Business

Shane O’Shea. After a long and very enjoyable fifty-one-and-a-half-year association with the "Buloke Times" (formerly the "Donald Times" and "Donald-Birchip Times"), I have made the difficult decision to retire, which came into effect as of June 30. I first joined the staff of the then "Donald Times" as a 16 -year-old, after completing Form 4 at Donald High School .

This year, Australia’s sheep flock and its breeding ewe numbers reached their highest levels since 2007 at 78.75 million and 46.14 million head respectively, according to the latest Sheep Projections update from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) ... Carcase weights in 2023 will remain 7% above the 10-year average.

Jenny Pollard. A crowd in excess of 100 people turned out for the Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) information meeting held at Charlton Park last Wednesday evening. TCV is a recently formed company tasked with the "early works" stage of planning the Victorian section of the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) transmission line project.

Tony Mahar. Australian negotiators must continue to hold the line to ensure a fair and commercially meaningful deal with the EU. This was always going to be a tough negotiation. Fair access to the EU market is something the farm sector has sought for decades.

Carl and Marcy Agnew have been  publicans  at the Dog n Bull Hotel in Bonalbo for almost a year ... No one told him about the Bonalbo Bonanza Campdraft tradition. The one where the horses come into the pub.

Stock agent Darren Perkins from George & Fuhrmann has said the agents will not sign Richmond Valley Council’s agreements to let them sell cattle through the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange. “Council is saying they’re not backing down. We agents are not going to sign the agreements, we are not backing down and if we have to, we will send cattle to other centres – even if it takes till Christmas,” Mr Perkins said.

Nexus Airlines will take its inaugural flight on Monday 10 July when it departs Geraldton Airport at 10.20am to commence the first commercial flights on the expanded Inter Regional Flight Network ... With bases in Geraldton and Broome, Nexus Airlines is Western Australia’s newest truly regional airline, offering residents, local businesses, and visitors increased travel opportunities with reliable, affordable, and consistent air services between the Mid-West, Pilbara, and Kimberley.

Australia’s first raw sugar shipment to the United Kingdom under the new Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) was loaded in Townsville on 10 July 2023, opening an important new market for the Queensland sugar industry. Under the new agreement, which came into place on 31 May 2023, tariff-free raw sugar exports to the UK have resumed for the first time in 50 years...

It’s getting harder and harder to find large animal veterinarians, farmers say, amid calls for increased training and targeted skilled migration. Shane Kilby, a cattle producer from Dubbo, will take the issue to the NSW Farmers Annual Conference next week.

The Commonwealth Bank is at it again. While to be congratulated on its decision to put a three-year moratorium on regional branch closures in place, it has dragged its co-publisher of the quarterly Regional Movers Index report into an embarrassing situation again by refusing to count their top destinations for regional migration as … regional.

The Port Pirie Visitor Information Centre is celebrating 25 years since Shakka the Shark became a local tourist attraction and icon with an event this Wednesday and complimentary entry throughout the school holidays. Shakka is a 5.5 metre Great White Shark which tragically became entangled in snapper lines and drowned in Germein Bay on 12 July, 1998.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has expressed concerns about misleading information being provided to farmers who may be impacted by the proposed VNI-West transmission project. VFF President Emma Germano said the Australian Energy Market Operator (which is planning the project on behalf of the Victorian Government) had released information to landholders designed to pressure them into signing away access to their land.

If you didn’t know that gin was distilled from vodka or whisky from beer, you’re not alone. So, when award-winning mixologist Gorge Camorra came to Maldon last weekend to discuss all things spirits, the people came to listen. And it’s not too late! He’ll do it all again this weekend.

I thought [Naracoorte Community] News readers might get a kick out of this 1930's version of a 'Hybrid vehicle' from the Sheeps Back Museum photo collection. I found it while searching the museums 3500 photo collection in preparation for a new exhibit on 'working horses'.

VFPA welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to reverse the highly contested rainfall regulation, known as ‘water rule’, under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) ... The announcement means the Australian Government will permanently remove this perverse rule from the Carbon Farming Initiative Regulation from 1 June 2024.  

The decision by the Federal Government to establish a Community Engagement Review to maximise engagement around electricity transmission and renewable energy developments has been welcomed by GrainGrowers as a positive step forward ... Mr Turton said the GrainGrowers National Policy Group had recently considered the issue of agricultural land use and had called for meaningful engagements with landholders and communities about proposed development sites.

The Kerang Memorial Hall was a flurry of activity at Tuesday’s VNI West Information Sessions ... From landholder engagement to environmental concerns, aboriginal cultural heritage, and even local, George Warne, was there as Transmission Company Victoria’s (TCV) agricultural advisor.

A group of very concerned East Greenmount residents is banding together in an effort to put a halt to plans to construct a series of wind turbines along the escarpment at Ramsay and East Greenmount. The group of residents, who do not wish to be named, met with local Member for Condamine and Shadow Energy Minister Pat Weir on Monday to discuss what the best options moving forward are to have the project stopped.

Rapid electric vehicle charging options are opening across the state, with multiple DC rapid-charging sites launching on 4 July 2023 ... The South Australian Government and the RAA is switching on the first of 54 DC rapid and ultra-rapid charging stations in the Statewide EV Charging Network, in Nuriootpa.

Training fruit pickers using virtual reality equipment, employing robots to move fruit containers and wearing exoskeletons to support physical labour are all possibilities being considered by Australian berry growers to boost labour efficiency. Delivered through Hort Innovation and led by The Growth Drivers in consultation with berry growers, the research aimed to identify practical technology-based solutions to address one of the industry’s biggest challenges.