Agquip, Gunnedah (NSW) – Australia’s largest agricultural field day

August 22nd, 2011

As is apparently the case in all but the very worst drought years, it rained at Agquip last week – in  fact there was also a bit of hail on the last day.  But like most agricultural field days, rain has a beneficial affect on visitation and sales.  Only an absolute deluge like that received at Agquip 2010, causes running headaches […]

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ABC TV’s Gruen transfer returns – tonight

August 3rd, 2011

The best programme on TV is back on tonight – ABC television’s The Gruen Transfer. Host Will Anderson is a vegetarian who grew up on a Victorian dairy farm, and he’s the only public-figure vegetarian I’ve ever seen who doesn’t try to convert all and sundry.  And he’s hosted a very objective analysis of meat […]

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Amazing Race Australia 2011 & 2012

August 2nd, 2011

Much as they irritated me at times (deliberately setting out to use good looks [short shorts etc] to get ahead on so many occasions); on merit (tenacity, ability etc), the girls (Sam and Renae) should have won ‘Amazing Race Australia’ ahead of the blokes; especially considering the much higher number of tasks/challenges that favoured blokes […]

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Henbury Station – R.M. Williams Agriculture – carbon trading scheme

July 27th, 2011

Further to the June 5 post re. Henbury Station’s purchase by RMWAH, here’s quote in The Australian from CSIRO ‘site leader’ Ashley Sparrow, regarding ‘revegetating’ Henbury and turning it into a ‘carbon sink’: “…. the rejuvenation would be “a slow process, since most recovery relies on big rainfall events.  I would expect in a while, and after […]

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Amazing Race Australia – Matt Nunn & Tom Warriner eliminated

July 26th, 2011

For Tom Warriner and Matt Nunn, tragedy strikes in the form of a bright orange shirt.  More accurately, an industrial sewing machine and pieces of orange cloth that had to be sewn into a shirt.  It was a great task to throw in amongst the challenges with so many heavy-lifting endurance feats that clearly favoured […]

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AACo has sold Meteor Downs Station to Xstrata, presumably to be run by Colinta Holdings

July 23rd, 2011

AACo has sold the central Queensland cattle station ‘Meteor Downs’ to the Swiss mining company, Xstrata.  Meteor Downs is 17,000 ha 40km SE of Springsure (between Emerald & Roma), and it was purchased in 1990 to run the AACo’s Brahman and Santa Gertrudis studs.  In recent years it has been running Wagyu cattle, and growing forage crops […]

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Nuclear waste dump in ‘the middle of nowhere’ – Tennant Creek

July 22nd, 2011

If the vitriolic anti-bush comments in relation to the live export ban didn’t convince rural Australians that there is a sizeable slab of urban Australia who despise them (though urban residents rely on rural residents for food & export income), then the recent online forum comments regarding the planned nuclear waste dump near Tennant Creek, surely will.  Discussions on […]

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Australia 2012 Year of the Farmer

July 7th, 2011

I must be living under a rock because until yesterday I didn’t know that 2012 is the Year of the Farmer.  Sponsored by Elders, the Year of the Farmer board is impressive.  Included are Deb Bain (Wool & sheep meat producer and Farm Day instigator, Vic), Geoff Bell (NSW), Bill Belotti (agronomist, NSW), Philip Bruem […]

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Rural producers from southern regions, making ill-informed judgements regarding Australia’s live export trade

June 16th, 2011

It’s exasperating to find southern producers who have posted online comments supporting the blanket ban on live exports because a) I haven’t come across a single one whose comments demonstrate any understanding of agriculture outside their own specific region and b) they’ve played right into the hands of animal rights extremists – apparently oblivious to the fact that […]

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Australians Supporting Beef Farmers (ASBF) – brand new website now online

June 14th, 2011

The ‘Australians Supporting Beef Farmers’ (ASBF) brand new website is online today.  The aim of the website is to provide objective industry facts and a united voice for Australian cattle farmers, especially those in the north who are directly or indirectly involved in the live export trade, as well as people indirectly involved (from truck drivers and mustering chopper […]

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