The Livestock Biosecurity Network, South Coast Natural Resource Management and DAFWA are holding a biosecurity and animal health event targeted at small landholders in Albany on Tuesday, September 16. Any interested members are invited to attend, or to pass the information on to neighbours, friends or family who they think might be interested in attending. Members are encouraged to contact the Livestock Biosecurity Network if they think a similar event would be worthwhile for their

Growers and agronomists will have the chance to discuss current seasonal issues at the Department of Agriculture and Food’s Katanning Research Facility field day next month. Department Katanning manager Keith Ohlsen said the program for the field day was developed after consultation with growers, consultants and agribusiness contacts to identify priority issues within the region.  “Issues that will be highlighted include canola disease and red-legged earth mite control,” Mr Ohlsen said. “There will also be

Canola growers are set to benefit from a wealth of information to be generated from a phenology trial by the Department of Agriculture and Food. The trial will document the growth cycle of 24 commercial canola varieties, providing growers with valuable data to maximise crop productivity and profitability. The trial is part of the department’s Tactical Break Crop Agronomy project, supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. Plots of conventional, Clearfield, Roundup Ready® and

On April 9 the “Neonicotinoids and other insecticides – research and stewardship symposium” was held in Canberra. Funded by RIRDC, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the symposium brought together 90 representatives from the honey bee industry, crop industries that rely on honey bees for pollination, researchers and government agencies to examine information gathered globally on the effects of neonicotinoids on insect pollinators. WAFarmers Beekeepers Section has

The academic foundations of future sheep research projects are now on file in perpetuity, with detailed research papers from the Sheep CRC to be permanently housed on the Livestock Library. The Livestock Library provides one-stop digital access to a wide range of Australian scientific publications, conference proceedings and reports on sheep and cattle research. It was established by the Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC) and the Beef CRC with the aim

WAFarmers has received correspondence from Transport Minister Dean Nalder in response to two previous letters on the future of Tier 3 lines. The Minister has advised that Main Roads WA (MRWA) undertakes regular inspections of State and Local roads in the Wheatbelt to monitor the conditions of the roads, and the shire can contact MRWA should it consider funding inadequate. Given this information, WAFarmers urged any members who notice roads in their area which are

Ram buyers have been warned to avoid compromising their breeding objectives by integrating objective measurement data into their buying strategy. With the ram sale season underway, Department of Agriculture and Food senior research officer Johan Greeff urged producers to use Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) to ensure their ram purchases fitted their flock’s breeding strategy. The department has contributed more than a decade of research to the development of ASBVs, which predict how an animal’s

A teleconference for the WAFarmers Grains Council was held at the beginning of the week to deliberate on the future of grains contracts for growers. The council discussed the possibility of modifying the current contracts to better protect growers entering contract negotiations, especially regarding dispute resolutions. At this stage, more investigation is required to determine whether enough growers are supportive of the idea and if updating grower contracts to fulfil grower requests will be achievable. 

The WAFarmers Grains Council met at the beginning of the week to consider the recent media surrounding GM crops. An article in the West Australian discussed the possibility of repealing the GM Crops Free Areas Act 2003 which would remove some legislation on GM crops in Western Australia. In addition to the Gene Technology Regulator in WA, there would still be an overarching national legislation in place to regulate GM policy. The Grains Council showed