International

How do you honour the incredible life and memory of our late Sovereign, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II? That is the question Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio would like to ask residents as the Council seeks community engagement to consider memorial options for Queen Elizabeth II.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has endorsed the efforts of Australian grain producers to help Ukraine farmers and rural communities with their recovery from the war. Mr Myroshnychenko met with members of Grain Producers Australia’s farmer sub-committee recently to discuss the #GRAIN4UKRAINE initiative and thank them for supporting his people.

ProAgni (Lavington, NSW) has been named the $1 million grand prize winner of the Grow-NY business competition, a food and agriculture startup challenge focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage, and agriculture innovation cluster ... ProAgni  ... created a revolutionary range of supplements and feeds for livestock that lowers methane emissions from sheep and cattle without the use of antibiotics ...

The US – the world’s second-largest importer of beef after China – is likely to be looking for even more beef from global markets over the next three years, as its own domestic production declines, Rabobank says in a newly-released report. And – while Australia is among the major global beef exporters that could help fill the gap – its own supply constraints mean it will be challenged to find additional export volumes.

Sarah Martin. A group of Indigenous women rangers, led by Cape York environmental warrior Larissa Hale, has been named as the first Australian finalist for Prince William’s prestigious Earthshot Prize ... “To be showcasing these amazing projects right across the world is a powerful way for First Nations women to see and imagine their futures in conservation management": Larissa Hale.

With the support of the Cape community, Ukrainian refugees Tatiana and Victor Malysha have returned to their home in war-ravaged Zaporizhzhia. Coordinated by Cooktown couple Eric and Jola George, the community has fundraised to give Tatiana and her son Victor, who has special needs, a monthly allowance while they were forced to live apart from her husband to escape fighting in Zaporizhzhia.

After Katy Brown notched up her fourth broken bone at the tender age of 10, her mum decided that if she couldn’t buy her daughter a safe pony she had better breed one ... it was the choice of the Highland that set in motion an association that would become a life’s work for the young animal lover – saving livestock breeds facing extinction.

1.5 million sandbags and almost 8 km of flood barriers have been secured by the South Australia Government to help protect flood affected River Murray communities. Three kilometres of DefenCell barriers from India arrived in Adelaide on Saturday 19 November with a further four kilometres of product expected to arrive on 28 November from Italy.

Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation. Warumungu representatives Jimmy Frank Jnr and Laurence Williams met with Māori delegates in Aotearoa on Tuesday for the repatriation of priceless Warumungu cultural materials. The important objects, which had long ago been sent to New Zealand, were from the collection of obtained by anthropologists Spencer and Gillen during the time they spent with the Warumungu people in early 1900s.

Farmers in Australia are watching the New Zealand Government with growing horror as they move from the announced 10 per cent cut in methane emissions to actual regulatory rules mandating these cuts take place, starting 2025. The climate change game was great fun while everyone played with monopoly money and they could afford to outbid each other with their virtue, but now that that we are moving to playing with real money and going from targets to taxes, it is clear the virtue signalling has ended and the targeting of who pays has begun.

Australia is set to pioneer a new era of sustainable sugar exports when the first-ever shipment of fully traceable, sustainably produced raw sugar is loaded for export at the Port of Townsville this week. In a world first, the sugar, produced from cane grown by Smartcane BMP accredited growers, will be traceable through the supply chain to the end user in South Korea.

Although she stars as a goalie, Jordon Fenton-Anderson, a 14-year-old from Cambooya, who has been scoring goals in her own way, recently returned to Australia from her first time wearing the green and gold, competing in the sport of futsal. Jordon was a member of the girls’ futsal team to tour the United Kingdom in October 2022.

Imagine being a talented, horse-loving teen stuck in the middle of a war. Instead of dreaming about representing your country at the Olympic Games, you are helping your family set your horses free in the hope they will survive the bombing. The one thing about horse lovers worldwide is they stick together ...

Chicken eggs have become inaccessible to Ukrainians. From January 2020 to October 2022, the average price of chicken eggs has increased 3 times! The price of 10 eggs increased from UAH 21.07 to UAH 60.1. Over the same time period, the average cost of food in Ukraine increased by 42.1 per cent. And the average salary increased by only 5 per cent.

John O'Donnell. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has recently prepared three useful fact sheets in regards to reducing wildfire risks, hazardous fuels and improving forest resilience ... These documents are valuable reading for those involved in land and fire management in Australia.

Australian engineers from global company RingIR will visit the US Department of Agriculture in Boston next month, to test whether their revolutionary technology can be used to ‘sniff out’ pests that attach themselves to containers or other cargo (known as hitchhiker pests).

When Karen Parrish decided to run an online youngstock show, judged on photos by the noted British judge Gill Wright, the show got entries not only from each Australian state, but from Germany, the US, France, UK and New Zealand. Almost every Mountain and Moorland breed was represented in pure and part-breds, up to three years of age.

Scott McArdle is blunt. “Gippsland’s forests need our help. Fire, floods, storms, drought, pests, weeds, neglect, exploitation and the changing climate are all taking a huge toll – but if we all work together, the future can be different.” Mr McArdle is the executive officer of a new group, the Gippsland Forest Dialogue (GFD), that aims to do just that – meet the challenges facing the region’s forests and find ways to move forward.

Kendall Jennings. With four group one race wins under his belt, former Myall lad, Jye McNeil, has been granted his international jockey licence. The 27-year-old heads to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for a six-week adventure, including the Longines Hong Kong International on December 11, with the possibility of the tenure increased.

Kalyx Australia, a national agricultural business, announced it has completed its acquisition of Staphyt Research Limited’s New Zealand business; a move that sees the company grow its presence for the first time beyond Australian shores. For over two decades now, Kalyx has been leading independent agricultural research in Australia with their national presence and operational excellence.

Improving food security, promoting global growth and cutting emissions can be achieved through the removal of agricultural subsidies and tariffs, according to the latest ABARES Insights report. Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville said the global community needed to find a way for agriculture to reduce emissions while also feeding the world’s population.

A bare base sitting on the outskirts of Weipa will come to life next year as Australian and American troops descend on the Cape as part of a major training exercise. RAAF Base Scherger will be a central location for Talisman Sabre, a biennial exercise that brings the Australian and United States armed forces together, along with other allied nations.