F E A T U R E D

Grazing Futures: Science, Stock and Stories

The 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) is an opportunity for Australia’s pastoralists to share how innovation is reshaping the bush.

The idea of IYRP came from Jim O’Rourke, a rancher from Nebraska, who recognised that many governments around the world failed to value or understand their rangelands. His vision was to dedicate a year to highlight pastoralists, ranchers, herders, graziers and producers’ stories to city folk, governments. 

The IYRP comes at a pivotal time. Around the world, pastoralists are dealing with growing pressures, from shifting markets to climate extremes and more. For Australia’s producers, it’s a chance to show how innovation, research and stewardship are integral to sustainable production. IYRP is connecting Australian producers with global peers. IYRP 2026 is an opportunity to highlight rangeland management, as well as the science, innovation and culture that make outback communities vital to Australia’s future.

Rangelands provide many benefits. In Australia, rangelands are an economic powerhouse, with red meat contributing $22 billion in export income (Meat & Livestock Australia 2024). Livestock industries support the social fabric of rural communities, employing almost 500,000 people – including ringers, contractors, processors and other businesses servicing the red meat industry. Best practice management also protects the natural environment and biodiversity. Cultural traditions of both pastoralists and Indigenous peoples are found in the rangelands and help define Australia’s character and values.

Science on the ground

IYRP will raise awareness that rangelands are not wastelands, but productive systems. Across Australia, pastoralists or livestock producers and scientists are working together to improve rangelands management, such as better

-  knowledge about when to move cattle, based on the availability of pasture
-  information about the links between management, soil carbon and biodiversity
-  education about how herd genetics influences cattle’s ability to manage heat stress.

Today’s rangeland management blends science with other knowledge and experience, giving producers new insights into how animals and landscapes interact. This science is practical. It helps producers refine decisions while highlighting the broad benefits of rangelands.

Science and lived knowledge from people who live on the land provide the evidence that the IYRP will spotlight.

Technology in Rangelands Management

One of the strongest messages for the International Year is that livestock management is quite sophisticated, using high-tech innovations. Australian producers are among the most adaptive innovators in the world.

Cell grazing and holistic management are recognised as practical technologies for managing stock. Virtual fencing, GPS ear tags, digital collars and grazing Apps help producers spread grazing pressure evenly, allow pastures to recover, and match stock movements with rainfall and forage availability.

Other technologies are becoming part of daily operations, such as drones, satellites and soil spectroscopy provide large-scale data on biomass and land condition. Remote and smart monitoring systems make water use more efficient. These innovations show that where science and technology are used is firmly in the hands of people on the ground.
 
Innovation through People and Partnerships

Behind every new technology or management system are the people who test, adapt, and improve it. Across the rangelands, innovation is often collaborative — producers working with researchers and tech developers, to share what works.

Peer networks, producer groups, and local field days are vital platforms for learning, trialling ideas, and building confidence in practical innovation. IYRP will highlight successful partnerships to illustrate how knowledge flows from paddock to policy, keeping pastoral communities vibrant.

Sharing Australia’s Stories

In Australia, the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists is a grassroots movement, run predominantly by producers/pastoralists.  Sharing stories will highlight the diversity and importance of the rangelands to raise awareness. Stories will be told through social media, in classrooms, and at community events to celebrate the good things happening in the bush.

Australian pastoralists /producers/graziers are invited to tell their stories. IYRP is an opportunity to connect with people beyond the bush, including city folk and decision-makers.

If you know a story that could help city folk and decision-makers better understand the rangelands, please contact your local IYRP representative:

·      WA – Debbie Dowden  [email protected]
·      NSW –  Gus Whyte  [email protected]  or  
·      NSW – Danielle Connolly  [email protected]
·      QLD – Maree Tulley  [email protected]
·      NT –  Stacey Holzapfel  [email protected]
·      Other states – Dana Kelly  [email protected]

A New Narrative for the Rangelands

Australia’s rangelands cover more than 75 per cent of the continent. As home to vast cattle, sheep and goat enterprises, rangelands provide some of the greatest opportunities for maintaining healthy landscapes.

The IYRP 2026 is about telling this story. It is about showing that pastoralism is not just about running stock, but about people applying science and innovation to work with animals, soils and plants as a whole system. Australian producers are leading the way.

Pastoralists are not only food producers. They are innovators and custodians - masters at working with uncertainty and managing the land while feeding the world.

Please follow IYRP Australia and share our posts on your social media.

