04 November 2022

Brought to you by Australian & New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor www.olivebiz.com.au

Today's Top Story

Xylella spreads beyond buffer zones in Puglia

Salento, Puglia.

The spread of Xylella fastidiosa in Puglia, the southern Italian region, has slowed but not stopped. Signs of the infection have been found in a few olive trees located in an area previously considered safe.

Australia

Olive growers affected by floods

Olive growing regions across Victoria and New South Wales are continuing to be affected by the devastating weather and floods impacting many primary production areas, and regional and rural communities.

While it is too early to quantify the extent of the damage, it is clear that these flood events are affecting many groves and businesses, and will have ongoing effects for many.

Assistance is available for growers whose groves and businesses are affected, from a number of government departments and other agencies/organisations. Find out more and please access the help you need, here:

Your olive industry colleagues are all thinking of you during this really tough time. Please look after yourselves as best you can, and stay safe.

The Medibank and Optus data breaches are a good reason to check your credit score. It could even help track down criminals

Law enforcement agencies are still investigating the origin of recent cyber attacks on Medibank and Optus. (Reuters: David Gray)

Millions of Australians have had their privacy breached in recent cyber attacks against Optus, Medibank and other companies. Cybercriminals stole sensitive health and financial data that can be used for ransom, blackmail or fraud.

Coles tells its suppliers to cut costs as supermarket inflation soars

Coles has told its suppliers to cut operational costs instead of requesting price rises, warning the supermarket giant may not accept their request for a cost increase even if they can prove their inputs have gone up.

Backpackers return to WA farms for harvest after COVID hiatus

Backpackers Samuel Smith, Charlie Riddington and Charlie Borrill get to work at Chilwell. (ABC Esperance: Hayden Smith)

This is more than a holiday for Charlie Borrill. Standing in a damp paddock, an hour's drive east of Esperance on WA's south coast, the teenager is soaking up as much information as he can. He knows the coming weeks will bring invaluable lessons that can be taken home to his farm, some 15,000 kilometres away in the East Midlands of England.

Let’s hope they’re still coming at olive harvest time!

Agricultural Trade Reform update - Horticulture

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has released an update of the trade reforms happening within the horticulture industry sector, which includes moving more services online and updating/streamlining others to give businesses in the export supply chain greater operational flexibility and certainty.

Find out more here.

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 products or equipment – like Russell, who has surplus high-quality EVOO for sale. 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.

Ammunition shortage leaves graziers unable to control kangaroo numbers after wet season population spike

A mob of wild roos in western Queensland. (Supplied: Angus Emmott)

A global ammunition shortage, consistent rain, and the success of cluster and exclusion fencing have all contributed to an "explosion" in Queensland's kangaroo population.

Many of us have kangaroos on or around our properties but is damage to olive trees a problem? We’d be keen to hear about your experiences – editor@olivegrower.com.au.

Food Alliance’s call for national food security strategy to stabilise food prices and protect consumers pays dividends

The National Food Supply Chain Alliance, made up of nine national food industry associations representing 160,000 businesses, says the Government’s announcement that it will commence an inquiry into food security in Australia is welcome and is something the Alliance has been calling for, for many months, following devastating natural disasters.

Opportunities

Food waste audit tool

Food businesses can download a free food waste audit tool thanks to Open Sauce, a collaboration of social enterprises banding together to reduce the amount of food waste generated by restaurants, cafes and catering businesses and individuals.

A food waste audit can reveal how much food is being thrown out and provide insights and solutions into how businesses can re-use organic food waste.

The project was supported by the Circular Economy Innovation Fund as part of CEBIC, and provides a useful tool to increase sustainability for those of you with a food service arm to your business.

Download the audit tool here.

Events

Webinar: Forecasting the year ahead. Changes to expect in cost of production, the weather, and the markets in the near future

Australian growers have had a tough couple of years. Increases in the cost of production coupled with devastating floods have altered the economics or running a farm.

