23.apr.08
Northern Star
Emma O’Neill

Soybean grower Stuart Larsson was cited as saying he believes the success of the Australian soy bean industry rests on the ban of GMOs during the harvest and production of the bean, adding, “The Australian soy bean market isn’t competitive worldwide in terms of production. The only reason we are surviving is because we are one of the only remaining GMO-free markets. It’s vital we stay that way. The government lifted the ban on using GMOs on canola in February, and if the ban was lifted on soy beans as well it would be devastating.”
The lifting of the GMO ban on canola crops wasn’t good news for soy bean growers, according to local agriculture academic Dave Forrest.
“Soy bean growers are already on the list as one of the next crops to lift the ban, and now that the door is open for bees to travel from canola to soy crops,” Mr Forrest said.
“It will make it hard for growers to prove to overseas markets that their soy beans are GMO-free.

Ref:http://www.northernstar.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3770376

Listen to Stuart Larsson of Mara Seeds (one of Australia’s largest grass seed exporters) explain why they converted their farm from conventional farming methods to organic methods.

Steve is another sponsor at the BFA roadshow, and I grabbed him to quickly tell us about himself. I first met Steve last year when Elaine Ingham was visiting his farm and you will be hearing more about his successes when you join up with us on Farming Secrets.

Doug Haas, BFA’s Chairman for over 10 years, is a commercial organic vegetable grower from Yeppoon.

Doug supplies the Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne markets year round and farms organically due mainly to health and environmental reasons.

He believes in keeping the organic industry both compliant and commercially viable.

The major sponsor was Puralia, an interesting group of companies (over 400) who have joined together to form a not for profit association. This rapidly growing group has a vision to develop a range of value added premium products and services to be marketed globally under the brand name Puralia.

For more information you can visit www.puralia.com.au

Hi,

Hugo and I are just back from attending The BFA Roadshow in Melbourne last Saturday.

Farming Secrets was a sponsor of the event which gave us the opportunity to
present ourselves to all the attendees. we showed them a very short film of who we are.

We met some very interesting farmers, consultants, suppliers and took opportunity to
interview several of them. Over the next few days we will show you the results!

Talk soon
Helen