Pay In-Time Finance

Why Farm Finance needs to look different and how Pay In Time does it better

Why Farm Finance needs to look different and how Pay In Time does it better, because #ifYOUknowYOUknow

Running a farm is nothing like running a typical business. Your income is seasonal, but it's a very different type of seasonality compared to hospitality.

Your risks are higher. Your costs are unpredictable. And your cash flow can swing wildly based on weather, markets, machinery and factors completely outside your control. That’s why traditional finance often fails farmers. Banks want tidy numbers. Farming isn’t tidy. Banks wish for predictable revenue. Farming isn’t predictable. Banks wish to simplify risk.

Farming is the opposite; more akin to complex chaos! Farm finance needs to look different, and Pay In Time was built on that belief, by farmers for farmers...who just get it! Understanding Agriculture from the Ground Up

www.payintime.global

Pay In Time doesn’t apply city-office logic to rural operations. Our finance partners understand: seasonal cashflow cycles, livestock and cropping timing when money actually comes in (and when it doesn’t)

How unexpected weather or market swings impact your year. The difference between “tight cashflow” and “bad performance”. This matters because a better understanding leads to better decisions, faster approvals and solutions that actually fit. Tailored Solutions, Not Template Loans.

A farmer upgrading a header shouldn’t be assessed the same way as someone buying a café. A grazing operator preparing for a dry season doesn’t need the same structure as a cropping farmer planning for harvest. Pay In Time builds finance around your operation, not the other way around.

Built for Reality, Not Theory. You won’t hear vague recommendations or generic advice. Instead, you get practical guidance shaped around real agricultural challenges. Because at the end of the day, finance should help you run a stronger business… Not make your life harder. Pay In Time - Finance

WEEKLY AUCTION DATES – 2025

INPUTS & COMMODITIES

Australia’s key commodities / Inputs highlights and economic influences for this month.

Wheat and barley: Global wheat prices remain under pressure from abundant supply and rising stocks, with the Australian basis offering relative strength. However, limited upside is expected unless a major supply shock or geopolitical shift occurs. 

Canola: EU canola imports are set to fall as production rebounds to near-average levels, while Canadian stocks rise on the back of higher output and tepid crushing growth. Australian production is soaring, year-on-year, with GM canola’s share increasing and limiting price upside. 

Beef: Cattle prices continue to reflect seasonal conditions. Finished and heavy stock are performing better given the strong export markets, while restocker cattle prices are more reflective of seasonal conditions and producer sentiment. 

Sheepmeat: Lamb and sheep prices are still bouncing around at high levels. Slaughter numbers appear to be stabilising around the five-year average, and the lower volumes of lambs may just be starting to temper the buying actions of processors. 

Wool: Wool prices have remained firm in recent weeks, with the Eastern Market Indicator up 6% MOM.

Economic indicators show mixed signals for wool demand: EU consumer confidence is trending higher, while Chinese retail sales growth remains lacklustre. 

Cotton: ICE #2 Cotton futures fell 3.8% MOM. Cotton markets have faced additional pressure in recent weeks, with the USDA’s WASDE report indicating that global production is likely stronger than previously expected. 

Farm inputs: It was a mixed month for fertiliser prices, with phosphate prices down around 5% MOM, while urea rose 2%. Although RaboResearch expects urea prices to ease over the next six months, short-term downside potential may be limited by strong buying activity from India. 

Dairy: Dairy commodity prices are continuing to soften. A spike in milk production in most export regions is weighing on markets, which will continue into 1H 2026. The weaker commodity prices are pulling down farmgate prices in most dairy export regions. 

Consumer foods: Food inflation was steady at 3.2% in October despite big lifts in red meat prices. Consumer confidence jumped in November, marking its first positive reading since early 2022 and the highest level in seven years. 

Interest rates and FX: The recent run of strong economic data continued in November and has placed a big question mark over the prospect of further cuts to the RBA cash rate. 

Oil and freight: Oil prices continued to track lower in November and are likely to fall further early next year. Diesel prices are being supported by a lack of refining capacity and a consequently tight supply-demand picture. Cheers SV-AGB

AG MACHINERY

New Holland celebrates half a century of the Twin Rotor combine

New Holland’s twin rotor product line has grown from the launch of the TR70 combine in 1975 to a complete range today, led by the new CR10 and CR11.

CNH Product & Portfolio Manager – Crop Harvesting ANZ, Marc Smith, said New Holland has refined the twin rotor concept for five decades.

