THE New Zealand stock exchange has bought Australian Crop Forecasters, in a bid to provide investors and dairy farmers across the Tasman with greater access to grain information.
NZX chief executive Mark Weldon said there was an opportunity to bring transparency to the volume of information that had accompanied deregulation of wheat exports in Australia.
"We're doing it for people who are investing in farming, for people who are buying grain and dairy, as the price volatility increases," Mr Weldon said.
NZX has an information arm that includes an agricultural pricing and information service, a weekly dairy news service and a range of magazines.
NZX owns Profarmer Australia, a grain-pricing and information service, and recently bought CLEAR Grain Exchange.
Mr Weldon said that if Australia and New Zealand were combined, the countries would be the world's third-biggest dairy producers.
He said NZ was a net importer of grain as a feedstock.
Melbourne-based Australian Crop Forecasters is the latest company to change hands in a big year of consolidation in the grains industry.
The most significant merger of the year was Canadian company Viterra's purchase of ABB Grain, following a failed proposal for ABB to merge with AWB.
In August the Grain Growers Association bought Kondinin and its magazine, Farming Ahead.
Two months later Ruralco bought a stake in grain brokers Agfarm.
Victorian Farmers Federation grains group president Russell Amery said the rapidly changing face of the industry meant growers needed to have their say.
"Growers need to keep a constant watch, particularly with public companies," Mr Amery said.
"If we get a vote, then we need to make sure our voice is heard."
He said grain companies were being swallowed up, and in some cases, profits moved offshore.
NSW Farmers Association's grains committee chairman, Mark Hoskinson, said he was very concerned about the consolidation of grain companies.
"We used to have a strong company called AWB and parts of that have been sold off and taken away," Mr Hoskinson said.
"Grower involvement has been removed."
Mr Hoskinson said companies were more focused on shareholders than farmers.
