F E A T U R E D

Betoota Hotel in Outback Qld

Visiting the Betoota Hotel in Outback Qld

So, what’s the go with the Betoota Hotel in Outback Qld?

To better understand why I’m writing this blog about the Betoota Hotel, I suggest you do one thing for me. Go to Google Maps and do a search for it – now turn on Satellite view and zoom out.

This is what you see…

Not much, hey?
The Betoota Hotel is located a relatively short 170 kilometres east of Birdsville in far south-west Queensland, Australia.

The Betoota Hotel is remote

Yes, it’s remote, but still, the powers that be have built a new road that bypasses the ‘town’. Not that the road through town is much of a deterrent.

So let’s zoom in a bit…

Yep. That’s the Betoota Hotel. Perhaps not much from up here, but down on the ground, it is an oasis for any traveller, and its character reflects its isolation.

Chat to the locals at the Betoota Pub

Take time to chat with Robbo (the unelected town Mayor) and Wayne, Robbo’s wife Wendy, David the barman and the rest of the staff.  You’ll soon see a tinge of madness (the nice kind) that must come from renovating and running an isolated pub that had been abandoned and left derelict for some 22 years.

Some Facts on the Betoota Pub

Built in the 1880s, the pub has now been renovated to cater to travellers wanting a break (beer, rum and food plus mechanical work, tyre repairs and companionship) when travelling between Windorah and Birdsville – a stretch of 379kms through Queensland’s Channel Country.

Renovations were completed at the start of the Covid Lockdowns in March 2020, but the pub was able to finally reopen in July that year – just twelve months ago when I visited.

If you get in by 5:30 pm, you’ll be able to book in for a smorgasbord dinner (cooked by Robbo) and even make a booking for breakfast.

What’s the go with camping?

Camping across the road is free, and hot showers can be had for $5. Dinner is $2,5, and the big, mega-arse Betoota Hotel stickers (a must-have for me) are $10. If you need accommodation, that’s there too from what I saw. You can even fly in on the local airstrip.

But my word of advice is that pulling in around 5:30 pm is way, way too late. You have to stop earlier, have a quick beer in one of Australia’s most iconic pubs and make reservations for dinner.  Set yourself up on the open area in front of the hotel (before it’s too late) and head in for a beer or two or perhaps a rum, watch the sunset, have dinner and laugh the night away around the bar or fire pit.

My Night at the Betoota Pub

The night I was there, there was an impromptu whip-cracking display by Wendy and a competition for the guests. The brother and sister that won were more than delighted with the unexpected prize they each received.

My other piece of advice is, if you’re camping on the ground in a swag or tent, take a small rake to push aside the rocks.

The Betoota Hotel isn’t a registered petrol station. But, Robbo and the team are more than happy to assist any traveller who may be in distress.

If you do go, please say hi from me and see if you can find my business card behind the bar.

Oh, and before you ask… The Betoota Advocate is not published in town.

Cheers!

It’s been a punchy week in Australian agriculture, with the spotlight firmly on beef. President Trump’s decision to slap a 10% tariff on Aussie imports sent a jolt through the industry, particularly for meat producers. Many farmers, already under pressure from high input costs and patchy weather, saw it as an unfair blow from an old friend. But in a surprising twist, the tariff hasn’t slowed exports—in fact, it’s done the opposite. American beef supply is down, thanks to local drought and herd reductions, and Australian meat is still coming in strong. Even with the added cost, our beef is proving better value than the local stuff. As one processor said this week, “It’s more red tape, but the orders keep coming.”

Back home, the response has been measured. Prime Minister Albanese made it clear that we won’t be retaliating with our tariffs, not wanting to spark a full-blown trade war. “It’s not the act of a friend,” he said, “but we’ll take the high road.” It’s a delicate dance—calling it out without fanning the flames—and all while trying to protect farmers from becoming collateral damage in a global power play.

Meanwhile, there are glimmers of optimism on the ground. The Federal Budget dropped fresh funding for drought preparedness and emissions-reducing agtech, recognising that future-proofing our farms is just as critical as fighting the battles of the present. In Toowoomba, farm software provider Phoenix was snapped up by a global tech group—proof that the world is watching how we grow, manage, and adapt our land.

For many producers, though, talk of policy and trade deals doesn’t pay the bills. They need capital—fast, flexible, and fair. That’s where we come in. At Pay In Time Finance, we’ve built a reputation for backing farmers when the big lenders won’t. Whether you’re buying machinery, bridging cash flow, or just need someone who understands how the seasons really work, we’re here to help.