“The twin rotor technology represents a significant innovation in combine harvester design, showing how a machine can harvest grain more efficiently,” he said.

“The twin rotor system can tackle any type of crop, producing large amounts of centrifugal force, creating grain-on-grain threshing, superior grain quality and high performance in small grains.

“IntelliSense automation can alter the pitch of rotor vanes without completely changing the concave setup, so it can slow crop material down if needed, keeping it in there longer or speeding it up if over threshing the material.

“The twin rotor design continues to be the cornerstone of our product performance, helping farmers maximise their combine efficiency,” Marc said.

Over 70,000 TR and CR Twin Rotor combines have been produced globally to date. New Holland’s Centre of Harvesting Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium, has recently undergone significant investment and upgrading for the production of the latest CR10 and CR11 models.

New Holland enters the combine market

Well-known for its expertise in grassland farming products such as balers and forage harvesting equipment, New Holland, then primarily a US-based manufacturer, entered the combine market in 1964 when it acquired Belgian company Claeys, which had introduced its first self-propelled combine in 1952.

Over the decade that followed the acquisition, New Holland continued to develop the conventional straw-walker combine line it had acquired, but during the 1960s began to investigate new ways of threshing and separating grain to boost output, increase cleanliness and reduce losses.

The first Twin Rotor combine

To do this, New Holland engineers studied centrifugal force and its potential for separating grain from plant matter, an innovative concept distinctly different from the drum/concave and straw-walker traditional method of threshing and separation.

The first development machine, adapted from a 985 straw-walker model from the Claeys factory in Belgium, was trialled in corn in 1968, and wheat the following year.

The trials showed benefits from splitting the incoming crop flow from the elevator/feeder house into two streams, feeding it into two counter-rotating longitudinal rotors working against longitudinal concaves that consisted of threshing sections followed by separation sections. The high speed of the rotors meant centrifugal force ejected much of the grain through the concaves, minimising grain damage when compared to conventional drum and concave threshing, and minimising losses when set against straw-walker separation.

By 1969, a totally new combine design with these internal elements was under test, and in 1975, the first production model, the TR70 with a 145hp engine and 5,550-litre/158-bushel grain tank, was launched – the first New Holland combine built in the USA. In 1979, it was replaced by the upgraded TR75 and joined by a larger companion, the TR85. Over the next two decades, the range evolved, with the 25,000th TR combine produced in 1997.

European high-capacity combine development had taken a separate path with the development of the Twin-Flow combines introduced in 1983. These used a conventional drum and concave followed by a large beater and rotary separator, and then a lateral Twin Flow rotor that split the crop into two streams to separate the final grains.

However, by the late 1990s, New Holland engineers in Europe and North America began work on a totally new Twin Rotor design that would meet the needs of farmers around the world in all types of combinable crops.

Introduced in 2002 and blending key features from the TR and TF machines with new developments and styling, the new 333hp CR960 and 428hp CR980 were initially built in the USA, before production was transferred in 2005 to the Zedelgem plant in Belgium.

The CR960 featured twin rotors of 432mm/17in diameter, with larger 560mm/22in diameter units on the CR980, which had a 12,500-litre/355-bushel grain tank. Operators benefited from a completely new cab design. The range was gradually expanded, and introduced features including IntelliSense combined automation, Dynamic Flow Control, remotely adjustable rotor vanes, Dynamic Feed Roll technology and Opti-Spread Plus residue management.

Development of the Elevation models in 2007 introduced IntelliCruise feed rate control for maximum output and Opti-Clean cleaning technology to further enhance grain cleanliness. These and other innovations have earned the TR, and the CR has combined multiple industry awards throughout the world.

The next development was the CR7.90, CR8.90, CR9.90 and CR10.90 models, with the latter machine in 2014 taking the Guinness World Record for the most wheat harvested in eight hours, at 797.656 tonnes (29,308 bushels). The record still stands today.

The New Holland CR combine range is now topped by the recently introduced CR11 (775hp, 20,000-litre/567-bushel tank capacity) and CR10 (634hp, 16,000-litre/454-bushel grain tank) models.

Like their forebears, they continue to incorporate proven Twin Rotor technology, but have more capacity than ever, with greater power and tank volume matched by rotors with a diameter of 600mm/24in and a length of 3,600mm/142in, to maximise crop handling capacity, ensure thorough threshing and separation, and protect grain quality. 

