This week's roundup: Experts weigh in after Barnaby Joyce's pooch spray, Australia’s M&A Outlook 2026, Ilfracombe's Machinery Mile, Rates Back in Focus as Farm Costs Tighten Again, and more updates. Plus, fresh listings, auction dates, and more from across Australia's ag sector. Let's get into it

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce's dog Stella has shot to fame after interrupting an interview on ABC's 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson. Mr Joyce yelled at the dog live on air, telling it to "sit down!"

Canine experts have offered advice on better ways to manage dogs barking inappropriately.

When One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce had an interview with Sarah Ferguson on the ABC's 7.30 program interrupted by an errant dog this week, he decided to take action.

"After getting to a point where I couldn't really think straight, I had to tell her, in farm language, to be quieter," the federal member for New England said.

"That's how it works on the land."

It was Mr Joyce's use of "farm language" with two-year-old Stella that shocked many dog owners.

Kersti Seksel, a vet and specialist in animal behaviour, said she initially felt sorry for Mr Joyce being distracted by his border collie-cross-Staffordshire terrier.

"But my next response was, 'I wish he hadn't yelled at the dog' because I don't think the dog understands what he was trying to convey," she said.

"Really yelling, making a lot of noise, really doesn't help.

"If you want to calm the situation down, it's often better to speak quietly to the person or the animal you're trying to deal with."

Dr Seksel recommended diverting the dog's attention with a treat or asking it to do a task it does well, like finding a toy, as a way to stop barking.

"Dogs speak canine; they don't speak human," she said.

"It's our perception that we need to speak loudly and firmly to dogs."

Peter Hogan has 35 years' experience training working dogs at Glencoe in the New England region of NSW.

He said Stella the dog would have been absolutely fine after the incident.

"Farm dogs are used to being spoken to gruffly," Mr Hogan said.

"That is how it's handled on the farm.

"If we want him to understand that we're cranky, we'll change our voice tone."

Mr Hogan said Stella was probably feeling just as much pressure as her owner during the tense interview.

Mr Hogan said discipline and routine were key to having a well-behaved dog.

"[The dog] doesn't need to be consulted in baby tones or a high-pitched voice," he said.

"He wants you to be calm, not high-pitched, and provide him with the leadership he needs."

Mr Joyce said Stella would probably enjoy the notoriety that came from her TV appearance.

"They jump up on you and lick you to death 30 seconds later," he said.

"They are our working colleagues; they are with us most of the day, and they understand us better than most.

"Just accept how we live out in the country and stop judging us. That's the thing that annoys me."

Australia’s M&A market followed a steadier, more selective path than the global rebound, yet deal value and pipelines proved resilient throughout 2025, laying constructive foundations for 2026. Energy and Financial Services continued to anchor headline value, while activity was broad-based across Industrials, Services and Consumer markets as funding conditions stabilised and valuation expectations became more pragmatic. CEO appetite remains elevated, with around 40% planning to drive transformation through M&A and partnerships over the next 12 months, and we expect an increase in exits as private capital accelerates portfolio rotations after an extended period of longer holds.

Australia’s 2025 market stayed active but tightened in both value and volume, while the US (and broader global cycle) showed a clearer value rebound driven by fewer, larger transactions and sector reconfiguration.

“With capital costs steady and confidence back, 2025 shifted Australia’s M&A from caution to competition—corporates accelerated portfolio reshaping, inbound strategics returned on FX tailwinds, and fierce bidding for scarce high‑quality assets sharpened execution.”

“As pricing gaps continued to tighten and capital flowed back into core markets, the Australian infrastructure M&A landscape strengthened through 2025-26. Core assets traded at steady returns with super funds and private capital active with pre-emptive processes continuing to be a feature, while core-plus investments in energy transition, transport and digital assets underpinned a resurgence of deals in this segment of the market.”

Clara Cutajar, Partner, Global Capital Projects & Infrastructure Leader, PwC Australia

An outback Queensland town has taken delivery of four 20th-century tractors from the state museum. The Machinery Mile takes centre place in Ilfracombe and has left visitors enamoured with the town.

The new prized additions will be on display once a suitable shed can be built to display them. In the heart of Queensland's outback, a blue-and-white semi-trailer from Brisbane is bringing critical and treasured supplies to a tiny town.

But its trailer is not carrying food, animal feed or perishables — but four almost 100-year-old tractors.

The prized antique payload, sent from Queensland Museum, came as a delight to the smiling group who had perched outside the pub to meet the new additions to their Machinery Mile.

The community of Ilfracombe pours its efforts into preserving the wagons, trucks and bulldozers that have helped farm and build Australia.

Over the years, the Ilfracombe Historical Society has amassed 190 machines along its main street, a number that could soon overtake the town's population.

