Vic

In one of Victoria's largest horse events, and with COVID-19 restrictions in place, Olivia Griffiths and Amber King-Gee competed in the Pony Club Victoria State Show Jumping Championships at Benalla Equestrian Centre on Sunday, February 28.

Ali Bohn. Part of the appeal of raising kids in the country is the freedom and wide-open spaces they get to enjoy in what (we hope) is an adventurous but safe environment. For these Cohuna brothers, a regular weekend means heading out to the farm with their dad, Dave Toohey, to do cattle work. They have lived and breathed farming since before they could walk, so at 9 and 10 respectively, Charlie and Hunter are "pros" at farming.

Koondrook-Perricoota Forest is Australia's largest redgum forest spanning 33,759Ha. As you drive past the KP Forest on the Moulamein Road it is hard to ignore the colossal banks and outlets that lay dormant. The huge engineering exercise costing more than $100 million was the NSW State Government's approach to meeting Murray Darling Basin Plan objectives. Unable to use the engineering white elephant and KP Forest's health still dire, the community is leading the charge to find a workable, pragmatic solution that can be driven by people invested in the outcome.

Kirstin Nicholson. This week we introduce you to Mark Bishop and Clancy Graham from Sunbury who, along with their four children, Isabella, Connor, Henry and Beau, aged four to ten, now call Cohuna home. Mark and Clancy purchased a house on the edge of Cohuna and moved in last month.

Kookaburra wonders how investment in the Victorian property, Minjah, by Michael Hintze's private company, MH Premium Farms, for about $36m, will sit in the minds of investors in the CQS fund which lost 33 percent of its value in March 2020 and a further 17 percent in April 2020, or the reportedly 50 staff who lost their jobs.

Preparations are in full swing for the upcoming Fodder Festival 2021 with booths booked, new machinery at the ready and registrations rolling in for the big day on Wednesday 17 March at the Elmore Events Centre.

Last year it was difficult to deal with the bombardment of bad news that came from COVID-19. So, hearing about the great year that the McNaul family’s paddock-to-plate agribusiness, ‘Outback Harvest’, has had was a refreshing change ... Teff is an ancient grain of Ethiopia – which offers a gluten-free, healthy alternative to the plain flours currently out there ...

Kirstin Nicholson. Former Cohuna Consolidated School pupil, Kathryn Wilson, has returned to the school she attended as a child, but this time in a teaching capacity.

Federal government of both sides have presided over a plan to save the Murray Darling Basin. It is the biggest water reform since Federation, based on political deception, ignorance, scientific perjury, greed, corruption and the raping of our countryside. And all this is from the information publicly available. The Darling, the Murray, the Murrumbidgee, all a mess, but for very different reasons ...

Representatives from Bass Coast Shire Council met with members of VinFast’s management team at the Lang Lang Proving Ground complex recently. VinFast, a Vietnamese car manufacturer, purchased the site from GM Holden last year and will continue to operate the Proving Ground as a vehicle testing and development facility.

Kendall Jennings. Mawson's T20 Blast Cricket third round was held on Thursday, February 4. Wandella hosted Barham/ Koondrook at Riverside Park in Kerang. Entering round three, the two top teams on equal points on the ladder faced off. Playing conditions were challenging with storm clouds looming and northerly twenty-kilometre winds. The white playing ball was challenging to focus on in the sky, making way for on-field action with close runouts and dropped catches.

Are you a team player? Like helping your community? Want to increase your income? Then maybe you should join Fire Rescue NSW in Barham. From fires to road accidents, the team of dedicated retained fire rescue employees serve our community when people are at their most vulnerable. I recently spent an evening with the crew at Barham as they performed a simulated road accident.

Rosedale is no stranger to bushfire. In 2019, a summer blaze to the south of the pastoral Wellington Shire town saw over 12,000 hectares lost. Its economy took a hit and it left a tangible impact on the people of the area. But the town is bouncing back and local artists Sue Coppock and Shane Priestley have recently completed murals in the central Prince Street Reserve that form part of Rosedale’s Bushfire Recovery Project.

Ballarat’s signature festivals the Ballarat Begonia Festival and Ballarat Heritage Festival, formerly Ballarat Heritage Weekend, will be celebrated over an extended period this year.

The Victorian Farmers Federation is calling for the Commonwealth Minister for Water Resources to keep his word and stop on-farm water acquisition to meet the 450GL up-water target in addition to the Murray Darling Basin Plan. VFF Water Council Chair Richard Anderson said he was disappointed the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water is continuing to pursue on-farm water recovery despite the Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt’s promise not to do so.

Grain growers in western Victoria are being urged to reduce available feed in the lead-up to sowing this season in a bid to help protect the 2021 seasons’ crops from mice. High yielding crops in the past two seasons in parts of the southern Mallee, Wimmera and Western District have created a bonanza for mice in some paddocks, according to Agriculture Victoria’s Heather Drendel.