Adventure Ausrama Blog

The whole world is getting richer.  Many people don't just eat beef anymore. They consumer premium quality and high priced Wagyu. It can cost as much as $200 a kilogram.  Over valued? Perhaps so.  I don't buy it.  Then I am just too ordinary to care about. It is the fastest growing breed.  With cattlemen tripping over each other to get their hands on some young ones.  It seems they are on to a good thing.  The future looks really good with growing demand.  Even meat from part bloods is fetching a solid price. Trade descriptors of Wagyu are complex.  Fifty percent with a Wagyu and another breed is termed F1.  There are grades for quarter, eights and so on.  A genome test is on its way to clearly define part Wagyu.  This will end suspect claims by some growers of their partials. Demand is greatly exceeding supply at present.  Supply will rapidly rise in the next few years, however.  It is the high price th...

Hypocrisy reigns. The Australian Government is bringing in extremely tough smoking laws, yet investment in tobacco companies is seen to be alright. In 2006 the then Coalition Government set up a future fund. Its goals were to fund future costs of pensions for public servants, judges and so on. A look at the books as shown that the fund's managers deem holding shares in 14 tobacco companies to be a good thing. They obviously don't think the Government's actions to ban tobacco firms from putting their name on cigarette packets will lead to a fall in profit nor affect secure future operations. Tobacco investment is only 0.5 per cent of total investment. However, it is unethical and it goes against Government policy. While making the highest return is written into fund guidelines, the body is supposed to be monitored by the Treasurer. There seems to be a difference of opinion between the Prime Minister and Treasurer. The Prime Minister fully supports the name and logo ban initi...