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30 Sep 2003 | Kuwait in queue to take sheep
Kuwait is reportedly emerging as the new frontrunner ahead of Iraq and Libya as a taker for 53,000 sheep stranded in the Persian Gulf. ...... FULL STORY
30 Sep 2003 | Desperate Qld bush sees rain hope evaporate
Rainfall projections for the next three months have dashed hopes of an imminent break in the drought, which is afflicting more than two thirds of Queensland. ...... FULL STORY
30 Sep 2003 | Grape industries still at risk from Grapevine Leaf Rust
Australia's $4.4 billion wine and grape industry is still at risk from Grapevine Leaf Rust - found in the Northern Territory - despite a massive eradication program, the project's director Stephen West says. ...... FULL STORY
30 Sep 2003 | 'Rees' wheat gives more crop per drop
Graingene, a joint venture between AWB Limited, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO Plant Industry, has released its second commercial variety, Rees. ...... FULL STORY
30 Sep 2003 | Rain cuts Perth Show crowd but good for dams
Perth's Royal Show Day got off to a soggy start on September 29, with Swanbourne recording 30 mm before 9am. ...... FULL STORY
29 Sep 2003 | Royal Melbourne Show ends with a bark, not a whimper
Organisers of the Royal Melbourne Show expect the final attendance figures to be up on 2002, despite safety scares on two carnival rides. ...... FULL STORY
29 Sep 2003 | AMP to sell Cooplacurripa Station
AMP has put another of its pastoral holdings up for sale: the cattle property Cooplacurripa Station. ...... FULL STORY
29 Sep 2003 | Sugar plan fails but levy stays
Consumers will continue to pay the Federal Government's retail sugar levy into the foreseeable future despite the collapse of the industry rescue plan. ...... FULL STORY
29 Sep 2003 | Don't force us out of business: Adelaide Hills farmers
Adelaide Hills farmers have stepped up their campaign against new SA Government policies they say will strip them of future income and make them unviable. ...... FULL STORY
29 Sep 2003 | Watchdog slated for animal exports
Australia's live animal export industry is likely to get an independent regulatory body, created by the Federal Government, as the shipment of over 50,000 sheep remain stranded in the Persian Gulf. ...... FULL STORY
26 Sep 2003 | The burning state: 67 fires rage in NSW
Fire fighters have been working to contain a large bushfire in the Jilliby Nature Reserve about 6 kilometres to the north-west of Ourimbah, on NSW's Central Coast. ...... FULL STORY
26 Sep 2003 | Secret deal gives sheep to Baghdad
Australian livestock exporters will buy back the 53,000 sheep stranded in Persian Gulf and give them to Iraq for slaughter at Ramadan, under a secret deal being brokered by the Federal Government. ...... FULL STORY
26 Sep 2003 | Fares Group under siege
Australia's $1 billion livestock export industry has been stunned by the announcement that one of the biggest operators, Fares Group, has informed creditors it intends to go into provisional liquidation. ...... FULL STORY
26 Sep 2003 | Crikey, what a deal for Darwin rail link
One hundred years and $1.3bn later, the final link in the 3,000-kilometre Adelaide-Darwin rail line was clinked into place on September 25, months ahead of time and on budget. ...... FULL STORY
26 Sep 2003 | New mustard varieties: good oil for dry land
New mustard genotypes bred to withstand hot, dry conditions could give grain growers in more marginal farming areas the break crop option they've been looking for. ...... FULL STORY
25 Sep 2003 | Fires ignite legal action
Nine farming families are taking legal action against the NSW Government for bushfires which started in a national park. ...... FULL STORY
25 Sep 2003 | Sheep sea drama poses threat to future trade
The live sheep drama continues as Middle Eastern countries refuse to take the shipment rejected by Saudi Arabia. ...... FULL STORY
25 Sep 2003 | Spring chill keeps bees from buzzing
Goulburn Valley orchardists are hoping the temperature gauge will rise above 19 degrees, so that honey and native bees will venture out. ...... FULL STORY
25 Sep 2003 | Super plants in gene centre's sights
