Agriculture

The prestigious Greenham’s Trade and Export (Carcase) Cattle competition is going ahead. The competition has been held annually since 1983 and in recent years producers have been entering the National Beef Expo which is held every three years at Rockhampton with much success.

The Victoria Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas visited the Belar Nursery and Bioculture Resources Centre to announce the Labor Government’s $2 million Djakitjuk Djanga Program in partnership with the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations ... The Djakitjuk Djanga Program has supported 13 Aboriginal native plant businesses to overcome key resource-related barriers towards the commercial production of native foods and botanicals.

Two new guides, 'Setting up for success: Bushfoods' and 'Protection of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge for Bushfood Businesses', highlight the risks and opportunities for Aboriginal businesses, as well as promoting best practices for industry.

As the Spring temperatures rise and plants bud and grow it’s time to come up to Uraidla to visit a traditional agricultural show in the Adelaide Hills.

The Eudunda Show is all systems go! Albeit with some variations on the norm due to COVID regulations.

The bulk of this commentary has little to do with the content of the Report to the NSW Natural Resources Commission. The report addresses the consequences of the 2019/20 fires for the objectives and outcomes of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (i.e. forest health, threatened species conservation, water quality and aquatic biodiversity). The 2019/20 fires have rendered forests, in relation to these objectives and outcomes, in a highly vulnerable state because of their magnitude and severity. This vulnerability will be ongoing and challenging to deal with because the efficacy of all facets of fire management (e.g. preparation, prevention, suppression) will be adversely affected by climate change.

Minister of Agriculture Adam Marshall and Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke have opened the $2.1 million state-of-the-art glasshouse precinct at the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Cowra Agricultural Research and Advisory Station. Mr Marshall said the new facility would advance the State’s research and development capabilities, enabling new science to help increase the productivity and profitability of the agriculture sector.

The majority of farmers surveyed in an ABARES study are using sustainable land management practices to improve the natural resource base and drought resilience. ABARES’s acting Executive Director Jared Greenville said the findings of the Natural Resource Management and Drought Resilience – survey of farm practices demonstrates the agriculture sector’s commitment to sustainable land management.

In 2018, the NSW Government introduced the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code as part of the wider NSW Land Management and Biodiversity reform framework. Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall said the inaugural NSW Land Management Report 2018-2020 showed how farmers had used the Code to increase agricultural production, while restoring valuable native vegetation.

Upgrades to a 29-kilometre section of the Narrabri to North Star section of the track are now complete ... Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said in a boost for the local industry, fully loaded trains are now departing from Moree.

More than $3.13 million will be returned to growers in regional Queensland as part of a Sunwater trial related to water delivery services. Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing and Minister for Water Glenn Butcher said the rebates have already begun being provided to irrigators following the first 12 months of a three-year electricity cost pass‐through trial - developed in conjunction with the Queensland Farmers’ Federation.

Did you know Queensland stock routes cover around 72,000 km and 48 local government areas? Drovers are herding cattle along the stock routes passing through the Central Highlands at Yan Yan Road through to Lilyvale Road, Gregory Highway and Capricornia Highway through to Springsure and Rolleston areas. These roads are subject to change depending on conditions and motorists are urged to be patient and vigilant whenever they are driving along a stock route.

The ALRTA has rejected an NTC [National Transport Commission] proposal to reduce maximum weekly work time to 60 hours, increase the minimum daily continuous rest period to 8 hours and prohibit all driving 14 hours after the end of a long rest break ... ALRTA National President Scott McDonald  said that the both the proposal and the consultation timeframe were naïve and unworkable.

Researchers from The University of Western Australia recently completed the final report for the LHI Galapagos shark research project, which has been running since January 2018. This research used acoustic listening stations around LHI waters to track Galapagos sharks fitted with internal acoustic tags to determine their movement patterns, as well as identifying where, when and how frequently these sharks interact with fishing vessels.

Sheryl Lowe. The $2.1m Penola-Coonawarra Rail Trail project is shovel-ready, but the public may not be aware the trail will now pass through the middle of a working agriculture farm via a service road, due to a recent change in the route. Peter and Elke Hocking bought the Glenroy property ‘Churinga Park’ 18 months ago. At the time of purchase, they were unaware of any plans for a change in the use of the road reserve.  

Valais Blacknose sheep, known to be the cutest sheep in the world, have been born for the first time in Australia following Valais Blacknose sheep, known to be the cutest sheep in the world, have been born for the first time in Australia following the successful importation of embryos and semen from the United Kingdom.

With just two days’ notice, community volunteers at the heart of the Koondrook Perricoota co-design welcomed a shiny entourage of politicians, bureaucrats and media. The whistlestop tour was part of a $330 million funding announcement with no less than five state and federal politicians ... The Koondrook Perricoota project has been a white elephant of government spending with the $120 million over-designed project sitting idle.

People proliferated across Australia, which was then a part of Sahul, from about 40 000 years ago when megafauna finally disappeared long before the Last Glacial Maximum. Aboriginal burning initially turned much biomass into charcoal, reducing browse, changing vegetation and causing megafaunal extinctions. It created ecosystems whose health and safety depend on constant human input of mild fire.