Nanotechnology: The Next Step for Precision Agriculture
What do chemical weapons, sun screen, tennis balls and chewable dog wormers have in common? They’re all examples of products developed with the use of nanotechnology – the manipulation of incredibly small particles (less than 100 nanometres) with the aim of improving the properties of objects – from textiles to computers and pharmaceutical drugs. Revered […]
Mice Plague Continues as Farmers Look to Winter for Relief
Farmers across New South Wales and Queensland, as well as parts of Victoria and South Australia continue to battle mice plagues of once-in-a-lifetime proportions. As many growers look to sowing winter crops, trying to get a handle on mice populations is an unwelcomed distraction. On a University of Sydney research farm at Narrabri in New […]
Dual-Purpose Cropping Leads to Record Breaking Canola Yield
The use of dual-purpose cropping on Mayfield Farm near Oberon in New South Wales has restored the farm from a “dustbowl” to a productive business with record-breaking canola yields. Farm Manager Peter Brooks attributes the yield – 7.16 tonnes / hectare – to the practise of dual-purpose cropping and favourable growing conditions. Mr Brooks sowed […]
Global Agribrands Eye Off Australia for Expansion Plans
Global Agribrands Minerva Foods and SALIC have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish new agricultural operations in Australia. SALIC – the Saudi Arabian government’s agricultural fund – currently owns 211,000 hectares in Australia of which 158,000 hectares are arable and 90,000 hectares are currently being cropped. Merredin Farms, located in Western […]
Significant Investment Boost Required to Realise Ag’s $100 Billion by 2030 Goal
Australian agriculture needs to attract a significantly bigger amount of annual capital investment in order to reach the National Farmers’ Federation target of AUD$100 billion in farm gate value by 2030. That’s according to a new report released by Agrifutures Australia last month which included data modelled by economists to show the impact of investment […]
Australian Agriculture Celebrates a Bumper Year Ahead of a Predicted Drop in Value
ABARES has announced that the value of agricultural output is set to reach a record of $66 billion in the 2020-2021 financial year, a $5 billion increase on the record set in 2016-2017. Favourable seasonal conditions are the main driver of the increase in production, outweighing the drawbacks of the COVID-19 virus and trade tensions […]
Wilmot Cattle Co Sells Carbon Credits to Tech Giant Microsoft in First-of-its-kind Transaction
A New South Wales grazing aggregation has sold carbon credits worth around $500,000 to global tech brand Microsoft – the first of its kind involving an Australian grazier. Over the past three years, Wilmot Cattle Co has sequestered more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon using a regenerative grazing system to produce grass-fed beef. Their farming […]