A $20 million agricultural gene research centre was opened in Melbourne by the Victorian Innovation Minister, John Brumby, on September 23. ...... FULL STORY
25 Sep 2003 | Cheap satellite phones for bush
Telstra is believed to be close to signing a deal with Tele-IP which will see solar-powered phones using satellite technology supplied to remote and rural areas. ...... FULL STORY
24 Sep 2003 | Fruit fly fears for $300m crop
Horticulture growers have warned the South Australian Government that fruit fly could become a serious threat to the $300 million industry if a composting depot is built near Virginia. ...... FULL STORY
24 Sep 2003 | Vic Govt's farm work permit claim rejected
Accident researchers, WorkCover investigators and a doctor have dismissed Victorian Government claims that its Child Employment legislation would reduce deaths and injuries on farms. ...... FULL STORY
24 Sep 2003 | Mice threaten Darling Downs grain crops
Darling Downs grain growers fortunate enough to have planted a winter grain crop are now facing a mouse problem. ...... FULL STORY
24 Sep 2003 | Drought yet to hit wool: ABARE
Specialist wool producers' incomes reached a 25-year high despite the drought, but wool farm profits and earnings will drop in the next few years as flocks are rebuilt, according to ABARE's 2003 Australian Wool Industry Report. ...... FULL STORY
24 Sep 2003 | MP's wind farm plan
Federal Labor MP Christian Zahra is pushing for changes which could make wind farms commercially unviable. ...... FULL STORY
23 Sep 2003 | Sugar prices hit by high $A
Fears of a worldwide surplus and the continuing strength of the $AUD mean prices are being kept well below break-even level for growers. ...... FULL STORY
23 Sep 2003 | Farm Pride lays out its egg-expansion agenda
Farm Pride Foods Ltd, which was intending to exit the egg business a few months ago, has forged new links with producers by buying stake in a large Victorian poultry farm. ...... FULL STORY
23 Sep 2003 | Wool needs a plan for Japan: report
A new report, commissioned by Australian Wool Innovation and written by the Australia-Japan Research Centre, concludes that the Australian wool industry should set up an organisation in Japan to regain the millions of dollars in trade lost there... ...... FULL STORY
23 Sep 2003 | Harvest up but exports down
ABARE has raised its forecast for commodity export earnings in 2003-2004 to $83.9 billion, up from $82.8 billion in June, due to the nation's looming bumper grain harvest and improving prospects for world economic recovery. ...... FULL STORY
23 Sep 2003 | Super roo Lulu a real lifesaver
Gippsland farmer Len Richards owes his life to his pet kangaroo Lulu, who alerted the family after he was badly hurt by a falling tree branch. ...... FULL STORY
22 Sep 2003 | One vet, one bolt gun, few options on 'ship of shame'
There is one vet with one bolt gun aboard the Cormo Express, with only enough charges to kill one-tenth of the 50,000-plus sheep on board. ...... FULL STORY
22 Sep 2003 | AWB chief defends monopoly scheme
AWB Ltd's CEO Andrew Lindberg has defended the need for its monopoly on bulk wheat exporting and says millions of dollars are at risk if it ends. ...... FULL STORY
22 Sep 2003 | Pampered porkers and woolly well-being
CSIRO Livestock Industries researcher, Dr Caroline Kerr, will use an award from the Department of Agriculture to find out whether certain immune system molecules can be used to reduce livestock stress levels. ...... FULL STORY
22 Sep 2003 | Do or die for NLIS scheme
Friday September 19 was the day of reckoning for the National Livestock Identification Scheme, when stock agents voted on whether to withdraw their support for the scheme. ...... FULL STORY
22 Sep 2003 | Telstra sale less likely
Rural telecommunication services are unlikely to have improved enough for the Coalition Government to sell its stake in Telstra before the next federal election, the Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, says. ...... FULL STORY
19 Sep 2003 | AACo in bid to halt sale of Stanbroke
Australian Agricultural Company has launched legal action to halt the $490 million sale of Stanbroke Pastoral. ...... FULL STORY
19 Sep 2003 | Tax is just hot air
