Agribusiness buzz in brief

Paine Schwartz Partners' new bid, down from the $3.50/share indicative offer made in May, now values the horticulture operation, including its production facilities in China and Morocco, at $1.5 billion.

Costa's costs from adverse weather conditions and a weaker profit outlook because of slower consumer spending have contributed to the bidder's $100 million downgrade.

Costa has 7200 hectares of holdings in Australia growing berries, tomatoes, avocados and mushrooms.

The New York-based Paine Schwartz private equity group specialises in food chain and agribusiness investments.

Eastern Tasmanian company Sea Forest's seaweed cultivation efforts to provide a natural solution to climate change have won it a spot on the finalists' list for the prestigious global environment award, The Earthshot Prize.

Sea Forest is the first company to develop and manufacture at commercial scale a feed supplement for cattle and sheep based on the native red seaweed, asparagopsis.

When included as a fraction of an animal's regular diet, its SeaFeed product can cut the amount of methane each animal burps by up to 90 per cent.

Prince William announced 15 global contenders for the Earthshot Prize's five awards (worth almost $2 million each) at a New York gathering of policymakers, global business leaders, philanthropists, and climate activists.

The winners, chosen from the original 1100 nominees, will be announced in Singapore on November 7.

Methane is the most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, accounting for about 20pc of global emissions while also being 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat.

Following the Pace family's recent sale of eastern Australia's big Pace Farms egg business to investment group, Roc Partners, New Zealand's biggest egg producer, Mainland Poultry, is expected to be sold next year, with local investor Pacific Equity Partners mooted as a likely contender.

Pacific previously owned the Tegel Foods poultry business in NZ and is familiar with the agribusiness market across the Tasman.

Dunedin-based Mainland's operations are based around its Zeagold Foods business which includes the Zeagold Quality Eggs, Woodland Free Range, Barnyard and Farmer Brown egg brands.

The current owner, Navis Capital, bought into Mainland five years ago, injecting capital to cover the cost of phasing out its battery cages in favour of free range and colony cage systems in preparation for the recent ban on traditional caged egg production in NZ.

Former Hort Innovation Australia chief executive officer, John Lloyd, will join the board of farm services company, Elders, in December.

Mr Lloyd, who has taken up a number of directorships since stepping down from nine years at the helm of the horticulture industry marketing and research body in 2018, is also a past managing director of CNH's machinery business in Australia, and had senior roles at former Elders rival, Wesfarmers, and Incitec Pivot.

He has board roles with Wine Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia, Charles Sturt University and the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council.

Suncorp Bank's former chief executive officer, David Foster, is to take over as chairman of rival Bendigo and Adelaide Bank at the end of October.

Mr Foster, who headed the Queensland bank between 2008 and 2013 and has been a Bendigo director for four years, will replace outgoing chair, Jacqueline Hey.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is awaiting more developments on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's recent decision to block the ANZ Banking Group's bid to buy Suncorp's banking business, which ANZ subsequently appealed.

The ACCC's decision included a suggestion that it would be more favourable to a merger between Bendigo and Suncorp to help maintain competition in the lending sector.

Country-based Regional Express, has been named Australia's Airline of the Year for the second consecutive year.

At this year's Australian Aviation Awards its performance was recognised three times, with its Australian Airline Pilot Academy winning the Flight Training Business of the Year award and Rex claiming the award for Safety Innovator of the Year.

The Australian Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, has also voted Rex as the nation's most reliable airline.

Wagga Wagga-based Rex will continue its capital city flight footprint expansion by introducing a new direct Adelaide-Brisbane service at the end of October, following the recent launch of flights between Sydney and Adelaide and Melbourne and Hobart.

It plans to eventually connect all Australian capital cities with its jet services.

The University of New England has launched Australia's first university qualification for transition and succession planners to help make family business succession conversations easier.

Two new online postgraduate courses, a Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Transition and Succession Planning, were designed for professionals working across a range of industries, and are open to anyone with a Bachelor qualification in a relevant discipline.

Enrolments for Trimester 3 are open until October 23.

The courses will assist the work of family counsellors, farm business consultants, extension and advisory staff within the agricultural sector who regularly deal with family businesses, lawyers, accountants and financial advisors.

Their need was partly prompted by research by the UNE Business School and the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law looking into gender and farm succession, and the discrimination daughters often faced when it comes time to handing down a family property.

Course co-ordinator, Dr Andrew Lawson, noted as Australia's population aged the need for qualified professionals to help with decisions around passing down family businesses had never been stronger.

Primary producers will be able to attend the Digital Agrifood Summit at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga at half price - $440 a head.

The `Paddock to Profit' event on October 11 and 12 will explore how data-driven solutions can increase value and drive sustainability for the agrifood sector.

Former chief scientist at the United Nations Environmental Program, Professor Jacquie McGlade will head an impressive line-up of 40-plus agribusiness leaders and experts.

Kenya-based, Professor McGlade, the co-founder and chief scientist of natural capital measurement provider Downforce Technologies, will be joined in discussion with Ms Laura Kilcrease, the chief executive of Canadian innovation hub Alberta Innovates; Australian Farm Institute executive director, Richard Heath, and Sundown Pastoral Company principal David Statham.

A new handbook released national science agency, CSIRO, will guide farmers, forest growers, mining companies and non-governmental organisations on how to report and account for their natural assets to better protect our environment.

While much of the value and growth from our economy is drawn from natural resources, that growth has coincided with a catastrophic decline in our natural systems, including a 70 per cent reduction in the average species population size since 1970.

Natural capital accounting is gaining momentum as a way to quantify and integrate the value of nature into decision-making processes, fostering more responsible practices to promote long-term environmental and economic well-being.

The Natural Capital Handbook delivers practical step-by-step guidelines on how to measure and incorporate natural assets such as clean air, water, soil and living things into their operations.

Lead author Dr Greg Smith said a failure to account for nature in decision-making had led to environmental decline and was increasingly recognised as a material risk to business.

The handbook could help businesses measure, track and manage their natural capital assets, make informed decisions on nature-related risks and invest in ways to reverse environmental decline.

This year's Australian Farm Institute Roundtable event will address how Australia's agrifood strategies are connected to each other - and how the industry can better collaborate.

National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson will join AFI executive director Richard Heath to kick off by challenging expectations about current strategic goals including the $100 billion farmgate production roadmap target, and reset them.

Other speakers looking at the industry's next challenges and opportunities include NFF's chief executive, Tony Mahar, the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries' sustainability first assistant secretary, Nick Blong; Research and Development Corporations council chairman and Consolidated Pastoral Company boss, Troy Setter, and CSIRO's Ag 2050 project leader Dr Rose Roche.

The October 17 program in Canberra includes small topic-focused workshop groups tackling the "beyond the $100b target" issue and better connecting strategies on land use, food security, sustainable production, regenerative economies, and innovation

The Future Drought Fund will contribute $1.6 million to agricultural scholarship organisation, Nuffield Australia, in the next two years for scholarships and training, including supporting the first five drought resilience scholars.

They are NSW recipients Caitlin Herbert, Eugowra, researching the role feedlots can play helping the beef supply chain prepare for drought; Michael Taylor, Kentucky, studying challenges hindering widespread agroforestry adoption; Ben Poschelk Glen Innes, analysing resilience thinking and change in global communities which have adapted to adverse weather; Claudia Benn, Injune, Queensland, looking at farming more profitably with natural systems, and Natalie Schlitz, Kerang, Victoria, investigating weaknesses that threaten the viability the fodder export sector in a water-limited future.

Scholars will travel overseas to study drought resilience and learn from international leaders in the field.