One thing’s clear: Despite the politics and the tariffs, Aussie farmers are as tough and resourceful as ever. This isn’t the first time we’ve been tested, and it won’t be the last. But with the right support, there’s a lot of growth still ahead.

WEEKLY AUCTION DATES – 2025

1.)18^th April 2025 2.) 22^nd April 2025

Ag Machinery

Farm machinery insurance premiums soar as extreme weather events become more frequent.

There’s no let-up on Machinery insurance in 2025.

• In short: Farm insurance bills have more than doubled in only a few years, and many farmers are now paying more than $100,000 a year just in premiums.

• The Insurance Council of Australia says erratic weather is one of the reasons for the big jump in premiums, along with inflation.

• What's next? Some farmers say they'll soon be weighing up what machinery to insure and what to leave out in order to save on premiums.

Farmers are considering running the gauntlet and leaving machinery uninsured as premiums go through the roof. 

Some farmers have told the ABC that insurance premiums have more than doubled in the past four years, and people are now paying insurance bills north of $100,000.

And the hip-pocket hit is two-fold because insurance premiums as a percentage of value have risen at the same time as the value of the items insured has gone through the roof.

Many farmers have machinery with a total value of millions of dollars, and individual items like combine harvesters can now be worth more than $1 million.

Farmers taking on greater risk

Ryan Milgate is a grain grower in western Victoria and a councillor with the Victorian Farmers Federation Grains Group.

He said a quick scan of his insurance bills from recent years highlighted a huge rise in premiums.

"Insurance bills have been rising for the past three or four years, and just looking at ours, we have more than doubled since pre-COVID levels," he said.

"Certainly in our situation, the cost of new machinery has gone up, and if you do have to replace it, the cost of that is significant, so we're getting a double whammy.

"It wouldn't be hard to find plenty of operations with insurance bills north of $100,000, and they're not large corporate operations, just medium to large family farmers.

"And crop insurance could be another $100,000 on top of that."

Mr Milgate said while insurance was a bank requirement for new equipment purchased on finance, some farmers were looking to cut their level of cover where they could.

"Certainly the smaller things, the older stuff you would normally have insured just in case, is dropping off," he said.

"Depending on cash flow and equity and all that stuff, people are making decisions to take on greater risk than they would have been prepared to in the past."

A nationwide issue

In New South Wales, farmers are facing a similar situation.

Rebecca Reardon is vice president of the NSW Farmers Association, and farms at Moree in the state's north-west. 

She said she would be looking at her own books to weigh up what to insure and what to leave out.

"We will be sitting down with our insurance broker and going through our items and taking off things like old sheds or self-insuring machinery," Ms Reardon said.

"Talking to our broker, he said people are sitting down and saying, 'What don't I need if something happens to it?'

"We're seeing that trend across the board in New South Wales."

Ms Reardon said premiums would continue to grow.

"I think silos have doubled in price in the past five to seven years, sheds have doubled, we all know machinery has gone up enormously, so the replacement costs are very expensive," she said.

Insurers blame erratic weather

The Insurance Council of Australia and the National Insurance Brokers Association declined to be interviewed by ABC.

But in a statement, the Insurance Council said erratic weather was one of the reasons for the big jump in premiums. 

"Wherever you live or work in Australia, whether you're directly exposed to extreme weather impacts or not, premium prices are rising because of the escalating costs of natural disasters, the growing value of our assets making them more costly to replace, inflation driving up building and vehicle repair costs, and the increasing cost of capital for insurers," a spokesperson said. 

Queensland vegetable grower Shannon Moss has had crops impacted by drought, floods, and hail — all in the space of five years.

As the owner of Mulgowie Yowie Salads, Mr Moss grows watermelons, pumpkins, lettuce, and herbs in the Lockyer Valley.

After losing $200,000 worth of produce during flooding last month, he said crop insurance would not be worth getting, given the frequency of these kinds of weather events.

 "I imagine the crop insurance would be worth more than the crop," he said.

"The worst flood here was Friday, May 13, 2022 — we lost a million dollars that day. This one [last month] was probably a $200,000 hit."

Paying for the risks of others

Ryan Milgate said farmers were frustrated to hear that premiums were rising because of the impact of natural disasters in other areas when their levels of risk had not changed.

"You don't want to see anyone suffer any losses anywhere, but it's pretty hard to swallow [if] on the Wimmera Plains, your insurance is going up because of flood impact on a major city in northern Australia.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow and get your head around."

He said grain growers where he lived in western Victoria enjoyed a favourable run of seasons and were reasonably well positioned to pay insurance bills, but that could change.

