Agriculture

After an oversubscribed capital raise, Australia’s leading-edge envirotech company, Patriot Hydrogen, is working full steam towards installing the first-ever Patriot unit in mid-2022 at Kimberley Clean Energy’s Kilto Station project near Broome, Western Australia. The modular hydrogen production unit will form part of Kimberley Clean Energy’s fossil fuel substitution strategy, with plans to add a hydrogen system in the next stage.

The beginning of the 2022 saleyard selling year for sheep and lambs  has  exceeded  all expectations when compared  to long-term historical prices, demonstrating the excellent market conditions producers are currently experiencing.

More investment in aerial incendiary fire management, greater communication and collaboration between landholder groups and neighbours, and more information about opportunities in the Carbon industry were among some of the key call-outs from the 2021 Fire Forum held in Cairns in December. Organised by Cape York Natural Resource Management, the Forum brought more than 130 people together from Cape York, the Tablelands, Brisbane and Darwin.  

International ships arriving in Australian waters will see a change in how they manage biofouling in 2022. DAWE Deputy Secretary Andrew Tongue said a change in biofouling policy would have flow-on effects for international shipping.

The countdown to the 2022 barramundi season is well and truly on with keen anglers across the Rockhampton region and country ready to wet a line and chase their New Year barra personal bests (PB’s) from the 1st of February. Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said the number of trophy Barra over the magic metre in length continues to grow each season.

Trevor Whittington. Last week the Minister asked in the Farm Weekly, what more could they have done to consult with industry on the outbreak of BJD. For WAFarmers and the Minister to end up exchanging letters in the Farm Weekly it is a clear sign of a breakdown in communications between industry and the Department.

School leavers looking for a lucrative career in the bush have the chance to join an iconic industry and help Australia recover from COVID. NSW Farmers Wool Committee Chair Helen Carrigan said a shortage of shearers meant there was good money to be made by young people who were willing to learn. Find out the details of courses between January and June 2022.

Charles Sturt University is running a survey for landholders to share their experience of carbon farming and drought planning. The insights from this research will be used to inform a formal guideline for carbon farming participants to help them plan and include drought resilience into the design of their carbon farming project.

John O'Donnell analyses recent positive US policy developments and land management commitments aimed at confronting the US wildfire/ bushfire crisis and finds that there is much Australia might learn from the US strategy.

Forest & Wood Communities Australia is calling on the Andrews Government to close the loophole in the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 (Vic) which has enabled activist vigilantes to devastate the livelihoods of regional Victorians. FWCA answers some further questions from ARR.News.

As I have consistently said, science, facts and non-emotive debate are what is needed when it comes to making the big decisions about the future of our primary industries – or indeed any public policy decision. Unfortunately the same view is clearly not held by anti-forestry ideologues, including those Labor governments in both Victoria and Western Australia who have decided to shut down their sustainable forest industries without any discernible evidence to do so.

Here we are in the middle of a La Nina summer. On the east coast where we live the nights are warm but mild, and the days are hot and humid. As I opened my first beer of the evening – make that afternoon – I was inspired to put fingers to keyboard and tell my half dozen or so readers what I’m drinking.

“This is the beginning of a new era for farmers and the wider community on the Liverpool Plains, ending years of uncertainty. From today, this land will be actively managed by the Local Land Services on behalf of the government to safeguard the areas with environmental and cultural significance”: Paul Toole, NSW Deputy Premier. ARR.News has questions for the Deputy Premier and Minister Saunders.

Hundreds of fish died including Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Bony Herring and Australian Smelt as well as Murray Crayfish in a disastrous black water event in Bundidgerry Creek near Narrandera late last week.

Kirstin Nicholson. “She’s not a lollipop cow, she mixes it with the others, but then she likes to get dressed up and get fancy and do well for us": Steven Hore, Elmar Holsteins.

The possibility of bare barbecues on Australia Day should be an alarm bell to all sides of politics, NSW Farmers says, with the major retailer supply chains continuing to struggle. NSW Farmers President James Jackson said ongoing failures to prevent anti-competitive behaviour had led us to a handful of companies controlling most of our meat supply, and called on the Federal Government to address the issue.

Hepburn Shire Council is continuing to support recovery efforts in the community following a thunderstorm that damaged homes and property in and around Creswick and Clunes on 5 January. “The intensity of this storm caused widespread damage to homes, farms and public land in the west of our Shire. Our preliminary estimates are around $10m of damage to Council assets alone, and around $25m damage to crops” : Hepburn Shire Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie.

The WA State Government has partnered with the local avocado industry through Hort Innovation, Avocados Australia and Austrade to showcase the popular fruit to potential importers, retailers and consumers at the WA Premium Food and Beverage Trade Event in Tokyo.

Consumers are increasingly demanding proof of their seafood’s sustainability and they are turning to a range of seafood certifications, rating programs and indexes to inform their purchases. Globally, there is a growing number of initiatives to guide consumers. But they are not all created equal, nor do they measure and report on the same parameters.

The Dryandra Woodland National Park, near Narrogin, 180 km south-east of Perth, is the first national park in WA's Wheatbelt region ... Converted from a State forest to a national park, Dryandra is a key stronghold for some of Australia's rarest and most vulnerable wildlife including numbats, woylies, brushtail wallabies, chuditch, quenda and the mound-building malleefowl.

Australia’s $900 million citrus industry could face serious production and market access risks if the industry is not adequately prepared to manage future biosecurity threats. A new five-year national biosecurity program, CitrusWatch, is a collaborative effort that is designed to protect the citrus industry from harmful exotic pests and diseases.

A first of its kind to be hosted by Leading Sheep, the 10-part ‘H Series’ webinar program spanned across 2021 covering topics from health and husbandry to herding foundations and how to buy and sell sheep. Commencing in April 2021, the now completed H Series recordings are all available online.