What's big in ag news this week?

It's been a big news in pests this week, both nationally and locally.

In the wake of the news that the 10 worst pests have cost $390 billion in damage and prevention, for the first-time ever, a national coordinator has been appointed to tackle two of the most destructive - cats and foxes.

A little closer to home, there was plenty of happy people after learning that the SA government had brought back the fox bounty.

The $220,000 program is offering $10 a scalp, aimed at reducing numbers and helping protect sheep flocks.

The wild dog bounty, which started early last year, has been considered a success as - combined with the government-funded trappers - more than 1000 dogs have been removed from inside the Dog Fence.

There has also been big steps taken to tackle rabbits, with the SA government investing in technology to help remove warrens from hilly landscapes.

While harvest is still a few months off, the good signals for another bumper harvest have the receival companies looking to expand their capacity.

Along the East Coast, GrainCorp has made plans to build new silos at existing sites and even restore some previously mothballed facilities in order to meet the expected demand.

On the Eyre Peninsula, newer player T-Ports is building a second recieval site at Kimba, while also expanding one of the existing sites at Lock, to allow for more throughput.

Viterra has also started putting out feelers for workers, saying it will need 1500 harvest casuals to meet their needs.

As prices continue to stay hot for cattle and sheep, the impact of stock theft - never a small matter - becomes even more important.

While Operation Poach has been tackling cases of on-farm crime for a number of years, there are those that say a dedicated stock squad needs to be reformed.

SA previously had a stock squad until about 25 years ago.

The impressive ram sale results are continuing to flow through, as producers manage the Level 2 COVID restrictions across the state.

In the past week, there have been some outstanding results at the on-farm auctions, particularly on the EP, including the 60^th celebrations at Glenville, as well as Collandra North and Minta.

The Karoonda & Districts Field Day was also able to go ahead, with 14 studs displaying their sheep.

While COVID has been thought to have an impact on the overall economy, one area that keeps steaming ahead is agriculture.

There has long been plenty of investor interest in agriculture, but that has kicked up another notch in recent months, as ag continues to prove its value, kicked along by low interest rates, strong commodity values and an improved season across large parts of Australia.

Within SA, there have been a couple of major opportunities for that investment in the past week, with a property in the South East part of a larger portfolio on offer, tipped to be worth $350 million, while in the Flinders Rangers, Wallerberdina Station is also up for grabs.

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