Country Today

The increasingly herbicide resistant ryegrass can adjust its growth and reproduction to survive under drought stress by producing even more seeds. Bee keepers across the eastern states are putting the final pieces in place for this year’s almond pollination period which is heavily impacted by the spread of the varroa mite. The Weekly Times report with editor James Wagstaff. Not all farmers w...

It’s been a very wet weekend in Victoria with falls as high as 160 millimetres in the Alps, and good falls across most of the state, with minor to moderate flooding in the North East. We’ll do a bit if a whip around some parts of the state to see how farmers fared. In the Central Highlands, the rain was badly needed and just the ticket. So too the Western District which not too long ag...

Crops are soaking up this weekend's rainfall, with totals of 10 to 40 mm across key agricultural areas. You’ll hear from the Youth Climate Champion for COP31, Sally Higgins. Her message to governments: mobilise young people and accelerate progress. Federal Parliament resumes for the Spring sitting. You’ll hear from Nationals MP for Gippsland, and shadow agriculture minister Darren Ches...

Fuel prices have skyrocketed again. Today an energy analyst says, even if the war ended tomorrow, fuel prices, and in particular diesel, will remain high for the next few years. There are more signals that an El Nino is forming. Libby Price spoke to Ag Victoria seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey. 12 farmers have been fined over refusing VicGrid access to properties linked to the controversial VNI...

After an eight-year investigation, Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, IBAC, concluded extraordinary influence was wielded by United Firefighters Union secretary, Peter Marshall, over senior figures in the Andrews Labor Government when negotiating for reform of the CFA. Peter Marshall claims the investigation has no legal standing. You’ll hear from Nationals MP for Murray Plains Peter...

The focus of the program today is the imposing threat of this H5 variant of bird flu. Put simply, it will kill all birds who are infected. But it does cross to mammals. In Europe and the US, its infecting dairy herds and there’s a lot to learn. You’ll hear from a former CFA volunteer of some 24 years, Barry O'Conner who has collated a summary of what has happened to CFA in the past dec...

It’s increasingly looking like the highly virulent strain of bird flu is here to stay. Today you’ll hear from Victoria’s chief vet, Graeme Cooke. Global wheat prices are rallying due to Middle East tensions and Black Sea shipping delays, yet domestic prices have barely moved. Slaughter cattle prices have been under pressure due to weaker international demand, with Australia havin...

Australia’s fertilizer industry is in tatters due to the Federal Government only underwriting three of the big companies due to record urea prices due to the war in the Middle East. It’s meant 70 per cent of the industry has to buy product at record high prices, but sell at the subsidised price, taking huge losses. Also today the keynote speaker at Sheepvention in Hamilton, journalist...

The controversial Climate Active scheme which has allowed corporates to claim they were carbon neutral by purchasing carbon credits scrapped by the Federal Government. Country Today has been at the Australian Grains Industry Conference in Melbourne this week and one of the major topics has been the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and how it’s impacting global grain trade. Australian f...

The inquiry into Victoria's 2026 summer fires has been tabled in Parliament. The Labor government concluded that “fire agencies and communities were overall well prepared.’’ But the Government's tried to conceal some of it, so what are they trying to hide, and what did the coalition have to say? To prime lamb production, and some farmers are selling their lambs earlier and still...

The first job of the new Victorian Premier Ben Carroll was to announce there will be a Royal Commission into corruption and criminality in Victoria’s construction sector. We will rake over the coals of the premiership of Jacinta Allen. You’ll hear how farmers are bitter about her government with VFF President Ryan Milgate. You'll also hear from regional Liberal MP Richard Riordan who h...

As you may have heard, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen has resigned, just four months out from the State election. So is this good or bad news for the State Opposition. You'll hear from Nationals Leader Danny O'Brien. We’ll also talk about the allegations of food fraud, labelling of products as Australian when they’re not.  And a farmer who has spent 30 years transforming his farm...

