Australian ag needs to work with foreign investors - Agriculture ...

AUSTRALIAN agriculture needs to work with foreign businesses in order to drive productivity, according to leading agribusiness experts.

Speaking during a panel session at last week?s Innovation Generation conference in Geelong, managing director of agricultural software business Agrimaster, David Egerton-Warburton said he was mystified by the current portrayal of foreign investment in Australian agriculture as a bad thing.

?I often ask farmers why are they against foreign investment, and no-one gives me a truly good answer.?

Mr Egerton-Warburton said Australian agriculture was suffering from a capital shortage and foreign investment was a logical place to source it.

?The bottom line is that we need a capital investment and foreign investors can provide that capital.?

Catherine Marriott, managing director of Influential Women, also has trouble understanding current attitudes to foreign investment.

?People saying they don?t want China taking over Australia or having a food shortage here are just being na?ve.?

Ms Marriot, who has experience working in the livestock sector in south-east Asia, said judicious arrangements between investors and farmers could have win-win outcomes for both parties - and Mr Egerton-Warburton agreed.

?Foreign investment is the most exciting opportunity in a generation,? he told the audience at the GrainGrowers event, targeted at young agribusiness participants.

?If, for instance, you?re a young farmer and you want to expand your farm, you probably don?t have the capital, but tapping into foreign capital could help you.

?I'd be running out and putting together a portfolio of what you can bring to the table and try and attract investment, show the investors how you can make them money.?

Michelle Jin, executive director of Westwell, a company which imports electronics into Australia and exports Australian agricultural commodities, said foreign investment would always lead to opportunities on the ground in Australia.

?You can?t take the land away, the investors will need to employ professionals and their preference is for people with understanding of the area.?

Mr Egerton-Warburton said foreign investors were happier to invest in agriculture than the mainstream Australian investment community, geared towards regular returns.

?They don?t have the appetite for volatility required when working with agriculture.?

He cautioned those looking to work with foreign investors needed to approach each deal on its merits.

?There are good and bad businesses in China, just the same as here in Australia, so you need to do your research and make sure you?re going to be working with a solid business.?

GrainGrowers chief executive Mark Allison said foreign investors had a different perspective behind their decision making.

?If a local is looking to buy more land it might be for economies of scale and synergies, but for a foreign investment they might see opportunities into an international market, its totally different.

?It can be seen as a threat in terms of added competition for land, but it can also be seen as an opportunity.?

Source: http://www.theland.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/ag-needs-foreign-cash/2664336.aspx

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Union Berlin 3 - 0 Celtic: Lennon?s men lose again

JUST five days before their first competitive match of the season in the all-important Champions League qualifier against Cliftonville in Belfast, Celtic have not recorded a victory in their pre-season programme.

Scorers: Terodde 12, Brandy 55, Kreilach 87

A 3-0 defeat by German second division side Union Berlin will not go down well with their supporters, but there were at least some encouraging signs that their heroes are becoming more match sharp by the game. Add in the fine displays by youngsters Jackson Irvine, Tom Rogic and Mikey Miller and manager Neil Lennon will not have been too disappointed with the night?s work.

Lennon?s men had not won a match on their pre-season Continental tour before last night. Sevastapol of the Ukraine, Romanian side Cluj and another German second division outfit, Greuther Furth, had all taken the scalp of the Scottish champions, the latter putting six goals past a very shaky Celtic defence.

Celtic never really looked like correcting that record last night in a match to mark the opening of the main stand and official completion of Union Berlin?s An der Alten Forsterei stadium. That?s a remarkable story in itself, since thousands of fans worked unpaid on the project, and a raucous capacity crowd of just over 18,000 created an atmosphere which in itself made the match much more competitive than most friendlies.

After a couple of early corners to the home side, and with Celtic making absolutely no headway up front, Union took an 11th-minute lead, the chief surprise being that Fraser Forster, easily the man of the tour hitherto, completely misinterpreted the flight of Simon Terodde?s superbly struck snapshot volley from the edge of the box. Kelvin Wilson could have put more pressure on the scorer, but take nothing away from the goalscorer as it was a class effort.

The goal sparked a reaction from Celtic in that they became more composed and organised, captain Scott Brown?s return ensuring that the midfield was at least combative. How they will miss Victor Wanyama in that department, the big fellow?s absence an obvious loss in this pre-season tour.