This Zoom session looks at the factors effecting changes in cost of production, farmgate price, and the weather over the last year, and tools to help growers prepare themselves for next year:

Market trends in vegetable consumption and price (James Parry, Fresh Logic)
Climate outlook and forecasting tools for growers (Rachel Davis, Bureau of Meteorology)
Drivers of change in fertiliser and labour cost (Andrew Whitelaw, Episode 3)

The presentations will be followed by a moderated Q&A session.

Details: 3pm-4pm AEDT, Thursday, 24 November

While aimed at vegetable producers, the information will no doubt be relevant for all crop growers. Register here.

New Zealand

Applications open for Ballance sponsorships for agricultural industry students

Ballance Agri-Nutrients is calling on tertiary students wanting a future in agriculture to apply for one of its four $4,000 sponsorships.

Farmers and growers are increasingly being challenged with how to produce enough food for a rapidly increasing global population, and at the same time, protect our natural environment.

Ballance, a farmer and grower owned co-operative, is guided by the principle of Kaitiakitanga. Ballance with Nature is the philosophy they use to support customers to be future-ready - working with nature, caring for our natural resources, continuing to be sustainably productive.

Internationally New Zealand leads the way in sustainable farming and growing, and they want to maintain this position by encouraging the next generation to join the industry.

To apply a student must be studying a field related to agri-business, horticulture or the primary sector, and successful applicants can apply for their sponsorship to renew for up to three years.

Applications close Sunday, 13 November 2022 – apply here, or find out more about Ballance Sponsorships here.

The world's first electric foliage sprayer? If you can't source it, make it

Duncan from Loxley Innovation mowing with his electric tractor.

The dawn of a new era in zero-emission food production and farming is almost upon us, with the development of two vital pieces of hardware near completion. We have partnered with TRS Wholesale in Blenheim to create the first fully-electric foliar sprayer - converting an existing sprayer that runs off a tractor's power-takeoff to one that can be directly powered from a 230 volt power source.

International

Officials in Castilla-La Mancha look to oleotourism to boost farmer incomes

Officials and farmers are working to build new tourist accommodations, organize tastings, and draw visitors to mills.

And similarly, in Italy …

Events across Italy set to celebrate traditional olive groves

A record-breaking number of Italian municipalities have chosen to join a nationwide initiative to promote oleotourism. On October 30th, events in 168 locations will bring thousands of locals and tourists to olive groves, small villages, historic sites and ancient mills.

Concerns of olive oil shortages in Italy mount

Andrea Carassi, director general of the Italian Association of the Edible Oil Industry (Assitol), has warned that Italy is facing an olive oil shortage greater than any seen in over a generation.

Leading to …

Olive oil maker Filippo Berio faces price hike of 35 per cent: ‘If we don’t pass it on, we go bust’

Consumers could be hit with price hikes of up to 35 per cent on olive oil next year, the managing director of Filippo Berio told CityA.M.

That’s a major price hike … will be interesting to see if it affects sales or not.

Friday Olive Extracts – send us YOUR news

We’re now well into 2022, and 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!

Study links cooking methods and health

The researchers found some cooking methods corresponded with beneficial effects on inflammation. Heating edible oils, but not olive oil, to high temperatures had negative effects.

Treating gout with olive leaf tea: how it ended agonising pain for a Croatian olive grower, and why it could work for you too – experts explain

Goran Morović overcame agonising gout attacks by regularly drinking olive leaf tea. Photo: Villa Nai.

Drinking a tea made of olive leaves – dried or fresh, they are steeped in boiled water for five minutes – proved an effective treatment for painful gout.

In Greece, millers call for subsidies to soften impact of rising costs

Olive oil mill owners want the same energy subsidies given to bakers and bread manufacturers to cover the cost of rising energy bills.

Nutri-Score criticism defines European Parliament hearing

Nutri-Score, the nutritional front-of-pack-labeling (FOPL) system, came under intense criticism during a roundtable event held at the European Parliament.