Agribusiness buzz in brief

The company says there's never been a more important time to let someone know you care, and support Australian-grown products at the same time.

Nerada, which produces 85 per cent of all tea grown in Australia, celebrates 50 years of production next year.

The 360 hectare pesticide-free tea estate owned by Nerada's founders' the Russell family is Australia's largest, situated on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns.

Nerada delivers a minimum of 6 million kilograms of fresh tea leaves to its Malanda processing facility annually, resulting in almost 750 million cups of tea a year.

"It's music to our ears that Australians are actually seeking out Australian-grown products in this time of economic uncertainty," said Plantation Director, Tony Poyner.

To be in with a chance of winning a Communi-tea box - two packs of Australian-grown black tea and two limited-edition biscuits - check out neradatea.com.au/communitea.

The Westpac Foundation has begun a $500,000 partnership with the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, expanding its Community Grant program in rural, regional, and remote areas.

Westpac Foundation's Community Grant program, established in 2012, provides $10,000 grants to local organisations creating opportunities through education, training and employment across Australia.

Not-for-profit organisations providing support to communities outside a major city are now invited to apply.

Since 2000, FRRR has distributed nearly $100 million to more than 10,000 projects across rural Australian communities.

Community Grant recipients will have access to pro bono support via the Westpac Changemaker program, including access to leadership development programs, legal support and financial capability training.

Applications for Westpac grants via the FRRR gateway close on May 13.

Elders is teaming up with a web-based, water and nutrient management platform designed to help farmers better manage their resources.

The partnership with Swan Systems is part of the farm services group's commitment to adopting fresh technology to maximise farm efficiency and profitability.

Swan Systems is a market leader in water and nutritional management software which integrates with existing farm sensors, such as flow meters, soil moisture probes and weather stations, to provide information about future irrigation needs relevant to the unique characteristics of any given site.

Leading its on-the-ground integration is Elders' horticulture agronomist Noel Jansz, who saw the Swan partnership as particularly beneficial for water use on-farm.

Although water management was prioritised in drought or water-shortages, he said a tailored irrigation plan was just as important for farm output when water was in abundance.

"If you're not analysing temperatures, evaporation and crop growth factors, you simply aren't allowing yourself to maximise the quality and quantity of your yields," he said.

Founding director Tim Hyde had great confidence the quality of data Swan Systems produced, in the hands of agronomists with industry leading know-how, would go a long way to extracting maximum value from farm operations.

With help from the COVID-19 Regional Airline Network Support program, Regional Express (Rex) is now back operating 88 weekly return services under various state and federal funding arrangements in rural Australia.

Under the federal support program, regional airlines are receiving assistance to maintain minimal weekly schedules to regional and remote ports for up to six months.

Initial approvals for six weeks sustain Rex with funding for two or three return services a week to all destinations in its route network.

The Queensland, Western Australian and South Australian governments have also committed to funding additional services.

"We are confident we will be able to help all regional communities willing to work in partnership with us to rebuild their regional air services to their full potential over the next two years," said deputy chairman John Sharp.

The new Nutrien Harcourts regional and rural real estate brand has been officially launched in the wake of the Landmark name officially exiting the farm sector marketplace.

The joint venture business between Nutrien Ag Solutions Limited (formerly Landmark and Ruralco) and real estate franchise network Harcourts Group initially established as Landmark Harcourts a decade ago.

"Nutrien Harcourts continues to prioritise and deliver access to first-class marketing, technology, training and support within the real estate industry, as well as the ability to leverage the global brand Nutrien, operating in nine countries," said Mark Brooke, who heads the national agency network.

The rebrand would see updated signage, uniforms and advertising emerge in a staged process during 2020.

Harcourts Group Australia chief executive officer Marcus Williams said clients could expect the same high level of service supported by Nutrien Ag Solutions' global backing.

The rebrand will see updated signage, uniforms and advertising rolled out in a staged process in 2020.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined a group of investors backing South Australian-based low cost, low-power satellite connectivity service provider, Myriota.

The satellite signal business has secured a further $28 million in financial backing from a funding group led by superannuation group Hostplus and Main Sequence Ventures.

Myriota's Internet-of Things enterprise enables users to track assets, measure groundwater levels, keep tabs on remote weather stations and manage distant infrastructure such as water troughs or gates.

Investors in the five-year-old Myriota now include In-Q-Tel, Inc., Right Click Capital, the SA Venture Capital Fund, Singtel Innov8, Boeing HorizonX, and Mr Turnbull - who led the government's formation of Australia's space agency in 2017.

Myriota's Internet-of Things enterprise enables users to track assets, measure groundwater levels, keep tabs on remote weather stations and manage distant infrastructure such as water troughs or gates.

Until now, sharing and receiving data from remote locations was notoriously time-consuming and expensive because 90 per cent of the Earth's surface lacks internet connectivity.

Myriota's latest expansion involves acquiring of four more mini satellites from data services company, exactEarth, and establishing a global network of ground station assets to build a presence across international markets.

Australian Grape and Wine has welcomed additional federal government funding support for the Export Market Development Grants program.

The government has injected an extra $49.8 million into the EMDG program for 2019-20 financial year, allowing exporters and tourism businesses to get additional reimbursements for costs incurred in marketing their products and services around the world.

From July 1 wine producers applying for EMDG funding will be able to claim for expenses incurred for events in 2019-2020, even if they were cancelled, and claim a 50 per cent reimbursement for eligible EMDG expenses for promotional activities in 2019-2020 without the Export Performance Test applying.

"For a long time the EMDG Program has been one of the wine sector's most well utilised and most beneficial programs for our sector's capacity to build and develop export markets" said Australian Grape and Wine's Tony Battaglene.

"Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister, Simon Birmingham, efforts to expand funding allocations and allow greater flexibility for producers during these difficult times will help small and medium companies".

"All initiatives to promote our export capability will be key to driving the country's economic recovery once the COVID-19 health crisis starts to ease."