Northern NSW judging (pictured) is now complete. Southern, Central and Western regions are still to be judged.

As the 2024 growing season faces set­backs due to adverse weather conditions, wheat growers across New South Wales are encouraged to showcase their exper­tise and innovation by entering the prestig­ious AgShows NSW Suncorp Bank Cham­pionship Dryland Field Wheat and Durum Competition.

This highly anticipated annual competi­tion celebrates excellence in wheat produc­tion and provides an opportunity for grow­ers to be recognised for their hard work in overcoming challenging conditions.

With frosts and dry weather across NSW throughout September, private forecasts predict Australia’s national wheat crop may fall below 30 million tonnes—well short of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences’ (AB­ARES) September forecast of 31.8 million tonnes.

Stephen Hatty, Chair of the Wheat Ad­visory Committee, encourages growers to take part: “While we may see a lower na­tional wheat crop this year, the competition remains an excellent opportunity for grow­ers to demonstrate the effectiveness of their management practices under difficult conditions.”

The competition is open to growers from all regions of NSW, with 30th October the cut-off for growers in our region. To enter the competition, growers should contact their local competition coordinator. A full list of local coordinators can be found on the AgShows NSW website, along with entry forms and judging criteria.

Judging will begin shortly after the region­al deadlines, with regional winners being announced later in the year. The state win­ner will be revealed at the Wheat Presenta­tion Dinner in Dubbo on 12th January 2025.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has opened applications for its National Ag­riculture Leadership Program.

The flagship program provides exclu­sive opportunities for emerging leaders in the agriculture sector, including mentoring, policy development guidance, and meetings with Parliamentarians.

NFF President David Jochinke said the program is targeted at Australians aged under 35. “The program immerses our par­ticipants in the policy and advocacy worlds; they’ll have the opportunity to tour Austral­ian Parliament House and meet with federal politicians and government departments, and be mentored by leading policy experts,” Mr Jochinke said.

Now entering its fifth year, Mr Jochinke said the limited spots in the NALP are al­ways hotly contested.

“I encourage everyone with a passion for ag and an interest in leadership to apply.”

“Applications are only open for a month, so please don’t delay if you’re interested in this fantastic program,” Mr Jochinke said.

Program participants will meet up for a three-day advocacy retreat in Canberra where they’ll be matched with an industry leader and work on a policy project.

The program kicks off February 2025, ap­plications are open until 14 November 2024.

Find out more at https://nff.org.au/nalp/

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has today opened its popular photography competition, ahead of National AgDay next month.

NFF President David Jochinke said the competition attracts hundreds of entries each year. “It’s a real highlight of AgDay celebrations to see the amazing snaps of life on the land from every corner of this beautiful country,” Mr Jochinke said.

“I encourage everyone to send in their photos and videos over the next few weeks; there are some great prizes on offer.”

First place will receive $2,000, second place is awarded $1,000, and runners up receive $500 each.

Participants are also encouraged to share their photos on social media using the hashtag #AgDayAU.

The theme “Grow you good thing!” is again the catch cry for this year’s AgDay.

“National AgDay is a fantastic celebration of everything that makes the agricultural in­dustry so special,” Mr Jochinke said.

“You can show your support on the big day by attending or hosting an event, tak­ing part in the photo comp, or by proudly donning some “I love farmers” merchan­dise.”

National AgDay falls on Friday 15th No­vember 2024. For more information, visit https://agday.org.au/

Participants at the Be Road Ready for Harvest Satellite Event that took place in Bogan Gate.

Over 50 farmers, contract harvesters, truck drivers and grain brokers attended the re­cent Be Road Ready for Harvest Satellite Events in Tottenham, Parkes, Wirrinya and Bogan Gate.

The events were supported by the Na­tional Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Trans­port for NSW, the Grain Transport Safety Network (GTSN), NSW Police, SafeWork NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service, Local Lands Services, NSW Farmers and the Parkes Show Society.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Coun­cils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Of­ficer, Melanie Suitor, said anecdotal feed­back from attendees was very positive.

“Regulations are constantly changing, so events like these are important to ensure we provide information about how to safely and legally move agricultural machinery, combi­nations and trucks on the road network in the lead up to the busy harvest period.

“We had presentations about conditional registration, auxiliary plates, fatigue, load restraint, mobile phone rules, chain of re­sponsibility, access, compliance as well as the Grain Harvest Management Scheme, last mile access to silos and the National Class 1 Agricultural Vehicle and Combina­tion Mass and Dimension Exemption No­tice.

“The highlight of the morning was the in­teractive activity, where we showed partici­pants how to use the quick reference guide for Class 1 Agricultural Notice to work out what the travel requirements would be for a header towing a front as well as various sized tractors towing implements.

“Participants took home windscreen stick­ers that can be attached to their machinery that acts as a quick reference for travel re­quirements such as pilots, lights and sig­nage.

“Harvest USBs and windscreen stickers will be distributed to local agricultural ma­chinery retailers and rural supply stores in late October” Ms Suitor said.

Keep the Sheep campaigners and support­ers have sent a strong message to the Alba­nese Government, amassing thousands of supporters to the lawn at Parliament House in Canberra to protest the government’s ban on live sheep exports.

The campaign celebrated people join­ing the rally from across Australia, coming from as far afield as Darwin, Broome, North Queensland and Adelaide to show their frustration.

Armed with a 50 strong convoy of trucks and vehicles that converged from Yass and Goulburn, Keep the Sheep spokesman Ben Sutherland celebrated the excellent turn out. “People feel so strongly about the gov­ernment ruining our livelihoods, they came out in force today.”

Mr Sutherland said that neither the Prime Minister nor the Agriculture Minister, Julie Collins came out to address the crowd.

“People are hurting already as a result of this policy and no Government representa­tives turned up to listen to their concerns” he said.

With approximately 2,000 people in at­tendance, the rally demonstrated the frus­tration that farmers have felt about the gov­ernment’s anti-farming policies and added to the nearly 100,000 signature petition.