"Much of our area has had a fairly fortunate run so, while it is a hugely increased burden, it's still a burden that's being handled — but at some stage, we will see drier years and that's when it will become top of mind," Mr Milgate said.

We hear a lot about consumers getting screwed by Australia's supermarket duopoly, but how do you think farmers feel?

Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition, says this country's small-scale farmers are getting hammered at "both ends" by concentrated markets at numerous points along the agricultural supply chain.

Farmers 'often caught in the middle'

Dr Leigh is speaking today at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). 

The title of his speech is Caught in the Middle: How Market Concentration Hurts Farmers.

A closer look at supermarket specials

The ABC analysed the online prices of nearly 44,000 products at Coles and Woolworths, revealing a sales technique used on thousands of items.

He has done a lot of academic and political work on the problem of market concentration in Australia, and today's speech is part of that project.

Leigh says if you apply the rule-of-thumb that a market is "concentrated" if the largest four firms control one-third of the market or more, over half of the industries in Australia's economy are concentrated markets.

He says market concentration is bedevilling our farmers, with IBIS World data on market concentration in the agricultural supply chain showing farmers are "often caught in the middle."

Upstream, farmers are facing concentrated markets for their inputs:

"The largest four companies in fertiliser manufacturing in Australia have a combined market share of 62 per cent," he says.

"The largest four in hardware and building supplies retailing control about 49 per cent of the market.

"And the market share for garden supplies retailing is about 33 per cent for the largest four firms."

Downstream, they're facing concentrated markets for processing, freight and retailing:

"According to IBIS World industry reports, there is concentration in fruit and vegetable processing, with the largest four companies holding about 34 per cent of the market.

"For meat processing, market share of the largest four companies is 44 per cent with JBS Australia, Thomas Food International, and Teys Australia being the dominant players.

"For rail freight transport, the four largest, including Aurizon and Pacific Internationa, l have a combined 64 per cent market share.

"For shipping freight transport in Australia, the market share of two companies — ANL and Maersk — amounts to about 85 per cent."

Leigh says the data shows our agricultural supply chain is highly concentrated at the national level.

But for many farmers, he says, their options are even more limited than the figures suggest because transport costs and the risk of spoilage further limit the commercially viable options available to them.

What are some examples?

Start upstream.

Leigh says farm equipment and machinery represent a significant capital investment involving up-front and ongoing costs.

But many farmers "feel they have no genuine choice or ability to shop around."

He says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found, a few years ago, that farm machinery markets are concentrated at the manufacturer and dealership levels.

Right to repair debate

The government flags intervention in farmers' battle to repair their own machines.

"Compared to car manufacturers, agricultural machinery makers have greater ability to leverage their market share in new sales to reduce competition in the market for servicing, repairs and parts," he says.

"Warranties restrict the purchaser to a single authorised dealer for servicing and repairs.

"And tech restrictions mean independent repairers or farmers can't access the parts, manuals and diagnostic software they need to carry out repairs.

"In short, farmers have few choices when buying machinery but even less choice when servicing or repairing that equipment"

Leigh says he's long been an advocate for the need for service and repair information to be shared with independent repairers, and that extends to agricultural industries.

"In July 2022, I launched Australia's first right-to-repair law, the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme," he says.

"The government is currently monitoring how this scheme is operating for the benefit of independent repairers and consumers.

"I am pleased there have been negotiations between Australian farmers and the farm machinery industry to consider putting in place voluntary right to repair arrangements for the sector.

"I encourage parties to continue those negotiations as voluntary arrangements are a great opportunity to foster collaboration and flexibility and can often lead to innovative and effective outcomes," he says.

A beef with competition

Or consider how market concentration plays out in other areas of farming life.

In December last year, the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) released an issues paper criticising the lack of transparency and competition across agricultural supply chains.

"As market concentration has increased in Australia, farmers have had fewer places to buy inputs and fewer places to sell their products," the NFF argued.

Meet the mega-rich “farmers”

The average American farmer doesn't fix fences and drive tractors. Thanks to market concentration, there is now a handful of companies that dominate the US food system. 

"Businesses are taking advantage of this with higher input prices, lower output prices, increased compliance costs, shifting the risk burden to farm businesses, and increasing uncertainty for farmers.

"Reduced competition in the agricultural supply chain means farmers aren't receiving the incomes they should in an otherwise competitive market. This directly impacts their long-term competitiveness, profitability, and economic and environmental sustainability."

Leigh says the concerns in that NFF paper echoed the ACCC's cattle and beef market study from 2017.

"That study found evidence that conflicts of interest regularly arise in saleyard transactions when buyers bid for livestock on behalf of multiple clients, and when agents represent both a cattle seller and a cattle buyer in the same transaction," Leigh says.

"The report pointed out that cattle auctions have characteristics that make it easier for cartels to develop, including repeated interactions with the same auctioneers, who are often linked by social networks that make it easier to 'punish' auctioneers who break away from agreed anti-competitive bidding practices.

"Other problematic behaviours included the exclusion of rival agents, and a lack of transparency around saleyard weighing protocols."

Leigh says beef and cattle farmers also have to contend with opportunistic behaviour from some businesses during periods of extreme stress.

"An ongoing concern is the impact on producers of market concentration and buyer power during tough times, such as droughts," he says.

Unfair contract terms

Leigh says unfair contract terms are another problem farmers have to deal with.

He says contract terms can be very lopsided, such as when they allow a more powerful party to unilaterally change prices or cancel a contract.

He says there's plenty of area for improvement in this space.

"Last year, the ACCC investigated complaints about fertiliser companies using contracts that could disadvantage farmers," he says.

Farmers fear retribution from supermarkets

As a parliamentary committee investigates supermarket prices, farmer groups are begging growers to share their stories, but few will speak out.

"Contract terms allegedly gave large suppliers the right to unilaterally vary the quantity delivered or to terminate the agreement and restricted buyers from raising issues about defects.

"Fertiliser suppliers co-operated and changed terms to address the ACCC's concerns," he said.

In another example, he says that in 2019, the federal court declared that Mitolo Group, Australia's largest potato wholesaler, used unfair terms in contracts with growers.

He says the court declared contract terms that allowed Mitolo to unilaterally determine or vary the price paid to growers as void.

It also declared void terms preventing growers from selling potatoes to other purchasers and terms stopping farmers from selling their property unless the buyer entered into a contract with Mitolo.

He says the Albanese government has tried to tackle this problem.

"In 2022, we delivered on our promise to strengthen unfair contract term laws," he says. "We introduced civil penalty provisions outlawing the use of, and reliance on, unfair terms in standard form contracts. And we extended the coverage of the protections."

Economic harm from concentrated markets

Leigh says it's an ongoing fight.

He says merger regulation is one of the "key pillars" of competition law but the Competition Taskforce recently found Australia's ad hoc merger process was unfit for a modern economy.

"In response, we have announced the most significant reforms in merger settings in almost 50 years."

New chicken meat contracts

Chicken processors have agreed to some changes to unfavourable contracts with farmers after an ACCC investigation.

He says national competition policy needs to be revitalised to account for changes in the economy that have occurred since the 1990s. Those changes include digitalisation and net-zero transformation.

Overall, he says competitive markets matter in all parts of Australia's economy "but especially in the farm sector."

"As the ACCC's Mick Keogh crisply puts it: 'There are many farmers, but few processors or wholesalers, and even fewer major retailers'," Leigh says.

"As my analysis of IBIS World data shows, small-scale farmers are often the meat in a market concentration sandwich.

"Upstream, there is often no choice about dealing with large-scale providers on inputs. Downstream, there is often no choice about negotiating with larger processors and retailers.

"Higher prices for inputs. Fewer choices for repairs. Power imbalances in negotiating contracts. A lack of transparency around prices. And potentially unfair contract terms," he says.

And don't forget Australia's supermarket reality.

"Coles and Woolworths account for about 67 per cent of national retail sales," Leigh says. 

"Only two OECD countries – New Zealand and Norway – have a greater market share of sales controlled by two supermarkets."

• Wheat and barley: Global wheat markets faced challenges due to dry conditions in key areas and geopolitical factors, while Australian wheat prices were influenced by export pace and competition. Future prices depend on grain sales, and recent rains may indicate another robust crop.
  

• Canola: China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal, significantly impacting the market already strained by US-Canada tariff disputes. This led to a sharp drop in prices and raised questions about future marketing strategies amid global soybean supply pressures and weather conditions.
  

• Dairy: Pressure continues to build on Australian milk production as unfavourable seasonal conditions continue to impact a wide range of regions. Despite a strong start, production is down marginally so far this season. The key to the new season will be a favourable autumn rainfall to provide a solid feed base.
  

• Beef: Rains in late March through large areas of Queensland and northern Australia will reduce the sale pressure some producers were facing with a poor wet season. This should help support Australian cattle prices over the next month as export volumes continue to push new records.
  

• Sheepmeat: Lamb and mutton prices are holding, despite ongoing high levels of production. There are some glimmers that China is improving but at the same time a possibility that the US is weakening. The autumn break will be key to determining producer stocking intentions and in turn domestic lamb prices.
  

