Rural Aid launches Tax Appeal to support farmers under pressure
Australian farmers are facing mounting pressure as drought, fires, floods and rising costs continue to impact communities across the country.
Rural Aid is calling on Australians to stand with farmers and their families, as many continue to recover from recent disasters while managing the rising cost of keeping their farms running.
Drought, fires, floods and cyclones have hit farming regions in quick succession, leaving many communities still recovering while preparing for what comes next. At the same time, soaring costs for essential inputs like diesel and fertiliser are making it harder to maintain day-to-day operations.
Counting down to the Australian Beef Industry’s Biggest Week
Beef Australia marks 12 months to go until Beef 2027, our award winning, week-long showcase of the beef industry, taking place between the 2nd and 8th May 2027.
Beef Australia Chair, Adelaide McDonald says it is wonderful to be celebrating we are 12 months away from the opening of Beef 2027.
“Since its beginnings in 1988, Australia’s Bicentennial year, the Beef Australia Expo has continued to showcase all facets of the Beef industry to people across the nation and the world.
“The Board of Directors and I are looking forward to welcoming over 120,000 guests to what is Australia’s greatest festival of all things Beef,” Ms McDonald said.
Beef Australia is built by people, passion, and legacy. Beef 2027 will be the place where industry connects, shares opportunity and evolves.
Food price inflation remains entrenched above three per cent
While headline annual inflation rose sharply in the March 2026 Consumer Price Index (CPI), the re-acceleration in inflation was not, at this point, food led, with food price inflation remaining similar to levels recorded since mid-2025.
The latest CPI data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today, found headline inflation rose 4.6 per cent year‑on‑year in March 2026, accelerating sharply from 3.7 per cent in February and reaching its highest annual rate since September 2023.
Aussie Beef partners with ASEAN’s leading football competitions
Australian Beef has been announced as the Official Beef Partner of Southeast Asia’s four premier football competitions, strengthening Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) market development efforts across one of Australia’s most important export regions.
The partnership sees Aussie Beef, within MLA’s international Aussie Beef and Lamb brand, align with the ASEAN Football Federation’s (AFF) flagship tournaments, including the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™, ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™, ASEAN Women’s MSIG Cup™ and ASEAN U‑23 Championship™ – collectively branded as ASEAN United FC. The agreement was concluded by SPORTFIVE, the AFF’s exclusive commercial partner.
Australia worst hit as summer gets longer and hotter
Australia is being hit first and hardest as summer is getting longer and hotter, a new scientific study has proven.
Farmers for Climate Action CEO Verity Morgan-Schmidt said scientists had measured summer based on the weather, rather than using the calendar. The peer-reviewed, published study was carried out by the University of British Columbia and measured 10 cities across the world, finding the greatest change to the climate was in Sydney.
“Summer in Australia is getting longer and hotter as Australia is hit hardest by climate change,” Ms Morgan-Schmidt said.
New data shows rural Medicare reforms are working
The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) welcomes new data from the Cleanbill 2026 Blue Report released today, showing gains in bulk billing access in rural and remote Australia following the November 2025 Medicare changes.
However, ACRRM President Dr Rod Martin says the data highlights both the impact and the limits of incentive-based policy.
“This data tells an encouraging story about what targeted Medicare investment can achieve,” Dr Martin says.
“But it also shows how much work remains.
“Incentives can shift behaviour — but they don’t build a workforce or make it viable to run a clinic in a rural, remote, or First Nations communities.”
New Cohort Announced for Graeme Acton Beef Connections Program
Beef Australia recently announced the cohort for the 2026 – 2027 Graeme Acton Beef Connections Program.
Applications for the mentoring program opened in February, calling on up-and-coming leaders of the beef and agriculture sectors to participate as mentees in the next program intake.
Beef Australia CEO, Simon Irwin, said following a thorough and competitive assessment and independent selection process, he is excited to announce that nine program spots have been successfully secured.
Bringing real-world agriculture into classrooms
A CQUniversity-led project helping build Queensland’s future agricultural workforce is being showcased at Parliament House this week, as industry and education leaders look to strengthen career pathways for young people across the state.
The Gateway to Industry Schools program is supported and funded by the Queensland Government to build partnerships between schools and industry that enable young people to acquire the knowledge, skills and attributes to participate effectively in the Queensland economy.
New $45 million program launched to fast-track feedlot innovation and adoption
Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has launched the Feedlot Research for Accelerated Adoption Program (RAAD), a $45 million, five-year investment delivered as a strategic partnership with The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA) through the MLA Donor Company (MDC) to drive commercially focused innovation across Australia’s feedlot sector.
The program is a clear demonstration of MLA and the feedlot sectors commitment to delivering on the ambitions set out in the MLA Strategic Plan 2030, particularly its focus on accelerating the adoption of proven tools and technologies that improve livestock productivity, animal wellbeing and business resilience.
Cautious dairy commodity price recovery amid heavy global supply
Dairy commodity prices have rallied this quarter – particularly for Australian and New Zealand origin product – despite the world’s milk supply continuing to grow and outpace demand, Rabobank says in newly-released research.
In its Q1 Global Dairy Quarterly report, the specialist agribusiness bank says overall global dairy prices have shown signs of recovery in recent months, with strong consecutive increases seen in Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auctions lifting sentiment in the sector.
