Food regulators have classed fruit juice as less healthy than diet cola under new guidelines confirming Australian health star ratings (HSR) on food packaging will focus more on sugar content. Today's decision by the Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, made up of state and territory ministers, will reduce the five-star rating for fruit juice to as low as two stars.

Victorian farmers battling workforce shortages will need to pay $2,000 towards the quarantine costs of each worker they bring in from the Pacific Islands. The Victorian and Tasmanian governments had previously announced a deal whereby Victoria would quarantine 330 Tasmanians returning from overseas in return for up to 1,500 Pacific Island workers completing quarantine in Tasmanian hotels. 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is introducing a new collective bargaining class exemption. The new exemption, due to become available from later this month, will allow small businesses, franchisees and fuel retailers to collectively negotiate with their suppliers and processors, franchisor or fuel wholesaler respectively, without first having to seek approval using the ACCC's existing authorisation or notification processes.

Battling rising mouse populations is difficult because there is still much to be understood about the rodents' behaviour. Over 500 people tuned into a GRDC-run mouse management online seminar last week, highlighting the mounting concern, especially down the east coast, at rising mouse populations.

It’s important to keep up with the changing status of pandemic regulations, so you can access state-specific information on COVID-19 from the links below:

Got something to sell? Or want to buy? Go direct to your target market – olive growers and producers.

If you’ve got something industry-related to sell, you can reach your target market directly with Olivebiz Classifieds. Our online Classifieds service is an easy and inexpensive solution to advertising your unwanted equipment, extra oil - or even your grove. And if there’s something you’re looking for, it’s the ideal way to get the message out loud and clear to your peers and industry associates – the most likely to have what you need.

Olivebiz Classifieds cost just $40 for AOA members ($100 for non-members), including a text ad and link through to either your web page or images hosted on our site. And you don’t need to be a tech-head: just send us your info and we’ll post it up for you.

Olivebiz Classifieds are online now at www.olivebiz.com.au/classifieds. To arrange a listing, contact Gerri at editor@olivegrower.com.au.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Evaluation of the Basin Plan late last year shows there have been good outcomes achieved since the Plan's inception in 2012, while also highlighting the need for more effort to achieve a healthy Basin that supports prosperous industries and communities.

While many young people are fascinated by fast cars or boats, 23-year-old farmer Hugh Macague is passionate about collecting and restoring Australian made headers. The machines are often seen in paddocks helping to strip crops during harvest. "In Australia, they get left behind to rot away in the shed or out in the open," he said.

He’s still on the hunt for a couple more, in case any of you crop as well and may have one stashed away ... 

Caitlin Radford feels something special whenever she walks through a certain eight-hectare crop of wheat on her family's farm. She's no stranger to the art of growing grain – she's been helping out on the property for years – but there is something undeniably magic about this particular crop.

A perfect storm of events is causing big delays to international shipping and pushing up the costs to get goods in and out of Australia. The pandemic caused havoc to the flow of goods across the globe, with shutdowns, booming ecommerce, the collapse of air travel, industrial action and a shipping container shortage leading to higher freight prices and delays.

The Landcare Farming Program team will deliver a series of carbon footprint and natural capital accounting workshops nationally throughout 2021, aiming to develop an awareness and adoption pathway for on-farm integration.

Olive growers interested in knowing how carbon footprint and/or natural capital schemes will underpin industry/sector sustainability strategy reporting are encouraged to apply. 

Participants who complete the training will be invited to work with the Landcare Farming partners to design and deliver demonstration sites to address areas identified within their group findings post completion.

Find out all the details and submit your expression of interest here. Note: EOIs close on 1 March 2021.

Farmers have until February 28 to provide the NSW Department of Primary Industries with feedback on a recent review of the state’s Right to Farm Policy to help guide the development of an Agriculture Land Use Planning Strategy (ALUP).

Read the NSW Agriculture Commissioner’s Right to Farm Policy Review report here and read more about options for a NSW Agricultural Land Use Planning Strategy here.

Then complete the survey here or email your feedback to agcommissioner@dpi.nsw.gov.au by February 28. 

The International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) continues to provide new and extended flights for export freight, including a new focus on key Asian markets.

A number of routes extensions have recently been announced, including: Adelaide to Singapore; Brisbane to Los Angeles, Singapore, Narita and Hong Kong; Melbourne to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai and Singapore; Sydney to Narita. Incoming flights have also been extended. 

Contact your preferred freight forwarder to access available flights and for more information and flight details, visit the IFAM webpage or download the IFAM Flight Schedule Outbound.

The Australian Government has partnered with the Export Council of Australia to present Global Market Insights: India and Indonesia, for producers looking to diversify their export markets. 

India was the world’s fastest growing economy prior to Covid-19, even surpassing China, and is still expected to become the world’s fifth largest economy in 2023. Indonesia is the largest economy in South-East Asia, and the fourth most populous country in the world. They are powerhouses with rising incomes and a growing middle-class. Australia has much to offer both economies, as they are complementary to ours.

Join the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Austrade, ECA and private sector experts for insights on the opportunities and risks of doing business with India and Indonesia, including policy directions of governments and drivers of growth in these markets.

Details: Thursday, 25 February from 3-4pm AEDT. Free, registration necessary. More information and register here.

The AOA’s Healthy Soils Field Days program is now underway, with the Tasmanian event held last Sunday and more running during February and March in major production regions across all states.

Each field day focuses on the role of healthy soils in producing healthy trees and lifting grove productivity. Presented in the grove, the information will cover a wide range of topics around soil health, from identifying and managing soil issues to monitoring and improving both soil and tree health. Along with expert speakers, each program will involve a panel of specialist service providers who will demonstrate and discuss the latest technology to monitor, test and measure vital soil parameters and tree health.

