The Editor

Australia’s commercial plantation estate stood at 1.8 million hectares in 2019-20 according to statistics released by ABARES. ABARES Acting Executive Director, Dr Jared Greenville, said the report shows the softwood estate remained relatively stable at about one million hectares. “However, the hardwood estate declined by about 200 thousand hectares compared to the previous estimate for 2014-15," Dr Greenville said.

Delivering on our commitment to crossbench Members of Parliament, a new pandemic-specific part of the  Public Health and Wellbeing Act  2008  will be legislated to embed lessons learnt managing COVID-19, incorporate best practice public health administration from other jurisdictions like New Zealand, and introduce greater transparency and accountability around decision-making.

Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Barnaby Joyce MP, and the Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Olympics, the Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, have signed an Intergovernmental Agreement for the provision of state services to Norfolk Island, marking the beginning of an enduring partnership for the delivery of essential services to one of Australia’s most remote communities.  

NSW Farmers is calling for better long-term national fuel security as higher fuel prices take their toll during a tight harvest season. It’s the latest hit to the grains and horticulture sectors, which have been crying out for better access to harvest workers for several weeks. Not only will farmers be frantically trying to find labour, they will also be frantically trying to secure fuel before the price blows out.

Picturesque Bassett Park will be abuzz with activity when the Royal on 99 Roma Cup races take place on Saturday November 20, 2021.

Event 5 Tasmanian Championships Rd 1 CopRice Ch Ch Series.

The Woolworths Surfer Groms Comps is the only Australian event series catering for the increasing numbers of the country's 'micro-groms', with boys and girls lining up in Under-8, Under-10, Under-12 and Under-14 divisions.

As Queensland grain growers start thinking about what  to plant next season, based on how crops performed this year, the latest Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) sowing guide could help inform their decision making. The newly released GRDC 2022 Queensland Winter Crop Sowing Guide contains the latest information for wheat, barley and chickpea varieties.

Australian Wool Innovation will spend an extra $950,000 to accelerate research into flystrike genomics and new extension workshops on breeding for natural flystrike resistance ... "Evidence of increasing blowfly resistance to chemicals and the shortage in shearers are extra reasons why AWI will speed up this work:” AWI Chairman Jock Laurie.

Have you heard of Chilean Needle Grass? It’s a perennial tussock-forming grass and is one of 32 declared Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) in Australia. It’s commonly mistaken for native spear grass, but has potentially disastrous economic and environmental impacts.