Agribusiness buzz in brief

PT Lord is the largest livestock agency by volume in the Dubbo market, established 35 years ago.

The firm, now set to trade as AWN Lord, operates weekly at the Dubbo Regional Livestock Market (DRLM), as well as monthly store cattle sales, quarterly goat sales, and Dunedoo's monthly store sale.

AWN's latest acquisition contributes to a growth spurt by the company which in NSW alone has recently included Inverell's C.L. Squires and Company, Langlands Hanlon in Parkes, McCarron Cullinane in Orange, and Wilks McKean in Wagga Wagga.

The expanding wool, livestock, and property agency group is Australia's third largest rural services provider.

AWN's livestock and property general manager, Peter Weaver, said acquisition of the respected Dubbo business would give clients access to a network of agents and selling centres in rural Australia.

AWN Lord's Paul Dakin said he and the team were excited by opportunities the acquisition would provide their clients and thanked them for their support and loyalty.

The Australian Taxation Office is urging the livestock farming sector to embrace electronic payments as it moves away from receiving cheques.

The ATO has recommended BPAY and credit card payments through ATO online services as the safest and easiest methods for tax payments. Paying online was more secure and faster, as payments did not get lost in the mail.

Receiving ATO refund payments electronically into a farm bank account was also a faster and more secure way to handle funds.

Producers relying on mailing cheques to buy themselves extra payment time were encouraged to talk to tax office staff or their tax or business activity statement (BAS) agent early to discuss a solution.

The Australian Banking Association says while the number of bank branches is declining, Australia still has a notably higher branch density than comparable OECD countries.

Australia has 24 bank branches per 100,000 adults, which was better than similarly urbanised countries such as New Zealand and Finland.

The ABA's latest customer trends report also showed Australians were traditionally early adopters of digital payments, leading UK, Germany, France and the US with 500 cashless payments per person annually.

About 98.9pc of bank interactions were now taking place digitally.

About 75pc of payments now occurred using transaction cards compared to 26pc in 2007, while cash was being used for just 13pc of payments - down from 70pc in 2007.

To keep up with demand for digital banking, banks had boosted expenditure on technology with an eight-fold increase in investment since 2005, up from $3.5 billion to $28.5b.

The Australian Rural Leadership Program celebrates its 30th anniversary this year including its network of 2500 alumni graduates in rural, regional and remote Australia.

The latest ARLF course launched this week at Campbells Cove Wharf on Sydney Harbour where the scholar cohort then set sail to Kiama for the first session of the 15 month program - discovery and awareness.

As adventure and challenge are at the heart of experiential learning, participants have been pushed out of their comfort zone for 36 intense hours as they literally navigated unfamiliar territories, confronted challenges, and made difficult decisions.

The first session of the ARLP learning framework creates an environment away from the pressures and distractions of daily life.

Real estate and advisory firm LAWD has partnered with the Bricklet fractionalisation platform to introduce a product which democratises farmland ownership and offers a new pathway for land owners to draw capital from their farm assets.

By using LAWD Bricklet, a 'head title' is split into a co-ownership register, creating a legally valid portion of a larger piece of land which may be traded on the LAWD Bricklet Marketplace.

Buyers can invest in agriculture without buying an entire property.

Just like shares in a company, buyers of LAWD Bricklets do not own an identifiable piece of the property, but rather become one of a number of co-owners holding a fraction of the asset.

LAWD chief executive officer, Enda Foley, said the platform would be a powerful mechanism for landowners to draw capital from assets or plan for intergenerational ownership transfers.

"Historically the farm sector's challenge has been landholders owning properties of very high value with limited ability to access capital within these assets," Mr Foley said.

"Now they have an option to sell some or all of the property and receive capital from the sale of fractionated Bricklets, with the choice to stay and operate the farm under a management agreement."

Farm advocacy group GrainGrowers has appointed Food Agility research and development corporation chief executive officer and former Meat and Livestock Australia boss, Dr Richard Norton, as an independent director.

He joins Hop Products Australia chairman and Nuffield Australia board director, Jane Bennett, following the departure of Elders boss, Mark Allison and former federal parliamentarian, Fiona Nash.

Mr Allison finished his term in late 2022 and has been acting in an advisory capacity since, while Ms Nash signed off last month because of her increased workload as Regional Education Commissioner.

Incoming Dr Norton has held executive positions in retail, innovation, logistics, marketing and agribusiness for over 30 years, including board roles with Agrium Asia Pacific, Australian Wheat Board, Landmark Harcourts, Australian Wool Handlers and AuctionsPlus.

Ms Bennett has 30-plus years experience in the agrifood sector in Tasmania and Britain, including as managing director of Tas Foods and as a director with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CSIRO, Tasmanian Ports Corporation and the Australian Farm Institute.

GrainGrowers' board also has six grower directors.

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AuctionsPlus has hired former News Corp editor, Jackson Hewett, in a new head of content role within the digital marketing service.

Mr Hewett is a former editor of Business Spectator and associate editor at The Australian.

AuctionsPlus commercial and brand general manager, Scott McCullough said the new role was part of a strategic expansion within the company's content team, and followed the recent hire of former Queensland Country Life journalist, Hayley Kennedy.

"AuctionsPlus is in the process of investing in our existing functionality delivered via insights, prices and intel to help our audience make better day-to-day business decisions."

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