Riverina’s beekeeping industry under threat as Varroa Mite takes economic toll
The beekeeping sector across the Riverina is experiencing an unprecedented financial crisis as the region grapples with the ongoing challenge of varroa mite management, placing critical agricultural pollination services at risk.
Rock lobster whites active with run to ramp up any day
Rock lobsters are active now in waters off Two Rocks with the annual whites run expected to ramp up any day now. Earlier this week Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) scientists predicted the annual whites run of three-and-a-half to four-year-old western rock lobsters would occur at the usual time from about Friday, November 28.
It’s OK to dump rubbish in York? The Nationals Lachlan Hunter is furious
The Nationals Lachlan Hunter joins us to discuss the controversial plan to dump Perth's rubbish near an important regional town....
Letter to the Editor: Mine Free Glenaladale responds to Gippsland Critical Minerals
Mine Free Glenaladale ... A spokesperson for Mine Free Glenaladale, Ms Robyn Grant, said she was surprised at Mr Harrington’s comments ... “He is simply parroting the same unscientific misinformation and spin that the community has been asked to swallow for the past 12 months, as the failed Kalbar project is rescoped."
Summer celebration with Australian macadamias
To welcome the season of festive fun, Australian Macadamias has unveiled a new hero recipe that’s made for sharing, the Cherry and macadamia celebration sponge. Light, luscious and layered with seasonal cherries, soft billows of whipped cream and a generous scattering of roasted macadamias, this cake really is a showstopper.
Report cards highlight cod season potential: VFA
Victoria’s Murray cod fisheries are in strong shape ahead of the annual season opening, according to a monitoring program funded in part by recreational fishing licence fees ... "Cod season opens Monday, December 1, and there’s good news for anglers planning summer trips to the Goulburn, Ovens and Lindsay rivers and Gunbower Creek."
Statement on EPBC: NFF
Hamish McIntyre. Farmers have been left bitterly disappointed by the deal between the Government and the Greens on environmental reform ... the NFF has supported genuine reform, but not this deal. Our key concern is the announcement of ‘closer controls’ of ‘high risk land clearing’. The specifics of this remain unclear, and we are urgently calling for clarity.
A secure and sustainable future for the forestry industry: Collins, Watt, Ayres
The industry is of such strategic importance to the Australian community we today designate it a priority industry under our Future Made in Australia plans.
Global supply supports domestic structural timber availability: ABARES
Enough structural timber is expected to be available to build Australian homes until at least 2050, according to an ABARES Insights paper.
Farms could be our secret climate weapon, QUT-led study finds: QUT
The world’s farms could become one of the most powerful tools in the fight against climate change according to a new international study led by QUT. Published in Plant Physiology, the paper lays out a framework to assess how plant agriculture and synthetic biology innovations can help mitigate climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon storage.
Norco marks two sweet years of ice cream production at Lismore factory
Delivers almost $50 million of economic activity to the Lismore region, more than the value of the government funding that supported the factory rebuild. Last Friday, Norco – Australia’s oldest and last operating dairy co-operative – celebrated two years since its iconic Lismore ice cream factory reopened its doors and resumed production following the 2022 floods which decimated the factory and left it out of action for eighteen months.
Making a big stink: Local dung beetles turn crap into gold for WA’s wheatbelt farmers
A concerned conversation on flies spoiling glasses of Chardonnay in WA’s world-renowned Margaret River wine region has unexpectedly inspired a ground-breaking soil health project hundreds of kilometres away - and the results are already reshaping how WA’s wheatbelt landholders/farmers manage their landscapes.
Farmers unite to protect a family legacy
In the David vs Goliath battle of farmers and industrial renewables, Colin Fenton didn't mince his words in a showdown with a Transmission Company Victoria attempting to gain access to the family's 102-year family farming legacy at Dingwell. "We've been through wars, floods and fire, by hell we're a bloody resilient group," stated Colin, who, in his 80s, stood firm with his wife Mary and a group of supporters, who had rushed to their side for one of two attempted property entries this week.
Fish for the future, not for votes
Western Australians love two things: arguing about politics and arguing about fishing — and not necessarily in that order ...
Strengthening South Australia’s defence against H5 bird flu: Scriven
South Australia’s capacity to rapidly respond to emergency animal disease (EAD) outbreaks such as H5 avian influenza (bird flu) has been boosted with the launch of a new mobile biosecurity laboratory. The state-of-the-art mobile lab enables rapid processing and turnaround of samples - a critical factor during EAD outbreaks, where early diagnosis can significantly reduce economic and social impacts, as well as the risk of the disease spreading.
Farmers gearing up for fight: NSW Farmers Association
NSW Farmers Acting CEO Mike Guerin – who led a successful legal challenge against the federal government and mining giant Glencore in Queensland – said he was “getting the band back together” to fight Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project ... “The people who depend on the Great Artesian Basin for their water are living in fear that this project will go ahead and go wrong, like many of them do, creating tens of thousands of water refugees and forcing farmers to abandon half the continent because it’s been contaminated forever.
Liberals stand up to Labor’s ruthless attack on farmers: Patterson, Centofanti
The Liberal Opposition has listened to the concerns of regional landowners, farmers and stakeholders and have successfully moved significant amendments to Labor’s ill-conceived Statutes Amendment (Energy and Mining Reforms) Bill 2025. Labor had attempted to force the Bill through Parliament, which would have seen farmers indefinitely unable to access their own land.
Industry at catastrophe
Hugh Schuitemaker and Madison Eastmond. The region's peak wine industry representative group has issued an urgent open letter to South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, warning that the state's largest producing area — the "backbone for thousands of family" livelihoods — is in the grip of a severe economic and social crisis ... Grape purchase prices remain at historic lows, with early indicators for the 2026 vintage, showing shiraz prices far below the cost of production – as low as $80 to $120 per tonne – which exceeds $350 per tonne.
Wrong time for a (vine) rest?
The Riverland's State and Federal MPs say an initiative promoting the resting of vineyards will have little benefit for the economic health of local wine grape growers. The State Government last week announced a rebate – of $40/hectare – for Riverland wine grape growers to rest red wine vineyards, through the use of the chemical Ethephon, for the 2026 vintage.
Petition calls for halt to National Parks land buy-up
An online petition by mayor of Bourke Shire, Lachlan Ford is calling for the NSW Government to stop purchasing farming land for National Parks in the western region. "In the last 20 years, the Bourke region has lost nearly half a million acres of agricultural land to make way for a suite of National Parks, Nature Reserves and State Conservation Areas - now totalling approximately 860,000 acres managed by the NSW Government," Mr Ford's online statement reads.
Council vote in support of: timber industry employees
A Notice of Motion (NoM) put forward by Clarence Valley Councillor Allison Bryant last week which called for the local government body to formally oppose the Minns Government’s September 7 announcement to end native forest harvesting and establish the Great Koala National Park during the Monthly Ordinary Meeting of Clarence Valley Council (CVC) was carried 7-2.
Seaweed industry update with the Australian Sustainable Seaweed Alliance
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry recently announced the delivery of an $8 million grant program to support industry to scale up production of Asparagopsis, the red seaweed known for its significant methane-reducing qualities when fed to livestock. ARR.News asked Professor Catriona Macleod, ASSA Chair, for an update on the state of industry in Australia.
