User Profile

North West Farmer

Innovator’s legacy to irrigators

MALCOLM Gallasch is the man who pioneered the industry-changing shift to ‘water on order’, or ‘water on demand’ from Victoria to South Australia. In June, Mr Gallasch, to whom much of the country owes a significant debt, died aged...

11 Aug 2024

Farming and Environment

Check machines for fire risk

FOLLOWING 45 header fires during harvest season in the far north-west of Victoria, fire authorities are reminding grain growers to make machinery maintenance and hygiene a priority. While fires in cropping paddocks during harvest have long been part...

04 Aug 2024

Farming and Environment

Getting the best from irrigation systems

NORTH WEST FARMERAGRICULTURE Victoria urges irrigation farmers to register for one of two upcoming irrigation workshops at Kerang. The workshops are specifically for farmers involved with designing and installing centre-pivot or lateral-move systems...

15 Jun 2024

Farming and Environment

Farm safety project gets $600,000 lifeline

THE Victorian Farmers Federation’s Making our Farms Safer project will continue to run until 2025 after receiving a $600,000 grant from the Victorian Government. VFF vice-president Danyel Cucinotta welcomed the extension and said the project...

08 Jun 2024

Farming and Environment

SunRice backs anti-vesting bill

RICE manufacturers have welcomed the draft legislation that is expected to end statutory rice export marketing, or vesting, by July 2025. Statutory marketing boards act as a single-desk buyer for agricultural products, as well as the...

06 Jun 2024

Farming and Environment

Water flows through choke point

THE Murray-Darling Basin Authority said the water it has made available through the Barmah choke water trade balance for 2024-25 is the second highest on record. However, claims by MDBA acting executive director of river management Angus Paton this...

22 May 2024

Farming and Environment

Deposit deadline looms

PRIMARY producers are being encouraged by NAB to mark 28 June as a critical date if they’re considering, or already using, farm management deposits as part of their tax planning this financial year. The FMD scheme is designed to enable...

06 May 2024

News

Plan to strike out blowflies

EVERY sheep producer in north-west Victoria will have their eyes on a project releasing millions of sterile male blowflies on Kangaroo Island to see whether it will suppress the blowfly reproduction rate and population – and by default...

15 Apr 2024

politics

Buybacks ‘a risk for grape growers’

MURRAY Valley wine grape growers face “serious economic risks” from water buybacks, Member for Mallee Anne Webster told Federal Parliament this week. “The looming threats of forced exits, water buybacks and widespread vineyard abandonment pose not...

24 Mar 2024

Farming and Environment

Farmer on board with crop research

ONE of Victoria’s highest profile farmers and agri-politicians has stepped onto the board of another high-profile enterprise. In something of a surprise move, Quambatook mixed farmer Brett Hosking is now a director...

11 Feb 2024

Farming and Environment

Farmers toast tales of the land

FARMERS involved in a series of weekly interviews compiled in the publication Over the Fence were invited to celebrate its launch at the Birchip Cropping Group’s members’ Christmas Party. Launching the book at the Birchip Leisure Centre, North...

15 Jan 2024

Farming and Environment

Rain gives cotton a boost

COTTON growers have an extra spring in their step following recent rain, which is expected to boost crop yields. Cotton Australia general manager Michael Murray said the rain came just at the right time for some dryland cotton growers who otherwise...

09 Dec 2023