Business

Ned Thomas. The biennial Yorke Peninsula Saltwater Classic returned to Stansbury and Port Vincent across the weekend, April 17 to 19, delivering a high-energy celebration of boating in all its forms — sail, steam, electric and human-powered. Classic cars and coastal culture also helped lure the crowds who rolled in from across South Australia and interstate.

A free community event in Armidale next month will look at a question becoming increasingly important for regional Australia: what happens to renewable energy infrastructure when it reaches the end of its useful life? The event will explore the recycling, reuse and responsible disposal of renewable energy infrastructure, with a focus on rooftop solar panels, large-scale solar farms and, to a lesser extent, wind farm components.

National Seniors Australia’s campaign to Keep Cash is working and cash is making a comeback as demonstrated by the RBA’s 2025 Consumer Payments Survey that shows cash usage is on the rise. The survey reveals cash usage has increased by number of transactions (15 per cent in 2025 compared to 13 per cent in 2022) and by the total value of transactions.

The global fertiliser market faces a prolonged period of tight supply, weak affordability and heightened price risk and, even if current geopolitical tensions ease soon, "normalisation will be slow", according to a recently-released industry report. In its latest Semi-annual Fertiliser Outlook, global agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank says the international fertiliser market ended the first quarter of the year under severe strain.

Collagen from sheep skin and lungs can support wound closure and tissue regeneration in people, opening the door for new wound care materials made from traditionally underutilised red meat processing byproducts ... "Wound healing is a complex process requiring the coordinated interaction of cells, growth factors and extracellular matrix components.

Queensland company MaxSil is converting waste glass destined for landfill into ultrafine silica that improves plant uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium helping farmers do more with the fertiliser they have. ARR.News found out more from MaxSil founder David Archer and Oscar Ledlin, co-founder of parent company Sustainable Concrete Group.

Norco, Australia’s oldest and last operating 100 per cent farmer-owned dairy co-operative, has announced a five cent per litre increase to its farmgate milk price from May 2026, while calling on the wider industry to step up and better support farmers as soaring input costs intensify pressure across the sector.

The Finocchiaro CLP Government is delivering stronger, more reliable power for Alice Springs and Katherine, with an $82.1 million investment in battery energy storage. Territory Generation has awarded Pacific Energy a contract to deliver the next phase of the battery energy storage system (BESS) program.

Nationals Member for Central Wheatbelt, Lachlan Hunter MP, has slammed the Cook Labor Government for its lack of understanding of regional Western Australia, as the fuel crisis continues to bite across the Wheatbelt.

Bruny Island, off the coast of southern Tasmania, continues to attract birdwatchers from around the world. Its diverse habitats and rich birdlife offer unique year-round experiences, but winter reveals a quieter, more immersive side.

Winter is normally the season that outback NSW towns look forward to most. The tourists arrive, the caravan parks fill up ... This year, the question being asked by operators from Broken Hill to White Cliffs to Menindee is whether that migration is actually going to happen.

The shortages caused by attacks on Iran by Israel and the US have massively increased interest in the Territory’s huge gas reserves as well as several minerals. This is clearly the main talking point at the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) this week in Alice Springs which may become the base for a major mine

At a time when Australian farmers are facing a major fertiliser squeeze, Canberra has decided the priority is not supply, not affordability, and not domestic resilience—but underwriting a green ammonia export dream ... while farmers are being told to accept decile 10 nitrogen prices, or even decile zero availability, taxpayers—including those same farmers in the years they make money—are being lined up to help fast track a plant that will help foreign farmers access fertiliser.

Today, Australia and the UK have signed an Investment Partnership to further unlock superannuation and pension capital investment between our countries. This new agreement will help to secure more two-way investment in jobs and industries and strong returns for investors from both countries.

NORPA is delighted to welcome Hurford Hardwood as a returning partner in 2026. Owners Andrew and Gaela Hurford have been long-term supporters of NORPA, generously contributing through both their business and personal philanthropy, including as founding donors of NORPA’s new home, The Joinery.

Carey Brennan. More than 100 farmers attended the recent VFF community meeting held by the St Arnaud branch on Thursday, April 9, to listen to legal experts speak about the effects of the new Victorian Treaty Act and the land acquisition procedures for transmission lines, all of which will adversely affect farmland in this district.

After more than two decades in the transport haulage business, Narrandera-based Hayllar Transport managing director Bernie Hayllar could not have envisaged the current situation he is facing due to the conflict in the Middle East. The fuel crisis has put many Riverina transport operators under extreme financial pressure due to the rising costs of fuel.