Agribusiness

Live cattle exporters in Australia face uncertainty after Indonesia, which accounts for 60 per cent of the $1.2 billion trade, flagged an 80 per cent cut in its imports.

Local aquaculture firm Seafarms Group has announced plans to raise up to $16.6 million, with major shareholders Ian Trahar and Paul Favretto committing to a large portion of the raising.

Sandalwood plantation operator TFS Corporation has reaffirmed its expectation of a net profit of at least $90 million for the 2014-15 financial year.

Bannister Downs Dairy Company managing director Sue Daubney has won the Industry Advocacy award at the 2015 Women in Industry Awards in Sydney.

New research from publication The Economist indicates China will be the world’s largest economy by 2026, with a forecast nominal GDP nearing $US30 trillion, and predicts the rise of Asian nations will drastically affect global politics.

Narembeen is typical of many small Wheatbelt towns confronting challenges with an array of business and community development initiatives.

The Wheatbelt region faces significant growth challenges, but it’s home to a surprising mix of old and new businesses. Click through to see more on our business in the Wheatbelt feature.

Forge Group founder Peter Hutchinson is planning to move into agribusiness, with ASX-listed Style announcing the $20 million acquisition of Nor-West Seafoods.

Australian rock star and face of a controversial Peta campaign against the wool industry, Jona Weinhofen, could be getting shearing lessons thanks to a successful crowdfunding project by WAFarmers.

Western Australian farmers are twice as likely as other states to hire new staff this year, according to a report released by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Potato farmers are disappointed with the state government’s reported decision to abolish the industry regulator after the 2017 election, but have said they are willing to consider changes to eliminate some of the most controversial legislation governing their trade.

Western Australian farmers are projected to enjoy the highest rate of return in the nation, excluding capital appreciation, for 2014-15, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

State upper house member Rick Mazza has taken a leading role in the debate about the state’s potato bureaucracy, the Potato Marketing Corporation.

A Singaporean beef producer has bought the Pardoo Station in the Pilbara, including 5,800 head of cattle, with plans to increase the herd by 10,000 and develop further tourism facilities.

Four toxic cane toads have been found in a truck carrying sandalwood at a Perth freight depot.

The state’s agricultural industry will require almost $600 billion of investment by 2050 to improve productivity and rationalise production in a bid to access Asian markets, according to a new report released by KPMG for the state Department of Agriculture and Food.

A fall in pearl sizes has dragged down revenue for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes, with the company confirming a loss for the first half of the year flagged in a restructure last week.

CBH Group is set to invest $1.1 million in solar energy, commissioning Energy Made Clean to engineer and build power stations at three of its facilities across the state.

Western Australia's grain production could be valued at $10 billion annually by 2025, under a new strategy launched today by the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia.

A Curtin University spin-off company has been awarded $5.2 million in a federal grant to develop a biofuel project that has the potential to reduce diesel costs in rural areas.

Demand for Western Australian agricultural property assets is expected to run hot throughout 2015, with offshore buyers not expected to be deterred by new rules for foreign investment in farmland.

The regulation of potato production in WA has the business community bemused at how such an anachronism can survive.

The state government has stuck to its position that maintenance of leased railway infrastructure is the responsibility of the private sector, in its response to the 2014 parliamentary committee report into the management of the state’s freight rail network.

Shares in Western Australian aquaculture player Atlas Pearls and Perfumes fell dramatically today as the company announced a restructure, including the resignation of executive chairman Stephen Birkbeck.

Perth-based company Commodities Group has signed an access and option agreement for a 180,000-hectare cattle station, to continue its pursuit of an industrial scale prawn farming operation.

The federal government has announced it will increase scrutiny on incoming foreign investment in agricultural land, lowering the threshold at which purchases are reviewed by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Western Australian businesses are being drawn to the long-term growth opportunities offered by the aquaculture sector as increasing demand from Asia drives investment.

Agricultural chemicals maker Nufarm's long serving chief executive Doug Rathbone has stepped down.

As the summer’s harvest draws to a close, CBH Group has announced that this year’s crop production was the fourth highest on record.

The state government’s farm finance concessional loans scheme has been expanded to allow loans for debt restructuring, and to farmers in areas that are not rainfall deficient.

Farmers and Labor are on the same side when it comes to broadening the GST to fresh food.

Iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart has agreed to invest in WA business Bannister Downs Dairy, to support a planned $20 million-plus expansion of the niche dairy producer.