Victoria's Premier, Steve Bracks, has ruled there will be no flatulence tax on farm animals in the state. ...... FULL STORY
19 Sep 2003 | Spring lamb death toll
Strong winds and driving rain are sapping the recovery of the already depleted Australian sheep flock, with thousands of young lambs across Victoria being killed by the extreme weather conditions that have marked the first fortnight of Spring. ...... FULL STORY
19 Sep 2003 | Unwanted sheep carrier docks for feed
The Cormo Express has been allowed to dock at a United Arab Emirates port to take on feed for its live cargo of over 50,000 sheep, but only after the ship's authorities argued for 24 hours with UAE officials. ...... FULL STORY
19 Sep 2003 | Macadamia nut power switched on
The world's first macadamia nut-fuelled power plant has been opened at Gympie in Queensland. ...... FULL STORY
18 Sep 2003 | Senate demands sheep death toll
The Australian Senate has demanded that the Agriculture Minister provide the death toll of the shipment of sheep stranded in the Middle East by 3pm on September 18. ...... FULL STORY
18 Sep 2003 | Agriculture Dept defiant on AWI claims
The Federal Agriculture Department has defended its decision not to take any action against Australian Wool Innovation in 2002, despite claims of mismanagement and nepotism. ...... FULL STORY
18 Sep 2003 | Nth Qld players in Stanbroke deal
North Queensland families are amongst the key players in the consortium that bought Stanbroke Pastoral Company in early September. ...... FULL STORY
18 Sep 2003 | Criteria change for BSE tests in Qld
The Queensland Department of Primary Industries will update its surveillance program for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, bringing it into line with the OIE, or World Organisation for Animal Health, guidelines. ...... FULL STORY
18 Sep 2003 | Beef can learn from chicken success
Chicken meat will start outselling beef in Australia some time during the next 10 years, according to a Qld DPI consultant who carried out a research survey. ...... FULL STORY
17 Sep 2003 | Big Dry blamed for downturn in Victorian exports
Victoria's economy has been especially hard hit by the once-in-a-hundred-years drought, with figures from the Bureau of Statistics showing exports in May fell 23.7 per cent against the same period in 2002. ...... FULL STORY
17 Sep 2003 | Thumbs down to GM food guide
A consumer guide to genetically modified food, published by Greenpeace, is misleading and should be ignored, says the Victorian Farmers' Federation. ...... FULL STORY
17 Sep 2003 | Apple growers angered at Coles' new size rule
Growers are outraged at a decision by Coles Supermarkets to change the specifications for the supply of apples, which they say are "unrealistic". ...... FULL STORY
17 Sep 2003 | Wheat silos running dry
AWB (International) Limited hopes to have fewer than 500,000 tonnes of wheat left in storage when the first grain arrives from the new harvest. ...... FULL STORY
17 Sep 2003 | Vic Govt amends Child Employment Bill
The Victorian Government has backed down on one aspect of its Child Employment Bill following a massive outcry from farmers and small family-run businesses. ...... FULL STORY
16 Sep 2003 | Drop sugar levy: Qld Govt
The Queensland Government has told the Federal Government that it should adopt sugar industry reforms or cease collecting the 3-cents-a-kilo retail levy. ...... FULL STORY
16 Sep 2003 | New nitrogen fertiliser management tool
CSIRO Plant Industry has released a computer program, maNage Wheat, designed to assist wheat growers to more effectively manage their use of nitrogen fertilisers, which can cost $50,000 and $100,000 a year. ...... FULL STORY
16 Sep 2003 | How farmers are affected by WTO trade talks' collapse
International agricultural industry reform, vital for Australian farmers, will now be delayed for another 12 months, after the World Trade Organisation's ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed. ...... FULL STORY
16 Sep 2003 | PM 'should save sheep'
The RSPCA and Federal Opposition say the Prime Minister should step in to save the shipment of over 50,000 sheep stranded in the Middle East. ...... FULL STORY
16 Sep 2003 | Gearing up for a field-day bonanza
