Trade war bites Bunge
US AGRIBUSINESS giant Bunge has announced its profits are expected to slip, largely as a result of the ongoing US / China trade war.
The profit is expected to come in lower than the bottom end of previous advice of $A1.46 billion, due to up to $A141 million shortfalls in the agribusiness division, along with a poor year in its sugar division.
It marks a difficult start for new chief executive Greg Heckman, who was officially announced in the role in an acting capacity earlier in the year.
Vale Lyndon Pfeffer
THE QUEENSLAND grains industry is mourning the loss of former AgForce Grains president Lyndon Pfeffer.
Mr Pfeffer, a farmer in the Pampas district near Millmerran on the Darling Downs, died last week following injuries sustained in a truck accident in late December.
He was 62.
Mr Pfeffer was at the helm of AgForce Grains from 2005 to 2010 and is remember as a tireless worker with a passion for the grains industry.
AgForce general president Georgie Somerset said that his leadership did much to advance the interests of the grains industry, not just around in Queensland but across the country.
"His dedication and community spirit was demonstrated by the number of community organisations in which he was involved, and the enduring difference he made to the grain sector nationally," Mrs Somerset said.
Long service in Vic
TWO long serving Agriculture Victoria employees have been acknowledged for their 30 years of service with the organisation.
Biosecurity leader, Michael Moerkerk, and global Victoria market engagement manager for India and the Middle East, Brian Kearns, have both celebrated 30 years working at Grains Innovation Park in Horsham.
Both have had varied careers and are experts in their respective fields.
Considered one of Victoria’s leading weed and weed identification specialists, Mr Moerkerk has worked as a weeds agronomist, weeds and pasture agronomist and leading biosecurity officer over his long career.
.Mr Kearns has been showcasing the best of the Wimmera, and Victoria, to the world.
Starting in Horsham as a field crops extension officer in 1989, he increasingly focused on international agri-food product markets and was part of Victoria’s first major agricultural trade mission to Indonesia in 1996.
Russian wheat production to fall
THE RUSSIAN government expects wheat production in Russia to fall 4 per cent in 2019-20 to around 67 million tonnes.
Total grain production is expected to be around 108-110m tonnes according to a government release earlier this week.