This week's roundup: Can farmers become less reliant on synthetic fertiliser, Sheep clearance hits seven-year high, Autonomy in Farming, Rates Hold, Fuel Moves, and Markets Get Sharper, Weighing the cow size controversy, and more updates. Plus, fresh listings, auction dates, and more from across Australia's ag sector. Let's get into it

In short:
The Middle East is a key market for the fertiliser that Australian farmers rely on to grow crops. As the war in Iran drags on, supply has become constrained, leading to soaring prices.

What's next?
Alternatives to imported fertilisers exist, but an agronomist says that synthetic fertiliser remains the only option in many cases.

A war thousands of kilometres away from Australia's farms is quietly reshaping what gets planted and what will be available at supermarkets in the future.

Fertiliser supply chains are tightening, and prices are surging as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, leaving farmers questioning what to plant and how to reduce reliance on expensive fertilisers.

Crops need nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen for strong yields.

But Australia only produces a fraction of the fertiliser it needs.

Nearly all the country's nitrogen fertiliser is imported, including urea — about 60 per cent of which travels through the Middle East.

So, is there another way?

Across the rolling hills of Sunnyside, in Tasmania's north-west, dairy cows graze on lush, green grass.

Synthetic fertiliser has not been used on these paddocks for more than a decade.

Organic dairy farmer Mark Lambert remains focused on keeping his soil healthy. 

He does this by striking the right pH balance, and growing at least three grass, clover and herb species to introduce more nutrients.

"Together, everything just starts to work, it starts to recover," he said.

"It starts to get off what we as organic farmers call the drug of urea, the drug of nitrogen.

"Farmers [have] farmed this way for thousands upon thousands of years. We've been following this chemical farming pathway for 80 to 100 years. It's just going back in time, but with a scientific basis behind it."

The second-generation farmer applies products to his pastures such as phosphate rock, lime, dolomite and gypsum, and recycles nutrients from cow manure.

The organic milk market also comes with a better price guarantee, which compensates for lower yields.

"Could we grow more grass with nitrogen? Yes. Is it healthier grass? No," Mr Lambert said.

"When a farmer farms high input, they need high output to make a profit, but when you farm low input, you need lower output to make a profit."

Not far away, at Spreyton, apple and wine-grape grower Marcus Burns has adopted a hybrid approach. His farm still uses synthetic fertiliser, but in smaller quantities.

"There are better ways to grow," he said.

"We view nitrogen … urea, as like sugar to a human. It's good for a short fix, not really sustainable, and not achieving the best outcomes for flavours and the growth of our fruit."

Mr Burns has been using more natural supplements, including a silicon made in Australia from crushed glass, which helps elements in the ground to become more available to the plant.

"It's working within our own environment, and it's becoming a little bit more circular with what we're using," he said.

Researchers at the University of Tasmania have been studying how to reduce synthetic nitrogen on dairy farms while maintaining high pasture growth and milk production.

They play with different variables at four mini working farms, and the preliminary data has unearthed some promising results.

"Our research shows that we can halve nitrogen from 300 kilograms to 150 kilograms, provided we have enough white clover in our pastures," Tasmania Institute of Agriculture research fellow Zac Beechey-Gradwell said.

"White clover is the key to reducing nitrogen dependence in dairy pastures because white clover itself fixes nitrogen."

But Dr Beechey-Gradwell said incorporating the legume wasn't an overnight process, and required things like a favourable pH, proper irrigation and good grazing management.

"There's a little bit of a long game … It's not going to solve a crisis next spring in fertiliser prices, but it can improve your system's resilience over time," he said.

Getting off the synthetic fertiliser treadmill is not feasible for all farmers, according to independent agronomist Chris Cheek.

"In a lot of circumstances, it's the only option," he said.

"There are certain crops that without synthetic fertiliser would be yielding below what would be considered a break-even point, and that's obviously not viable for anyone."

As the agriculture industry rides out global instability, Mr Cheek said soil testing labs had been inundated with samples, as farmers sought to cut back on synthetic fertilisers.

He said synthetic fertiliser alternatives — such as chicken manure, and feedlot and poppy waste — were effective, but were difficult to balance, finite and expensive.

As for regenerative and organic processes, Mr Cheek said that although most farmers were interested, it was rarely a matter of choice, and was best suited to cattle.

"The biggest problem is that the consumer is not willing to pay at the end of the day," he said.

"Probably all farmers are reasonably asset-rich, but they have enormous overdrafts and mortgages that most people couldn't deal with. The pressure of that means that they are forced into doing things as cheaply as possible.

"And in almost all circumstances, that means synthetic fertiliser … even right now."

AuctionsPlus has recorded its strongest sheep clearance rate in seven years, with FY26 figures showing renewed confidence in the online livestock trading platform.