28 February - Peninsula Providore Farm - Nangkita Olive Grove, Tooperang SA

7 March - Hunters Dream Estate, Pokolbin NSW

14 March - aFthonia Farms, Hampton (via Toowoomba), QLD

28 March - Preston Valley Grove, Lowden (via Donnybrook) WA

Cost* is $40 incl GST for AOA members and levy payers; $50 incl GST for others.

* Tickets will be refunded where a Field Day needs to be re-scheduled to due COVID. Where possible, the decision to cancel will be made at least 7 days prior to the scheduled date.

The full program for each field day, including speaker and venue details, is available on the OliveBiz website here, where you can also register. 

The first round of Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Days for 2021 will be held in April, with dates and venues as follows:

Friday, 9 - Hawke’s Bay: Aquiferra, Hastings

Monday, 12 – Northland: Olives on the Hill, Mangawhai

Wednesday, 14 – Canterbury: Terrace Edge Vineyard & Olive Grove, Waipara Valley

Thursday, 15 – Nelson: Kakariki Olives, Richmond then Neudorf Olives, Upper Moutere

Friday, 16 – Wairarapa: Leafyridge Olive Grove, East Taratahi then Bella Olea, Greytown

The key aspects of this round include Nutritional advice from 2021 leaf tests; Disease management - sprays applied since October; Pruning - review of post-harvest pruning, secondary pruning; Crop load - flowering into fruit set.

More information about the project can be found here.

Olives NZ EO Gayle Sheridan has provided the heads-up that the government is drafting new regulations for certified and audited Farm Environment Plans. To meet the new regulations growers with five hectares or more of horticultural land use will need to have a certified and audited farm plan. In the farm plan growers will need to detail how they are managing any adverse environmental effects of their growing operation.

Part of the He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership program aims to “equip farmers & growers to reduce emissions, maintain or increase sequestration, and adapt to a changing climate.”

Find out more here.

The award-winning producers Mil & Un Verd are on a mission: preserve the historical structures and millennial olive trees of their estate while sustainably producing extra virgin olive oil from native varieties.

On Thursday, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, introduced AB 535, which establishes clear guidelines on when the olive oil industry can use the term “California” on its product labeling and marketing. This bill protects Californian olive growers and manufacturers from being undercut in the market by oils that benefit from using the “California” name to mislead consumers about what they are buying.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced some parts of La Molienda de Riogordo olive oil festival online. Organizers are capitalizing on the opportunity to offer an English-language version. 

Coconut oil has developed a cult-like following in recent years, with proponents touting benefits ranging from body fat reduction to heart disease prevention. Sadly for devotees, the evidence to support these assertions remains rather sparse. But there is plenty of research to suggest that other plant-based oils have advantages over their animal-derived counterparts, particularly when it comes to heart health. So which is best? While no specific type should be hyped as a panacea, one variety isn’t getting the press it deserves: olive oil.

With 2021 now underway, Friday Olive Extracts (FOE) continues to bring all the latest industry news and events to your Inbox every week. THE place to share olive industry news, event details and reminders, our industry e-newsletter keeps growing in popularity and we now have nearly 4000 subscribers across the globe. If you’re not one of them, you can sign up here.

And please remember that FOE is YOUR e-newsletter, so we’re keen to receive your news and help spread the word. Just email your information to Editor Gerri Nelligan at editor@olivegrower.com.au - it’s free, and the best way to reach your fellow industry members!

Harvest challenges, prices and international and domestic markets tend to be the prevailing concerns in the Greek olive oil sector. However, there are plenty of other ways the olive tree plays a role in Greek society, outside of business boundaries. In Crete, the beneficiaries of the Heraklion social services program received free olive oil through a local grocery store.

The Spanish government has contacted the European Commission urging it to open talks with the United States about suspending import tariffs on Spanish olive oil and table olives. In a letter sent by Reyes Maroto, the minister of industry, trade and tourism, to Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, Maroto called for a “balanced and mutually beneficial solution” to the trade dispute.

Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture has announced €69.2 million of funding for the country’s olive oil sector, with almost half of that sum coming from the European Union. The money will be used to improve olive oil quality, lower the environmental impact of the country’s olive farms and on new initiatives to trace the origin of olive oil sold on the domestic market.

Healthy Soils Field Day - Rushworth, VIC

Healthy Soils Field Day - Tooperang SA

ABARES Outlook 2021 conference

Healthy Soils Field Day - Hunter Valley NSW

Healthy Soils Field Day, Hampton (via Toowoomba), QLD

Olives NZ AGM (Zoom)

Soil CRC Participants Conference

Healthy Soils Field Day - Lowden (via Donnybrook) WA

Entries close, Berlin Global Olive Oil Awards – Berlin, Germany

Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Day - Hawke’s Bay

Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Day - Northland

Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Day - Canterbury

Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Day - Nelson

Olives NZ Focus Grove Field Day - Wairarapa

Entries close, OLIVE JAPAN 2021 International Olive Oil Competition

Registrations close/samples due, EVO IOOC – Palmi, Italy

Farm2Plate Exchange 2021 – Scenic Rim, Qld

Winners announced, OLIVE JAPAN 2021 International Olive Oil Competition

Hort Connections 2021 – Brisbane, Qld

Entries open, Hunter Olive Show

Entries close, Hunter Olive Show

Awards night, Hunter Olive Show

2021 National Olive Conference & Trade Exhibition - Devonport, Tasmania

To include your event, or update your existing event details, email FOE editor Gerri Nelligan at editor@olivegrower.com.au

Friday Olive Extracts Editorial editor@olivegrower.com.au

Advertising: editor@olivegrower.com.au

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