SA

Gabrielle Duykers. The tour of the Great South Coast bike race has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, originally set to begin travelling through the Limestone Coast and Victoria later this month ... Naracoorte Lucindale Council CEO Trevor Smart said the cancellation was unfortunate news for the town. “The danger of it being called off this year is that we may not see the race again – once it goes into recess, that’s two years in a row now so the event promoter may not continue that race.”

Eliza Berlage. The struggle to secure childcare services in rural and regional areas has led some parents to sacrifice their careers or move to bigger cities, according to a new study ... It found regional and rural areas lacked childcare services and staff to work at the centres, and that childcare was often not seen as profitable enough to attract new operators to the sector.

Chris Oldfield. SA Shadow Health Minister Chris Picton has thrown his weight behind Naracoorte's doctors and country GPs, calling for the State Government to negotiate contracts with them. Mr Picton has slammed the State Government for wasting taxpayers’ dollars on locums, failing to negotiate and throwing rural doctors and country hospitals into turmoil.

Eliza Berlage and Gabrielle Duykers. More than 30 local producers gathered together last week for the inaugural Limestone Coast Food Forum. Hosted by the Limestone Coast Food and Agribusiness Cluster, food processors, and retailers met at Lucindale Country Club to hear from 16 guest speakers about opportunities in the local food and beverage industry.

The Farmhand. Winter is here and rainfalls for the past month are at levels at the high end of averages. Even have heard the odd farmer say we had enough for the moment. Feed supplies in the areas north of town are still tight but we can see the spring having a great feed result based on the amounts of moisture already received.

The Manning family has brought to a close 86 years of ownership of Mahanewo, selling the 119,000 hectare station in South Australia’s far north for close to $4.5 million. A farming family from the mid-north of the state bought the prime pastoral country on a walk-in, walk-out basis including 4,596 merino ewes, rams and plant, after two years of looking to diversify into grazing.

“Last week it was revealed in media reports the chair of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists is a significant shareholder in Duxton Water. This is the organisation that gloats about the investment potential of water, with the price naturally increasing as more is taken from farmers. So, we have a situation where the Wentworth Group is calling for more water buybacks, while its chairman is investing successfully in a company that benefits from more buybacks. That is a massive conflict,” Darcy Hare, Deputy Chair of Southern Riverina Irrigators.

Eliza Berlage. SA/ Vic Border Districts’ club presidents have implored the State Government to “stop punishing” their community with restrictions ... The restrictions are "disappointing", "mentally draining" and "detrimental" to the morale of clubs and the broader community. "The bubble is absolutely ridiculous. You may as well put the Berlin Wall up at the border."