A few weeks ago the Australian orange industry was facing oversupply and high costs. Not even giving them away on the streets could salvage what began as a bumper year. Now our apple growers have made an all-out effort to fight the Government decision to allow the importation of New Zealand (subject to strict quarantine regulations) apples. Figures of 30-40% decrease in revenue are being bandied about once the NZ apples arrive on our shores. While there was some concern over the importation of apples from China early in the year, growers have classed the Chinese fruit as ‘insipid’ and view the NZ fruit as a far greater threat. Australian Apples will now be marked with an ‘Aussie Apples’ sticker. Let’s hope we don’t have any more recalcitrant supermarkets with dodgy labelling practices!

In the world of sheep, wool prices have slid over the last week. Of course that would be the case with our own shearing now finished and the bales trucked away from the woolshed this afternoon. The days of the big sheds are long gone so it was with a bit of regret that I heard that Uardry, a signature property in the NSW Riverina district was up for sale. With a price tag around the $40 million mark the corporate sector will no doubt be looking over the fence with interest. A friend in rural real estate tells me that there really isn’t the interest from foreign investors in Australian dirt at the moment. Uardry stud was founded in 1864 and grew to be respected for its big-framed, heavy cutting fleece. This ‘look’ was immortalised from 1938 to 1956 when an image of the famous stud ram Uardry 0.1 was used on the reverse side of Australia’s shilling coin. To read more visit http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2011/01/14/280661_print_friendly_article.html Uardry 0.1 is now on a $1.00 gold coin! That’s one stylish ram…