Spray drones for precision agriculture & conservation land management

September 1st, 2020

It’s very easy as your career progresses to get so immersed in what you know that you forget that the knowledge isn’t actually widely known. And things that seem ridiculously obvious – aren’t, to other people. This train of thought was precipitated by the polarised responses to someone else’s LinkedIn post regarding a new spray […]

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All agricultural conferences must now be in regional areas. No excuses!

February 9th, 2020

You think the ‘buy from the bush’ campaign is a good idea? Here’s an equally useful way to shift large amounts of money into the bush. Agricultural conferences have traditionally been run in capital cities for sound reasons. Because back when ag conferences started to crank up: Regional flights were less frequent and a lot […]

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How many women are speakers at ag events?

June 2nd, 2018

Actually – that’s not the right question to ask. Instead, ask: How many women speaking at ag events have been given equal billing to the men listed on the programme? Are there women speaking who have travelled similar distances? Are the women recompensed at the same level? Via my secondary Twitter account, @Agri_Events, I’ve been […]

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Care for the environment – like charity – must begin at home

February 12th, 2017

Pheasant coucals are one of Australia’s most splendid birds. They are quirky characters with disproportionally long tails, a habit of engaging in disorganised, ungainly dances in bare spaces that include roads, and a hauntingly memorable call. I heard a pheasant coucal long before I ever saw one, several decades ago, in the thick vegetation lining […]

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Rural Women’s Organisations – Australia and other countries

February 20th, 2016

Australia is fortunate to have a number of strong state and national rural women’s groups.  Each is unique, though perhaps these differences aren’t immediately apparent to anyone on the sidelines. Rural women’s organisations (worldwide) include at least one of the following aspects.  Some include all three: A strong emphasis on directly lobbying governments to improve […]

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Travel to rural and agricultural events – all over the world

February 16th, 2016

Twitter makes it clear how much people involved in agriculture have in common, all over the world.  Most share similar values and interests and have the same sense of humour. Websites, blogs and social media now help innovations spread in leaps and bounds.  Previously, any number of people would be simultaneously working on similar projects, […]

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Photos on Twitter (& other social media accounts) 4/4

February 18th, 2015

Adding a photo to a twitter post greatly increases the number of people who take the time to read your message, and reply or retweet it. A good photo plus a good caption can produce a brilliant result.   And the two together can convey so much more than one or the other on their own […]

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Foreign Investment in Australia

February 12th, 2015

Great news – finally; the threshold for unscrutinised purchases of land from non-Australians has been lowered, and the total is now cumulative. The new limit is $15 million in total; down from a whopping $240 million per purchase (not cumulative!) So from 1st March 2015, anyone who intends purchasing land for $15 million or more, […]

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Many of our top 100 chief executives are from regional Australia

September 11th, 2014

21% of Australia’s top 100 chief executives were born in regional Australia, according to the “Pathways to CEO” research undertaken by the University of Sydney Business School. It is discussed in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and more on the research will appear in the Australian Financial Review’s “Boss” magazine. When overseas-born chief executives are removed […]

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Why buy Australian grown food?

July 1st, 2014

Woolworths are selling pine nuts that can have a very unpleasant side effect. On Sunday I got a very bitter taste in my mouth when eating dinner. (Beef ribs, since you’re asking.)  Odd, I thought – the rest of those carrots tasted perfectly fine yesterday.  But then it happened again, all day yesterday.  And today.  […]

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