Business

WaterNSW has issued a Red Alert warning for high levels of potentially toxic blue-green algae at Toonumbar Dam, about 30 km west of Kyogle. The Red Alert warning applies only to untreated water at the dam.

The beloved Crystal Caves 'Rock Car', a local landmark known for its quirky Flintstones-style appearance, will roll into a new era in 2026 thanks to a creative facelift by Magnetic Island artist John Pavart.

Rob Burgess. Australia is running an opportunity deficit in its biggest cities. Housing, congestion and service pressures are eroding the everyday “deal” in Sydney and Melbourne. The question is no longer whether people and investment will look elsewhere, but where that momentum will land. With remote work normalising, the energy and industrial transition accelerating, and many regional centres still offering a more achievable pathway to security and prosperity, the next shift in Australia’s economic geography is sitting in plain sight.

Keeping hens dates back many thousands of years since the eggs (and meat) of jungle fowl were first enjoyed by humans. Ever since then, the sound of chooks wandering around the yard or the paddock has been an enjoyable part of life for countless people in many civilisations. Today, keeping hens in the backyard or in small commercial flocks can still be rewarding.

We now have a bumper crop, a tax windfall for government, and broad agreement across agriculture, transport and local government that the system is stretched. The buy-back was presented as a serious response to a real capacity, efficiency and safety problem. The only question left is whether the government is prepared to act.

The Nhill & District Racing Club celebrated a wonderful day on Boxing Day at the DMD Nhill Cup ... Just over 1100 people flocked to the Nhill Racecourse for the annual Boxing Day race meeting. The Paul Preusker trained Sirius Black won the feature race of the day, the DMD Nhill Cup with Harry Grace riding.

While growers are wishing for the perfect weather conditions to push the size of their pumpkins to the max, festival organisers are preparing for Saturday, January 17 — the day of the Giant Pumpkin and Watermelon Festival. If you’ve never been before you are in for a treat.

We are back! We've spent the break investing heavily in our sound (no clicks and pops now), so we're sounding really good! (we think), and in this episode, we wrap up Christmas, plus give you your farming weather and James describes his nude encounter with the electricity meter reader bloke....

The debate about buffel needs to be broadened to take account of the weed's current and future commercial as well as social consequences. The pastoral industry, in love with the irresponsibly introduced plant, has leases over half of the NT, land that is owned by the people of the NT. From 31 December they will have just 43 days to comment on how the government should be dealing with the scourge, declared a weed in 2024, yet still expanding in the region's prime tourism areas.

A Riverland MP is urging locals and visitors to show their support for the region's wine industry while enjoying the summer holiday season. Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone launched his Local Labels campaign last week, highlighting the range of Riverland wines available from wineries, liquor stores and venues like hotels, clubs, cafés and restaurants. "This summer is the perfect time to celebrate and the exceptional wines that our region produces, while also sending a clear message that this is an industry worth fighting for," Mr Whetstone said.

For its 250-year history, the United States has been the largest immigration centre in the world. As of 2024, the country was home to 52,375,047 immigrants ... The concentration of illegal immigrants in the agricultural sector in some states is so high that it raises the question, "Are authorities truly combating illegal immigration, or is illegal immigration officially encouraged as a supplement to legal immigration?"

Hopes that growth in tourism will lift Alice Springs out of its economic slump in 2026 look like wishful thinking. There are no major projects. There are still no accommodation facilities other than camping in the West MacDonnell National Park (2,568 km2), the jewels in our tourism crown, nor in the East Macs. Ross River is available only for special functions and Glen Helen is still closed.

International tourists have descended on WA in nation-leading numbers, with the State out-performing the rest of Australia for growth in overseas visitors. The latest visitor data has WA on track for full recovery to pre-pandemic international visitor numbers by the end of 2025, with the State achieving 99.5 per cent of 2019 numbers in the year ending September 2025.

In the Christmas instalment of No Drama Farmer, Fiona L Fox joins us to talk about koala numbers plus is England cheaper than Australia? (cost of living) it might be!

This week, the comparison shifts to machinery and markets — how, in both decades a century apart, a revolution in farm equipment collided head-on with falling commodity prices and soaring machinery costs. The rhyme is almost eerie: technological leaps meeting financial cliffs.

Six hi-tech monitoring buoys which will automatically detect future harmful algal blooms before they reach our shores are being deployed across South Australian waters. The state-of-the-art oceanographic moorings are equipped with specific sensors for early detection of key harmful algal bloom (HAB) species such as Karenia.

As this final newsletter of the year demonstrates, rural health does not pause for the festive season. While many Australians take a well-earned break, rural, regional and remote communities continue to carry extraordinary responsibility—for food production, harvest, emergency response, service delivery and the steady functioning of our economy and society.

Mallee residents are being encouraged to have their say informed by recent experiences on mining licence approvals in the electorate, after the Commonwealth Government opened a new consultation. Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster, shared her dismay that, yet again, mining-related consultation is occurring during the harvest and Christmas season, and that the horse had bolted on key projects within the electorate.

The peak body for Tasmanian farmers, TasFarmers, is today calling for an inquiry and full analysis of Australia’s food supply chain, from farm gate to supermarket shelf, after revealing that fresh produce is now cheaper in London than in Launceston.

Export market demand has supported elevated prices for Australian lamb, mutton and beef through much of 2025, with favourable market conditions expected to continue into the new year, according to agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank. In its Global animal protein outlook 2026, the bank’s RaboResearch division says high cattle inventories will maintain elevated Australian beef production, while sheepmeat production takes time to recover.