Rural

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Rural News

News

Freight flights for beef and dairy exports

Australian beef, dairy and seafood products will be exported to key overseas markets — including China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE — as part of a new $110 million International Freight Assistance Mechanism. Federal...

Country News
News

Slow-cooked Mexican Chicken with Cheesy Crust

Serves: 4Ingredients: 500 g chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into four1 red onion, cut into wedges1 red capsicum, diced2 cloves garlic, crushed1 tsp ground cumin1 tsp smoked paprika1 fresh jalapeno, thinly sliced400 g jar tomato...

Country News
News

Demand for farmland remains high

Strong demand for agricultural commodities and recent rainfall has created perfect conditions for those looking to sell rural land, despite the current coronavirus climate. Kevin Hicks Real Estate owner Kevin Hicks said farm properties were being...

Country News
News

A true blue red dog

Toolamba West dairy farmer George Kerrins spends his days with his furry colleague, Jimmy. Five-year-old Jimmy is a red kelpie who loves to work on the farm, herding cattle with unbridled energy. When he’s not working on the farm, he’s...

Country News
News

Colbinabbin memories

Colbinabbin is on Cornella Creek, between Rushworth and Elmore in northern Victoria. The railway was constructed in 1914 and the station became a major wheat handling terminal. Sawmills produced timber that was delivered to Melbourne by rail, but...

Country News

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Dairy

News

Market growth for milk sector

Australia’s dairy sector can expect continued growth in demand while overall production will remain flat to 2030 compared to 2018 levels, according to research released by ANZ today. The Milk Run report found that despite recent challenges faced...

Dairy News
Dairy

Tatura dairy celebrates healthy success

Tatura dairy farmer Markus Lang has a healthy herd of 2000 cows and attributes his success to VikingGenetics. “It’s uncommon for herds this size not to have more sick cows and the fact that we don’t have a sick herd for the number...

Jamieson Salter
Dairy

Fonterra milk production continues to decline

Australia’s milk production has continued to decline according to the 2020 Global Dairy Update, released by New Zealand dairy company Fonterra. In November 2019, Australian milk production decreased 3.4 per cent, compared to November 2018. Production...

Jamieson Salter
Dairy

Basin plan discussed at Murray Dairy meeting

The first Murray Dairy agronomy network meeting was held in Echuca recently, with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, water policy and water use on the agenda. Among the guest speakers were Claire Miller from Claire Miller Consulting. Ms Miller has been...

Sophie Baldwin
Dairy

Gardiner scholarship winners get help with studies

Heading to university has just been made a little easier for three local students awarded a Gardiner Dairy Foundation scholarship. Dairy farming kids — Kaitlyn Wishart from Mead, Emily Robins from Cohuna and Chelsea Hicks from Calivil &mdash...

Sophie Baldwin

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Horticulture

Cropping

Rain, rain go away, come again another day

The recent rain across Victoria’s north-east has done more bad than good, according to Agriculture Victoria’s seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey. Mr Grey said despite 50 mm falling across the region so far this year, it had not improved soil...

Rodney Woods
Horticulture

Finding farm work in Shepparton region

Several foreigners on working holiday visas looking for work in the Goulburn Valley have taken to advertising their skills on the Australian job seeker website Gumtree. Rémi Naudin from France is 20 years old and came to Australia on...

Country News
Horticulture

New podcast for horticultural growers

A new resource designed to arm horticultural growers with everything they need to grow their business has been released by Hort Innovation. The podcast series, titled Growing Matters, is now freely available to download or stream through Apple...

Rodney Woods

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Cropping

Cropping

Northern Victorian farmers struggle to produce grain yields in tough season

It was a mixed year for GrainCorp harvest takings across Victoria, with the impact of drought taking its toll on northern Victoria and some Mallee farmers. In northern Victoria, Numurkah took in 10 351 tonnes of mostly canola, Dookie...

Rodney Woods
Cropping

UK farming challenges to be discussed at Corowa

The challenges of farming in a highly regulated environment in the United Kingdom will be one of the broader topics on the program at the 2020 Grains Research and Development Corporation Grains Research Update in Corowa on February 20. Leading...

Rodney Woods
Cropping

Founder of German machinery brand to visit Yarrawonga

German machinery brand Horsch is synonymous with cutting-edge technology in soil cultivation and seeding, and next month founder Michael Horsch will be in Yarrawonga and Horsham to share his expertise first-hand. “O’Connors is excited to...

Rodney Woods

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Livestock

Livestock

Lamb jumpers bring a NSW farmer an OAM

It started as a way to keep orphaned lambs warm and has turned into a “phenomenon” that’s brought joy to farmers doing it tough across NSW.

Rodney Woods
Livestock

Red meat industry set to benefit from new pasture grass research

Australia’s red meat industry is set to benefit from new pasture grass research focused on increasing its production and profitability and helping to safeguard it in a changing climate. Agriculture Victoria research scientists have generated...

Rodney Woods
Livestock

Pay-as-you-go rental system for farming equipment

Australian farmers have a new, affordable way to access farm equipment. Ag-tech pioneer Mark Peart, from Toowoomba in southern Queensland, has released a pay-as-you-go platform called AGFIN. AGFIN is a model for farmers nationally to rent devices...

Jamieson Salter
Livestock

Lupin allowed into NSW to feed livestock

In a win for farmers, new biosecurity permits have opened lupin supply lines to feed livestock in drought-affected NSW. NSW DPI plant product integrity and standards manager Janine O’Donnell said access to new sources of lupin would help ease the...

