Environment
Super changes could hurt agriculture: farm lobby
March 1, 2023
The Albanese governmentās proposed superannuation tax changes threaten the agricultural sector, the peak farming body says. The government will lift the superannuation tax rate from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for earnings on balances above $3...[Read More]
Farmers must innovate to meet global food demand
February 22, 2023
Producers must think differently to meet global food demand, an international agrifood conference has been told. After a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the evokeAg industry event reopened its doors in Adelaide on Tuesday. In his keynote address,...[Read More]
War on urchins aims to save kelp forests
February 22, 2023
Ravenous sea urchins that are destroying kelp forests will be turned into farm fertiliser under a plan that will also boost some of Australiaās most valuable fisheries. In some parts of the Great Southern Reef, which wraps around the bottom half...[Read More]
One giant leap for agriculture as farmers look to space
February 15, 2023
Nestled deep in the industrial and commercial centre of a major metropolitan city, a vertical farm has sprouted indoors and its backers are reaching for the stars. Researchers based in Melbourneās Docklands are working with the space agency NASA...[Read More]
Farmers, truckies, councils want $5.5b rural road fix
February 15, 2023
Farmers, truck drivers and local councils are calling on the federal government to spend $5.5 billion fixing the nationās disaster-ravaged roads, saying rural communities are struggling to recover after floods and cyclones. A new Rural Road...[Read More]
Better tech push to dial in young workers to the bush
February 8, 2023
Rural Australians often throw their hands up in the air and give up on finding mobile reception or getting connected to the internet, believing itās all too hard. But the old stereotype that reception is always bad in the bush is a major barrier...[Read More]
Research reveals stressed-out sheep snuggle over trauma
February 8, 2023
When humans share a traumatic experience it can lead to firm friendships, and an Australian research team has discovered the same is true for sheep. For two months a team from national science agency CSIRO watched how 50 merino sheep interacted...[Read More]
Shoppers urged to swoop on glut of premature pineapples
February 1, 2023
Pineapple lovers are being encouraged to embrace an oversupply of the tropical fruit to stop tonnes of Australian-grown produce going to waste. Millions of pineapples ā or 70 per cent of the annual crop ā is ripening all at once after a cold and...[Read More]
Once bittern but farmers not shy about endangered bird
February 1, 2023
At āthe centre of the universeā for Australian bitterns, the NSW foodbowl region known as the Murrumbidgee, rice growers and conservationists have become somewhat strange bedfellows. Some 3,500 hectares of privately-owned rice fields were four...[Read More]
Plant āengineersā extract value from waste
January 25, 2023
Scientists are learning from the natural world and using biotechnology to solve problems in the human world. A group of āmembrane transporter engineersā at the Australian National University have developed new techniques to separate and extract...[Read More]
Methane-eating organism a shapeshifter
January 18, 2023
A microorganism that feeds on methane to reduce the release of gas into the atmosphere is also a shapeshifter, a study has found. The microorganism, known as Candidatus Methanoperedens nitroreducens (or Ca. M. nitroreducens), is a critical life form...[Read More]
Sweet breakthrough in bio-manufacturing
January 18, 2023
Australian researchers are unlocking the secrets of sugarcane for future aviation fuel, plastics, rubbers and food additives. Gary Schenk from the University of Queensland has focused on an enzyme to speed up the slowest step in processing sugar...[Read More]
Canola, wheat expand as dairy declines
January 18, 2023
Farming land has decreased and more dairy farmers have left the industry, while cotton, canola and wheat production has hiked. The Australian Bureau of Statisticsā latest agricultural snapshot found the amount of agricultural land as of June 2022...[Read More]
Beach walkers help unravel turtle mystery
January 11, 2023
Every now and then, under the cover of darkness, prehistoric-looking sea turtles lumber up busy Gold Coast beaches to nest. Just metres from the tourist stripās imposing high-rise towers, loggerhead and green turtles seek out just the right spot...[Read More]
Rotting carp āplagueā after major floods
January 11, 2023
A carp āplagueā has descended on flood-hit parts of the Murray-Darling Basin, creating headaches for farmers and concerns about the impact on native fish. Dairy farmer Heather Campbell, who manages about 200 cows on a property at Cohuna in...[Read More]