Sheep clearance rose from 74% in FY25 to 84% in FY26, the highest result since AuctionsPlus began tracking the metric in FY20. The average percent over reserve for sheep also climbed, from $16 to $24, a 50% increase, pointing to stronger buyer competition throughout the year.

Cattle clearance told a similar story, lifting from 78% to 82% and returning to levels last seen between FY20 and FY22.

AuctionsPlus General Manager - Network Paul Holm said the clearance rate reflected the power of the national marketplace.

"Through the financial year, there have been several districts that have had significant rainfall deficits, meaning trading locally was difficult," Mr Holm said.

"AuctionsPlus provides vendors and their agents the ability to access the entire nation with the backing of 40 years of tech developments and staff dedicated to bringing the best results for everyone."

Crossbred lambs and Merino wether lambs made up nearly half of all sheep and lambs offered on the platform in FY26. The Central West of NSW overtook south west Victoria as the top sheep listing region, and also pipped the Riverina to become the largest buying region by volume.

In cattle, the top three listing categories were steers 200.1kg to 280kg, steers 280.1kg to 330kg, and heifers 200.1kg to 280kg. Southern Queensland was the top listing region, closely followed by the NW Slopes and Plains, and was also the dominant buying region, taking almost double the volume of the next highest region.

The stronger trading results came alongside continued growth in the platform's user base. Total users passed 222,000 in FY26, up 11.4% on the previous year and more than three times the FY20 figure. Registered buyers also passed 107,000 for the first time.

Companies are rolling out autonomous capabilities today with the goal of eventual full autonomy in the future.

A bold, new era marked by mass adoption of autonomous machines is nearing realization. Farmers are more interested than ever in the shift to full automation.

Ohio State University professor John Fulton points to the current farm economy as one catalyst driving interest. He believes challenges in recruiting skilled labor and an increasing comfort with technology will continue to advance buy-in from growers.

“You’re going to see more of it being embedded into machines, and we’re right on the cusp of seeing more autonomy adopted by farmers,” Fulton says.

Let’s dive in and explore what some companies developing autonomous solutions have been working on.

Retrofitting Robotics

Sabanto is developing retrofit kits to convert existing tractors into autonomous machines. The approach is grounded in founder and CEO Craig Rupp’s belief that the next generation of highly capable, high horsepower tractors – what he deems the “Swiss Army Knives” of farming – are already in farmers’ machine sheds.

Rupp says rather than buying a new tractor with the latest autonomy features, farmers should first explore upgrading their current machines. Installation of Sabanto’s retrofit autonomous tractor kit is available today on John Deere’s 5E and 6E Series, as well as Kubota and Fendt models.

Sabanto is focusing on integrating farmer feedback into its autonomous tractor kits.

One potential low-hanging fruit is autonomous field-to-field traversal. This would shuttle the tractors autonomously between fields connected by a private drive, and someday do the same on public roads. Autonomous machines today are trailered from field to field.

Sabanto is also forming a team of virtual field operators, made up of young people with experience in farming simulators, Rupp says. These operators will remotely oversee and control Sabanto machines across the country. After a farmer trailers a tractor to a field and unloads it, the virtual operators will manage tasks and oversee in-field operations in real time.

Rupp says Sabanto engineers are also improving in-field path planning and extending active hours with the goal of running robotic tractors around the clock.

From his viewpoint, the former electrical engineer turned ag entrepreneur is convinced autonomous farming will happen at a large-scale.

“We’ve gone beyond the when and if, and we’re at the stage where it comes down to how it is going to be done,” Rupp says.

2030 or Bust?

John Deere’s transition from equipment manufacturer to data and ag tech innovator plows ahead at full steam. The manufacturer’s model year 2025 class of machines showcased more factory-installed autonomy features than any previous class in its long history.

A recent key development is the release of John Deere autonomy-ready packages for its tractors and tillage tools. The aftermarket kits include all of the necessary hardware and safety features for autonomous operations. To unlock full autonomy, farmers will only need to add a perception system, which consists of cameras and vision processing units.

Specialty Crop Starting Line

CNH-owned New Holland recently announced a tie-up with ag robotics startup Bluewhite. The partnership will enable collaboration on distribution, manufacturing, and integration of Bluewhite’s autonomous technology with New Holland tractors in North America.

According to Paul Welbig, director of precision technology, New Holland, the Bluewhite kits consist of many common components, such as front-facing LiDAR and various arrays of connected sensors around the tractor. Cursory mechanical drive components, as well as software to link everything up and make it all “talk”, or work in concert, are also included.

New Holland has also started building out its autonomy portfolio in row crops, starting with its driverless grain cart technology, Raven Cart Automation, that links up a grain cart (pulled by a tractor) and combine autonomously, removing the need for an additional driver during harvest.

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This week has brought a more measured but still challenging outlook for Australian farmers.

The Reserve Bank’s cash rate remains at 4.35%, with the next decision due shortly. While markets are leaning toward no immediate cut, the bigger issue for farm businesses is that borrowing costs remain high. Equipment finance, overdrafts and property-backed lending are still being assessed in a tighter environment, meaning cash flow planning remains critical.

Fuel is also back in focus. Diesel prices have moved higher again across several markets, adding pressure to machinery operation, freight, irrigation and livestock transport. For producers already managing elevated fertiliser, insurance and maintenance costs, even small fuel movements can quickly flow through to the bottom line.

On the grains side, conditions are split. Northern feedgrain prices have firmed after a dry stretch, while southern regions are seeing stronger yield prospects supported by good subsoil moisture. Wheat is attracting improved export demand, while barley and faba beans are moving into domestic feed markets. Urea pricing appears to be stabilising, but phosphate supply remains a concern due to pressure on global sulphur markets.

In livestock, cattle listings have lifted, and young cattle prices have eased, while live export volumes remain under pressure from higher Australian cattle prices and weaker buying power in Indonesia.

The message this week is clear: farmers are not short of opportunity, but margins need protecting. At Pay In Time Finance, we’re helping producers refinance existing debt, reduce repayment pressure, unlock equity and structure machinery or equipment finance around seasonal cash flow.

In a market this tight, control and timing matter more than ever.

Feed efficiency is important in the feedlot and extremely important to the rancher. Commercial cattle producers need cows that thrive on forage the ranch produces, even in a dry year.

The average beef cow today is larger than decades ago, but do bigger cows that wean bigger calves make more money than smaller cows that cost less to feed?

Jim Jensen of Lucky Seven Angus Ranch raises Angus seedstock in Wyoming and said efficiency is the most important thing to focus on.

“I think the cattle most people are raising today are the least efficient they’ve been for 30 years or more,” Jensen said. “Many bulls don’t work in the real world, and their daughters are not efficient.”

Competition often blinds people to the important ways of raising cattle profitably.

Feed efficiency is important in the feedlot and extremely important to the rancher. Commercial cattle producers need cows that thrive on forage that the ranch produces, even in a dry year, without expensive inputs from purchased feeds — and continue to be fertile and productive.

Kit Pharo of Pharo Cattle Company, based in Colorado, with cooperating herds in several states, said many ranchers utilizing holistic management have successfully doubled their beef production per acre through grass management.

Average cow size has increased by 40%, so stocking rates have decreased. The same land can’t support as many cows because big cows consume more forage per cow than the small cows of 50 years ago. Cost of production has also increased, and profits have decreased.

“Let’s assume two neighboring ranches of equal size are each selling a semi load of calves,” Pharo said. “One ranch produces 50,000 pounds of 400-pound calves, while the other ranch produces 50,000 pounds of 600-pound calves. Using recent market prices for calves, the 400-pound calves are worth $42,000 more than the 600-pound calves. Lighter calves are worth more per pound, and more of them fit on the truck.

“The average cow-calf producers have been breeding and selecting for the wrong thing. They have been weaning bigger calves but at the expense of their profits.”

With proper grass management and low-maintenance cattle genetics, many cow-calf producers today have more than doubled the amount of beef they produce per acre.

“This is the reason some cow-calf producers are profitable, while most cow-calf producers are struggling to make a decent living,” Pharo explained. “Many ranches that were paid for with 350-pound calves are now struggling and going broke with 600-pound calves.”

Today, producers are receiving higher prices for cattle than ever before, he said, but most cow-calf producers are still not making much money because they are dependent on outside inputs that are also at record-high costs.

“The beef industry was based on what things were like 50 years ago when land, feed, fuel, labor and equipment were cheap,” Pharo said. “Agricultural land in the U.S. averaged $200 an acre, and today, [it] is $3,800 an acre. In 1970, you could buy a new pickup for less than $5,000; it costs more than $50,000 today.”

Big cows require a lot more feed and aren’t producing as many pounds of calf compared to their own body weight as the smaller, more efficient cows.

David Lalman, Extension beef cattle specialist at Oklahoma State University, has spent much of his career looking at cow size and how it affects the beef industry. Mature cow weight has a direct impact since it affects feed intake.

“Heritability for size is moderate to high, so you can control it, but this must be a high-priority breeding objective,” Lalman explained. “Even though feed efficiency in the post-weaning phase [for feedlot animals] is important, we’ve been studying that for 30 years and have made tremendous progress.”

