Land & environment

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board says it has not received any feedback that low-flying helicopters have impacted spring lambing or calving. The board also says it has not received any complaints its letters to farmers from its lawyer are threatening.

John Murphy. Next Thursday ... will mark exactly 100 years since the residents of Corryong were connected to reticulated (piped) or mains pressure water ... Corryong was officially designated a town in 1875 and from that time until late 1924 householders and businesses were totally reliant for all their domestic and trade water needs on water tanks and often, unreliable wells sunk into granite soil.

Sophie Baldwin. Roger Reid thought he was doing the right thing when he made the decision to invest some big dollars into water efficiency projects on his mixed farming property in the Riverina. However, Roger has been left scratching his head and questioning his decision this season, after the Bullatale Creek was reduced to water holes and he couldn’t access water.

Snowy Valleys Council (SVC) has issued a blue-green algae ‘Red Alert’ for Mannus Lake and warning signs are in effect at key recreational areas around the lake. Red alert levels represent ‘bloom’ conditions.

Peter Walsh MP. All roads led to Barmah at the weekend as hundreds of people scrambled for access to hundreds of tonnes of flood-damaged fallen trees rescued for use as firewood. Coming out of the Barmah Forest, the wood was originally pushed into 70 large piles and was going to be burnt by Parks Victoria staff.

Sebastian Calderon. An innovative project based in the Riverland is aiming to improve the potential use and benefits of groundwater. Last month, a small reverse-osmosis (RO) plant was installed on Century Orchards, in Loxton, with the objective of identifying different pathways to diversify water sources and relieve resource pressure on the Murray River.

This year, global grain production will be somewhere between 2.5 and 3.0 billion tonnes, of that around 500 million tonnes will be available for export ... Take your pick as to the impact of going organic, but on average, between a third and half the world starves. But what about just taking out paraquat and glyphosate—the foundation chemicals for no-till farming?

The Federal Government is again being called out for rushing through risky and untested reforms that seek to gain more power for themselves, prior to the upcoming election. Consultation soon closes on their recent grab, to list two new areas as "endangered" under national environment law, replicating a controversial and subsequently, disallowed move by the former Labor Government in 2013.

Dr Gary Bacon AM. Rare it is to have a definitive historical date and place for the discovery of a natural renewable resource that is the foundation of an industry which prospers to the present day. Tuesday 21 September 1824 is that note-worthy date and we have a precise record of that discovery on the banks of the Brisbane River.

Residents of South Hay have been surprised by the sudden appearance of a deer in the street. The animal was spotted in Lang Street, hopping from garden to garden, though the grounds of Comfort Inn Bishop's Lodge Motel, before heading along the busy Sturt Highway.

Independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, says a new Water Register she has convinced the NSW Government to introduce will help stop money laundering as well as the secret purchase of Australian water by foreign governments. She introduced the bill to parliament late last year, with the aim to force NSW politicians to declare their water interests on our conflict-of-interest form.

For two years, people have been living free of charge in temporary housing villages known as pods. The 11 housing pod villages including ones at Coraki and Evans Head were set up after the 2022 flood disaster in response to the housing crisis.

Matthew Harrison, uTas. A webinar was held relating to how planting trees on farm impacts on biodiversity and natural capital. A range of models were used to examine spatially-explicit carbon sequestration and changes in biodiversity over time.

The days of high level water restrictions should be over soon for Vale View residents as their water is connected to the Toowoomba Bulk Water Supply ... the $1.5 million Vale View Pipeline connection program is an investment as Council continues to plan and deliver critical water infrastructure to support the future needs of townships across our region.

The NSW Government is getting on the front foot ahead of bushfire season with helicopter inspections underway on fire trails across the state to prioritise maintenance work ... Helicopter-based inspections are considered more efficient than ground patrols by vehicles, particularly in remote and less-accessible areas, and reduce check times from months to weeks.

... it’s disturbing to read in a recently released EPA document that South32 propose to follow Woodside's example and ‘sterilise’ over 4,000 hectares of freehold land—good farmland—as a means of appeasing the environmental gods ... This is the same mad formula Woodside is following: take freehold cleared farmland and ease their guilt by planting trees that will never be harvested, with the land lost to agricultural production, including tree farming, forever.

"The decision is a massive win for common sense and community voices ... Narrow-minded sectional groups will still claim these dogs are dingoes but for people who have seen them up close they know the truth. The order talks about dingoes but as most already know this order allows dog men to control wild dogs – hybrid killing machines, dingo and domestic crossbreds – on the edge of farmland": Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley.

Hugh Schuitemaker. The Riverland’s state MP is among political figures calling for the State Government to support local wine grape growers who have experienced severe crop damage from frost ... Barker MP Tony Pasin said increased support was needed to ensure primary producers could sustain through ongoing weather challenges.

Hugh Schuitemaker. Riverland grape growers have been left devastated by last week’s frost damage, which has been described by some as the worst they can remember. Ongoing low temperatures, which saw -2.2C recorded in Renmark ... caused extensive damage to vines across the region ... 919 Wines director and winemaker Eric Semmler said approximately 98 per cent of his Glossop vineyard was lost.

Tony Mahar is a seriously good operator, widely respected across the ag sector, but one suspects the government is hoping he’ll morph into their Lord Hee-Haw—a smooth-talking apologist who can help them roll out their 40 turbines a month, and thousands of kilometres of power lines across picturesque rural farmland  by 2030 ... The government must be worried as the bush is in revolt and the government's secret polling must have them worried.  Hence the roll out of the conservative version of Henry Kissinger to calm the locals.