Research

Fergus O'Sullivan, History Guild. The Battle of Cape Spada was a short, violent encounter on the 19th of July, 1940 where the cruiser HMAS Sydney of the Royal Australian Navy sank one Italian cruiser and severely damaged another off the coast of Crete. In this article, we go over the events of that day, as well as what life was like for the crew of the ship.

Good rainfall and high commodity prices have driven strong farm financial performance for 2021-22. Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville said cropping farms had reported higher than average cash incomes over the last year.

Citizen science has made an important contribution to an FRDC-funded project to predict the impact of climate change on three fish species of increasing recreational and commercial importance in Tasmania ... Data from the project was gathered from several sources, including fish frames (skeletons) donated by recreational fishers at 16 drop off points around Tasmania, which yielded 801 frames in the 24 months to July 2021. Frames were also donated by commercial fishers and fish processors.

Rodney Stevens. As the Clarence Valley was bathed in warming winter sun last week, Associate Professor Hannah Power was relishing the conditions more than 20 kilometres offshore, sampling the seafloor for signs of tsunami potential. Dr Power was among a team of 32 scientists and university students who were in Clarence Coast waters over the past week in CSIRO Research Vessel Investigator, mapping the ocean floor to investigate the East Coast tsunami risk.

Results of the quarter two Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, reveal optimism about high agricultural commodity prices and the prospect of a third consecutive bumper grains harvest has been reined in by the increasing cost of vital farm inputs such as fertiliser, fuel, freight and machinery and broader inflationary pressures in the Australian economy.

While global milk production is set to have decreased for at least four consecutive quarters from Q3 2021 to the current quarter Q2 2022 expectations of weakening demand are creating a scenario for moderate price declines in dairy commodities during the second half of 2022, Rabobank says in its latest global Dairy Quarterly report.

An invited presentation by Associate Professor Matthew Harrison from the University of Tasmania presents a summary of recent research in climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation for the agriculture sector. Questions are welcome.

First-mover companies around the world are taking the next steps to meet their emissions reduction goals and beginning to release climate-neutral beef products on to shelves, Rabobank says in its latest global Beef Quarterly report.

New research by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, shows Australian coastal plastic pollution has decreased by 29 per cent, the surprise discovery revealed as part of a broader project assessing waste reduction efforts.

Delegates at the  River reflections  annual water conference heard about the challenges we all face due to climate change and how we must work together to make the Murray–Darling Basin ready for a more variable, drier and hotter future. In his address,  The future of the Murray–Darling Basin,  Murray–Darling Basin Authority Chair Sir Angus Houston said we must adjust our approach based on what we have learnt and continue in partnership with experts, communities and First Nations People.

Evidence of an important koala population in Kosciuszko National Park has been revealed by new surveys ... conducted in November 2021 and February 2022 that recorded male koalas at 14 sites within the park’s Byadbo Wilderness Area. “This is good news because until these recent surveys, there had only been 16 recorded sightings of koalas in Kosciuszko in more than 80 years,” Mr Griffin said ... ARR.News asks some questions of the Minister.

A new state of the art gene bank has been opened in Morocco by the  International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Gene banks play a crucial role in providing the materials required by researchers and global breeding programs to develop high yielding, resilient and climate adapted crops.

Warwick O'Neill. Imagine you’re a young 20 year old bloke. You’ve just struggled across sixty miles of some of the toughest terrain on earth. You’ve had bugger all training, your weapons are obsolete because you’re “just Militia” and all the best stuff is being used by the Second AIF in North Africa. But here you are on the pointy end of the attempt to defend Australia from direct attack.

Delegates at the River reflections annual water conference today heard about the impacts of the massive sand slug in the Barmah-Millewa reach of the Murray River and the consequences to water users, the environment and local community if no action is taken to address it.

Australia is laying the groundwork for a third consecutive bumper harvest, with this year’s total planted crop area forecast to reach a record 23.83 million hectares, Rabobank says in its just-released 2022/23 Winter Crop Outlook ... Locally, the bank says, “hopes are on” another large winter crop to allow Australian farmers to secure good margins in the face of high costs for inputs including fertiliser, fuel, freight and agrochemicals.

Fergus O'Sullivan, History Guild. The North African campaigns of WW2 were two years of back and forth action across Libya and Egypt ... When the end eventually came to this seesaw action at El Alamein in 1942, again it was Australians were integral to carrying the day. In this article we’ll see this pivotal battle through the eyes of veterans from rural and regional Australia.

Loved for both their great taste and awesome sport fishing, the yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) is one of Australia’s most economically important fish species. Despite their importance, little is known about the species’ large-scale movements, fine-scale population structure or behaviours ... Project Kingfish aims to deploy satellite transmitters on mature-sized kingfish across the NSW east coast and key offshore habitats such as the Lord Howe Island Marine Park to gain further insights ...

Dr Jennifer Lavers. Since 2007, the Adrift Lab research team based in Tasmania has been fortunate to visit Lord Howe Island in Apr/May to study plastics ingested by two mutton-bird species, Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters. The database contains a wealth of information on the origin of items (e.g., bottle caps, balloon clips) and amount consumed by each bird species. Over time, it’s become one of the longest-running plastic monitoring programs in the world (certainly in the Southern Hemisphere).

Ongoing inflationary pressures, a weaker global economic outlook and the prospect of a wet winter across many production regions of Australia is causing volatility for the agriculture sector... NAB Senior Agribusiness Economist, Phin Ziebell, said Australian agriculture was facing a number of opportunities and risks as a result of current global conditions.

The Joint Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in Bioeconomy was signed by Queensland Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick and German Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger. Bioeconomies are an emerging model for government and business, with a greater focus on sustainably using renewable biological resources to produce food, energy and industrial goods.

Citizen scientists are once again being called upon to help record the call of the rare Albert’s Lyrebird to map and protect this vulnerable bird ... Data from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 winter calling seasons has been collected from sites at Mount Nullum and Numinbah near the NSW/Qld border.

Shaun Ossinger, Patricia Gill. A Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee project, Green waste towards net zero, will target the conversion of Denmark’s green waste into biochar ... Instead of burning the green waste at Denmark’s Waste Transfer Station or transporting it to Albany’s Hanrahan Road tip, WICC is seeking solutions that benefit farmers and the community.