The open-air display, founded in 1969, stretches 800 metres so far, running almost the full length of the town. Dubbed the Lynn Cameron Machinery Mile, it serves as a landmark for those travelling the Landsborough Highway.

The recent delivery was of four historical Caterpillar tractors, a 1950s D2 and three 1930s Twenty-Twos, once the cherished possessions of an Australian earthmoving tycoon.

The vehicles along Machinery Mile provide a glimpse of the region's past as a major international player in wool production. The nearby railway stop was built to service Wellshot Station, considered the largest sheep station in the world by headcount at the turn of the 20th century.

"We're kind of doing the deeds of our forefathers in preserving this history," Ilfracombe Historical Society treasurer Mick Storch said.
"It's engaging and family-friendly in the sense that it doesn't cost you anything to actually walk around and have a look and be amazed at the history."

Mr Storch said he hoped the line of historic metal would continue to grow.

"We have more space, and we have more ideas about what we want to do and make it a bit longer, make it a true machinery mile," he said.

The new old tractors will be on display in the coming months after a shed is extended.

Their story began 90 years ago when the late Bert Theiss grew a love for machinery while helping build his family's business. The international mining giant that shares his surname began as a small earthmoving outfit in southern Queensland.

"They were making the cattle roads, as they were called, to try and move cattle trucks successfully around Western Queensland, Northern Territory," said Queensland Museum's Jennifer High.

"I think some people may have only seen these machines in black and white photographs and history books," Ms High said.

"But these are big, they're smelly, they're greasy, and they're there to be enjoyed by as many people as possible."

In recent months the Queensland Museum has organised the transfer of 16 of the tractors to various museums, including Machinery Mile.

Truck driver Matthew Barr said his tractor payload had attracted curious questions on the twelve-hour road trip from Brisbane.

"Every place I stopped, either for a coffee or a fuel fill-up, people came out and asked about it," Mr Barr said.

"I had people when I woke up this morning in Tambo standing around the trailer asking about how old they were and where they'd come from, and more importantly where they're going."

That intrigue is expected to continue as the four tractors settle into their new home.

Visitor Maxwell Burls said it was his 10th year visiting the town and its unusual museum.

"I'm an old truck driver, and I just come here to relax. I walk my dog up and down this miracle mile every day," he said.

For his friend Michael Gallagher, walking the mile brought back memories of his own father's truck.

"It's just the atmosphere of the whole place," he said.

"It's hard to drive past, isn't it?

This week has brought finance firmly back to the front of the conversation for Australian farmers.

Fresh employment data has shown the labour market is still stronger than expected, with jobs growth jumping sharply while unemployment held steady at 4.4%. That matters because a strong labour market gives the Reserve Bank less room to relax. Markets are now pricing in a much higher chance of another cash rate increase later this year, especially with inflation still sitting above the RBA’s target range.

For farmers, the timing is difficult.

Diesel has moved higher again through July, with prices rising sharply across major east coast markets. That flows directly into machinery operation, freight, irrigation, livestock transport and grain movement. At the same time, global conflict is keeping pressure on oil and fertiliser markets, adding another layer of uncertainty to input planning.

On the production side, conditions remain mixed. Parts of southern Australia and the Western Australian wheatbelt have received useful rainfall, supporting winter crops and pasture growth, while other regions remain dry. Grain prices have firmed on global supply concerns, particularly around Black Sea export disruption, creating some upside for Australian growers with grain to sell. Livestock values are also holding reasonably well, with feeder cattle demand remaining solid in key saleyards.

The message this week is clear: opportunities are still there, but margins need to be protected carefully.

More producers are now reviewing finance structures, refinancing higher-cost debt, consolidating facilities and unlocking equity to preserve working capital. At Pay In Time Finance, we’re helping farmers reduce repayment pressure where possible and structure machinery, vehicle and equipment finance around real seasonal cash flow.

In a week where rates, fuel and inputs are all moving, the strongest operators will be those who act early, protect liquidity and stay financially flexible.

Daily charter flights to Australia's biggest beef expo are becoming a "reasonable option" for attendees, as an accommodation shortage grips a regional city also chosen to host events for the 2032 Olympic Games.

The Central Queensland city of Rockhampton is home to the triennial Beef Australia industry showcase and has also been selected to host rowing and canoe sprint events on the Fitzroy River for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The week-long beef expo attracts about 55,000 people who visit the event multiple times during the week.

Organisers provide hundreds of temporary campsites near the showgrounds to help ease the accommodation issue.

Tourism body Capricorn Enterprise said 1,200 short-term accommodation rooms would be needed in the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast region by 2032 to meet current and future demand.

It said the region had 2,500 commercial rooms offering 4,600 beds.