• Cotton: ICE #2 Cotton futures traded with volatility over the past 30 days, as market participants weigh up bearish macro factors and tariff risks against drought in the key US growing state of Texas.
  

• Wool: It was another positive month for wool prices, with the Eastern Market Indicator (+4%) and the Western Market Indicator (+3%) both rising month-on-month.
  

• Consumer foods: Reports from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australian household wealth increased in Q4 2024 which is positive news for the consumer economy. However, growth in household wealth slowed in the back half of 2024 on the back of a cooling property market.
  

• Farm inputs: Urea prices declined an eye-watering 12% in Australian dollar terms month-over-month as Indian demand failed to meet market expectations. The question is, where next for markets given the uncertainty regarding Chinese export policy and global demand?
  

• Interest rate and FX: RaboResearch has revised up its 12-month AUD/USD forecast to 0.6500 but sees some scope for near-term weakness in the exchange rate. We continue to forecast RBA rate cuts in May and August of this year.
  

• Oil and freight: Oil prices are set to face pressure from increased OPEC+ supply in April. The futures curve points to sub-USD 70/bbl prices by year-end, and RaboResearch sees prices averaging USD 71/bbl in Q2.

We Have Been to Your Town! We don’t just sit in an office; we are hands-on with our Farmers! 🙌

In short: A young female helicopter musterer working in the remote east Kimberley has won the Roger Connellan Award.

Women make up only 7 per cent of pilots registered to Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

What's next? Olivia Anderson will complete further training to diversify her helicopter work over the northern wet season.

A life spent in the air is what Olivia Anderson always wanted.

The 24-year-old is the recipient of this year's prestigious Roger Connellan Award granted to outback Australia's exceptional young pilots.

Given by the Connellan Airways Trust, the award aims to support aviation skill development in remote locations across the country.

Calling West Australia's Kimberley region home, Ms Anderson's working days begin before dawn and consist of mustering cattle out of rocky gorges and over vast open plains.

It's crucial helicopter work that allows the northern pastoral industry to function efficiently despite its geographic isolation.

 "I grew up with pilots coming to help us muster, and I just thought it was the most amazing thing," Ms Anderson said.

A Daunting Expense

Aerial mustering is a small industry, made up of roughly 1,000 pilots, and entry isn't easy. 

"I ruled it out for a little while when I realised how expensive it is to get a chopper licence," Ms Anderson said.

A commercial helicopter licence can cost between $70,000 to $100,000, enough to deter a young school leaver.

She tried the more conventional route, moving from her cattle station home in north Queensland to Brisbane, where she enrolled in university. 

"I was 17 and had all this pressure on me that I should be going to uni, but I did a semester and realised that was never going to work for me," she said.

"The anxiety I felt when I was in the city compared to the peace I had working on the land with cattle made me decide to knuckle down, I was just going to have to take a chance."

Ms Anderson took on a loan to undertake her helicopter licence, self-studying the theory while working around a full-time job.

Now, after a move across the country to remote Western Australia to take on a mustering pilot role, she has seen the rewards.

"I think there's something really special about watching the sunrise every day," Ms Anderson said.

"We work with some really capable stockmen and women, so you've always got something to learn; you're never not learning in this job."

Gender no barrier

Numbers supplied by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) show that females make up only 7 per cent of registered pilots.

But working in the male-dominated aviation industry hasn't proved a problem for Ms Anderson.

 "I've found it nothing but positive; I've been met by nothing but support," she said.

"I admire the women who were doing it 15 or 20 years ago because I think it would have been a very different industry back then, but I think we are pretty fortunate now."

Roger Connellan Award

Winning the Roger Connellan Award has allowed Ms Anderson to upskill and complete her helicopter sling training in Darwin.

The training will allow her to work on different helicopter projects during the northern wet season when mustering comes to a halt.

"There's a million different uses for it, like slinging fuel into remote communities when they're cut off," she said.

"If I want to get into fire work, that's the first step towards firefighting as well."

Connellan Airways Trust chair Liz Bird, said Ms Anderson's dedication to living and working in the bush won her the award.

Meet - RED

Got him from a mate near Emmaville. They've been breeding handy cattle dogs for years. He's a paddock dog, good on goats and cattle. He can get in and bite when needed but also work wide and soft. He's a good option when you first run into rangeland goats. 

Red belongs to Nic Perkins. He’s one of our Members and also the owner of Stock Shift, one of our Partners / Sponsors / Supporters.

“Samantha Watkins Photography”

Realm Group Australia

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