Country Today

We’re constantly hearing about cattle as large methane emitters, but what would it look like if we didn’t have them grazing the land?  Dry conditions in the southern part of the state are leaving paddocks bare … with one saleyard having to nearly double their prices for hay.  We’ll be going through the Global Methane budget for 2024, to see how much emissions have increased over the last 20 years....

VNI WEST -  Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West - it’s the 500 kilovolt overhead transmission line which has been approved to be built on farming land.  Charinga merino stud held its main ram sale today, if you can’t make it to the sale they’re at auction plus, north of st arnaud.  Plastic - it’s everywhere, even in the places you’d least expect to find it. So how can we break the cycl...

The Barham Micro Abattoir has been approved for processing of poultry. Crime Stoppers and Agriculture Victoria have joined forces to launch the 'Your Pet, Our Pest' Campaign. People with illegal exotic pets are asked to surrender the animals -- no questions asked. Farmers in Victoria's Wimmera are having to make some tough decisions due to the poor season and hail and frost events Finley High Scho...

Farmers' worst fears are being realised with significant frost damage in pulse crops in the Mallee and southern NSW An update on how farmers are faring with western Victoria’s driest season in living memory. The Australian Agtech company MEQ has just launched a new platform that gives prime lamb producers  previously unimagined access to data and trends around the eating quality traits of entire m...

A grain grower from the WA wheatbelt is trialling using drones to map mouse numbers in crops. Farmers are urged to seek legal advice when they're approached by commercial businesses, seeking grant of rights for land use on farms. The supermarkets Coles and Woolworths are being taken to court by the ACCC for allegedly misleading shoppers with claims of discounted products. The National Farmers Fede...

Bumble bees in Tasmania are being geared up with micro radio transmitters and cameras to help scientists uncover their crucial role in crop pollination. China drops its huge imports of Australia’s table grapes It's 20 years since the Australian wool industry made a commitment to phase out mulesing, which it reneged on. RSPCA Australia is now calling for States to ban mulesing. WE also atake a look...

We take a look at the outlook for fertilizer prices, as Rabobank is predict's a volatile year ahead. Wool growers can now vote in WoolPoll24 to determine how much they pay in the wool levy.  The National Irrigators Council is warning State Governments to not sign the revised National Water Agreement. The Australian Women in Agriculture Annual Conference is heading to Albury next week. We have the...

Cattle Australia has launched its Land Management Commitment strategic policy, which includes definitions of deforestation. You’ll learn all about the product Efflu8, used to manage effluent ponds in dairy an intensive animal production Seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey gives his assessment of whether La Nina will make it in time to bring good spring rain. Crop assessors are already out inspectin...

More than three thousand kilograms of asparagus has been dumped from the major supermarkets, after damaging winds in Victoria and New South Wales left the crops slightly curved.  Australian Beef Leaders are seeking people between the ages of 21 to 35 looking for a career in beef ANZ has released its latest spring outlook and no surprises, all States except Victoria and South Australia are optimist...

Rabobank has released its latest farmer confidence survey. a dry winter has left Victorian farmers less confident than farmers in other States.   An annual scholarship program which supports students from dairying regions in their further studies, has opened for applications  Wheat prices have gone up due tensions in the Black Sea Farmers are accusing some media of cherry picking information on de...

What started out as a very dry cropping season has flourished into a good crop for Riverina farmers A nationwide commitment to addressing housing and rental shortages in the bush is falling by the wayside. Farmers threatening to go to court to try to stop huge electricity towers being built on their land. Four months after hundreds of thousands of chickens in western Victoria had to be euthanized ...

For dairy farmers, milk equals money, the latest research shows under-performing calves could be identified from as early as five days old An Angus stud heifer has sold for $6500 with all proceeds going to the Angus Foundation The very lucrative export of live dairy heifers to has slowed to a trickle  We take a look at the beef cattle market which is rather volatile at the moment. The weekly wool...

There's a bright outlook for the Australian Almond Industry Wa investigate the crisis in regional childcare services.   Australia’s booming beef exports to China are about to be hit with a 12 per cent tariff A tomato virus which can reduce crop yields by up to 70-percent has been detected in Australia. It's that time of year again when magpies turn into dive bombers, swooping on unsuspected passer...

