Commodity Conversations

This week, Ethan Woolley sits down with Bill Pardy, Head of Sustainable Agriculture at Nutrien Ag Solutions. They discuss how farmers can get on the front foot when it comes to thinking about sustainable agriculture on farm.

This week, Ethan Wooley is joined by Rob Herrmann for a special farewell episode — his final with Mecardo. As Rob hangs up the boots, the conversation reflects on his journey, the growth of Mecardo, and what lies ahead in his next chapter.

This week Ethan Woolley is joined by Tim Jackson, Global Market Analyst with Meat & Livestock Australia. Tim discusses the key export market drivers for Australian red meat in 2025. 

This week Ethan Woolley is joined by  Mark Symes, Wool Manager for G Schneider Australia. Mark talks us through some of the recent positivity for wool markets including rws premiums, lower supply pushing prices higher and stronger presence from topmaker buyers. 

This week Ethan Woolley is joined by Mecardo analyst Nick Booth of Next Level Grain Marketing to discuss the evolving tariff impacts on the grain and oilseed market. 

This week Rob is joined by Ronald Rutledge, Livestock Development Manager with Nutrien Ag Solutions to discuss the opening weeks of the lamb and sheep season in 2025. Ron lets us in on what has been driving the erratic market and what's in store later into the year. 

This week Olivia Agar, Ethan Woolley & Robert Herrmann discuss the latest Mecardo quarterly report insights. To join the mailing list for the quarterly reports, please reach out to us at ask@mecardo.com.au 

This week, Rob is joined by Andrew Hosken to discuss the 2025 January weaner sales in the South east of Australia. Andrew discusses what the market is doing, what buyers of weaners are looking for and the strategy behind their buying decisions. 

This week Olivia Agar, Ethan Woolley and Rob Hermann talk through the year that was for Agricultural commodities and discuss what's in store for commodities in 2025. 

This week Rob is joined by Ripley Atkinson, Australian Livestock & Commodities Manager with StoneX to discuss his latest article on Auctions Plus about the size of the national herd https://tinyurl.com/mr4a7drt .  

This week Rob is joined by Mark Barton Livestock specialist with Nutrien Ag Solutions to talk about the fast approaching 2025 Nutrien Classic performance horse sale and campdraft event in Tamworth NSW.  

This week Rob is joined by Colby Ede, Northern Livestock Manager with Nutrien Ag Solutions. Colby takes us through what's been a great year for the Northern cattle industry and the exciting prospects ahead over the summer. 

This week Rob is joined by Mecardo Analysts Olivia Agar and Jamie-Lee Oldfield to discuss the potential impacts of US tariffs on imported products for Agricultural trade. 

This week Rob Hermann is joined by Michael Whitehead, Head of Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Insights at ANZ to discuss the latest ANZ report on the exciting opportunities for Australian Agriculture in India. The report can be found at the following link: https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/india-thenextfrontier.pdf  

This week Rob is joined by Nick Booth from Next Level Grain Marketing, (and Mecardo contributor) to discuss how Russia, China and conflict in the Middle East continue to drive uncertainty and volatility in global grain and oilseed markets. 

This week the Mecardo team (Olivia Agar, Robert Herrmann & Ethan Woolley) discuss the key drivers and trends impacting grains, oilseeds, cattle, sheep, lamb and wool markets for q3 2024. 

This week Rob is joined by Lawrence Richmond, a farm manager from Victoria who has been managing cropping operations throughout the Black Sea including Romania and Ukraine. Lawrence talks us through the challenges and opportunities cropping in the region provides. 

This week Rob is joined by Lucy Gregg, General Manager of Public Affairs at AUSVEG.  Lucy joins us to discuss key challenges of Australian vegetable growers and other insights on the labour market impacting growers.

This week, Rob is joined by Brad Cavanagh, part of the livestock team at Oxton Park.  Brad joins us to discuss what goes into the Oxton Park livestock operation which received the honour of Gundagai lamb Producer of the year for the 2nd year running. 

Rob is joined by John Francis, Director at Agrista and the author of a recent AWI report into the profitability of specialised wool sheep enterprises.  John discusses the data, modelling and outcomes of the recent report into why there is a profit argument for staying in wool.  https://www.wool.com/globalassets/wool/news--events/2024/why-stay-in-wool-sheep/why-say-in-wool-sheep---report-by-john-francis-of-agrista.pdf 

This week Olivia Agar is joined by Erin Lukey - Senior Market Information Analyst with Meat & Livestock Australia (mla). Erin joins us to discuss the latest sheep and her projections and the drivers behind the figures MLA landed on. 

This week Rob is joined by Stephen Hill, National Committee Chairman for the Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee.  They discuss the changing dynamics that influence the forecasting process for Australian wool production. 

This week Rob is joined by Thomas Mugford,  Branch Manager for Mareeba, Tolga, Richmond and Cloncurry for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Far North Queensland.  Tom joins us to discuss the diverse opportunities and industries the region has to offer. 

Olivia Agar is joined by Mecardo Analyst Ethan Woolley to discuss the key market insights from the Mecardo Quarterly report. They discuss the stability of cattle prices, optimism for lamb and sheep markets and the challenges from the Northern hemisphere on wool and grain markets. 

This week Rob is joined by Stephen Bignell, Manager of Market Information with Meat & Livestock Australia. Stephen discusses the changes in the sentiment of Sheep and Lamb producers detailed in the latest iteration of the Sheep Producers Intention Survey. 

This week Rob is joined by Stewart Raine, State Wool Manager for Nutrien Ag Solutions.  Stewart and Rob discuss the finish to the 2023/24 wool season and the market dynamics impacting pricing and demand currently. 