Machinery companies are expecting one of the best Yorke Peninsula Field Days ever following the recovery of farming regions after the drought. ...... FULL STORY
15 Sep 2003 | 57,000 rejected Aussie sheep to be given away
A shipment of 57,000 live sheep, originally destined for Saudi Arabia but rejected due to a claim too many were diseased, will be given away to a Middle Eastern country, the Trade Minister Mark Vaile said. ...... FULL STORY
15 Sep 2003 | Show's over for exhibit cheats
A team of seven veterinarians is ready to weed out cheats at this year's Royal Melbourne Show. ...... FULL STORY
15 Sep 2003 | Landmark price 'fair': AWB
AWB Ltd's claim that it paid a fair price for Wesfarmers' rural business Landmark has come under scrutiny as it fields criticism over its assertion that the $825 million price-tag included $170 million in cash. ...... FULL STORY
15 Sep 2003 | Big drop in sheep population
There is more evidence that Australia's sheep flock is shrinking, with new figures showing that volumes of wool shorn this season will fall and Australians will eat less lamb than ever before this year. ...... FULL STORY
15 Sep 2003 | Ethanol fears '20 years out of date'
Australia's pro-ethanol lobby has brought in a US "fuel expert", Larry Johnson, who will address the Federal Coalition on Wednesday on behalf of the Australian Coalition for Ethanol. ...... FULL STORY
12 Sep 2003 | Bonlac Foods reports 50% fall in net profit
Bonlac Foods Ltd has reported a net profit of $18.17 million for the 2002-2003 financial year, down 51 per cent on 2001-2002. ...... FULL STORY
12 Sep 2003 | Love farmers, too: dean's plan to get vets to go bush
The outgoing dean of veterinary science at Sydney University, Dr Reuben Rose, says female vets marrying farmers is one of the few things that can keep his former students where they are most needed: ...... FULL STORY
12 Sep 2003 | AWB blunt on export prices
AWB Ltd has warned farmers that it will price grain aggressively over the next nine months when selling what promises to be the second biggest harvest on record. ...... FULL STORY
12 Sep 2003 | Recovery slaughters abattoirs
Abattoirs are key employers in country towns but they are being hit hard, not by the drought, but beginnings of the recovery. ...... FULL STORY
12 Sep 2003 | Egg theft: a case the police want to crack
Police in the New England region of New South Wales are appealing for assistance to track down thieves who stole 8,640 eggs from a property near Tamworth. ...... FULL STORY
11 Sep 2003 | Bonlac lifts prices, cuts staff
Bonlac Foods' dairy farmers have been given a 3.5 per cent rise in milk prices, in the wake of Fonterra taking control of the company by lifting its stake from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. ...... FULL STORY
11 Sep 2003 | Storage levels climb as rain keeps falling
Water levels in major Victorian storages are continuing to rise, with Lakes Eildon, Dartmouth, Hume and Glenmaggie all recording rises over the past week. ...... FULL STORY
11 Sep 2003 | New GM trials gather steam
The move to introduce genetically modified canola into Australia is accelerating, with more trial plantings likely to be approved by December 2003. ...... FULL STORY
11 Sep 2003 | DNA testing in potato disease battle
In the not-too-distant future, the potato industry will use DNA testing to combat the soil-based diseases common scab, powdery scab and rhizoctonia, which can destroy up to 80 per cent of a grower's crop. ...... FULL STORY
11 Sep 2003 | Vic fire fund goes to the dogs
Farmers have only received $330,000 of the Victorian Government's $3.75 million dog-fencing fund for victims of the January 2003 alpine fires. ...... FULL STORY
10 Sep 2003 | Bumper grain crops tipped
Victorian wheat farmers could produce 3.2 million tonnes of wheat this season, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics says. ...... FULL STORY
10 Sep 2003 | New Vic child work Bill cops bucketing
The Victorian Government's new Child Employment Bill has received the scorn of farming families far and wide throughout the state. ...... FULL STORY
10 Sep 2003 | States stand on front foot to fight diseases