The last major hotel built in the region opened a decade ago.

Beef Australia CEO Simon Irwin said accommodation was a major challenge for its upcoming expo in May 2027, the largest beef industry event in the Southern Hemisphere.

"We are working with air charter operators to bring people down from Townsville, up from Toowoomba and in from Longreach just for day trips," Mr Irwin said.

"Because now, chartering a plane due to the scarcity and the cost of accommodation is quite a reasonable option for a lot of people."

Some apartments and homes in Rockhampton are currently being advertised for rent for $24,000 for the week of the beef expo, while some properties at nearby Yeppoon are advertised for $13,000.

"People get carried away. They see something up for $40,000 for the week and the reason you're seeing it is no-one has taken it," Mr Irwin said.

Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll said the "price gouging" of some accommodation properties for the event was "disgraceful".

"[It's] jeopardising the event as well as the reputation of our city and greater region," she said. "A premium price during a major event is expected and accepted, but not three times the normal rate and higher."

About 15,000 spectators are expected to come to the city for the Olympics.

Rockhampton Mayor Tony Williams said he hoped developers and hoteliers would see the 2032 Games as a "great opportunity to invest".

"We need an investor to come in and build the infrastructure … there is a consistent demand there," he said.

A new Athlete Village for the Olympics is proposed to be built at the Rockhampton Railyards, with works still in the planning and approvals stage.

Cr Williams said although he was unaware of the buyer's plans, it was encouraging to see the recent $5.75 million sale of Rockhampton's rundown 66-room Plaza Hotel.

"Rather than seeing derelict buildings sit there idle and become issues, that investment is confidence that something is happening," he said.

Ms Carroll said she was unaware of any concrete plans by Iwasaki Pty Ltd for the future of its derelict 331-room Capricorn Resort at Yeppoon, which closed in 2016.

"It's heartbreaking to see the deterioration of this once iconic resort, which could be subdivided from the 22,000-acre cattle property, for a hotel investor to develop into a world-class ecotourism development."

OpenAI has decided that helping small businesses adopt AI is now commercially important enough to invest in. 

One of the more interesting pieces of news I came across this week was OpenAI launching a new initiative focused entirely on small businesses.

How I read the headline: OpenAI now believes the opportunity is significant enough to build specifically for them.

Small distinction, maybe. But it feels like another sign AI is moving past the experimentation phase and becoming another business capability, the way websites, online accounting, and digital marketing did before it. 

We've noticed the same shift in conversations with clients. Not long ago, the first question was "should we be using AI?" Now it's "can it answer enquiries after hours," "can it help write proposals," "can it cut down the repetitive work our team does every week." 

In short, businesses are looking for outcomes now: faster proposals, fewer bottlenecks, more time for work that actually needs judgement. 

The lesson we keep relearning with clients: The technology is rarely the starting point. The business is. The temptation is to ask, "Where can we use AI?" A better question is, "Where does work slow down?"

— or where information gets copied from place to place, where everything stops because one person is away, where your team answers the same question for the tenth time this week. 

If I owned a small business (and I do), I wouldn't spend Monday comparing AI models. I'd walk through a normal day and note where work piles up, where one person becomes the bottleneck, where customers wait longer than they should. Those answers are worth more than any prompt you'll find online. 

OpenAI's announcement matters because it confirms what we've been seeing for a while: small businesses are finally getting the same opportunity larger organisations have had for years. The ones that benefit will be the ones using it to build something easier to run, easier to scale, and easier for customers to deal with.

If that's a conversation you're ready to have, we'd be happy to help you work through it.

📧 [email protected] 

G’dat REALMReaders,

I love seeing young people having a go and creating opportunities for themselves in agriculture.

Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Harris from rural Darwin only entered her first cattle-parading competition in 2025. After winning State Champion Parader at the Royal Darwin Show, she’ll now represent the Northern Territory at the National Cattle Parading Championships at the Ekka in Brisbane on Friday, 7 August.

What also impressed me was Alyssa having the confidence to contact RFTTEJOBS.com and ask for support. That sort of initiative and thinking outside the box is exactly what I like to see, so we were only too happy to help financially and send her a bit of RFTTE gear for the journey.

From studying agriculture at Taminmin College in Darwin and learning to halter-break Brahman cattle, to taking on some of Australia’s best young paraders, Alyssa has come a long way in a short time.

We had a yarn with Alyssa about how she got started, what judges look for in the ring, how she’s preparing for the Ekka and where she hopes agriculture might take her next.

Meet Alyssa and read her story here: https://rfttejobs.com/blog/alyssa-harris-nt-cattle-parader-ekka-2026/

Good luck, Alyssa. Give it a red-hot crack!

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.