New South Wales farmers have asked for another delay of a further two years in the mandating of electronic ear tags in sheep. Australia has triggered its 2026 quota for beef exports into South Korea. Victorian Farmers Federation has warned the state government it faces a fierce fight if it scraps the fair-go rates cap. The NSW Farmers Association has elected a new President, Moree farmer Rebecca R...

To the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and regional councils claim Federal funding that was meant to be spent on communities hit by water buybacks, is instead going to the Victorian Government and is being wasted on administration and bureaucracy.  And Donald Trump has done it again announcing tariffs on imports. Our beef is exempt but lamb and wine will cop it. The wool market has taken a tumble...

In worrying news for dairy farmers, the countries largest processor Lactalis has announced it’s closing its Gippsland dairy factory at Longwarry. Is there going to be further rationalisation as milk supply continues to fall. With the war with Iran dragging on and military tensions rising, so too are critical agricultural input costs such as fuel and fertilizer. Particularly hard hit are the...

We'll take a look at both sheep and cattle markets this year. We've seen significant feeder cattle price volatility for the first six months of the year. Confidence is returning to Australia’s sheep industry as stronger market prices drive optimism and farmers are rebuilding their flocks. Also the wildlife ecologist who’s dedicated his career to studying dingoes. Dr Ben Allen has just...

Highly acclaimed political journalist Chris Uhlmann who is very forthright in his criticism of renewable energy and the net zero carbon emissions target. Every six days, a farm accident claims an Australian life. On this national farm safety week we hear from Farmsafe’s Stevi Howdle. Measuring methane emissions from sheep isn’t easy. It’s usually measured by a breathalyser. The C...

If you relying on your rain gauge to make critical farm management decisions, you could be making costly mistakes. Today we’ll tease out how deep soil moisture probe networks on farm can reveal the secrets of your soils. The American Sheep Industry Association has persuaded the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate imports of lamb meat. So how likely is Australian lamb to be hit...

In a sign of the times for Australia’s wine grape producers the latest vintage is the lowest in more than 25 years. And there still needs to be more rationalisation. To the shocking state of many of our regional roads. Livestock transporter Russell Borchard has never seen it this bad in his 30 years of trucking. For the first time since 2009, grass fed cattle producers are voting on what the...

Telstra’s nationwide outage last week has renewed calls for domestic roaming to be mandated. With no peace deal with the war with Iran, there are renewed calls for the Federal Government to create a long term fuel strategy for diesel. Farmers have long known of the benefits of dung beetles improving soils health and pasture productivity. Now Australian research has found the beetles can cut...

A German insurance company has bought more than 30 dairy farms in south west Victoria and is converting them to blue gum plantations. And locals aren’t impressed. Adelaide University’s ifarmwell team has launched a new video series, "Weather it together," to help Australian farming communities talk more openly about mental health. The Spirit of the Bush foundation is aiming to help pre...

The agricultural chemical industry up in arms that the Australian Pesticides and Medicine Authority is going to a cost recovery model and says it will be farmers who pay for the 200 per cent cost increase. To the much maligned renewable energy transmission line, VNI west, which will traverse nine councils in Victoria's Wimmera/Mallee, and the councils are demanding another meeting with the Victori...

In a sign of the difficult times for the rice industry, Australia’s major rice processor, SunRice is cutting back jobs in the Riverina due to high water prices and low allocations meaning less rice was sown and there just isn’t the rice to process. The Victorian Farmers Federation has taken up a challenge to highlight the condition of the state's regional road network. It's launched a...

Country Today has been at LambEx in Adelaide. Young farmer, Katherine Bain, went back to the family farm and one of the first things she did was buy the neighbouring property. We'll will discuss if sheep producers will be tempted back to merinos to profit from two income streams now that wool prices are back on the rise. Also today, updates on the cropping season following substantial rain and mor...

In what is claimed to be the largest ever sheep conference in the world. Lambex in Adelaide this week. And half the delegates are sheep, lamb and wool producers. It’s all about challenging mindsets and looking to the future of these industries that are currently enjoying the good times. Today increasing merino breeding profits by attention to data details with Mumblebone stud sixth generatio...