NAB and ABARE to take information to regional Australia

Two of Australia's leading agribusiness organisations have joined forces to provide farmers with a range of research information and access to a raft of industry specialists.
The National Australia Bank is partnering with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics to present a series of regional OUTLOOK conferences in 2006.
The conferences will take place in each state, with Borden in the state's Great Southern region hosting the Western Australian conference in August.
ABARE's executive director Dr Brian Fisher said: "Providing information to rural and regional Australia through the OUTLOOK conference program is an important part of ABARE's work of disseminating the results of its research and encouraging informed discussion on issues."
The regional OUTLOOK conferences will bring key speakers into rural areas as well as provide commodity forecasts and economic outlooks.
In addition, quarterly reports will be produced for distribution to NAB agribusiness customers, outlining the current situation and the outlook for various commodities.
NAB's Head of Agribusiness Strategy and Marketing, Campbell Chambers, said it's a fantastic opportunity.
"Information is a vital ingredient of successful farming these days, and this agreement will ensure our customers have access to some of the best research and modeling in the country," Mr Chambers said.
ABARE's major OUTLOOK 2006 conference will be held in Canberra from February 28 to March 1.
Other regional OUTLOOK conference venues include Dalby in Queensland, Moree in New South Wales (June) and Mildura in Victoria.