Global events and initiatives are planned during 2025 to celebrate #TwinRotor50, while owners and operators are encouraged to share their memories of working with these machines at https://wkf.ms/41evGY8.

Featured Auction Listings

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AG NEWS AUSTRALIA

Farm businesses start to recover confidence

Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with everyone impacted by the tragic events at Bondi Beach. We stand in solidarity with the victims, their loved ones, and all first responders during this incredibly difficult time. 🙏🙏🙏

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

Christmas Is Coming: Cue the Succession Guilt Trip

The story goes like this:
The kids left. They didn’t come back.
You think it’s because city life is cushier. Because “they don’t have the passion.”
Because “farming’s hard, and they’re soft.”

Easy narrative, but not always the right one. 

The Real Problem Isn’t Passion But Margin

Let’s say your son wants in. He’s ready to take a bigger role. Maybe even run the operation one day.
But then he looks at the books.

Can the business support two households? Can it pay him a wage that stacks up against what his friends are making off-farm? Can it give him a clear path to ownership?

If the answer to any of those is “not really,” then the problem isn’t succession but financial structure.

What You Can Do About It (Now)

You don’t need a full restructure this week. But here are three moves that shift things in the right direction:

1. Get clear on cost-per-household.
Work out what it actually costs to support yourself and one more full-time adult. Not just groceries. Wages, insurance, debt service, and operating inputs. If it doesn’t pencil out, don’t handwave it. Fix the model.

2. Build a margin buffer.
Treat succession as a capital project. Your business needs enough surplus to absorb a second operator without running lean. That means smarter pricing, tighter systems, and maybe dropping low-margin lines that burn daylight but don’t pay back.

3. Create off-farm income streams that tie in.
Don’t frame off-farm work as failure. Frame it as strategic. A side venture, advisory service, or ag-tech angle that supports the farm while building wealth outside it.

One Last Thing

If you’re still thinking, “but I had to start with nothing…” Well, yes. And it nearly broke you.
That doesn’t mean they should.

Want to position your business for the next generation with smarter systems, clearer messaging, and less mess for them to inherit?

We build brands, websites, and comms that don’t fall apart when you step back.

📬 [email protected]
🌐 rdcreativestudio.com.au

Women in Ag

Women of the outback - the unsung heroes of rural and regional Australia | Women Working in and Sustaining Agriculture Worldwide

G'day, REALM Readers!

Hey True Blue, don't say you've gone
Say you've knocked off for a smoko
And you'll be back later on
Hey True Blue, Hey True Blue
Give it to me straight
Face to face
Are you really disappearing
Just another dying race
Hey True Blue...

Cricket fan or not, John Williamson's emotional rendition of Hey True Blue on Wednesday prior to the beginning of the 3rd Ashes Test in Adelaide was truly moving in light of the horrendous tragedy at Bondi Beach on Sunday.

For a fleeting moment, it brought the country together - I can only hope that unity continues...

Now, what is becoming a tradition and a showcase of the RFTTE community, long-time RFTTE member Linda Tierney always asks the FB group at this time of year:

'I wanna see something cool, not a selfie or a meme. But a pic you've taken. Your farm, tractor, boat, truck, flowers, and the sky. I don't care... show me...'

There were 100's of replies to her post, including everything Linda requested... smoko under a tree, a truckie’s sunset, feeding your horse, Aussie wildlife and yes, even a flower too!

It's great to see people sharing their lives with each other, it's one of the reasons I started this group - so thank you to all who have shared: VIEW & ADD YOURS

Wishing you all a happy and safe Xmas and into the New Year with friends and family - take care of each other - we need to do that, particularly in light of recent events. I look forward to promoting the Aussie Ag industry again, jobs in particular, and catching up with you 'around the traps' in 2026...

True Blue, is it you and you?
Is it Mum and Dad, is it a cockatoo?
Is it standing by your mate
When he's in a fight?
Or will he be right?
True Blue, I'm asking you...

Hooroo for now,
Simon Cheatham
Founder RFTTE - The Online Campfire | E: [email protected] or reply to this newsletter | Subscribe to this newsletter | The RFTTE Story | RFTTE MERCH 
0417 277 488 | RFTTE PTY LTD | ABN 29 678 593 283

“Samantha Watkins Photography”

REALM Group Australia

REALM Group Australia (RGA) - originally est. 1992. The most trusted online Ag Marketing System in Australia. Built by Farmers for Farmers! Education is the KEY. True Pioneers - We were the first, and we are still growing. Proud Supporters of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) & Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC)