www.countrynews.com.au COUNTRY NEWS, week of Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 3

Numurkah A. & P. Society Inc.

127TH Annual ShowWednesday, 22ND October, 2014

Contact Secretary, Sue Aldridge 5862 1391Or Marj. Porter, 5862 3935

• Cattle – Dairy & Beef, Sheep, Poultry• Horse Events, Carriage Driving,• Championship Dog Show• Flowers Galore• Cookery, Craft, Art• Animal Nursery• Side Shows

Something For Everyone From 2 To 102

Dick Campbell, local farmer and World War II veteran has written his memoirs.

You are cordially invited to the book launch on Sunday October 12, from 11am

at Barooga Sports Club.Finger food provided. Alcoholic drinks at bar prices.

Book price: $25.00 Dick will be available to sign your copy.

Come along and hear about Dick’s life as a POW on the Burma-Thailand Railway and in a Japanese coal mine.

To reserve your seat, phone the staff at D’Vine Ideas in Cobram on (03) 5872 1400

My Life – From Farmer To POW and Back

The story of Dick Campbell – Farmer,

POW and Cobram district identity

Invitation

MPs won’t commit to buying local produceBy Geoff Adams

We’re looking into it . . .Beleaguered fruit processor SPC

Ardmona is getting moral supportfrom Victorian political leaders forits push to get preference fromgovernment departments buyingfruit, but not much more.

At a pre-election debate onagriculture, both the Food SecurityMinister Peter Walsh and ShadowAgriculture Minister Jacinta Allanpromised to look into the idea ofpreference for Australian food

producers in departmental buyingpractices.

Both the Coalition and the Op-position have acknowledged meet-ing with the company to discussthe issue, months ago, but therehas been no commitment tochange.

SPC Ardmona managing direc-tor Peter Kelly has been arguingthe case for 12 months.

Imported fruit products are be-ing sold in Australia below whatSPC Ardmona can match.

Mr Kelly believes that if a rangeof factors including food miles,environmental impact and qualitywere taken into account as well asprice, the Australian product couldstill be a value buy for depart-ments like hospitals and prisons.

‘‘This is not just about SPCArdmona, but other Australianfoods as well, including dairyproducts,’’ he said.

‘‘Our customers say, if quality isso important why is it that you

can’t convince your own govern-ment to buy it?’’

Mr Walsh repeated commentsmade a month ago at a publicShepparton forum that the govern-ment had already met with com-pany representatives and was con-sidering the issue.

When pressed on the issue lastweek, Ms Allan said she wasunable to give a commitment onthe issue without access to infor-mation held by government de-partments.

She said if the cost of purchas-ing was higher in hospitals, forexample, the government wouldhave to ensure hospitals were wellfunded to cover the expense.

‘‘There have already been signi-ficant cuts to the hospital system.

‘‘We will be examining the is-sues around the purchase of SPCor Victorian fruit in the hospitalsystem.

‘‘These are things we are verykeen to look at.’’

Pactum keeps on expandingBy Geoff Adams

Growing concern . . . Pactum Dairy Group operations manager Mark McWhirter at themilk receival station of the Shepparton factory.

New Goulburn Valleymilk processor, the PactumDairy Group, is buying a$4 million neighbouringproperty to more than dou-ble its land size.

The corner property willbe used for a warehousingand distribution centre, andto replace currently leasedfacilities.

The company, which pro-cesses milk for the Chinesemarket, has been operatingfor less than 12 months andonly officially opened inMay.

Employment numbershave grown since the open-ing to 45 and more perma-nent staff are being sought.

Freedom Foods managingdirector Rory Macleod an-nounced to the stock marketthat it was buying the 77 000square metres with frontageto Old Dookie Rd and thetransport artery, Doyles Rd.

Mr Macleod said the landprovided much needed ca-pacity and flexibility for

longer term warehousingand distribution capabilityfor the Pactum operation.

‘‘The existingwarehousing capability onsite and adjacent to the siteis insufficient for long-termrequirements, including op-erating a low-costautomated logistics func-tion, with facilities for ex-port containerisation.

‘‘Additional warehousecapacity will provide spacefor future expansion of pro-cessing and packaging oper-ations at the site and expan-sion of other dairyprocessing capabilities inthe future.’’

Detailed planning for, andconstruction of, anintegrated warehouse anddistribution facility is ex-pected to start next year.

Bega Cheese recently an-nounced it had signed a dealto provide UHT milk to asouth China retail group,which will be manufacturedfor Bega by the PactumDairy Group at Shepparton

and could eventually requireup to 20 million litres annu-ally.

Pactum operations mana-ger Mark McWhirter said itwas an exciting step for thecompany, which was in agrowth phase, and for theindustry.

The acquisition of land,associated building and cap-ital requirements is expect-ed to be funded from exist-ing finance facilities andother assets.

Pactum is a joint venturebetween regional milk sup-ply company ACM and Free-dom Foods.

ACM chairman MichaelAuld said the land acquisi-tion was part of the com-pany’s growth strategy.

‘‘Our goal is to be a worldclass manufacturer of UHTmilk and we need the rightfacilities to support thatstrategy,’’ Mr Auld said.

‘‘We will be located on thebypass, 180 km from thePort of Melbourne with onlyone set of (traffic) lights.’’

Holiday fun . . . Jack Scott, 8, from Kialla and his mate Mitch Rummery, 10, fromNorth Shepparton kept themselves amused while the adults concentrated on theauction. Pictures: Julie Mercer

Everything goes at sale

Going, going . . . Auctioneer Michael Bent inaction at the first day of the two-day liquidators’auction of Bee-Jay Machinery and Tractors RUs in Shepparton last week.

The contents of the yard offailed Shepparton tractor andequipment dealership Bee-JayMachinery and Tractors R Uswent under the hammer onThursday and Friday.

After the bigger equipmentsuch as tractors, balers, rakesand ride-ons was knocked overon the first day, auctioneerMichael Bent had a herculeansession on the rostrum to dis-perse workshop parts and of-fice equipment with the salebeginning at 10 am and run-ning until 3 pm.

No stone was left unturnedin the receivers’ quest to returnmoney to creditors, beginningin the service and repair areawith a bench vice and endingout on the front verandah withthe final lots includingpotplants and a garden hose.

Environmentalwater will flow

The first of two spring environmentalflow releases from Goulburn Weir nearNagambie is due to begin on Friday,October 10.

Goulburn Broken Catchment Manage-ment Authority environmental water co-ordinator Meegan Judd said the aim ofthe flow was to help re-establish vegeta-tion on the lower river banks and improvethe waterbug populations native fish feedon. This flow is timed earlier thanprevious years to improve the chances ofseed germination and plant establishmentbefore the hot summer weather.

‘‘The flow will peak about 8500 Ml/dayat Murchison by Monday, October 20 andthen reduce back to minimum flows ofabout 1000 Ml/day by Wednesday, Nov-ember 5,’’ Ms Judd said.

The flow will occur at McCoys Bridgeabout four days after being released fromGoulburn Weir. The flow will see riverheights in the Goulburn River rise to amaximum of 4 m at Murchison, 5.5 m atShepparton and 5 m at McCoys Bridge asmeasured at each local gauge.

The second flow is planned to start atGoulburn Weir on Saturday, November15, rise to 8500 Ml/day by Wednesday,November 19 at Murchison, and return tominimum flows by Tuesday, November25.

‘‘This second flow is aimed at stimulat-ing golden perch (yellow belly) spaw-ning,’’ Ms Judd said.

‘‘It builds on the success of last year’senvironmental flow that triggered goldenperch spawning.’’

The flows along the Goulburn will befinished before the Murray cod seasonopens. Flow levels and timing may varydepending on weather conditions andother system demands.

The flows will use a combination ofCommonwealth and Living Murray en-vironmental water.

The environmental flows are plannedby Goulburn Broken CMA, managed byGoulburn-Murray Water in line with theVictorian Environmental Water HoldersSeasonal Watering Plan 2014-15, andtake into consideration delivery orders byirrigators and other water users.