Since Exercise Minotaur took place in 2002, Australia's capacity to deal with foot and mouth and other serious animal diseases has been boosted substantially. ...... FULL STORY
10 Sep 2003 | Engine damage claims shake ethanol hopes
The Federal Government's ethanol taskforce claims that a 10 per cent ethanol blend in petrol could damage four million Australian cars, or up to 40 per cent of cars on the roads - double previous estimates. ...... FULL STORY
10 Sep 2003 | Race against time for live sheep shipment
Talks on a new destination in the Middle East for the 57,000 live sheep on board the MV Cormo Express have fallen through. ...... FULL STORY
9 Sep 2003 | Modified food cuts as public votes no
The dairy industry, as well as major cereal and bread makers, are being prompted by consumer concern to introduce policies excluding suppliers of genetically modified foods. ...... FULL STORY
9 Sep 2003 | Hungry Jack gobbles AMP's Stanbroke
The Hughes consortium, headed by Stanbroke director Peter Hughes and including fast-food king Jack Cowin and a group of wealthy farming families, have won control of Australia's largest beef producer and land owner ...... FULL STORY
9 Sep 2003 | Blow for Vic wind farm project
Developer Wind Power Pty Ltd has revised plans for its wind power project in Bald Hills, South Gippsland. ...... FULL STORY
9 Sep 2003 | Farm inventions win awards
Russell Meaton, a principal of the Misty Hills superfine Merino stud in Kojonup, Western Australia, says he'd had enough of for ever putting a stock crate on his ute and then having to remove it the next day so he could use the load space. ...... FULL STORY
9 Sep 2003 | WA Merino breeders want more sampling accuracy
The Stud Merino Breeders Association of Western Australia says fleece measurement tests should be standardised so that buyers get more accurate information when they're buying rams. ...... FULL STORY
8 Sep 2003 | AWB honours Iraq wheat contract
AWB Ltd says the final 800,000-tonne wheat contract for Iraq, supposed to be delivered before the war, is now ready for immediate shipment. ...... FULL STORY
8 Sep 2003 | ASX to begin trading Wool Futures
The Australian Stock Exchange will commence the trading of wool futures contracts on Monday September 8, 2003. ...... FULL STORY
8 Sep 2003 | Telstra Country Wide promises more service improvements
Telstra has promised further improvements to country telecommunications, undertaking to implement all 19 recommendations of the Estens inquiry into regional services. ...... FULL STORY
8 Sep 2003 | End may be nigh for NSW's big dry
There are signs that the drought may be coming to an end in New South Wales. ...... FULL STORY
8 Sep 2003 | Fonterra now the big cheese in Bonlac
On Friday September 5, about 100 farmer-shareholders attended the final meeting of Bonlac in its present from and voted to deliver control of the group to New Zealand-based Fonterra. ...... FULL STORY
5 Sep 2003 | Administrator to run Mudgee abattoir
An administrator, Steve Parbery of PPB, has been appointed to run Mudgee Regional Abattoir for at least the next six weeks while assessing its future. ...... FULL STORY
5 Sep 2003 | CSR announces renewable energy project
CSR Ltd has announced a $100 million "green energy" project that will generate power through the burning of sugarcane waste at its Pioneer Mill in Brandon, south of Townsville in north Queensland. ...... FULL STORY
5 Sep 2003 | Bonlac Foods confident of Fonterra bid
Bonlac Foods' chairman Noel Campbell says he is "very confident" that its shareholders will vote in favour of Fonterra moving to 50 per cent ownership today. ...... FULL STORY
5 Sep 2003 | 'Strike' win by growers over chicks
Victorian chicken growers have claimed victory after threatening not to accept delivery of 400,000 day-old chicks. ...... FULL STORY
5 Sep 2003 | ABC rural program cuts 'thoughtless': Anderson
The Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, says the ABC is being "thoughtless" in cutting local regional and rural radio news broadcasts with nationally-produced programs. ...... FULL STORY
4 Sep 2003 | Telstra sheds 198 bush jobs
Telstra has taken the axe to its regional workforce, with 198 technicians to be laid off in the coming weeks. ...... FULL STORY
