Commodity Conversations

This week Olivia and Ethan from Mecardo discuss the key insights from the latest Mecardo Quarterly Commodity Report. They discuss wool at the crossroads, the weather market impacts on grain, mutton milestones and cattle export signals. 

This week Olivia travels across Australia with some of the Nutrien Ag Solutions network to get a regional update on the winter cropping season so far.  Olivia is joined by Greg Toomey: Branch Manager at Elmore, Victoria; Nick Brennan: Agronomy account manager at Wee Waa NSW; and Tom Shaw: Farm Services Support Agronomist based in WA.

This week Rob is joined by Heather Jones, a wool and meat sheep producer from Thermopolis, Wyoming.  Heather talks to us about managing Rambouillet sheep through snow, mountain lions, badlands grazing and how the markets are treating lamb producers in the US. 

This week Rob is in the Wild West of America and is joined by Art Butler, who sits on the Board of Directors of the American Angus Association and is the Owner and manager of Spring Cove Ranch in Idaho. We talk about the cattle market in the United States. 

This week Mecardo's Ethan Woolley is joined by Ripley Atkinson, Senior Market Information Analyst with Meat & Livestock Australia.  Ripley talks us through MLA's June update on cattle projections and discusses the fundamentals which are shaping cattle supply, demand and pricing this year.

This week the Mecardo team is joined by Nick Booth, Mecardo Analyst and Director of Next Level Grain Marketing. This week is all about cropping, as we dive into the ABARES crop progress report, global balance sheets in grain and the factors that will impact the upcoming season.

This week, the Mecardo team is joined by John Gibson, Director of ProAdvice to discuss the upcoming end of the financial year. We discuss family farm finances including new changes to be aware of and other strategic planning opportunities growers can focus on. 

This week Rob is joined by Mark Symes Southern Wool Manager at G. Schneider Australia to discuss the latest in the wool market.  Mark talks us through the balance between demand and supply in the current market and where to next for accredited wool and the finer wool market in general. 

With an El Nino looming and mixed conditions around the country, we turn to the skies this week with Eric Snodgrass, Principal Atmospheric Scientist at Nutrien Ag Solutions. Today's episode covers all things climate drivers, diving into what to expect from an El Nino this season, the implications for rainfall, temperature and frost patterns, as well as what might be in store beyond the current season.  

You can check out Eric's latest fortnightly weather forecast for Australia here, https://youtu.be/xX_QL0aiWwA

This week Rob is joined by Scott Young, Livestock Council President of the Victorian Farmers Federation.  Scott’s mandate is to improve the Biosecurity outcomes for all farmers, and he talks us through what VFF is doing behind the scenes to ensure Biosecurity plans can protect farmers from risks such as trespassing.  Read more at https://www.vff.org.au/policy/animal-welfare-biosecurity/biosecurity/