Thanks for a great Year and your business

Week ending 20th Dec 2019

Welcome to my Friday dribble where we talk things agri sport and life.I spent a week driving around outback SA and NSW last week visiting towns like Berri, Mildura and Griffith.

It’s a great time of year to travel out there with the river full of water for the growing season on grapes, citrus and almonds.

However, the country away from the irrigation looks terrible. Even in places like the Barossa Valley they had half their average rainfall for the year.

Given that Santa arrives in 5 days this will be the last dribble for a while. Maybe I should take the opportunity to make some observations for the year.

It seems the banking royal commission was the tip of the iceberg. All 4 big banks have now had to come clean with all sorts of issues, mainly around charging dead people and charging fees for zero service.

The dairy industry looks to be headed for more change. Chinese group Mengniu had a big finish to 2019. They already owned 80% of Burra foods and added Bellamy’s and Lion dairy and drinks to their stable. It will be interesting to see what their broader plans are heading into 2020.

Still on dairy and the revolving door at the top of A2M keeps spinning. The recent CEO only lasted a bit over 12 months before she headed out the door leaving the board to ponder, what was that all about..??

2 agri sectors doing well are almonds and water. The almond industry is seeing good prices, good crops and a favourable AUD. The water industry is possible a victim of their own success, but spot prices are strong despite rumblings from some old school water users complaining that institutional investors shouldn’t own water….check the rule book dude..!!

On sport, you must love summer in Australia with non-stop cricket, whether it’s a test match or plenty of hit and giggle games. On rugby, I bet the board and management of Rugby Aust want to forget 2019.

Finally, we all celebrate this time of year differently. Whether it’s the birth of a baby in a stable some time back, a chance to go skiing in Aspen and enlarge your carbon footprint for the year or just spend some time with family at the beach, it’s a wonderful time of the year, especially if you have kids. Check out the xmas effort from the locals at Watson’s Bay in Sydney. Palm trees and ping pong balls…!!! All the best for 2020 and happy Christmas.