Research

A collaborative research project led by Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie has the potential to improve the health and care services for people living with Parkinson’s disease in rural, regional, and remote Australia ... Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder globally, after Alzheimer’s disease...

John O'Donnell believes that many of the forested fire grounds across south eastern Australia are way too dangerous to fight bushfires and for firefighter safety and that, as a society, we have learnt very little following 2019/20 bushfires and bushfires before that, especially in regards to bushfire mitigation and safety. John has identified 21 main areas of concern in relation to bushfire firefighter safety in forested areas.

Brief webinar to showcase research conducted on a commercial farm in Tasmania, where steers were allowed ad libitum (free) access to feed-grade biochar. The webinar will discuss results measured for liveweight gains, pasture composition and growth, manure and soil organic carbon, enteric methane emissions and cost-benefit modelling

Scientists from Australia and the United States are teaming up to tackle one of animal science’s biggest challenges: a safe and effective vaccine against African swine fever, a viral pandemic devastating the world’s pig industries. CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, is working with US biotech firm MBF Therapeutics to evaluate their novel DNA vaccine candidate for African swine fever.

A trial oyster hatchery in Wilson Inlet will need steady marine exchange to maintain salinity for the spats to continue their promising growth ... Marine biologist Zak Launay, who previously harvested mussels commercially in the inlet, said the oysters could grow to commercial size in about half the time of the standard growth cycle.

Pests and weeds are costing farmers a combined $5.3 billion a year in both management and production loss ... ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the latest ABARES report, Cost of established pest animals and weeds to Australian agricultural producers, was an eye-opening reminder of the immense task of managing pests and weeds.

Scientists are developing a vaccine-like solution to arm Aussie citrus growers with an effective way to combat citrus tristeza virus (CTV), a significant challenge for the Australian citrus industry ... The impact of CTV on citrus crops can vary from no effect to 100 per cent tree death, depending on the variant.

Despite low mouse activity reported around Australia, grain growers are being asked to remain vigilant and harvest cleanly to enhance future baiting effectiveness and increase on-farm profitability. Leading mouse experts recently spoke at the National Mouse Group Meeting supported by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) investment, where the link between harvest losses and baiting effectiveness was discussed.

We live in a digital era where vast amounts of information are collected by government. It is easy to store and retrieve so why is access to this information stuck in the Dark Ages? What we need is for government departments' data to be made far more accessible. We need them to post all the most obvious metrics that we, as taxpayers and consumers of government services, need to hold them to account.

A potential new non-lethal and ethical approach to control invasive mammal pests was showcased at a briefing held at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide ... Hosted by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and the University of Adelaide, the briefing introduced guests to a world-first breakthrough in gene drive technology.

The ‘Westfund Regional Health Gap Report’ shows that access to healthcare remains an ongoing issue for Australians in regional areas, with half (49 per cent) of respondents considering the wait time to see their GP unreasonable, some having to wait up to six weeks to get an appointment, and many having to travel more than two hours for an in-person consultation with specialists ... Mark Genovese, Westfund CEO, answers some questions from ARR.News about general trends, specific initiatives for specific areas, digital health care and more.

Recent Dietetic students David and Dylan from Deakin University conducted a project for East Wimmera Health Services (EWHS) regarding Diabetes in the area. The following is a summary article of their findings and recommendations for improving the service and overall health of consumers within the EWHS catchment areas.

The population of planet Earth is increasing. But the area of the planet is not growing. Sooner or later, this will make famine a mortal threat to the population of many countries. Scientific and technological progress will not save everyone. After all, increasing the efficiency of agricultural labour can solve the problem only when the area of agricultural land is sufficient for this. Therefore, food wars will become part of the future of humanity. The first such war is already underway. This is the war in Ukraine!

After extreme market volatility and record-high prices in recent years, global fertiliser prices are expected to settle in 2024, despite uncertainty posed by the Israel-Hamas conflict as it currently stands, Rabobank says in a new report. In its just-released Semi Annual Fertiliser Outlook, titled What is next?, the agribusiness banking specialist says while the Israel-Hamas conflict creates some uncertainty in the outlook for fertiliser markets, the current impact for the food and agri sectors is manageable.

Blink and you’d miss it- the Varroa mite’s minute presence is all but invisible to the naked eye. Yet the tiny mite is the greatest known threat to Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry. For nearly a year and a half the industry has been battling the tiny parasite, cumulating in the largest biosecurity outbreak in the country’s history and initiating a Federal $132 million varroa response plan.

The annual assessment of Commonwealth fish stocks from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has found that the majority of stocks assessed were both not overfished and not subject to overfishing. The ABARES Fishery status reports 2023 provides an annual, independent assessment of the biological and economic status of Commonwealth managed fisheries.

Australia’s agricultural workforce is steadily growing and changing, with more women and young people joining the sector. The ABARES Insights Snapshot of Australia’s agricultural workforce shows the changing state of the agricultural workforce based on data from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has published new analysis of the broader market conditions and economic contribution of the red meat industry in the latest State of the Industry Report 2023. The report produced by MLA provides an overview of Australia’s red meat and livestock industry from the prior calendar year.

Wimmera farmers have provided a valuable insight into changes in farming practices, future priorities and key challenges in Australia’s longest running research project of its type.

Peer-reviewed research published in the Australian Forestry journal has confirmed something that forest firefighters have long known: if forests are left unburned for many years, they still carry heavy bushfire fuels, making firefighting difficult and dangerous. The new research demolishes the theory that if forests are left unburnt, they become non-flammable ... the scientists measured and analysed fuels in karri forests that ranged from 1 to 92 years since last being burned.

The Rural Bank Australian Farmland Values Report has tracked every farmland sale annually for almost three decades and is the longest running analysis of the farmland market in Australia.  This special edition, supplemented by farmland sales data from DAS (Digital Agriculture Services), is a mid-year market update to inform vendors and purchasers about movements in transaction volumes and sale prices around Australia since the issue of the annual edition in May 2023.