This week Rob Hermann is joined by Michael Whitehead, Head of Agribusiness Insights at ANZ.  He joins us to discuss what the winter has delivered and key insights from the 2024 Winter ANZ AGRI INFOCUS commodity insights report. 

This week Rob Herrmann is joined by Cattle Australia Deputy Chair Adam Coffey. Adam joins us to discuss the ongoing work of Cattle Australia as it handles a myriad of issues that currently or could potentially impact grassfed cattle producers in Australia. 

Robert Herrmann is joined by Ron Rutledge, Nutrien Ag Solutions Livestock Development Manager to discuss the impact that the recent rain will have on the livestock market, and the news that is China removing import suspensions on five Australian processors.

This week Rob Herrmann is joined by Jo Hall CEO of Wool Producers Australia to chat about some of the major policy debates currently shaping the farming landscape including shedding some light on the proposed live export ban. 

This week Olivia is joined by Mark Tully, Global Market Research Manager for Nutrien Ag Solutions based in Calgary, Canada. Mark joins us to discuss the latest drivers for key inputs for 2024 and beyond. 

This week Rob is joined by Stephen Hill, National Committee Chairman for the Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee to discuss the April report for 2024. 

This week, Rob Hermann, Olivia Agar and Ethan Woolley discuss the key takeaways from the latest Mecardo quarterly report for Q1 2024.  to sign up to the mailing list please reach out to us through email: ask@mecardo.com.au 

This week Rob is joined by John Francis, Director at Agrista Agricultural consultancy to discuss his recent article ( https://www.agrista.com.au/articles-podcasts-tools-analysis/ ) and the key drivers impacting profitability for prime lamb producers. 

This week Olivia is joined by Andrew Holt, Senior Account Manager & Divisional Livestock coordinator with Nutrien Ag Solutions. They discuss the impact of the big rain event on the East Coast for cattle markets in the short term.  

This week Rob is joined by Mecardo's Senior Livestock analyst Angus Brown to give an update on the lamb job. They discuss the impacts of elevated slaughter and the return of the Middle East Bag Lamb market. 

This week, Olivia Agar is joined by Matthew Haddrell, Senior Agricultural Analyst with Beef + Lamb New Zealand LTD. Matthew joins to discuss how the livestock markets in New Zealand are shaping up in 2024 and some of the key drivers causing changes in the flock. 

This week Rob is joined by Mark Symes, Southern Region Wool Manager for G.Schneider. Rob and Mark discuss what is driving demand in the wool market with insights from key customers in China and Europe.

This week Rob is joined by Ripley Atkinson, Australian Livestock and Commodities Manager with StoneX Financial.  With cattle herds in Australia and the US a big topic of discussion, Ripley joins us to discuss the opportunities and key drivers behind the future US herd rebuild and the resulting opportunities for the Australian Beef Industry. 

This week Rob is joined by Prime lamb producer Charlie de Fegely who manages the Quamby property in Ararat, Victoria. Charlie, his partner Liz, and their sons have been innovative, progressive producers looking to maximise productivity and Charlie discusses how they've managed the last 12 months of the turbulent lamb and sheep market. 

This week, Rob is joined by Jessica Clarke, Market Reporter for Argus Media to discuss the Northern cattle indicators and how the season is developing for grain fed cattle markets this season.  

This week the Mecardo team (Rob Hermann, Olivia Agar & Ethan Woolley) discuss the key insights from quarter 4 of 2023 in commodity markets including the livestock market turnaround, freight issues and wool premiums.  To be added to the Quarterly report mailing list, please reach out to us on ask@mecardo.com.au

This week, Rob is joined by Stewart Raine, Victorian Wool brokerage lead with Nutrien Ag Solutions, to discuss the impact of the large wool offerings at auction to begin 2024 and the improving sentiment as we approach superfine sales in the next few weeks. 

This week Rob is joined by commodity conversations regular Ron Rutledge, Livestock Development Manager with Nutrien Ag Solutions, to talk about the positive start to the year for cattle and sheep markets.  They discuss recent weaner sales and the balance of the market drivers and new found confidence in buyers and sellers.

This week Rob is joined by commodity conversations regular Michael Whitehead, Head of Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Insights with ANZ. Rob and Michael discuss some key takeaways from the Summer edition of the ANZ "Agri InFocus" Commodity insights report.  

This week Rob Hermann is joined by Tom Silcock, former president of the Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association. Rob and Tom discuss the future of Merino Sheep and market influences on breeder ram choices.

This week we continue with Part 2 of Rob's discussion with David Cornish, Director of the Centre for Professional Development at Marcus Oldham College which can also be heard on the AgTalk Podcast.  In this iteration, David and Rob discuss where the world is at with grain, oilseeds, and wool markets. 

This week David Cornish, Director of the Centre for Professional Development at Marcus Oldham College interviews Mecardo's Robert Hermann as a 2-part series which can also be heard on the AgTalk Podcast.  In this iteration, David and Rob discuss how cattle and sheep markets have changed in recent times. 

This week Ethan Woolley is joined by Courtney Tourle, Animal Production Specialist with Nutrien Ag Solutions based in Central West NSW.  Courtney discusses the benefits of early weaning and livestock nutrition strategies to make the most out of dry conditions. 

This week Olivia Agar and Ethan Woolley discuss harvest progress, drivers impacting the global grain market as well as an update on the sugar and cotton markets. 

This week Rob Hermann and Ethan Woolley discuss some of the key market highlights in commodities covered in Mecardo's latest Quarterly report. To access the quarterly report, reach out to the Mecardo team by email, ask@mecardo.com.au