The Editor

A new project to bolster water sustainability in northern Australia is about to start, gathering the insights Northern Territory producers  need for greater crop yields while reducing water usage ... Minister for Northern Australia David Littleproud said the water productivity trial will set the scene for future water planning and decision-making.

Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, is helping fill the agricultural worker shortage created by border closures and travel restrictions.    Rural Aid’s Farm Army  website provides a platform  where volunteers and workers apply for jobs that are listed by farmers needing a hand.

Globally, as the aquaculture sector moves operations further offshore, the sector is encountering new challenges to access clean and reliable energy ... Carnegie’s wave-powered barge concept, MoorPowerâ„¢  offers a solution to this energy challenge – providing clean, reliable, predictable energy to support the growth of a diverse sustainable blue economy.

Australia is set for a second consecutive bumper winter harvest, with total production forecast to come in just five per cent shy of last year’s near-record crop, according to Rabobank. In its just-released Australian Winter Crop 2021/22 Production, Price and Inputs Forecast, the specialist agribusiness bank estimates the nation will harvest 52.87 million tonnes of winter grains, oilseeds and pulses this season. While down five per cent on last year’s crop, this is still a hefty 25 per cent above the five-year average.

A project is getting underway on Kangaroo Island to provide producers with the tools, skills, and management options to ensure ewe fertility and lamb survival is not compromised because of the bushfires impacting on pasture composition.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) published its submission to the Regional Telecommunications Review 2021. The submission highlighted the concerns of telco consumers living outside Australia’s metropolitan centres and provides insight into phone and internet complaint trends.

The Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is going from strength-to-strength with five new tenants bringing more than 150 new jobs to the precinct – cementing BWEZ as an engine room for growth in regional Victoria. Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas visited the BWEZ headquarters of Office Vision, which is expanding its operations to the manufacturing hub.

New research from the University of Wollongong, a partner at the NSW Bushfire Research Hub, has found climate change will expose larger areas of forest in coastal NSW to higher frequency and more intense fires, amplifying the changes to fire regimes brought about by the 2019/20 fires ... Amongst other findings: Previous timber harvesting did not increase the fire extent or severity of the 2019/20 fires. However, there is potential for cumulative impacts in harvested landscapes that are subject to fire, particularly in the next 5 to 10 years.

Despite the snap lock down in Hobart affecting the show slightly - with two attractions unable to attend, along with some equestrian, chopping and kennel competitors - much to everyone's gratitude, the show still went ahead, one of only four agricultural shows held this year.