He said 74% of the feed required to produce 1 pound of carcass weight is used by the cow herd, and about 70% of the requirements of the cow is maintenance. Bigger cows need more feed for maintenance.

But not everyone’s cow size is increasing, he said. King Ranch, for example, the largest ranch in the United States, has put high priority on controlling cow costs, with cow size consistently in the 1,100-to-1,180-pound range with a body condition score of 5. Those 1,100-pound cows are weaning about 50% of their body weight at King Ranch. That percentage goes down as cow weight increases, Lalman said.

“Bigger cows wean off less percent of their own body weight,” he said. “Genetic capacity for feed intake has increased, so stocking rates must be adjusted, and weaning weight response to increasing cow weight and selection for growth is limited by the ranch environment.”

If producers have a restricted land base, they need to analyze their cow feed intake and calf weaning weight data on a per-acre basis, not on a per-animal basis. They need to be running fewer cows if they have 1,300-pound cows or larger.

There are a few bulls that sire females with above-breed-average mature cow weight and below-breed-average feed intake, but they are hard to find.

“If you really want to control cow costs, there are sires that can produce daughters with moderate mature cow weight and moderate-to-below-average feed intake,” Lalman said.

There are also factors beyond mature cow weight.

“At Oklahoma State, we’ve been trying to focus on forage utilization efficiency in beef cows and find big differences in every contemporary group we test,” he said. “In nearly every group, there are cows that average around 1,200 pounds that consume 40 pounds of hay in a day. Some cows that consume that much hay produce only 10 pounds of milk and wean a 450-pound calf. In the same contemporary groups, we’ve found cows that consume 20 to 24 pounds of hay, produce 30 pounds of milk and wean 575- to 600-pound calves.”

The efficient cows ate 28% less hay.

“The difference between cattle that are efficient versus inefficient is tremendous in terms of maintenance energy requirement,” Lalman said. “The moderate or efficient cows have more energy left over to gain weight, maintain weight and condition, produce more milk, and provide more energy to their calf because their maintenance requirement is lower. Inefficient cattle don’t have much room left to be productive since their maintenance energy requirements are so high. We are seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunity for selecting efficient cattle.

Every so often, a conversation reminds you that there's still more to learn.

I was chatting with the owner of a pest management business this week about an after-hours enquiry system we'd put together. In my head, the problem was obvious. If customers could make enquiries any time of day, he'd capture more opportunities.

Then he told me what he actually wanted. All he wanted were fewer calls at dinner time. 

It was a simple comment, but it completely changed the conversation. Instead of talking about software, we started talking about how his business actually operated. It was a timely reminder that we can become attached to a solution long before we've properly understood the problem. 

The Booking System Was Solving the Wrong Problem 

Once we dug a little deeper, booking times barely mattered.

His schedule changes with the weather. What really slowed him down were repetitive phone calls, answering the same pricing questions, and collecting the same information over and over again. The conversation shifted from "How do we let customers book?" to "How do we reduce unnecessary interruptions?"

They're similar questions, but they lead to very different solutions.

That conversation ended with a simpler system than the one we'd originally imagined.

Not because simpler is always better, but because every feature should earn its place.

It's easy to think the answer is adding another tool, another process or another layer of technology. In reality, many of the best improvements come from removing steps that don't need to exist in the first place.

The more clearly you understand the problem, the fewer assumptions you need to build around it.

This doesn't just apply to software.

It applies to almost every decision we make in business.

When something isn't working, our instinct is often to jump straight to the fix. We buy the equipment. We rewrite the process. We bring in new technology. Sometimes those decisions are exactly right. Other times, we've simply answered the wrong question.

One extra conversation can change that.

Before committing time or money to your next big improvement, spend a little longer understanding what you're really trying to solve. It's a much cheaper exercise than rebuilding something later.

If you'd like another perspective on a project, a process or an idea you're working through, we'd love to have a conversation. Reach the team at [email protected].

G’day REALM Readers,

We recently asked RFTTE members: What’s the most unusual thing that has punctured your tyre? 

For a post about flat tyres, it certainly got plenty of mileage with the RFTTE online campfire delivering some absolute beauties. Spanners, scissors, bones, antlers, a meat cleaver, a live .308 round and, believe it or not, even a spider... yep, a proper true yarn!

We’ve mustered up some of the best stories and photos shared by members from across rural and remote Australia. A few of them have to be seen to be believed...

Australia’sStrangest Tyre Punctures: https://rfttejobs.com/blog/strangest-tyre-punctures-australia/

Hooroo for now,

Hooroo for now,
Simon Cheatham
Founder RFTTE - The Online Campfire
0417 277 488 | [email protected]

Robbie is definitely 'that guy!' He's even got his own cartoon character.