Leeton’s SunRice named top agricultural exporter
The SunRice group, with headquarters in Leeton, has won the Agribusiness, Food and Beverages Award at the 61st annual Australian Export Awards at Parliament House. The top prize was presented to CEO Paul Serra by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)… The decision by the Federal Government department to recognise SunRice came just days before the Federal Senate passed a controversial new bill giving the government increased powers to buy back water from irrigators.
Mighty Murray
The Murray River holds a special place in many hearts and minds of locals. The river brings life to the landscape and the people who live and rely on her. After a trip down the Murray River from Barham to Wellington in South Australia and back, retired land surveyor David Laughlin was left with reflections of natural beauty, lessons from the past and current management by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Merivale Street to open soon
Work is nearing an end at the Merivale Street crossing on the western side of Allora. After being washed out by flooding the crossing will have a larger, more solid culvert.
Australian Agriculture Outlook 2024: Rural Bank
Andrew Smith, Rural Bank Head of Agribusiness Development said: “As was the case for 2023, the three key themes that will impact Australian agriculture in the first half of 2024 continue to be seasonal conditions, trade conditions and economic headwinds, but looking to the upside, a more favourable economic environment is expected to begin supporting agricultural markets in the back half of 2024."
Signs ‘green shoots’ of optimism returning to Australia’s farm sector: Rabobank
Australia’s farmers are approaching the end of the year with a hint of improving optimism as rural confidence levels nudge slightly higher in the latest quarter. The Q4 Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, found net level farmer confidence across the nation edged up marginally…
The never never of live exports
Anyone tracking the media will see the Albanese government is in trouble, from the failed referendum through to promises to reduce power bills by $275 by 2025, to get wages growing faster than inflation and not to raid peoples super, it has a growing list of failed and broken promises ... You can see why the hard heads in government are quietly looking for a way to kick the live sheep trade issue down the road just as they have done with the Murray Darling promise.
Fire management, eucalypt ‘dieback’ and kidney disease in koalas
Vic Jurskis comments on a research article on the causes of morbidity and mortality in rescued koala joeys ... "academics don't see the big picture of forest ecology and management ... the scientific solution would be to restore frequent mild burning in the bush ... "
Happy 20th to The Living Murray program: MDBA
Basin states and the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) are jointly celebrating 20 years since the historic ‘first step’ decision to establish The Living Murray program. A forerunner of the 2012 Basin Plan, The Living Murray (TLM) program was initiated in response to compelling evidence of severe and long-term decline in the health of the Murray River system.
Is the rare Rosewood Mistletoe hiding in your backyard?
As the vibrant colours of spring blossom around us, Richmond Landcare is reaching out to the community with an urgent plea: investigate your backyard and help us uncover the rare and endangered Rosewood Mistletoe – Amyema plicatula.
Weather for November
Highest temperature was 43.8C on Saturday 11th compared to the record of 45.4C on the 29th in 2012 ... November rain was 28.4mm ... Highest November rain was 95.4mm in 1992 ... The river has remained reasonably steady a with current level of 0.85 metres and a flow of 769 ML/day, exactly the same as reported last month.
Voluntary home buy-back progress in Lockyer Valley: Neumann, Miles
Relocation, demolition and site rectification works are powering ahead on Lockyer Valley properties purchased under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back (VHBB) program ... 21 contracts of sale have now been settled in the Lockyer Valley, with more to come, allowing families to move on with their lives out of high-risk flood zones.
Dingo research – A dog’s breakfast: McArthur
The Victorian Government has launched a review of the current approaches to dingo management and conservation to quell its radical left-wing backers. At the same time, it has extended a legislative rule allowing control of dingoes by only one year, as opposed to five years in previous instances...
Inaugural statement from the Agriculture Climate Alliance: NFF
Farmers across the globe have united on climate with the newly formed Agriculture Climate Alliance. The Alliance has released its first statement from COP28 in Dubai ... “Farmers around the world are at the front line of climate change..." the statement says.
Draining red tape
Government red tape had to be addressed before Naracoorte Lucindale mayor Patrick Ross could take up his position as a local government representative on the SE Water Conservation and Drainage Board (SEWCDB). Operating under special legislation, the SEWCD Act mainly provides for the conservation and management of water and the prevention of flooding of rural land, among other things.
Amendment to federal environment laws trigger good news for Barkly’s future
The new laws update the ‘water trigger’ under Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) (the most important legislation that protects the environment in Australia), so new unconventional gas projects, like shale gas fracking, will be assessed by the Independent Expert Scientific Committee for their impact on water resources.
Making a life on the ‘continent of smoke’
Ian Osborne. As summer comes around again, our thoughts turn to the threat of bushï¬res. Every foreign navigator who sailed the coast of Australia, from William Dampier and Abel Tasman to Captain Cook, and later those carrying the immigrants who would settle the new south land had noted the prevalence of ï¬re along the continent’s edge .. It was, Cook said, 'the Continent of Smoke'.
Inlet forum told of record water flow
Alison Bennett Taylor. Wilson Inlet recorded its sharpest increase in water flow ever in one of the wettest starts to winter on record, according to a local research scientist ... Dr Elke Reichwaldt told the Wilson Inlet Catchment Forum that climate change was already impacting water flows into the inlet. June was the ï¬fth wettest month ever recorded in Denmark, with April also much wetter than average followed by an exceptionally dry May – unpredictable weather patterns that could be attributed to climate change.
Drone helps firefighters battle silo blaze
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters battled a blaze in a grain silo at Leeton and discovered a new use for their Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), or drones, that is expected to significantly reduce the length of emergency operations. The Leeton crew is now preparing to share this newfound capability with their firefighting colleagues across the nation.
Narrandera’s koala colony is thriving
Narrandera's koala colony, which has now grown to more than 290 over 1600 hectares, is being studied as part of the $190 million NSW Koala Strategy as a model for how to re-establish populations ... Drones with thermal cameras have been used to count the koalas and sound recorders are being installed in national parks, and on Crown land and farms along a 100-kilometre stretch of the river.
Water Bill opens old wounds
Communities who carried the burden of a Basin Plan corrupted by politics are once again looking down the barrel of mass buybacks. The impacts of water buybacks cannot be understated as communities were ripped apart, football clubs closed, huge areas of food production and habitat provision were dried out, industries retracted, driving increased costs and undermining sustainability, and the price of water was sent out of reach of many young farmers.
GBH redevelopment commitments confirmed amidst community concerns
A spokesperson for NSW Health Infrastructure has revealed planning for the Grafton Base Hospital (GBH) redevelopment is continuing, and confirmed there has been no change to the NSW Government’s $263.8 million investment commitment to improve health outcomes for residents of Grafton and surrounding communities ... following the recent release of the updated Clarence River Flood Model by CVC, there has been an increase in the Probable Maximum Flood Level across Grafton.
CFS and MFS joining forces
South Australia’s Country Fire Service and Metropolitan Fire Service brigades are joining forces on northern Yorke Peninsula. After a fire at Moonta Mines ... prompted some community confusion about local CFS and MFS jurisdictions ... the services announced they would adjust their response areas when needed to protect the community.
