Land & environment

Extreme weather, the rising Aussie dollar and fluctuating global demand have driven a complex start to the year for Australian agriculture, Bendigo Bank’s Agribusiness Insights team outline. Key insights from the latest Commodity Update include Pressure on producers as extreme weather impacts livestock, damages infrastructure...

Forestry Corporation of NSW has deployed 10 firefighters to South Australia to support firefighting operations following several weeks of assistance in Victoria ... In recent weeks, Forestry Corporation deployed 20 firefighters to Victoria to assist with the Walwa River Road fire in both Field and Incident Management (IMT) positions.

Vytelle last week announced the commercial release of Vytelle SENSE™ Methane, a methane phenotyping system that costs a fraction of available systems and enables concurrent measurement of intake and sustainability. The technology was featured at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association CattleCon in Nashville on February 3, where producers saw live demonstrations.

More than 120 farmers across the state are working with government experts to develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their property ... The plans are designed to help farmers baseline their emissions, understand where their emissions are coming from, and what carbon farming practices they can implement on their farm, including extensive livestock, dairy and mixed farming systems. One of those farmers is Casino dairy farmer Fleur Tonge.

For the purposes of Australia's GHG inventory, bushfires are treated as a event about which we can do nothing and the emissions they produce are not counted. However, perversely, emissions from prescribed or cultural burning and other land management done to minimise bushfire risk are counted and so count against Australia's Net Zero goal.

Australia’s Oyster Coast (AOC) has commenced 2026 with positive momentum, announcing the acquisition of an oyster farm at Pambula on the NSW Far South Coast. The purchase deepens the company’s geographic footprint, strengthens its Rock Oyster supply capability and reinforces its position as Australia’s largest Sydney Rock Oyster producer.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has released a Discussion Paper to support public consultation on the Basin Plan Review. In accordance with the Water Act 2007, the Authority is required to review the Basin Plan before the end of 2026 ... “Through the Discussion Paper the Authority has explored progress that has been made to date and considered some of the issues and challenges for the Basin as we look forward over the next decade”: MDBA Chief Executive Andrew McConville.

The latest floods have again shown that the ‘data’ used by the bureaucrats in Brisbane for all things water is farcical, or terribly inaccurate at best, The Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader, and Member for Traeger has said ... “The Department simply have no idea how much water there is! They’re the same Department who openly say there isn’t enough water to release to farmers.”

The Cook Labor Government’s approach to fire management has become so reckless that it is only a matter of time before lives are lost, according to Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Hon Rob Horstman MLC ... “Day after day, I am hearing of yet another Government-approved burn being lit while temperatures soar and fires rip through national parks and native bushland."

Nanarup has been chosen as the site for the proposed small scale seawater desalination plant, a vital project that will secure the Lower Great Southern region's water future and support its continued growth. Planning for a new, climate-resilient water source began in 2009, with seven potential locations identified between Walpole in the west and areas 50 kilometres east of Albany.

The Murray Valley Highway was re-opened to the public on Monday following the completion of post fire repairs and hazardous tree works in the aftermath of the Walwa-Mt Lawson blaze. However, motorists are being urged to use caution when travelling on the road and to adhere to changed traffic conditions including speed restrictions ... Incident Controller, Tim Gazzard, said fire-affected trees continue to pose an ongoing risk to the community well after a fire has passed.

Continued above-average daytime and overnight temperatures and below average rainfall for parts of central and south-east Australia are likely from February to April, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's latest long-range forecast ... "Some areas have an increased chance of unusually high maximum temperatures (over 50 per cent chance), including Tasmania, much of Western Australia, and parts of the east," the bureau said.

Australia's largest water reform, the Murray Darling Basin Plan, was sold to communities as a balanced, adaptable plan, with a triple bottom line of communities, agriculture, and the environment, and supposedly based on the best available science. Unfortunately, nothing appeared further from the truth.

"I have never experienced fire behaviour like it on the ground," Jarrod said, and the weight of those decades of experience makes the statement hit harder. "The first day we experienced temperatures of about 62 degrees on the top of the hill, 108 kilometre an hour winds."

New data has revealed the NSW Government is contributing just ‘bits of bacon’ to the desperate effort to curb feral pigs, the state’s peak farm body says. Media reports of 53,000 feral pigs culled by authorities over the past year were dwarfed by the estimated tens of millions of the pests farmers were reporting in the paddock, NSW Farmers’ President Xavier Martin said.

Sam Starcevich - Farmer Across Borders gives us the latest from the road. Plus your weekly farming weather and all of your rural news.

Founder of Summer Spirit, Summer Adams, was named Highly Commended in the Young Citizen of the Year category for her remarkable commitment to wildlife conservation, community service and youth empowerment ... Scarlett Cheetham was nominated for Young Citizen of the Year, in recognition of her longstanding commitment to kindness, volunteering, and environmental and marine conservation initiatives.

Geopolitics remains the "dominant risk factor" for Australian agriculture in the year ahead, Rabobank says in its newly-released annual outlook, with the prospect that fast-changing global trade rules and volatile commodity prices are set to continue.

Daniel Puentes. Donald's venue for Australia Day was the pool; a welcome change, as the summer heat was no joke on the day. As the venue opened, people came and set up their chairs and prepared for a fantastic day at the pool. At 10 a.m., the emcee, Chloe Frank gathered everyone's attention for the singing of the national anthem and the reading of the pledge.

Michelle Daw. Environment Minister Lucy Hood has called a hastily arranged community forum at Corny Point this week, following growing criticism of the state government's handling of the harmful algal bloom affecting southern Yorke Peninsula ... Public frustration escalated over the weekend following reported comments by Premier Peter Malinauskas, who stated the algal bloom was "non-existent in most of the state" — remarks that have drawn strong backlash from affected coastal communities.

Madison Eastmond. Additional hot-weather measures are being adopted by Riverland schools, as students brave an intense heatwave – including yesterday's 49C scorcher – for the first week of the 2026 school year ... "This is definitely the hottest beginning of a school year we have had in a while," said Barmera Primary School principal Jayne Foulds.