Agriculture

Tasmanian farmers have reacted with anger and disbelief to confirmation that the Federal Government has ignored community sentiment and waved through the sale of Rushy Lagoon, Tasmania’s largest farm, to UK forestry investor Gresham House, clearing the way for 22,000 hectares of prime dairy and beef country in the state’s north-east to be locked up under a pine plantation.

Mark your calendars from 26 – 28 July, for an unforgettable experience at the 2026 Charters Towers Show!

Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness has confirmed H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (bird flu) in a sample taken from a giant petrel found near Hardwicke Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. 

Recreational fishers will be able to catch King George Whiting in all SA waters these school holidays ... The King George Whiting closure amendment is one of two changes introduced to support the recovery of marine species affected by the algal bloom.

As the Cheshire Cat reminded Alice, the road you take depends on where you want to get to. The problem is not that strategic plans are useless. The problem is that too many modern plans confuse aspiration with strategy.

When Sam Rogers joined the AgriFutures evoke Groundbreakers Program and Startup Alley at evoke 2026, he was already working on a challenge he knew firsthand. Growing up on a cattle property in North Queensland, Sam had experienced the labour pressures facing livestock producers and was building GrazeMate, a startup using autonomous drone technology to help farmers save time, reduce labour requirements and make more informed decisions.

Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) has determined the giant petrel found in the Perth North Metropolitan Area (Whitfords - Mullaloo beach) of Western Australia is presumed positive for H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (bird flu). 

The iconic Gloucester Tree has reopened following a major Cook Labor Government investment, giving visitors the chance to once again experience one of Western Australia's most famous nature-based tourism attractions. Adventurous climbers can now ascend to a new lookout that is as high as a 12-storey building to take in views of the surrounding karri forest within Gloucester National Park.

The VFF says new federal environment laws have made it much harder for farmers to manage their own land, with many now facing confusing rules, costly assessments and the risk of severe penalties for everyday farming activities ... The new rules are unworkable for agriculture and place an unfair burden on farmers.

The announcement last week from the Clean Energy Regulator that the Improved Native Forest Management Method (INFM) is now available under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, flies in the face of good resource management.

Forest & Wood Communities Australia has called on the Australian Greens to support the proposed Senate disallowance of Labor’s Improved Native Forest Management carbon method ahead of the expected Senate vote on 18 August 2026, saying the vote will expose whether the party genuinely opposes carbon offsets or only opposes them when they deliver its preferred anti-forestry outcome.

A new resilience test for merino sheep is using hereditary markers to help producers identify which animals are better able to cope with stressors in their environment. The genomic tool, known as ImmuneDEX, measures a resilience trait called immune competencies...

When things get tough, the temptation for some is to pull back and deal with it alone. Which is why the upcoming community screening of Just A Farmer in Narrandera is a timely opportunity for the community ... One of the highlights will be the chance to hear directly from Leila McDougall - the filmmaker behind Just A Farmer, and a farmer herself.

I subscribe to Greg Ibendahl's Agricultural Economics Substack. Greg is with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University and regularly produces practical, data-driven analyses of broadacre farming from an American perspective. His latest article ... shows we are not alone facing rising input which can turn what appeared to be a profitable wheat crop into a financial disaster. It also serves as a timely reminder that while American farmers face many of the same seasonal and economic pressures as Australian growers...

Cicada Innovations, Australia’s leading deep tech incubator, has announced the 23 ventures that will feature at Cicada x Tech23 2026, a showcase of Australia’s next great innovations. Despite ongoing uncertainty around government support for commercialising and scaling innovation, the pipeline for Australian deep tech is bursting.

There’s something quite magical about life on a farm. Picking apples fresh from the tree. Milking a cow. Finishing the day around a campfire, glass of local wine in hand. These simple pleasures have become bucket list items. And while it’s easy for farmers to take these everyday moments for granted, many are now embracing agritourism.

Farmers and landholders across regional NSW can now access free and independent dispute resolution through the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON). From 1 July 2026, customers of NSW’s five statutory irrigation corporations including Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative, Jemalong Irrigation, Murray Irrigation, Murrumbidgee Irrigation, and Western Murray Irrigation, can lodge complaints with EWON for independent review at no cost.

An alpine ash forest is a sight to behold ... Mainland alpine ash forests are now formally listed as endangered. This is because bushfires are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, which threatens to wipe out some of these forests. In our new study, we examined how alpine ash forests would change under different climate scenarios, and found that difficult choices likely lie ahead.

The Coalition will lodge a Notice of Motion in the Senate and House of Representatives to stop Labor’s new carbon credit approval, which will lock up land and destroy regional jobs. The Coalition has moved to disallow the Carbon Credits Methodology Determination 2026, to stop Labor from paying state governments to permanently cease commercial timber harvesting across entire Regional Forest Agreement areas, in exchange for ‘carbon credits’.

Farming regions such as Yorke Peninsula may need to return large areas of farmland to native vegetation if Australia is to prevent accelerating species loss and meet international biodiversity targets, according to new research.