WA

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Rangers and police are using drones to identify unauthorised vehicles involved in off-road activity in Two Rocks. WA Police said they have been assisting and would continue to assist in conducting proactive patrols ... using a police-issued drone.

S Scott. It is with a great deal of pride and satisfaction that I share with your readers the celebration of 50 years of Yanchep Netball Club. This year marks our club as one of the oldest if not the oldest in the area.

A long-held theory about the life cycle of one of Australia's most beloved natural icons has been upended in a botanical whodunnit that has revealed an unlikely hero ... researchers at La Trobe University, has uncovered another suspect in the survival of some of Australia’s more unconventional Banksia flowers, in a paper published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.  

Patricia Gill. Friends of Kooryanderup (Mt Hallowell) are calling for a ban on mountain biking on the 532ha A-Class reserve. The Friends have raised concerns as the Shire of Denmark is set to overhaul the Mt Hallowell Management Plan (2008). The Friends report having seen youngsters with shovels and rakes emerging from the Sheila Heritage Trail Park Reserve.

Serena Kirby. Garden lovers can wander through two of Denmark’s biggest private gardens ... one of the garden owners, Geoff Osborne, said he was opening his garden to raise funds for the Albany Community Hospice. Geoff’s garden spans 4ha and was the creation of him and his wife of 50 years Ruby. She died in June 2021 after spending her final days in the Albany Hospice.

Karis Aplin. Denmark brothers Jy and Jake Drummond became National Champions over the weekend at the Auscycling MTB Enduro National and Oceania Championships in Collie. The enduro racing format involves riders racing against the clock in a series of downhill stages, with the final results coming down to the millisecond.

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Australia is looking towards harvesting a "marginally larger" winter crop this season, despite significant weather challenges experienced in a number of key grain-growing regions throughout the year, Rabobank says in its just-released 2024/25 Australian Winter Crop Forecast. The agribusiness banking specialist says the nation is on track to produce an estimated total winter crop of 47.1 million tonnes…

There’s many elements that go into creating a good wine and it’s the winemaker’s job to blend them together to create the perfect drop.   WA’s Rosenthal Wines’ winemakers are themselves a special blend because they’re not just winemakers and business partners - they’re also best friends. Coby Ladwig and Luke Eckersley first met 25 years ago when they were at Uni.  

The operators of two chicken farms in the Shire of Gingin have been fined for mishandling waste at their egg farming operations in contravention of conditions imposed in an environmental protection notice issued by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. CCF Cocking Children Farms and CF Farms (formerly Snowdale Holdings) own two parcels of land in Beermullah, in the Shire of Gingin, on which commercial egg farming operations are conducted.

Canning Agricultural, Horticultural & Recreational Society Inc

Weed seeker and spot spraying technology is reducing the cropping area paraquat is applied to by between 40-90 percent for one Western Australian grower.   But now, proposed changes to the use of this herbicide could ban this practice and potentially lead to more of the chemical being used across larger areas of Australia’s grain growing regions.  

Western rock lobster fisher Anthony Manganaro, who operates out of the Two Rocks marina, was pleased to give federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell the chance to put a face to his name on Sunday. The establishment of marine parks and increasing regulations despite the WA western rock lobster fishery maintaining its ecological sustainability since it was accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council in 2000 were just two issues mentioned…

Australian farmland values have continued to grow through the first half of 2024, albeit at a slower pace, with the 1H 2024 median price of farmland now standing at $10,141/ha. This represents a rise of 12.2 per cent compared to a year earlier and is the 22nd consecutive half-yearly period of year-on-year growth.

Serena Kirby. Denmark GP Dr Alex Sleeman knows first hand how life can change in an instant. He suffered serious injuries last month when his tractor rolled and pinned him underneath while working on his Peace Street property ... Speaking from his bed in Royal Perth Hospital’s spinal unit, Alex said he was lucky to be alive.

Serena Kirby. The Denmark St John community transport service capabilities have expanded with the recent purchase of a second vehicle. Established in late 2018 to transport residents to non-urgent medical, hospital and allied health appointments, the service has made more than 2700 trips around Denmark and Albany ... “We have nearly 20 volunteer drivers on the roster and all hold a first aid certificate but more importantly they all have a strong desire to help others and enjoy meeting and talking to people”: Yvonne Hortin, Service coordinator.

John Xanthis. Wilson Inlet opened on September 25 at 0.88 AHD in relatively ideal conditions with a north-easterly breeze, a declining swell, a good variation spring tidal range and a high pressure system ... water levels were low and late this year due to a dry winter with little river flow.

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DevelopmentWA, the agency responsible for felling trees on Yanchep Beach Rd two weeks ago, says most of the trees remain and new ones will be planted once an access upgrade in the area is completed. In the days following the cutting down of the trees, including some tuart trees, Yanchep News Online was contacted by a number of residents who were shocked at the loss of the mature trees.

As the price of reliable rainfall farmland in Western Australia is careering past $10,000 per hectare, and the big corporates are out there with their even bigger chequebooks, outbidding the neighbours, what options do farmers have if they want to stay in the game? Well, the answer is to follow the example of their forefathers and up stumps and find a new country with some new land that can be opened up.

To celebrate Greater Geraldton becoming an “Owl Friendly City” a free viewing of Boyd Wykes’ ‘Night Calling’ will be on show, which documents how the movement began. The short film explains the story on how it all started including the negative impacts that Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides have on local wildlife and tips on how to be Owl Friendly.