Vic

Luv-A-Duck was founded by the late Art Shoppee back in 1968, when he started out with just 20 ducklings. Today it grows and supplies 5 million ducks annually for food service and retail markets within Australia and overseas ... To support the growth plans, current Family Directors, Theresa Sfetkidis and Kim Shoppee-Lynch, are in the final phase of choosing a business partner, to take a major stake in the business.

Kaniva’s Doyle’s IGA supermarket was recently crowned community award of the year at the IGA retail Excellence Awards held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Doyle’s IGA was nominated in three categories, small format Meat Department of the year, small format Grocery Department of the year and the Community Award.

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Campaspe Shire Council has announced a package of rates relief in 2022-2023 for properties impacted by the October 2022 floods ... “About 1,000 properties have already had rate adjustments by the Victorian Valuer General as they have had a secondary impact assessment and been through the supplementary rates process": Campaspe Mayor Cr Rob Amos.

The Linklater family ... of Trentham Farms, near Gol Gol, NSW, crop 9800 ha of sandy loam country and appreciate the value of older and cheaper herbicides that are still effective options against their major weeds. With a focus on maximising yield by cropping as often as possible, Daniel says it is necessary to take a medium to long-term view when making decisions rather than focusing on the lowest-cost options in a single season.

Last week, Harmony celebrations all over Australia reminded us that everyone is different, everyone belongs and we all bring something unique to our communities.

Imagine this: One cricket match was played, each team faced just 20 overs, 36 sixes and 41 fours were scored, the game finished in a draw at 259 runs apiece, and the royal Children’s Hospital will benefit by almost $50,000.

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The sound of the musical eastern banjo frog ringing out across the Pike floodplain is among the incredible sights and sounds ecologists are observing as floodwaters recede throughout the Murraylands, Riverland and Lower Lakes ... "We will eventually go back into a drier period and that is when the 450 gigalitres promised SA under the Murray Darling Basin Plan but not delivered will be of the utmost importance to maintaining the health of the river system": Susan Close.

The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) CEO Liz Ritchie will launch the national Regionalisation Roadshow in Stawell this week – helping local leaders of Northern Grampians tackle the issues holding their country towns back ... As a member of the RAI, the Northern Grampians offered to host and be the first location in regional Australia to ignite a place-based lens on the framework – focussing on areas including job vacancies, education, and housing.

Traditionally in small rural communities there is very limited opportunities for people to be physically active outside of mainstream sports and this is particularly problematic for women and girls.

The Federal Labor Government has been forced to admit it won’t reach its target of 24/7 Registered Nurses in all Aged Care homes, which is an acknowledgement for battling smaller regional aged care facilities. Earlier this week, Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells, revealed to media not every facility would be fully staffed by July 1, following months of pressure and advocacy from the Coalition on behalf of smaller aged care facilities.

Shannon Uren, the General Manager and Director of Nursing at Maldon Hospital, had a problem last year when in the process of replacing Hospital beds & what to do with the old beds ... One group, Melbourne-based FESIDEV (Federation of International Seniors for Development), was very interested in the beds...

The Newstead Community Garden began in 2009   and has evolved into a peaceful and joyful venture for keen and eager gardeners ... The garden produces fruit and vegetables, which are used by the members, and the excess is dried, used for chutneys, fed to the chooks and/or donated to community groups.

You will most likely know Alexander McCall Smith as the ingenious and inexhaustible author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series or any number of his more than 80 other titles, but it was art that brought McCall Smith to Maldon last weekend. The cherished Cascade Gallery is currently showing the work of the entrancing and prolific artist Robert Maclaurin ... McCall Smith is an avid admirer - but they were yet to meet.

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Professional dog breeder Kay Humphry has started 2023 on a high. Kay headed to Rochester with her precious cargo of three Golden Retrievers, Bonnie, Adel and Regina, to the first Rochester Show in three years – held off from two years of Covid-19 and the recent flood event.

“I just like to depict life,” said artist Brian Williams as we discussed his upcoming Cohuna art exhibition ... From landscapes to seascapes, Brian’s work captures the beauty of the Australian environment, the animals and people.

The Darling River was once again making headlines as the muddy waters were hardly visible through a blanket of dead fish. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s mantra of ‘just add water’ has had a schooling once again by mother nature as the kills come on the back of some of the highest inflows and floods on record.