Research

Frogs are in trouble. While many of the world's animal species are now at risk from habitat loss, climate change and other human pressures, it is frogs that are particularly at risk ... "Farm dams, often overlooked in the conservation context, have emerged as potential lifelines for numerous species during dry spells, including frogs": Dr Martino Malerba.

Brace yourselves for the triumphant return of the Indigenous Australian Datathon (IAD) as it gears up for its third consecutive year in Cairns, from the 3rd to the 5th of November 2023. Spearheaded by KJR in collaboration with James Cook University (JCU), tech pioneers and communities, IAD is set to create waves of innovation uniting Traditional Owners, technologists, data professionals, start-ups, and students in an extraordinary quest to revolutionise the future of Australian communities.

New analysis from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has led to the European Commission’s recognition of the Australian canola industry’s low-emissions credentials for the second time, enabling local canola growers continued access to lucrative international markets.  Australia is a major supplier of canola to the European Union (EU) biodiesel market, with over 1.8 million tonnes exported annually to European countries.

Farmers aspire to leave their farm to the next generation in a better condition they received it in. Improving and securing soil is an important part of achieving such an aspiration ... The University of Sydney and AFI are undertaking research to deliver a process to measure human connectivity to soil.

A new handbook released by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, will guide businesses – including farmers, forest growers, mining companies and non-governmental organisations – on how to report and account for their natural assets to better protect our environment. Much of the value and growth from our economy is drawn from natural resources as a variety of industries depend on, and profit, from them.

Agriculture Victoria’s Horsham SmartFarm recently provided local students hands-on experience of climate action research, with a focus on preserving important grains and plants for the future. The visit was by a group of students who are currently studying Agricultural and Horticultural Science at Goroke P-12 College.

Ten of the nation's leading agricultural research organisations are pooling their powers to bolster on-farm adoption of research outcomes and returns to farmers ... Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield said it was crucial for agricultural research organisations to collaborate on cross-industry priorities such as research adoption.

Young car joyriders likened the adrenalin rush from car theft to the effects of drug or alcohol use. Some noted, yet often disregarded, fears of death or injury as the result of a car accident. And the prospect of gaining, or losing, a job is a stronger motivator than incarceration for joyriders.

A chance conversation with a landholder interested in the methane-reducing properties of red seaweed prompted a research team led by Deakin University to examine if there were freshwater alternatives. A mix of algae scooped out of a Victorian waterway and a species of amphibious grass plucked from a stream have both been found to reduce methane production by up to 24 per cent...

Vic Jurskis. Koala plagues and megafires go together. Koalas are breeding faster than ever on all the soft young growth generated by Black Summer. The scrub development is unprecedented. Our next extreme fire season will kill more people and animals than ever before. But the koala is in no danger of extinction.

Australian research project, Farming for the Future releases preliminary findings. In a study of global significance and at a scale never previously undertaken, Phase 2 of the Farming for the Future research program has collected financial, ecological and social data from 130 Australian grazing and cropping enterprises...

A reader has questioned the appropriateness of the place name ‘Munyang’ in relation to the Snowy Mountains, as referenced on the new sign at Farrans Lookout on the Great River Road ... "My research goes back to notes I discovered in the Mitchell Library in Sydney written in 1838, a few years after Europeans first entered the district": John Murphy.

Serena Kirby. Private homes rented as holiday accommodation are not the cause of Denmark’s housing shortage. The finding was revealed in Denmark Futures’ research over the past 18 months and presented at a community forum last month.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is seeking grassfed beef producers to take part in the piloting of an online platform that is under development in the Environmental Credentials of Australian grassfed beef project ... The platform covers five environmental themes: tree cover, ground cover, carbon balance, biodiversity stewardship, and drought resilience.

The sun and the sea – both abundant and free – are being harnessed in a unique project to create vertical sea farms floating on the ocean that can produce fresh water for drinking and agriculture. In what is believed to be a world first, UniSA researchers have designed a self-sustaining solar-driven system that evaporates seawater and recycles it into freshwater, growing crops without any human involvement.

Targeted co-investments and favourable policy settings promoting the establishment and retention of new domestic fertiliser operations are required to unshackle Australia from its dependence on overseas supply, a GrainGrowers report has found.  The Fertilisers of the Future Report examines in depth the so-called big three fertiliser inputs – nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium...

Minister for Regional Development Harriet Shing announced the new study for a renewable fuel manufacturing hub in the portside city ... The feasibility study will be led by Portland H2 – a subsidiary of HAMR Energy - – towards establishing a plant converting plantation forestry residue to green methanol.

Improved affordability of agricultural fertiliser is set to prompt a recovery in demand and application rates by farmers next season, Rabobank says in a recently-released report. In its Australian Fertiliser Outlook 2024/25, the specialist agribusiness bank says Australian farm fertiliser consumption had declined 20 per cent in 2022...

In a monumental leap towards a greener future, AgriFutures Australia proudly presents the outcomes of the Carbon Initiative Program, a $2 million commitment fueling 15 pioneering research projects. The 15 projects have not only enriched current industry-specific endeavours towards a net-zero future but have also forged new frontiers in cross-industry carbon research.

This report projects an outlook for the economy and the Australian Government’s budget over the next 40  years. It examines the long-term sustainability of current policies and how demographic, technological and other structural trends may affect the economy and the budget.

A surge of millennials leaving Australia’s capital cities for country communities is helping drive a regional renaissance, new research from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found ... The report shows Local Government Areas (LGAs) such as Dungog (NSW), Loddon (VIC), Blackall Tambo (QLD), Tumby Bay (SA) and Chapman Valley (WA) all saw significant net migration rates for the millennial cohort.

With help from recreational anglers, long term tag-and-release programs ... have revealed a level of connectivity of kingfish between states across mainland Australia, as well as offshore sites such as LHI and NZ. However, the frequency of such long-distance movements and the whereabouts of spawning-sized kingfish ... between release and recapture remain a mystery ... Project Kingfish aims to fill these knowledge gaps.