The Western Australian Government has locked in $320 million for new world-class biosecurity and research facilities to protect and grow the State's primary industries for future generations.

A new metropolitan facility for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development will be built on Murdoch University's Perth campus, featuring modern laboratory and technical workspaces for about 350 staff.

It will replace outdated and interim laboratory facilities in use at South Perth – many of which date back to the 1950s – with the new permanent facility expected to be complete in 2027. The facility will be located on 11.3 hectares at Murdoch University, in the south-eastern corner of the campus, within an existing agricultural precinct.

Premier Mark McGowan said this is a once-in-a-generation investment which will serve WA and our primary industries for many decades to come.

"This will be a modern facility delivering world-class science, which will strengthen our biosecurity capability and access to valuable export markets into the future," the Premier said.  "It will help to keep WA's farmers at the cutting edge of science, backing their important contribution to our State."

Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said WA's primary industries make an enormous economic contribution to our State and especially the regions, valued at $11.7 billion and growing.

"Research and development has been critical to supporting our farmers to increase profitability with ongoing climate challenges," Minister MacTiernan said. "As we become more integrated globally, we see biosecurity risks increasing exponentially. We must have the best tools to protect our industry." More... Source: WA Government | Photo: DPIRD [From left: DPIRD Director General Heather Brayford, Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan, WA Premier Mark McGowan, Murdoch University Vice Chancellor Professor Andrew Deeks.]

The value of Western Australian agrifood and fisheries exports is expected to reach an all-time high of $3.4 billion for the quarter to September 2022, a 73% increase from the previous September quarter of $1.95 billion in 2021, based on provisional* data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

If this trend continues, 2022-23 is likely to be another record year for WA agrifood exports (the State's second largest traded sector after mining and energy). Growth in both value and volume, particularly in grains and oilseeds, is driving these results.

“Encouragingly, although total WA agrifood export value growth is being primarily driven by the grains sector, we are also seeing solid performances across other sectors, such as meat and livestock, processed food and beverage and horticulture, as well as key markets China, Japan and Indonesia all showing growth," said Liam O'Connell, Executive Director, Agribusiness Food and Trade.

While global food prices have softened, they remain elevated in comparison to recent years. The latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index tracking international prices of various food products showed a steady decline since the sharp increase earlier this year, due mainly to supply chain disruptions and the impact of the Ukraine war. Source: ABS / DPIRD [* Note: Provisional – or preliminary – ABS data are subject to revision.] | Photo: DPIRD

The online survey on the Seafood Export Facilitator service provided by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) closes this week.

Your feedback will help provide to DAFF an understanding of how the service has supported your business and identify how it can continue assisting the seafood export industry.

The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete. Submissions close 2pm (AWST) on Friday 9 December 2022.

Email seafoodExportSupport@agriculture.gov.au if you have any questions. Source: DAFF | Image: DPIRD

Record global demand for Australian agricultural products and disrupted supply chains have led to high prices and delays for agricultural machinery imports, according to a new Snapshot from the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Australia imported a record $2.1 billion of agricultural machinery in 2021-22, with harvesters and threshers ($493 million) and machinery to prepare soil ($200 million) the largest import categories. More than 70% of Australia’s agricultural machinery imports come from the European Union and the United States of America.

Strong agricultural production and ongoing high shipping costs will keep machinery prices elevated in 2022-23. A high US dollar and ongoing increases to shipping costs will put upward pressure on machinery import prices.

If you would like to receive more market intelligence, subscribe here for the Agricultural Market Intelligence Insights Newsletter produced by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. More... Source: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | Photo: DPIRD

Trade growth is likely to slow in the closing months of 2022 and into 2023, according to the latest World Trade Organisation (WTO)  Goods Trade Barometer released last week, as the global economy continues to be buffeted by strong headwinds.

The current reading of 96.2 is below both the baseline value for the index and the previous reading of 100.0, reflecting cooling demand for traded goods.

The WTO says the barometer index was weighed down by negative readings in sub-indices representing export orders (91.7), air freight (93.3) and electronic components (91.0). Together, these suggest cooling business sentiment and weaker global import demand. More... Source:  WTO | Photo: John Simmons / Unsplash