In this episode: Australian Wool Innovation has recommended wool growers vote to increase the wool levy to 2 per cent. The Regional Investment Corporation  low-cost Farm Investment Loans. 15 years ago Australia was in a gas boom , now there's talk of importing because we're running out. So what's really going on? Also today Australia’s agricultural exports have fallen, but there is a shining light...

In this episodes: Today, we head to Parliament House in Canberra, where a convoy of trucks and tractors and farmers on foot are demonstrating in the Keep the Sheep campaign. It started in Western Australia when the Federal Government passed legislation to phase out the live sheep trade. But in the past few weeks, more, though not all, farmer organisations have jumped on board. We'll to Keep the Sh...

There's a national shortage of hay and farmers are being encouraged to consider cutting crops for fodder this season. Agriculture Victoria is encouraging farmers to seek help as they navigate current difficult conditions.   The so-called Green Drought in Victoria’s south west is leaving dairy farmers at breaking point.  The 3G mobile network shut down is not just going to impact mobile phone servi...

Farmers are frustrated with the limits on culling kangaroos. Birchip Cropiing Group’s Main Field Day is next Wednesday the 11th of September at Kinnabulla. nitrogen Management strategies and hyper yielding cereals are just some of the topics being discussed at the event. China has announced an anti‑dumping probe on Canadian canola.. The dry winter in Victoria's Northeast is forcing beef producers...

ABARES estimates agricultural production with rise four per cent on gross value this financial year. Sheep producers in Victoria's south west can expect lower lambing percentages due to the record dry winter. LambPro's Tom Bull has broken away from traditional farming practices with self-replacing systems and talks about how to remain labour efficient on the farm. And farmers fear the Victorian Go...

Spring has sprung and so too have lamb prices, with the spring sucker lambs selling for more than $300 Waste not, want not: Australians generate more than 7 million tonnes of food waste each year. There's yet another case of a renewable energy project that appears to be going ahead with little or no consultation. The Northern Grampians Shire will soon be home to a three hundred and fifty megawatt...

China is sending messages that it might not be so keen on some of our feed grain. More than half Australia’s sheep flock is suspected to have lung damage due to sheep pneumonia. Farmers are increasingly concerned the Victorian Government is going to dump its wild dog control program. The recently formed Keep the Sheep campaign is raising money to target federal seats to get rid of the Albanese Gov...

There's huge potential for exports of feed grain to South East Asia.   West Vic Dairy is offering advice to farmers on Succession Planning, Employment or Farm Safety, Great news for beef: a study of greenhouse gas emissions from grass fed cattle in the United States shows emissions were lower than on ungrazed land The Australian Agri-Renewables Innovation Challenge is set to accelerate new technol...

Grain growers need to be on the lookout for stripe rust in wheat crops which has been the biggest cause of yield loss in previous years.  On Country Today, we’ve discussed several times the onerous deforestation regulations of the EU, Food Agility chief scientist, Professor David Lamb is confident the AgTrace Australia project could solve the problem. Could outdated employment practices be the rea...

In this episode: Wheat prices have fallen dramatically. Year 11 Scotch College student Max Phelps who has an Australian Indigenous Education Foundation scholarship. La Trobe Valley residents exposed to air pollution when the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire show signs of accelerated lung aging. NSW is going to get an Independent Agriculture Commissioner who will assist farmers with the problems of re...

In this episode of Country Today: Country Today was at the Herald Sun Weekly Times Bush Summit in Bendigo. The major topic was renewable energy: Keynote speaker Victorian PremierJacinta Allan copped some heckling from the crowd. Marnoo farmer Ben Duxson has the planned VNI West transmission lines running through his property. You’ll also hear from CEO of Hancock Agriculture and S Kidman and Co, Ad...

In this episode: Can livestock slaughter be more humane? More than sixty per cent of consumers don't want to know the details of slaughter ... but they do want to know it's been done as humanely as possible. Charity Rural Aid is taking entries for its annual photography competition with 12 photos to feature in its calendar.  We're going to focus on methane emissions from sheep and cattle. First Ca...