Agribusiness buzz in brief

The high tech 66,000 square metre Redbank distribution centre, which covers an area twice the size of Suncorp Stadium, will supply 220 supermarkets from northern NSW to North Queensland.

Coles' two new super warehouses will eventually be complemented by another two twin robotic fulfilment centres in NSW and Victoria to bolster services to Cole's online customers.

The giant distribution centres, built by German company Witron, will apparently hold and process twice the number of pallets on a smaller footprint than existing sites.

The Brisbane facility can contain Cole's full range of more than 18,000 ambient supermarket products and enable a full scope of items to be held within Queensland.

Brisbane Markets Limited is weighing up a possible public listing on the Australian Securities Exchange by 2027.

The Rocklea-based fruit and vegetable markets, which handles more than 550,000 tonnes of produce annually, has told shareholders one of its options for future growth is a capital injection through a listing on the ASX.

A recent change to its constitution has paved the way for a public listing within four years.

However, the currently unlisted public company's board has emphasised to produce industry stakeholders no current plans are afoot to pursue the ASX in the near future.

Dominant trans-Tasman poultry meat business, Ingham's has launched a promotion to pitch its animal welfare and sustainability credentials and debunk misconceptions about the industry.

Australians already eat an average 49 kilograms of chicken each year - more than any other meat - but Australia's biggest poultry producer wants to reassure consumers its chooks are raised on "grain-fed goodness" and no hormones or steroids are added to their feed.

Use of those products was banned from Australian chicken production 60-plus years ago.

The information initiative also notes broilers are housed in climate-controlled poultry sheds to protect them against hot summers, cold winters, predators and disease, and they move around freely, perch, flap their wings, dust bathe in wood shavings and have "enrichment objects" for pecking and exploration.

In 2021 more than 340 assessments were conducted at Ingham's farms and abattoirs by RSPCA assessors to ensure animal welfare standards were met.

Chicken also has the lowest carbon footprint of any land-based meat.

Former Australian Test cricket captain, Allan Border, has put his name to a limited release of 2000 bottles of shiraz from Sanguine Estate Winery at Heathcote in Victoria.

Border (pictured) was actively involved in producing the hand-crafted "Maiden Tonne" label with the vineyard's owners, the Hunter family, including picking the grapes, blending and final tasting.

"Winemaker Mark Hunter allowed me to come up with a wine that I can genuinely say is unique and very special to me," he said.

Like Border, the family patriarch, Tony Hunter, was a good friend of popular fellow Australian Test batsman, Dean Jones, who died aged 59 after a stroke in 2020 while working as an Indian Premier League commentator in Mumbai.

Allan Border's bottled vintage was released by Sanguine at $150 a bottle, each numbered.

A talented young Western Australian sommelier has won the Australian Organic Wine Awards associate scholarship for 2023, and a spot on the judging panel at this year's wine awards.

The awards will reveal the country's highest quality organic and biodynamic wines.

Hosted by peak industry body, Australian Organic Limited, the competition is open to all commercially available certified organic wines across red, white and sparkling varieties, last year attracting a record 238 entries from 58 producers.

Sophia Gannon, a 23-year-old sommelier at Vincent Wines in Perth's inner north will be one of five judges for the awards, while renowned wine expert Mike Bennie will return as chief judge.

Last year Ngeringa's 2019 Single Vineyard Iluma Syrah from the Adelaide Hills won Wine of Show.

Applications for the 2023 Awards close on June 9, with winners announced in September.

A team from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has begun a joint plant health survey with Timor-Leste's Directorate for Quarantine and Biosecurity after a three-year COVID-19 enforced halt to co-operation.

As part of the department's international plant health surveillance program, the team works closely with Timorese counterparts to survey border zones such as airports, seaports and border crossings for the presence of plant pests and diseases.

Australia has a long history delivering plant pest surveys in partnership with Timor-Leste, however surveys were disrupted by pandemic travel restrictions.

The DAFF team, including an entomologist, a plant pathologist, a botanist, and a biosecurity operations officer, is working with DNQB staff on plant research, and biosecurity training and safety.

Chief plant protection officer, Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, said the partnership provides Australia with early warnings about changes in plant biosecurity risks in the region, while also supporting a close neighbour to respond to plant pests before they become widespread.

The A2 Milk Company's retiring deputy chair, Julia Hoare, is to be replaced next month by former London banker turned New Zealand company director, Kate Mitchell.

Ms Mitchell chairs the New Zealand Merino Company, and is a director of Christchurch International Airport, the Heartland banking and financial services group, which owns Australian livestock finance provider, StockCo, and NZ farmland investment management group FarmRight.

She previously held leadership roles with global investment bankers, Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in Britain.

Meanwhile, A2 is "refreshing" its US business, replacing chief executive of seven years, Blake Waltrip, with current Australia-NZ executive general manager, Kevin Bush, whose role will be filled by chief strategy officer, Eleanor Khor.

A2 Milk's Mataura Valley Milk business in NZ will also see chief executive and founding figure, Bernard May, depart after seven years.

Biological seed coating and biofertiliser business, New Edge Microbials, has appointed former Bayer CropScience and AGnVET marketing manager, Rohan Jarvis, as product delivery and commercial excellence general manager.

He will be responsible for bringing to market more of Albury-based New Edge's branded products offering growers impact production outcomes with a low impact on the environment.

"The new role is about ensuring we keep connecting the dots between what the industry wants, and the technical opportunities that are out there," said managing director, Ben Barlow.

Engaging growers, agronomists and distributors will be a key focus, and Rohan brings a wealth of experience and networks to this new role."

He was most recently southern regional manager for AGnVET, one of Australia's largest privately owned rural outlet retail chains.

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Application opportunities for the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation's national mentoring program helping regional and remote communities impacted, or expected to be affected, by drought have been extended until May 29.

The program successfully connected 70 participants during its first round and aims to attract 60 more participants.

The mentoring program provides one-on-one mentoring sessions and virtual learning sessions aimed at developing participants' communication, leadership and self-awareness skills to foster drought preparedness, resilience building, and stronger networks within rural communities.

It seeks applicants living in connected to rural communities who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, matching mentors and mentees based on shared interests, experience, and goals.

The program is supported by the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal and National Farmers' Federation as part of the federal government's Helping Regional Communities Prepare for Drought Initiative.

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