FMD responses and what is happening with the varroa mite outbreak in NSW. 

Just the two of us, a short podcast.  We chat more about falling livestock pricing, why we need to calm down about FMD, grain/fert pricing and food inflation.     

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.    

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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). 

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. 

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” – Benjamin Franklin In 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

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. 

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. 

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?

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. 

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?