Beef’s Global Roundtable vision has little to offer consumers
The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef’s “Draft Principles & Criteria for Global Sustainable Beef” has few additional features to offer the world’s beef consumers.
Read MoreWhy PCAS to identify Australia’s best known beef
Comment by Patrick Francis Australia’s beef farmers grow and finish the majority of the nation’s slaughter cattle on pastures.
Read MoreLive sheep export report unbalanced
By Patrick Francis The Centre for International Economics’ (CIE) analysis of what cessation of the live sheep trade would do to
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Live animal export updates
For me the live export issue boils down to looking after livestock in a way which respects their natural behaviour and guarantees no cruelty take place from farm to slaughter in an abattoir.
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Police post- fire road blocks need new rules of engagement
By Patrick Francis The post-fire police road blocks to prevent residents, supporting volunteers and service providers entering so-called danger
Read MoreNuffield scholar finds – accessing sheep meat’s value chain key to profitability
By Patrick Francis A Western Australia farmer, meat scientist and Nuffield Scholar Dr Kelly Manton-Pearce has identified a bright outlook
Read MoreCRC’s sheep money guide neglects agroecology
Review by Patrick Francis The Sheep CRC has just published it’s third “Sheep – the simple guide, making more money
Read MorePreserving summer rain’s value with stubble and herbicides
The following GRDC Fact Sheet presents some interesting data about impacts of stubble and weeds on plant available water for
Read MoreAustralian food production and prices
This section is devoted to statistics surrounding Australia’s major broadacre food and fibre commodities. Emphasis is placed on showing trends. Most data is
Read MoreZooming in on northern Australia’s “food bowl” practicalities
Nuffield Scholar Aaron Sanderson has injected some practical farming home truths into claims that Australia’s Top End can become a food bowl for Asia. His research found that in comparison with tropical agriculture in developing countries northern Australia has many drawbacks and small holders farmers are far more efficient at food production than they are generally given credit for.
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Soil carbon and components snapshots
Trials and research are continually uncovering data which helps to demonstrate the complex interactions associated with soil carbon, biology, chemistry and
Read MorePasture additives trial produces no surprises
Every so often we like to trial some fertilisers, soil ameliorants and soil biological stimulants. Whether organic or inorganic, soil health and pasture growth additives come with recommendations to add more every year. I have never seen a manufacturer recommend not to add a product because it might not be needed in healthy soils.
Read MoreTake ‘mosaic’ approach to agriculture, boost support for small farmers
By Patrick Francis The United Nations Conference and trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its 2013 Trade and Environment Report
Read MoreAWI performance report card fails to relate to farm profitability
By Patrick Francis Australian Wool Innovations Ltd 2012/13 Report Card demonstrates an increasingly common characteristic amongst agribusiness corporations –
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Farm profitability ignored in overseas investor and Food Bowl debates
By Patrick Francis Key points Most farmers have a different agenda to the rest of agriculture’s sectors when it comes
Read MorePushing productivity on Australian farmers misunderstands world food supply and demand
The Direction for Australian agriculture leading t0 2050 By Tony Gleeson and Nelson Quinn Currently there is a broadly based
Read More23 years on “father” of landcare’s fundamental message is worth re-reading
By Patrick Francis In 1990 I wrote an article for FARM Magazine after interviewing the farmer behind Australia’s first landcare
Read More2013 lambing highlights benefits of prolific pastures
The 178% lamb marking achieved this spring highlights the important connection between high year round pasture mass and livestock nutrition, ewe fecundity, ewe health, lamb birth weight and lamb welfare.
Read MoreAgriculture’s greatest corporate debacle
Review by Patrick Francis Charles Massy’s “Breaking the Sheep’s Back” must be among Australia’s best non-fiction business greed novels. The
Read MoreToo much phosphorus fertiliser applied on many pastures and crops
By Patrick Francis The rationale behind farmers applying phosphorus (P) fertiliser to pastures and crops as an annual routine, based
Read MoreWoady Yaloak alternative fertiliser trial review
“The trial from hell” By Patrick Francis The Woady Yaloak Catchment Group’s “alternative fertilisers and biological products for pastures and
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Letter from Finland where biomass is leading energy source
By Andrew Lang I am sitting in a small hotel in Finland having woken up early by my brain which
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Evolution of Comfortable Farming on Moffitts Farm
Moffitts Farm has been used for trialing pasture varieties and grazing methods since 1993. The evolution of management methods developed into the concept we call “Comfortable Farming” – farming that is comfortable for the livestock, comfortable for the biodiversity and comfortable for the family.
Read MoreWorld food production and outlook
This section contains snapshots of statistics surrounding world food production trends, prices and outlooks. On many occassions the discussion about
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Live export review misleading
– Ignores cruelty risk and consumer demand for Aussie quality meats Comment by Patrick Francis The Australian Farm Institute’s analysis
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Placing more emphasis on “carbon flows” for profitable farming
By Alan Lauder Farmers, advisors and scientists have become too preoccupied with carbon stocks and measuring carbon and not paying
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2012 Sheepvention inventions
By Patrick Francis Inventions competitions are more about re-thinking an approach than coming up with a completely novel piece of
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Basics – Comfortable Farming
Our way of farming is comfortable for the livestock, comfortable for the environment and comfortable for the farmers – despite the increasingly variable climate.
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Basics – Water
With limited rainfall, the key at Moffitts Farm is to hold as much water as possible in the soil and vegetation, when rain does fall.
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Basics – Conservation
Conservation at Moffitts Farm is not viewed as something that occurs in a dedicated corridor or place set aside, but is occurring across the property.
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Basics – Carbon
A farm that is a net carbon sink stores more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases to the atmosphere.
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Basics – Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is important to us, and includes livestock handling, adequate nutrition, animal health and shelter.
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Book review “Cows Save the Planet”
“Cows Save the Planet” Book highlights biology’s role in soil health By Patrick Francis When I read that US journalist
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