16 MAY 2025

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Today's top story

Push for domestic olive production growth continues as exporters eye Australian market

Image: Louis Hansel, Unsplash.

By Laura Thomas

An unprecedented opportunity for growth awaits the Australian olive industry, as consumer appetite for quality olive products swells while production fails to keep pace.

Australia produced 14.5 million liltres of olive oil and 3,000 tonnes of table olives in 2024, mostly for domestic market consumption. Supplementing this supply was around 30-40m litres of olive oil and 17,000 tonnes of table olives, mostly from Spanish and Greek exporters.

Click here to read more about some of the great work being done to lift Australian production and meet the ever-growing demand.

Australia

Fruit fly funding cut sparks fears for future of Goulburn Valley growers

A fruit fly education program in Victoria's Goulburn Valley is set to lose government funding at the end of next month.

Community leaders warn the cut could lead to a 600 per cent surge in fruit fly numbers, threatening a $1.6 billion horticulture industry.

Emergency services tax bill becomes law after late-night sitting of Victorian parliament

Legislation for the Victorian government's controversial Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund has passed parliament.

The government and crossbench politicians struck a deal last night, with amendments made to get the vote over the line.

Farmers who already pay big rates bills say the new levy will add to their financial pressures.

Wind farm neighbour payments offered to ease community tension

Wind farm developers are offering multi-million-dollar payments to neighbours of their projects in a bid to ease tensions over who benefits.

The gap between those who make money from hosting the turbines and those who do not has divided communities and fuelled opposition.

Road warning for rural travellers

Farmers have issued a fresh safety warning to rural travellers this National Road Safety Week as the state’s road network remains riddled with billions of dollars in damages.

NSW Farmers’ Wagga Branch Chair David Meiklejohn said the state of the roads in rural areas were a disgrace, with the transport of food from farm to fork becoming increasingly impossible.

National Road Safety Week 2025

Every year, approximately 1200 people are killed and another 40,000+* are seriously injured on Australian roads.

This week is National Road Safety Week 2025.

For so many of us living in rural and regional areas, getting behind the wheel is just another part of our daily routine. But we can't afford to become complacent.

I've pledged to drive so others survive, have you? Visit the website to make your pledge and find out more about this important national campaign.

Dry conditions in Tasmania proving a challenge for farmers as water restrictions set in

Tasmania has just experienced its driest April in a decade, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Farmers across the state say while paddocks may look green, the moisture is largely surface level as they hope for more rain.

Liquid gold: Whittlesea festival to turn local olives into communal oil

In backyards, front gardens and quiet nature strips across Whittlesea, olive trees are heavy with fruit – ripe, ready, and often left untouched. But not this year.

Whittlesea is inviting locals to take part in a unique, community-powered celebration of the olive harvest.

This is a great example of community olive processing events held during harvest season each year, bringing people together to learn that delicious Australian EVOO is really healthy, fresh "fruit juice"!

Keen to host your own event? Take a read through this great article by Victorian olive producer Ceilidh Meo published in Australian & New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor magazine , as she takes fellow producers through the process step-by-step, sharing plenty of wisdom and insight from her own experiences.

Magazine back issues are available on the new Australian Olive Association website now.

AOA Classifieds

Got something to sell? Want to buy?

If you’ve got something industry-related to sell, you can reach your target market directly with our grower-to-grower service - AOA Classifieds.

Our online classifieds are an easy and inexpensive solution to advertising your unwanted equipment. And if there’s something you’re looking for, it’s the ideal way to get the message out loud and clear to your peers and industry associates!

Classifieds start from as little as $44 for AOA members ($110 for non-members) and are online now at www.australianolives.com.au/classifieds

For details, rates, or to create a classified, hit the button below.

AOA Classifieds

International

Tunisian company transforms olive waste into eco-friendly fuel

Tunisian company Bioheat says it is transforming the country's olive waste into an eco-friendly and efficient energy source, and that it is catching on with business owners.

Tunisia’s olive oil exports: Volume surges as values decline

Tunisia’s olive oil exports saw a dramatic 85.3% year-on-year increase in volume during Q1 2025, reaching 115,200 tons compared to 62,200 tons in the same period last year, according to the National Olive Oil Office (ONH).

Olive harvest promises plenty after fine weather

Central Otago’s olive growers are preparing for what promises to be a bumper harvest, thanks to a hot summer and mild autumn.

Lowburn olive grower Stephen Morris has been putting his Italian olive press back together this week, in preparation to start producing oil from Monday.

Over six weeks and plenty of late nights he is expecting to press more than 60 tonnes of olives from backyard and lifestyle block growers, as well as a couple of commercial operators.

Send us YOUR news!

Friday Olive Extracts is back for 2025, bringing the latest industry news and events direct to your inbox each week.

As THE place to share olive industry news, event details and reminders, our industry e-newsletter keeps growing in popularity and we now have nearly 3,000 subscribers across the globe. If you’re not one of them, why not? Sign up here!

And please remember this is YOUR e-newsletter and we’re keen to receive your news and help spread the word. Just email Laura at comms@australianolives.com.au - it’s free and the best way to reach your fellow industry members!

Director-General visits Italian olive tree plantation affected by transboundary plant pests and diseases

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu called for international cooperation in the fight against transboundary plant pests and diseases (TPPDs) as he visited an olive tree plantation in southern Italy affected by Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS).

Agriculture Ministry launches national campaign to support olive sector

Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat on Tuesday launches the National Campaign

for the Integrated Management of Olive Trees, which aims to achieve food security and enhance the competitiveness of national agricultural products, especially olives.

Olive oil fraud grows globally

Why are olive oil fraud cases growing and can this dangerous trend be stopped?

"There is 100% crop damage from Calasparra to Yéchar"

Hailstorms have recently taken a huge toll in the Vega Media del Segura, an area in Murcia, Spain, devoted to the cultivation of stone fruit, citrus, and olives, among other crops.