Agribusiness

Rural services company Elders expects to report a loss of more than $500 million for its recently concluded fiscal year.

The liquidators of timber plantation assets formerly owned by collapsed managed investment scheme Great Southern may have found a buyer for the assets, with an investment trust managed by Sydney-based company New Forests agreeing to purchase the plantations.

Shares in NSW cheese maker Bega have surged to a record high after the world's biggest diary exporter Fonterra bought a six per cent stake in it.

Bega Cheese's takeover play for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory has been given a boost, with the competition regulator greenlighting the bid.

Japanese dairy and beverage company Lion has entered the takeover battle for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, taking a 9.99 per cent stake in the company.

Canadian diary giant Saputo has increased its offer for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter to $449 million, insisting its takeover of the local company would not reduce competition.

Sandalwood producer TFS Corporation has received about $49 million from a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to plant 595 hectares of Indian sandalwood at a new plantation in the Northern Territory.

Things are looking up for WA grain producers, with a bumper crop on the way, but the outlook remains mixed for the state’s live animal exporters.

Less than three years after opening an office in Perth, United States grain giant Gavilon Holdings has decided to exit the Western Australian market.

Divisions within the government over foreign ownership of farmland appear to be deepening, with Labor accusing the coalition of speaking with "two heads" about Chinese investment.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett is "very optimistic" a new trade agreement will see hundreds of thousands of live cattle exported to China.

After welcoming Chinese investors to the Kimberley region, the Western Australian government is pitching the state's agribusiness opportunities to Vietnam and Thailand.

Senior federal government ministers say any proposal by Indonesia to buy Australian farmland for cattle grazing will be under joint venture arrangements.

Agricultural chemicals and seeds supplier Nufarm says its annual profit has been affected by challenging seasonal conditions and a difficult market in Australia.

Pastoralists are being offered $100 for each wild dog scalp they claim under a bounty scheme being trialled in West Australia to reduce attacks on sheep and cattle.

Australia's largest beef cattle producer plans to raise almost $300 million through the sale of new shares.

Struggling rural services company Elders will cut its staff by 10 per cent.Elders said this morning that the job losses would be part of more than $25 million in company cuts.

Shareholders have slammed as too lenient the $50,000 fine handed to former Gunns chairman John Gay for insider trading.

Western Australian broadacre farmers only averaged a “fairly miserly” 1.07 per cent return on capital for their 2012 harvests due to variability in grain prices, low rainfall, higher costs and

John Gay, the face of one-time Tasmanian timber giant Gunns, could spend time in jail after pleading guilty to insider trading.

Debt-laden Elders has sold its car interiors business Futuris Automotive to a US private equity firm for $69 million.

Livestock exporter Wellard has been cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation into the cull of more than 20,000 Australian sheep in Pakistan, angering animal welfare groups.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he's taking a wait-and-see approach to Indonesia's stance on live cattle export quotas.

Winemaker Treasury Wine Estates will take a $160 million hit as it attempts to address a glut of stock in the United States.

Australia has enjoyed a mining boom thanks to the Asian Century but is badly trailing the competition when it comes to feeding the region, says Nufarm chairman Donald McGauchie.

Elders has appointed a former Wesfarmers executive as its new chairman tasked with restoring the 174-year company into purely a rural services player.

A further $9 million has been wiped from the market value of Elders after it rejected an offer to buy its rural services business.

Debt-laden Elders has received at least one formal bid for its main rural services business and is working on securing a sale, following eight months of negotiations.

Elders shares have slumped more than 10 per cent after the agribusiness posted a hefty first half loss and said the sale process for its rural services and automotive businesses was ongoing.

Live animal exports would be banned by 2017 under a private bill introduced by federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who says the industry has run out of "last chances".

Disgruntled farmers have dumped several tonnes of grain outside West Australian Premier Colin Barnett's office, saying the state government's financial relief package is meagre.

Australia could revive its struggling cattle industry and improve animal welfare standards by processing meat at home instead of continuing live exports, the Australian Greens say.