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Lettuce has crossed the $10 mark, milk prices are soaring by major supermarkets and strawberries are $6 a punnet. Almost everywhere you look, the prices of food and other agricultural goods are on the rise. You’d be forgiven for thinking this must be a great time for Australian farmers, preferably gazing out the window at the gentle rain. Not too. Rising price Understanding what drives the price of any commodity can be a confusing exercise at the best of times. The current situation is generally caused by a number of problems, the first of which relates to the nature of Australia’s growing season. Australian vegetables come from different parts of the country depending on the season. Currently the main supplier is Queensland. Earlier this year, several developing areas were hit by two floods in 11 weeks. Queensland’s Lockyer Valley flooded earlier this year destroying large vegetable crops. ( Provided: Lockyer Valley Regional Council ) Belinda Frentz is a herb grower on the state’s G

The area has long had holiday properties, but these are on the rise. More than half of the homes, 53 percent, were uninhabited on the eve of last August’s Census, up from 46.5 percent in 2001. The population increased by 976 people to 5012 at that time – and more than 600 since 2016 – and the number of private homes counted increased by more from 1400 to 4,722 houses. Sea-changers have been drawn to Tasmanian cities such as Bicheno. Census data shows the median rent was $250 per week in August, up from $160 in 2011. The proportion of tenants putting more than 30 percent of income on rent more than quadrupled at that time, reaching 31.7 percent. Board general manager Greg Ingham is well aware of the housing shortage. He had rented a one-bedroom cabin in a caravan park with his wife since moving to the area nearly two years ago. Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council general manager Greg Ingham and mayor Robert Young. “I love living in the community I work in … and it’s the only one available,”

“We never asked about a rent increase, and we understood that,” he said. “[But] quite difficult at the moment.” Zahos admits that the organizers are not putting up his rent during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 lockdowns and he expects an increase this year. However, he said, after lost revenue due to the pandemic and rising costs due to inflation, the proposed amount was extraordinary. He also declined to disclose the amount. Fresh produce stalls remained open during the lockdown, while other stalls were forced to close. Another stall owner who spoke to Sunday Time did so on the condition of anonymity, fearing it might affect negotiations. One woman, whose rent could increase by about 30 percent, accused the committee of being a bully. “They’re going to basically bankrupt our business … during a recession, during a pandemic,” he said. The woman said she felt pressured to give her financial records. “That is outrageous, disgusting behavior. We were treated like children,” he said. Load

Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has posted its first-ever revenue decline, dragged down by a drop in ad spending as the economy falters, and increased competition from rival TikTok. Key points: Global instability, slowdown in the ad market, and competition from TikTok contributed to the losses Meta has drawn high profile criticism over platforms like Instagram as users turn to video Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, driver of Meta’s advertising business, is leaving the company Meta shares fell just slightly after the results, indicating Wall Street was mostly expecting a weak earnings report. The company’s total revenue, which consists almost entirely of advertising sales, fell 1 percent to $US28.82 billion ($41.1 billion) in the June quarter, nearly half a billion from a year ago. The results follow broader declines in rival digital advertising markets such as Snap and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which reported their slowest quarterly growth in two years.

Wine exports to mainland China are scraping the bottom of the barrel, with just six million liters exported in the last financial year, worth $24.6 million. Key points: Wine exports to mainland China have fallen from 120 million liters per year to six million liters The US is now Australia’s largest export market by value Exports to countries other than China rose five percent to $2.06 billion That’s a big drop from the end of the financial year in 2020, when exports to mainland China totaled 120.7 million liters and were worth $1.1 billion over the 12-month period to June 30. That was before China imposed import tariffs of around 220 per cent on bottled Australian wine imports later that year. Overall it has been a difficult financial year for Australian wine producers with exports down 10 percent in volume to 625 million liters and down 19 percent in value to $2.08 billion in the year ended 30 June. Australian Wine market insight manager Peter Bailey said China’s results were expect

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has stepped in to prevent a potential gas shortage in Victoria, the state’s energy minister said. Key points: Energy market operator AEMO says guaranteed gas supply will ensure transparency in the market The Victorian government has ruled out lifting the wholesale gas price cap in response to pressure on supply State opposition calls for reduced gas exports from Victoria Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio told ABC Radio Melbourne that AEMO triggered a gas supply guarantee on Tuesday afternoon, as reserves at storage facilities in the state’s southwest continued to fall. “That means they will have greater visibility of gas sales and supply across markets including Victoria but in other states, to get transparency here,” he said. “When you get more transparency in the market, the market starts to change its behavior, and to be honest, the market has slipped too much here. “More visibility means, as it did in April [when the guarantee wa

