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Rural confidence slowly recovering but remains low
Vivien Lin
Rabobank ’s latest Rural Confidence Survey has revealed that the confidence of Australia’s farmers remains subdued as a result of ongoing dry conditions , although recent rainfall offers hope for the year ahead.
Rabobank’s Rural Confidence Survey questions an average of 1,000 producers across a variety of commodities and geographical areas throughout Australia on a quarterly basis.
The survey’s results for the June quarter show that there has been a slight increase in overall rural confidence, though sentiment still remains low due to concerns about drought conditions.
A very dry autumn has created challenges for many key agricultural regions, hindering crop planting and placing pressure on livestock producers. Farmers are currently waiting for the seasonal break to replenish severely depleted soil moisture levels and water catchments.
This is especially pronounced in Western Australia, which has experienced its driest five months on record to May and is the only state in the survey which did not report improved sentiment.
“This will have been weighing heavily on farmers as the winter cropping season began and as livestock producers moved into winter with poor pasture growth and low dam levels,” says Rabobank Australia CEO Peter Knoblanche.
The grain sector has also posted a small decline in confidence due to continuing drought conditions.
“In the grains sector, sentiment all hangs on the state of the season and where growers were unable to fulfil planting intentions, this would be at the forefront of their mind with the price outlook a secondary consideration,” says Mr Knoblanche.
However, late widespread rainfall across Western Australia and some parts of South Australia and the eastern states has offered hope to many producers.
“The late arrival of widespread rains over recent days could be game changing for agriculture in the state,” says Mr Knoblanche. “In particular, they’ve brought a desperately-needed late break for most cropping regions – particularly the western half of the wheatbelt – and will also have eased the pressure on graziers with regards to water.”
The survey also notes that improvements in commodity prices for sheep and dairy have helped underpin confidence in the agricultural sector.
71 per cent of sheep graziers expect conditions in the agricultural economy to improve or remain similar to last year.
“For graziers, confidence is largely being held up by the market, with prices for lamb at record levels for this time of year, and this is alongside the continued strength in mutton and wool markets,” says Mr Knoblanche.
Furthermore, despite facing numerous challenges in recent years , the dairy sector has seen the biggest lift in confidence, indicating early signs of improvement in dairy farmer sentiment.
“Processors have come into the market with strong milk prices for the 2019/20 season and while this has started to drive that lift in farmer sentiment, it has been somewhat muted by the elevated input cost environment for feed and water,” says Mr Knoblanche.
The next Rural Confidence Survey is scheduled for release in September 2019.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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