Research

A new round of a vineyard resting trial that enables red wine grape growers to save up to $2,000 per hectare in input, water, and management costs, has opened today. The new trial will provide growers additional time to make diverse business decisions as the state’s wine industry continues to experience an oversupply of red wine grapes, following challenging market conditions and changing global preferences.

Growing production in Australia’s ‘tree nut’ industry – as significant almond and macadamia orchards reach maturity over the next few years – will provide opportunities to meet growing international demand according to new industry research. In its just-released report, Australian Tree Nut Outlook – opportunities and risks in almonds and macadamias … Rabobank says Australia’s tree nut industry is currently in a "period of growth".

An insect species that evolved 130 million years ago is the inspiration for a  new research study  to improve navigation systems in drones, robots, and orbiting satellites. The dung beetle is the first known species to use the Milky Way at night to navigate, focusing on the constellation of stars as a reference point to roll balls of dung in a straight line away from their competitors.

Education and community awareness, removal of problem animals and exclusion areas are significantly more effective in reducing saltwater crocodile attacks in the Northern Territory than a widespread culling program to reduce crocodile numbers, according to a new study. The study outlined why culling the reptiles to reduce density was not a cost-effective, or efficient solution, in reducing crocodile attacks.  

An expected increase in global cotton supply in the 2024/25 season is weighing on prices for Australian producers, as export markets look to absorb large volumes from the US and Brazil, Rabobank says in a recently-released report. The agribusiness banking specialist says expectations are that world cotton stocks will rise in the coming season – largely driven by a recovery in production in the US and a potential record crop in Brazil.

Researchers warn the animals we eat could be the gateway for a pandemic in the form of antimicrobial resistance, unleashing a wave of deadly superbugs ... The researchers analysed this public health and food security challenge in the food animal industry in Southeast Asia for the International Journal of Food Science and Technology.

Researchers from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) are taking the idea of "try before you buy" straight to the bank to make it easier for farmers to utilise ag tech. The $3.7 million research project … investigates how to better utilise existing and emerging ag technologies to improve drought resilience for grain farmers.

Judy Kennedy. Ticks; a tiny but mighty pain for the Australian beef industry, taking a $146 million-dollar bite out of the sector every year. But after more than 18 years research which began in the Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (now QDAF), a vaccine is showing powerful potential to disrupt the life cycle of the cattle tick.

Australian researchers are peering into the future to prepare for tomorrow’s biggest biosecurity risks. ​The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA) has developed forecasting models that analyse changing climates and international trade flows to determine which pests will hit Australia hardest over the coming decades.

New data released by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today shows that the impact of extreme weather on the Australian economy has more than tripled over the last three decades. Insured losses from declared insurance catastrophes have grown from 0.2 of GDP from 1995 to 2000 to 0.7 per cent for the last five years ... The new data analysis is contained in the Insurance Council of Australia’s Insurance Catastrophe Resilience Report 2023-24, released today.

Matthew Harrison. With global temperature rise likely to exceed 1.5oC by 2050, interest in the development of skills, practices and technologies for removing carbon dioxide to avoid dangerous climate change abounds. One way to do this is via improved storage of soil organic carbon (SOC), as incremental gains in soil carbon at scale can have massive effect on residual CO2 circulating in the atmosphere.

Australia's national science agency CSIRO is calling on all Aussies to record koala sightings in the Koala Spotter all, to help build the most accurate national population count to date ... The latest koala national population estimate according to NKMP is between 224,000 and 524,000. The next estimate is due in March 2025.

Laboratory-based study confirms bacteriophages can suppress the growth of rattles-causing bacteria in soil. A ground-breaking project led by Dr Gary Muscatello at The University of Sydney has paved the way for a novel potential management strategy to combat Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals, commonly known as ‘rattles’.

As countries including Australia embrace renewable energy production, a recent study sheds light on some overlooked impacts of this transition. While the benefits of renewable energy are well-established, researchers are also examining the less discussed economic and social impacts of the move towards ‘green’ energy.

Rural libraries make up 81 per cent of all public libraries in Ukraine. In the near future, the number of these libraries may be reduced by 5 times. Libraries have failed to become attractive and profitable in a market economy. However, no one has tried to make them so.

Charles Darwin University (CDU) researchers are calling out for over 500 citizen scientists living in the northern part of the Territory and Western Australia to collect water samples from their bores using sampling kits in a bid to increase water security.  Groundwater is stored beneath the Earth’s surface and is often seen as out of sight and out of mind, but it is an important permanent source of water in otherwise dry landscapes.  

The Game Management Authority (GMA) recently released the Estimates of the 2023 deer harvest in Victoria report. Results show an estimated 137,090 deer were harvested in 2023 which is an 11 per cent increase on the estimated 123,400 deer harvested in 2022 and a 59 per cent increase on the long-term average of 86,400.

Robert Onfray. Over the past two years, I have quietly compiled a significant body of evidence detailing instances of research misconduct and fraud, including data fabrication and manipulation. My story highlights how scientific research and public policies are often swayed by special interest groups and political agendas, leading to manipulation, censorship, and the suppression of data.

Increases in the price of wheat and lamb helped lift the NAB Rural Commodities Index* for the third consecutive month, rising by 0.4 per cent in June. NAB’s July Rural Commodities Wrap … reports while the wheat price rally slowed in June, prices continued to rise, increasing 3.5 per cent on average over the month.

Understanding the "basics of emissions" is becoming increasingly important for Australia’s farmers as the sector faces growing expectations to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farm … In a new guide produced for its farming clients ... Rabobank says as large corporations – including food and agribusiness companies – become more active in managing climate impact across their full supply chain, this is expected to have increasing market access implications for farmers.

New research from the University of South Australia shows that the Australian seafood industry has become more resilient to food shocks – a good sign, with Australians eating more seafood now than ever before. Shocks are a sudden and dramatic loss in food production and can impact food security, as well as local industries and livelihoods.