Demand for some sectors of the used vehicle market has “fallen off a cliff”, according to a leading assessor, while demand for needs-based vehicles from “bubble hatches” to workhorse LandCruiser Toyota remains hot. Key points: A vehicle auctioneer says practicality, not status, now drives buying decisions The golden age of ag contributed to a huge demand for farm equipment and tools, along with an instant asset write-off of $150,000 LandCruiser in particular demands more used than new The COVID-19 production and delivery delays have created unprecedented demand in the used vehicle market. But auctioneer and appraiser Simon Cotter said with rising interest rates there is now a duality in the vehicle market, with demand for luxury vehicles falling while workhorse and budget options continue to sell at or even above retail prices. Our sale last week was the first sale since the COVID outbreak where, with certain products, the lack of interest was very noticeable on the auction floor, he s

Zip shares have fallen 93 percent in the past year, while the owner of Afterpay, US fintech giant Block, has plunged more than 70 percent. Competition from banks and technology giants is one of the reasons why BNPL’s valuation has plummeted. Credit: Matt Davidson With stock prices falling like that, it might be tempting to think about the buy now, pay later concept is in deep contention. But at this point, it is important to distinguish between the market value of these stocks, and the usefulness of the products. Much evidence would suggest that many people – especially younger shoppers – find it helpful to split their payments into four installments, rather than risk paying high interest on a credit card. That trend is unlikely to change any time soon. Recent estimates from the industry show there are around 5.9 million active BNPL accounts in Australia, and on average, they are used for small purchases of around $150. Compared to the total value of the loan or repayment, it is still

The Australian stock market lost more than 1 percent of its value in early trade and Rio Tinto announced a weaker economic outlook from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 lockdown. Key points: The Dow Jones index fell 0.5% to 30,630, the S&P500 fell 0.3% to 3,791, while the Nasdaq Composite index was steady at 11,251. The FTSE 100 index fell 1.6 percent to 7,040, Germany’s DAX fell 1.9 percent to 12,520 and Paris’ CAC 40 fell 1.4 percent to 5,915. Australian stock market is down more than 1 percent in early trading, pulled in by big miners In the first half hour of trading, the All Ordinaries index was down 1.2 percent, or 89 points, to 6,764, and the ASX 200 index was down 1.3 percent, to 6,565. Sectors of interest to the market include miners, energy companies, banks and real estate. Big miners fell as iron ore prices plunged 4.8 percent to 104.96 dollars a tonne on recession fears. The Australian dollar fell to 67.42 US cents after surging to nearly 68 US cents ye

After the worst start to the year in decades, global bond markets have convinced themselves that they face a double threat; one from inflation destroys real yields, and the second from the Federal Reserve and other central banks to deliberately engineer sharp interest rate hikes so that they create a recession, and credit markets are even worse than sovereign debt. Data that supports this view is highlighted, while data that does not support is mostly ignored. Recession warning But then in the middle of last month, long US bonds started to rally from yields near 3.5 percent and the narrative began to shift from stagflation – inflation and poor economic growth – towards an outright recession. Forget that this might just be a value based asset allocation decision, or anything to do with rebalancing quantity funds, it’s taken as proof of new economic forecasts. The Euro-dollar market is now saying that the Fed is not going to raise interest rates more and commodity prices are falling sha

Chris Blumas understands why investors might be nervous about a looming recession. Illustration after illustration of Joel Kimmel Money manager Chris Blumas understands why many investors are reluctant to buy stocks at this time, given the economic threats, including predictions of a growing recession. But in his view, the market is currently much less risky as valuations for many securities have dropped significantly, meaning the potential for better returns is even higher for investors holding funds for the long term. “That’s not to say that things can’t go down in the short term, but for anyone with a time horizon of more than three to five years, now is a pretty interesting time to invest if you can look beyond short term volatility. , said Mr. Blumas, a Toronto-based portfolio manager at Raymond James Investment Counsel Ltd., a multi-manager platform with approximately $1 billion in assets under management. “I see a lot of value in the market today,” added Mr. Blumas, who overs

“The boom is over and property prices are dropping, at an accelerating pace,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital. Buying agent Cate Bakos added: “This remains a highly segmented market with regional market and capital market prices falling and rising out of sync. Buyers are becoming more particular, which means well-renovated properties with amenities are still in high demand.” Shortage of building materials, rising renovation costs and difficulty finding experienced and qualified experts are making buyers increasingly reluctant to buy properties that require additional work, Bakos said. In Sydney, buyer’s agent Patrick Bright said there was an increasing “argy-bargy” in the market because of the possibility that prices would fall in the coming months resulting in buyers unwilling to pay the asking price. “That’s the mental gymnastics caused by growing negative sentiment,” says Bright. Prestigious properties with unique attractions, such as harbor views or proximity to