Agriculture

The annual Dayboro Show is back! Celebrating 65 years of the “Best little country show”, the 2022 event held on July 2nd and 3rd will include a bit of boot scootin’, horse whispering, wood-chopping and farm-tastic fun.

Kununurra Agricultural Show is held each July. This vibrant and unique  community event has been running since 1972 (we're turning 50!) ​and is a great addition to the  East Kimberley  experience bucket list.​​

I reckon the Monty Python team would have been jealous of the creative genius behind NSW’s Koala Strategy. It would be hilarious except for the $200 million price tag to save an irruptive species which is in much greater numbers across a much wider area than before the European ‘invasion’. Apart from Strzelecki, no explorer saw any koalas because they didn’t live in the grassy valleys occupied by Aborigines and sought by pastoralists.

A $600,000 investment to support an Aboriginal koala habitat conservation project is being delivered as one of the first actions in the NSW Koala Strategy. Minister for Environment James Griffin said the project with the Gumbaynggirr community applies cultural lessons from traditional owners. “The traditional custodians of this land intrinsically understand how to care for their Country,” Mr Griffin said ... ARR.News has some questions for the Minister.

A statewide emergency order has been issued to control the movement of bees across NSW and stop the spread of varroa mite ... “After the first detection of varroa mite at the Port of Newcastle on Friday, DPI is investigating potentially contaminated hives outside the initial 50 kilometre biosecurity zone,” Minister Saunders said.

North Wanneroo growers have been dealt a blow with the McGowan Government seeming to rule out any benefits from the proposed Alkimos desalination plant being shared with agricultural licence holders.

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A long term, sustainable biosecurity funding pipeline to help protect agriculture, communities, the economy and the environment must be a top priority for the new Federal Government. This was the message delivered by the NFF to new Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister, Senator Murray Watt at the first industry Ministerial roundtable in Canberra.

Cape York residents and tourists are being encouraged to cover up and wear insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites after the Japanese encephalitis virus was detected in feral pigs near Skardon River. JEV cannot be spread from the pigs to humans, experts say, but are transmitted by mosquitoes.

The 2022 harvest is now underway for most of Queensland’s sugarcane growers who are hopeful late summer and autumn rain will push the crop above the pre season estimate to help them meet rising fuel and fertiliser bills.

Dougal Finlay. When winter frosts arrive, it heralds that special time on our calendar to catch up with friends, renew acquaintances and generally have a great time at our annual Texas Show. Continued above average rainfall has delivered mixed fortunes to people in the district since our last show. The Texas Show was only one of seven country shows to go ahead in Queensland last year which highlights the determination our community holds to preserve our institution and keep it running well into the future.

Good rainfall and high commodity prices have driven strong farm financial performance for 2021-22. Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville said cropping farms had reported higher than average cash incomes over the last year.

The Qantas Group and Airbus will invest up to US$200 million to accelerate the establishment of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry in Australia, in a landmark agreement ... Due to the lack of a local commercial-scale SAF industry, Australia is currently exporting millions of tonnes of feedstock every year, such as canola and animal tallow to be made into SAF in other countries.

Trevor Whittington. The new Leader of the Federal National Party and Shadow Minister for Agriculture,  Hon David Littleproud met with WAFarmers President, John Hassell and Livestock Council President, Geoff Pearson ... area of discussion was the huge amount of effort and funding invested by the federal government into biosecurity aimed to keep out pests and diseases like lumpy skin (LSD) and foot and mouth (FMD) ... from what we heard in the meeting, it is concerning that the state governments including WA have failed to follow suit on increasing biosecurity funding ...

An alliance between food industry associations across the food supply chain, from paddock to plate, has been formed to address key issues associated with ensuring reliable and affordable access to food for all Australians during this unprecedented time of supply chain disruption ... The Alliance includes: Independent Food Distributors Australia (IFDA), The National Farmers Federation (NFF), Australian Meat Industry Council, (AMIC), Master Grocers Australia (MGA) & Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS).

The fee reduction is a practical and fast way for the State government to assist the South Australian Rock Lobster fishery, who were impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic and the disruption to the Chinese market.

Citizen science has made an important contribution to an FRDC-funded project to predict the impact of climate change on three fish species of increasing recreational and commercial importance in Tasmania ... Data from the project was gathered from several sources, including fish frames (skeletons) donated by recreational fishers at 16 drop off points around Tasmania, which yielded 801 frames in the 24 months to July 2021. Frames were also donated by commercial fishers and fish processors.

Farmers around the State will be supported to adopt additional sustainable practices through a groundbreaking $206 million program delivered in the NSW Budget. Treasurer Matt Kean said this landmark investment will reward farmers who voluntarily reduce their carbon emissions and protect biodiversity ... ARR.News asked the Ministers a few questions.

A new, online one-stop information portal for Lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) preparedness is now available to livestock owners and other industry stakeholders ... “With both LSD and FMD confirmed in Indonesia, the key to Australia’s defence is vigilance, early reporting and ensuring every Livestock Supply Chain enterprise in northern Australia has an updated biosecurity plan in place”: Minister Furner.

The cost of a weekend brekkie favourite could be set to rise with the price of eggs on supermarket shelves jumping up, and farmers say they’re fed up with major retailers not passing on increases. Consumers have seen supermarket egg prices rise between 30 and 50 cents per dozen, but NSW Farmers Poultry Committee Chair Brett Langfield said egg producers had not seen the price rise at the farm gate.

Amendments to the Forest Products Act 2000 (WA) that will allow the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to trade in carbon assets has passed through the State Parliament. Until now, the FPC's functions were restricted to dealing with forest products, which are defined to mean trees, parts of trees and similar products. The statutory expansion of the FPC's functions under the new legislation, will now grant the FPC the right to own, trade and otherwise deal with carbon assets.