Research

Research and development (R&D) funding for Australian agriculture in the fiscal year 2022-23 amounted to $2.32 billion, according to a new report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). Acting Executive Director of ABARES David Galeano said that while this figure was slightly lower than the previous year's $2.35 billion, it demonstrated the sustained commitment to increasing agricultural technology and knowledge.

The GRDC has partnered with the Australian National University (ANU) and industry partners to invest in research to accelerate the development of climate-resilient crops … investment will focus on the development of heat tolerant wheat genetics, as well as determining what makes a wheat crop able to survive, grow and produce yields under high-temperature conditions.

The Australian almond industry is on track to enjoy a "much better year in 2024", Rabobank says in a newly-released report, with producers expecting to see margin improvement thanks to lower input prices, affordable water prices and high water availability, better climatic conditions and improving export prices.

Australia’s dairy import and export mix is "slowly trading places" – with export volumes falling sharply in recent years while imports have spiked, Rabobank says in a newly- released report.

New data shows mixed fortunes for an Australian horticulture sector facing numerous challenges; however, the long-term outlook remains strong with total production value increasing by 2.8 per cent to $16.3B. The latest edition of the Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook ... includes information on 75 different horticulture categories across fruit, vegetables, nuts, and greenlife.

New research shows the South Australian economy could lose over $103 million every year if jetties along our coastlines ceased to exist, supporting calls for the State Government to increase funding for repairs and maintenance. Released by the Local Government Association, the Value of Jetties report for the first time places a dollar figure on just how much jetties are worth to SA communities and the economy.

What do the scientists say about the fire ants at Wardell? Will they spread? How worried should we be? Originally from South America, the fire ants are considered one of the world’s most invasive pests.

Australia’s agricultural sector is "moving confidently into 2024", with an overall positive outlook for the nation’s farmers and agribusiness industries in the year ahead, Rabobank says in its newly-released annual outlook ... while agri commodity prices are "well down on the highs seen over the previous two years", the bank’s price forecasts point to "continued positive farm margins in key agricultural sectors in 2024"

With global sea surface temperatures being warmest on record for the past nine months consecutively, there is potential for marine heat stress impacts this summer including in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. In anticipation, monitoring is underway throughout the Lord Howe Island lagoon to detect signs of disturbance from elevated water temperatures.

“Good crop disease management will be required in 2024 due to the early summer rain events and potential disease risk in south-east of Victoria,” Agriculture Victoria Research Scientist Dr Hari Dadu has confirmed.   The cereal disease expert will be outlining his approach at the BCG Members’ Only Trials Review Day on Friday, February 23, at the Birchip Leisure Centre.  

Why do we have sacred topics? Ideas, theories or policies that appear to be off limits ... Three sacred topics of late have been Covid-19, climate and carbon. What happens when ‘misinformation’ actually is proven correct?

The 2023 Australian Beef Eating Quality Insights (ABEQI) report has shown that the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) program generated $463 million in farm gate returns for producers over the past two years. The ABEQI report was generated through the analysis of all MSA graded cattle in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial years using data collected by MSA-accredited graders...

For an organisation that invests a considerable portion of their half a billion dollar budget predicting what’s going to happen in 100 years’ time, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has fallen short on the all-important, short term forecasts ... Farmers want less climate change lecturing on the doomsday predictions of global warming, and more lectures on the complexity of the dynamic system that actually influences the day to day, week to week, and month to month rain and temperature that impacts their annual production.

Margrit Beemster. Research has been conducted in the Yallakool Creek and upper Wakool River near Deniliquin to find an easier way to detect adult freshwater mussels and to better understand why mussels are no longer as plentiful as they once were.

Patricia Gill. A Denmark Community Foundation-commissioned report on social isolation has found that Denmark has more people living alone than the rest of WA. Economist Juliet Grist of Rural and Regional Economic Solutions undertook desktop research and case study analysis of social isolation in Denmark.

Tasmanian farmers have the opportunity to take a close-up look at the results of a three-year industrial hemp variety trial at a field day to be held in the Northern Midlands ... Fairfield is home to one of nine sites across the country that make up the AgriFutures Australia national Industrial Hemp Variety Trial (IHVT) program.

Industrial hemp grower and country music legend James Blundell will open the gates to his southern Queensland property where a range of different industrial hemp varieties are being trialled for their suitability to the local growing conditions ... The sites are among nine across the country that make up the AgriFutures Australia national Industrial Hemp Variety Trial (IHVT) program...

Michelle Daw. A shark behaviour specialist believes a three-pronged approach is needed to reduce the likelihood and impact of shark attacks. Professor Charlie Huveneers is a marine ecologist at Flinders University and a keen surfer.

Is this really how harvested forests are left? Australian Rural & Regional News looks into recent statements that highlight continuing conflicting and confusing information in the public domain about connections between forestry operations and bushfires and whether prescribed burns reduce bushfire risk.

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 ... "

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...

New research focused on Australian thoroughbreds is now available to help understand the impact of a range of lesions on a yearling’s potential racing performance. The  Investigation of what radiographic lesions in thoroughbred yearlings are significant in limiting future racing performance  project was delivered by AgriFutures Australia in conjunction with The University of Queensland and has significant implications across the industry.