Rodney Woods

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Water

Water

A return to Canberra for farmers?

If new Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt takes a ‘slowly slowly’ approach to his portfolio, farmers will again be rallying in Canberra, says one water advocacy group.

James Bennett
Water

Farmers call to boycott water rates

For more than half a century, Cohuna’s Russell Crichton has been a proud food producer. But for the first time in all those years, he has joined the ever-lengthening list of farmers unable to pay their Goulburn-Murray Water bill.

Sophie Baldwin
Water

New water minister tours region

New Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt took a whirlwind tour of the region last week, including a boat trip along the Barmah Choke and a short stopover in Echuca.

Sophie Baldwin

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Management

Management

Preparation key to optimal pastures

WITH HOME-GROWN feed more important than ever Notman Pasture Seeds has prepared a range of pasture planning recommendations to optimise the establishment of rye-grass pastures this season. Notman Pasture Seeds and Walcha Dairy owner Peter Notman...

Dairy News
Management

Pasture recovery after fires

ONE OF the early tasks for farmers returning to their property after fires will be to evaluate the viability of pastures and grasses. Agriculture Victoria livestock extension officer Fiona Baker said most open plains grass paddocks that had short or...

Dairy News
Management

Shane’s industry passion is unwavering

Queensland dairy farmer Shane Bourke is hoping there is a future for his state’s dairy industry. He is only one of 10 dairy farmers left in the Warwick area. He has watched farmer after farmer leave the industry as drought and high costs have...

Dairy News
Management

Fighting the winds of change to protect farm land

WIEBKE AND Jakob Franzenburg settled in south-west Victoria because they thought it was the best dairy farming land in Australia. Now they’re willing to fight to protect that land from a proposed neighbouring wind farm. Wiebke and Jakob moved from...

Dairy News

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From The Experts

From the Experts

ABV release prompts sire review

The August release of Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) and the upcoming joining season will have dairy farmers around the country thinking about the next best sires to use over their herds. While breeding enthusiasts will delve into great detail...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Sires’ success is proven

THE DESIRE by ABS to make better cows faster has never been more evident than in the August ABV proofs, delivering top sires in both the Holstein genomic rankings and sires with Australian milking daughters. The success of the ABS genomic program is...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Scientists expand genetic horizons

Australia’s geneticists are leading the world in expanding the horizons of genetic selection of dairy cattle. WHAT DO you achieve if you take a team of clever geneticists, give them state-of-the-art research facilities and supply them with...

Dairy News

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Markets

Markets

Global dairy prices ease

DAIRY MARKETS have entered 2020 with strong supply and demand fundamentals which are supporting global commodity prices. It has been widely reported the current market is operating in a well-balanced state, with demand marginally ahead of supply...

Dairy News
Markets

Profits drop on Queensland farms

THE PROFITABILITY of Queensland dairy farms continues to decline due to climatic conditions and high purchased feed costs, according to the latest Queensland Dairy Accounting Scheme report from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries...

Dairy News
Markets

Australian consumers and the value of premium products

With temperatures heating up, all eyes are on southern Australia’s harvest prospects. As northern parts of the country experience yet another failed harvest, the southern crop will be paramount for any potential impact on current feed costs. While...

Dairy News

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Machinery & Products

Machinery & Products

Machinery sales take hit in summer

VICTORIAN TRACTOR sales have been the only bright spark in a disappointing January for machinery sales. However, a national survey of dealers has found optimism that current turnover is picking up and will improve in the next six months. The impact...

Dairy News
Machinery & Products

Great expectations deliver on digging holes

REGULAR READERS of this column will recall that the act of digging holes in the ground without a shovel has at times proven the bane of my existence. In the early 2000s, I cut my teeth on a late 1980s JCB 3CX — and likely didn’t know how lucky I...

Dairy News
Machinery & Products

Polaris to drop quad bikes in Australia

Polaris Australia and New Zealand managing director Alan Collins says the off-road vehicle market has experienced a transition from quad bikes to side-by-side vehicles. Manufacturer Polaris has announced it will withdraw all quad bike models from...

Dairy News
Machinery & Products

One-man job with Anderson bale wrapper

ANDERSON WRAPPERS can be ordered with full-automatic features which means it only requires one operator to load and control the wrapping process. Units can be ordered with the following features: remote stop / start / steer without leaving the...

Dairy News

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Animal Health

Animal Health

On-farm milk culturing a growing

MOST MASTITIS is caused by a bacterial infection. However, visual inspection of the milk is not a reliable method for determining which pathogen you might be dealing with. Traditionally, milk samples from infected quarters or a composite sample from...

Dairy News
Animal Health

Do not forget your dry cows during heat stress

ALTHOUGH DAIRY producers are paying more attention to their milking cows during heat stress, many times they will not be aware of how heat stress during the dry cow period has a huge negative impact on the cow and her offspring. This implies...

Dairy News
Animal Health

Look out for cancer eye

The most common type of tumour or “cancer eye” in cattle is squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer eye is an invasive and rapidly spreading tumour and is economically important, representing 58 per cent of all cancers that result in condemnation of...

Dairy News
Animal Health

Heat strategies for summer

With the prospects of another long hot summer in front of us, what can you do to minimise the impacts on your cows? Heat stress can have a very significant impact on your dairy cows, and ultimately your farm income. Heat stress can: Reduce milk...

Dairy News