MAY 2020 

A word from Rob Massina, President of RGA

This has been one of the best autumn breaks for the Murrumbidgee and Murray Valleys. I hope you are all enjoying watching crops and fodder establish, whilst sowing the remainder into perfect moisture. For those harvesting rice, fingers crossed you get a run at it over the next couple of weeks.

Although we are seeing steady rises in our storage's and the catchments are wet, we still have a long way to go to ensure a meaningful allocation for our communities. Over the past month we have been busy ensuring that government (state and federal), peak farming bodies and the Australian public understand the compounding effect of drought, poor water management and COVID-19 is having on the supply of domestic rice. Having no Australian rice of the shelves by the end of the year is a short term issue that needs addressing, but cannot cloud the long term effects non-adaptive water policy settings will have on our industry. We are making this very clear. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

A word from Neil Bull, RGA Environment Manager

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) is considering including an Australian wide Target of net zero emissions by 2050 in its Climate Policy. The Ricegrowers' Association (RGA) as a commodity group member of the NFF has representation that conveys the RGA position to the NFF on the whole raft of policies that the NFF develops. 

In relation to the NFF net zero emissions target policy position, the RGA Environmental Sustainability Committee has suggested obtaining broader RGA membership feedback before finalising the RGA position. This article aims to provide background information for RGA members to consider and then provide feedback to the RGA Environmental Manager. So that the RGA can finalise its position in relation to setting this aspirational target. More detailed information can be provided on request. READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Your RGA team advocating for you

An update on RGA's recent, significant engagements with Federal and State Ministers, Government Departments, Peak Bodies, and other major stakeholders.

Find our more about the Rice Vesting review, Fall Army Worm alerts, and RGA's contribution to the conversation on a biodiversity certification trial....  READ FULL ARTICLE  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR RGA MEMBERS

RGA Annual Conference

The RGA Annual Conference will not be held in 2020, which is very disappointing for the RGA team as this is our major event for the year. We take great pride in being able to put on a great conference for our members and supporters of the Rice Industry. Should we be able to hold events in the second half of the year, the RGA will host a gala dinner to celebrate the industry and the SunRice Grower of the Year 2020 - we will also hold our Annual General Meeting at this time.

Apply now to become a Non-Executive Director for AgriFutures Australia.

Applications close Sunday 17th May.

Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders Program, Picture you in Ag. 

Applications close Sunday 31st May. 

Chemical Card Plus training – Online.

Wednesday 20th May
Friday 5th June
Friday 19th June

Rice Extension Podcast.

Available, Online. 

READ MORE

A word from Antony Vagg, RGA Deniliquin Branch President  

What interesting times we are living in. With all the chaos that is Covid-19, how great is it to be in Agriculture!! Its also extremely important we all support local businesses when we can as they will be doing it a lot tougher than us producers. 

With recent rain, commodity prices holding, land prices increasing and a ripping start to the winter cropping program, it is a satisfying position to be in Ag. Unfortunately, irrigation water is always a challenge to access and there is a lot of runoff required in the hills for NSW general security to receive an allocation but with the wet start, the outlook is more positive than it has been for a bit. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

RGA's Social Media Campaign 

Dont stop now!

Our following continues to grow but we need your support to maintain the momentum and ensure that the facts about why 'Australia is the best country in the world to grow rice" is far reaching.

What is really fabulous about growing our following is that when we post other important messages about our current fight for water allocations they are heard by a larger audience.... READ THE FULL ARTICLE

PARTNERS

RGA thank our Partners for their generous support throughout the year.

Through our work every day with growers we hear how proud they are of the rice industry and so SunRice are proud to be lending our support to tell their stories. To help get these positive messages out, we have developed a series of short videos to showcase why our growers love doing what they do, and how good they are at doing it...   READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 



H2OX outline their latest water report: Whoever said it would rain again was right! The water market has reacted to the wet April with prices falling in all systems. Murray below choke and the Murrumbidgee started the month around $400/ML and is currently trading below $350’s. Above the choke prices have dropped below $300/ML from $350/ML. In the falling market buyer demand has been cautious. While confidence is high with the rainfall, irrigators have their eye on storage levels...    READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 



Australia’s response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has rapidly increased the demand for connectivity. That’s why Telstra is giving consumer and small business customers additional data and offering unlimited home phone calls to pensioners...  READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 




Rice Marketing Board update: The Rice Marketing Board for the State of New South Wales (the RMB) provides an update on the Government Information (Public Access) case, announces a new board member and shares the latest news on the Vesting review... READ THE FULL ARTICLE






 

RGA are now in the second year of a wonderful partnership with an energy broker – BEEVO.

Beevo was selected because it is an established leading business solutions provider with a dedicated agriculture division. You will be dealing with specialists who understand not only the rice and mixed crop industry but how our business operates in these challenging times.   READ THE TESTIMONIALS