At the back, Irvine and Wilson formed a solid partnership, the 20-year-old Australian looking very composed on the ball, as did the other Aussie in the team, midfielder Tom Rogic.

After 24 minutes, Forster kept his eye firmly on another volley, this time a spectacular effort by Martin Dausch off a knockdown by Soren Brandy, and the goalkeeper parried the ball away firmly.

Celtic had not had a shot on goal in the first half hour when Kris Commons won a corner, taking it himself and finding Giorgios Samaras whose effort was turned away.

Towards the end of the half, Celtic began to exert considerable pressure on their well-organised and technically sound hosts, and after Fabian Schonheim headed just over his own bar, Mikael Lustig headed the resultant corner narrowly wide.

At half time, Celtic sent on youngster Mikey Miller in place of Mikael Lustig at right-back, and more substitutions unsettled the side later on, but Lennon had said he would use these games to get players fit and to experiment, and he has stuck to the plan.

Ten minutes into a Celtic-dominated second half, a sucker punch gave Union a second goal. The SPL champions looked to have cleared the danger but the ball was knocked back in over the heads of a static defence and Soren Brandy reacted first to knock the ball past Forster.

After Irvine was booked for a foul in which television replays showed he made no contact, Marc Pfertzel looked to have put Union further ahead but he was correctly adjudged to have been offside.

Celtic searched constantly for a way back into the game, and Anthony Stokes had a shot deflected wide on 64 minutes before Irvine?s goalbound header from the corner was punched away by Daniel Haas.

Stokes? 68th minute shot was saved by Haas before Rogic fired one just wide from distance. Union were content to soak up the pressure and hit on the break, and three minutes from time they gained a third with the Celtic defence again caught napping, Damir Kreilach heading home Dausch?s pinpoint cross.

It will perhaps worry Lennon that his side is conceding an average of three goals a game, but if he gets it right against Cliftonville, all will be forgiven and forgotten.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/33846/f/610141/p/1/s/37481f3b/l/0L0Sscotsman0N0Cunion0Eberlin0E30E0A0Eceltic0Elennon0Es0Emen0Elose0Eagain0E10E30A0A0A494/story01.htm

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120 Martyrs of China

On July 9 the Church celebrates the feast of the 120 Martyrs of China. Religious persecution has a long history in China, especially persecution of Christians, thousands of whom have died for their faith in the last millennium.

On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized 120 men, women, and children who gave their lives for the faith in China between the years 1648 and 1930. The martyrs include 87 native Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries. The majority were killed during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

?Chinese men and women of every age and state, priests, religious and lay people, showed the same conviction and joy, sealing their unfailing fidelity to Christ and the Church with the gift of their lives,? said the Holy Father during the canonization.

?Resplendent in this host of martyrs are also the 33 missionaries who left their land and sought to immerse themselves in the Chinese world, lovingly assimilating its features in the desire to proclaim Christ and to serve those people.?

Of the 33 foreign-born missionaries, most were priests and religious, including members of the Order of Preachers, Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

One of the more well-known native martyrs was a 14-year-old Chinese girl named Ann Wang, who was killed during the Boxer Rebellion when she refused to apostasize. She bravely withstood the threats of her torturers, and just as she was about to be beheaded, she radiantly declared, ?The door of heaven is open to all? and repeated the name of Jesus three times.?

Another of the martyrs was 18-year-old Chi Zhuzi, who had been preparing to receive the sacrament of Baptism when he was caught on the road one night and ordered to worship idols. He refused to do so, revealing his belief in Christ. His right arm was cut off and he was tortured, but he would not deny his faith. Rather, he fearlessly pronounced to his captors, before being flayed alive, ?Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.?

Augustine Zhao Rong was the first native Chinese priest to become a martyr. Born in 1746, he was served as one of the soldiers who escorted Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse to his martyrdom in Beijing. The witness of the bishop led Augustine to seek baptism at age 30. He was ordained a priest five years later and was martyred in 1815.

During the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II thanked God for blessing the Church with the heroic witness of the 120 martyrs, whom he called ?an example of courage and consistency to us all.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/saintoftheday/~3/IiwUxDXqE9Y/saint.php

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