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THE ECONOMY

The US interest rates dropped a month earlier than I expected and are forecast to go down even further.. This will keep the A$ much lower than I forecast last month. I feel that .the 55 to .57 cent mark will be around for a few months yet.

Australian interest rate will be adjusted down during March. As the Aussie economy is still strong I doubt that we will go below the US rate with a drop of a quarter percent only. This would allow the A$ to hold at around .55

Buying Australian rural property with US Dollars equals a discount of 17 % in a strong commodities and property market. This is an unusual combination.

THE STOCK MARKET

The impact on all markets of the Bush administration will be interesting to watch. It is far to early to predict which way things will go. Bush is seen as good for Australian trade, I do not agree, as his record with Texas shows an inward looking administration .

The stock market remains strong and should stay around the 3300 mark whilst the US economy waits for another cut in interest rates. My bet is that the US interest rate will have to go below 5% before the economy starts up again.

A drop of a quarter percent by the Australian Reserve Bank may see a lift in the Aussie stock market. It would be a real confidence builder.

TOURISM

The Olympic Games have had an enormous influence on travel bookings from the US and Germany. Now we have had the TV show Survivor being made on a location just south of Cairns. With some 40 million US viewers for part one of the series, this may have even more of an impact on the travel plans of US tourist. The area used for the show is not the usual image of our outback. It should be very attractive on the TV screen.

The outback and Northern Australia are wonderful from May to September and Southern Australia from September to May.

WONDER OF THE WORLD

The Outback areas of Australia have been declared one of the wonders of the World. Now we have 2002 being declared The Year of the Outback. If you intend to visit Australia at some time in the future, try and make it during the period between March and September 2002. For more information check out the new Outback web page

CARBON CREDIT NEWS

Well the Amsterdam conference has ended with a no result. The next meeting is in six months

It should be noted that old growth forest has very little effect in removing CC's from the air, young trees, new growth are the most effective in removing CC's from the air. The disadvantage in trees is that they retain the CC's in their structure and when destroyed by fire they return the trapped CC's to the air. Construction Timber returns some CC's.

Old man saltbush puts 90% of CC's into the soil and may prove to be the best plant to use for this purpose. Saltbush is also top feed for both sheep and cattle without the high production of methane gas cattle release during each day. Saltbush grows in very low rainfall areas, does not require irrigation or fertilizer, it may just be that magic crop of the future.

I have no doubt that CC trading will be as big as the IT share scramble was. The potential trading in CC's will be $100's of millions world wide. Australia is very well placed to form the base for these trades.

CATTLE REPORT

Cattle markets remain strong and should continue over the next two to three years. Cattle through the meat works are running at record numbers in Queensland. Live exports continue out of all states but supply out of Darwin may suffer a shortage of preferred weights due to the wet season. This may see more stock being shipped out from the Eastern Seaboard.

DID YOU KNOW???

That one hectare of three year old, Old Man Saltbush will remove 20 tonnes of Carbon from the air per year.

The US exports 8.4% of its total beef production, Australia 64%.

There is a labour shortage in US meatworks, wages are below the national average and likely to rise.

Large areas of cattle country in the U.S. have been taken out of production to cater for public use.

Ted Turner is the biggest landholder in the US, much of it former beef country now used for public entertainment and raising exotic animals.

There is a very strong possibility of large areas of public owned range land in Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska being restricted to cattle grazing by up to 40% This along with the present world wide controversy surrounding G.M.O crops, (some grains from these crops are being fed to cattle), augers well for Australia's clean green beef export future.

PROPERTY SALE NEWS

Due to the wet season being in full swing northern cattle property sales are on hold for at least another two months.

Very few large properties changed hands last year. Those that did were in the main sold by corporate groups cashing in on higher values and high cattle prices. All properties sold were sold Walk In Walk Out (W I W O) Therefore cattle prices have a major impact on the sale value..

Bolwarra was sold for $7 million to a local partnership. This property of 557,210 acres can carry 25,000 head, offers low cost production in a very strong, stable area 200kms inland from Cairns. Included in the sale are 20,000 head of cattle (14,000 quality breeders) plus all plant and equipment. This sale price equates to $350 per head for the cattle included. Using this as a guide the asking price for MOOLA BULLA at $17 million. is a little high. Moola Bulla in the Kimberleys West Aust. is for private sale This large holding, 1.6 million acres is carrying approx. 34,000 head of cattle. This property was offered for sale by tender about five years ago but struck problems with native land rights. I believe this problem has been solved. The property has many attractive features suitable for a tourism business alongside the cattle operations.

The potential for long term investment in Northern Australia is enormous.

Links to Rural Estate agents are on the bottom of page 4

If you are looking for a rural property, I can find it for you, inspect it, asses it and advise on the potential it offers.