4 Sep 2003 | AWB export monopoly under renewed pressure
AWB Ltd's monopoly on the marketing of Australia's wheat is coming under renewed pressure as the US and EU agreed to pursue the elimination of single-desk export arrangements in international trade talks. ...... FULL STORY
4 Sep 2003 | Grain campaign targets low-carb diets
Go Grain, a campaign by bread, cereal and pasta makers to protect sales against the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets, is now targeting dietitians, teachers and the fitness industry. ...... FULL STORY
4 Sep 2003 | Water to flow through Murray mouth
For the first time since December 2001, fresh water will flow through the Murray River mouth today, with two barrages at Goolwa to be opened for six weeks, releasing between 100 and 150 gigalitres of water. ...... FULL STORY
4 Sep 2003 | Three 'supercows' born in South Australia
Three calves with the genetic potential to produce more than 14,000 litres of milk in a single lactation were born in Adelaide in mid-August. ...... FULL STORY
3 Sep 2003 | WCBF profits plunge after a lean year
Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory has posted a 60 per cent slump in after-tax profit to $5.6 million for the 2002-2003 financial year. ...... FULL STORY
3 Sep 2003 | Vic Child Employment Bill passes first test
The Victorian Government's Child Employment Bill (2003) has been passed by Parliament's Lower House. ...... FULL STORY
3 Sep 2003 | Anderson no to special tax deal for regional businesses
The Federal Government has ruled out better tax breaks for regional businesses, despite recommendations from a government-commissioned independent inquiry. ...... FULL STORY
3 Sep 2003 | Warning on penalties for over-fat lambs
Farmers keen to add extra weight to suckers have been warned to monitor fat cover amid fears the season could enable buyers to discount over-fat stock. ...... FULL STORY
3 Sep 2003 | Let some areas go dry, says Vic Govt
The Victorian Water and Environment Minister, John Thwaites, says irrigators must accept the need to close parts of the state's irrigation system. ...... FULL STORY
2 Sep 2003 | Bunfight in the bush
The Carr Government's aim of local government reform has generated a thorny fight in the bush, as regional councils are being asked to amalgamate with each other. ...... FULL STORY
2 Sep 2003 | Almond group shares go nuts as it shells out more
Agribusiness Select Harvests has posted a profit rise of 28 per cent, reporting a record profit of $10.96 million for the year to June 30, 2003, up from $8.55 million in 2001-2002. ...... FULL STORY
2 Sep 2003 | Lamb springs back into favour as demand soars
Australia's shrinking sheep industry is under pressure following the drought, facing rising domestic demand for lamb and a rapid growth in exports to 105 countries. ...... FULL STORY
2 Sep 2003 | The good olive oil
Judges at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show spent most of yesterday sniffing, swilling, then spitting in an effort to find the nation's best olive oil. ...... FULL STORY
2 Sep 2003 | New sugar research entity
One hundred years of sugar research and development by the Queensland Government-run Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations has ended, with the commencement of sugar research operations by an industry-driven entity, BSES Limited. ...... FULL STORY
1 Sep 2003 | Bushfires extract high social cost
The loss of income and production caused by last summer's bushfires cost an estimated $121 million to the economies of the Indigo, Towong, Alpine and East Gippsland shires ...... FULL STORY
1 Sep 2003 | Water pact has plenty of gaps
The water rights agreement sealed on Friday August 29 is a step towards establishing a national water trading scheme ...... FULL STORY
1 Sep 2003 | AWB deal hits Futuris
AWB Ltd has announced it will pay $825 million for Wesfarmers Landmark. ...... FULL STORY
1 Sep 2003 | Coastal wind farms 'a blot on landscape'
More than 400 protesters demonstrated at Parliament House in Melbourne on Sunday August 31, demanding that a moratorium be placed on new coastal wind farm development. ...... FULL STORY
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