News & Updates | Rural Business Magazine

Agribusiness

We’re back! Australia on track for above-average winter crop

Oct. 22, 2020 | 6 min read

Australia is on track for a major recovery in grain production, with the winter harvest set to come in at above-average levels, according to just-released forecasts by agribusiness specialist Rabobank. In its Australian Winter Crop Production Outlook 2020/2021, the agribusiness bank says after three successive years of below-average production due to drought in many parts of the country, Australia’s “long-awaited grain production recovery is here”, with the nation expected to harvest 47.4 million tonnes of winter grains, oilseeds and pulses this year.

Spring horticulture & viticulture - Summer horticulture

Corteva’s new organic insecticide

Oct. 20, 2020 | 2 min read

In a commitment to the sustainability of Australian farmers, Corteva Agriscience has launched a new organic insecticide. Entrust Organic is a naturally derived insecticide, based on metabolites produced by the fermentation of naturally occurring soil organisms. Its favourable environmental and end-user safety profile offers many benefits to growers wanting effective control of damaging pests.

Business solutions & technology - Technology in agriculture

DPI 'Farms of the Future' Breakfast Webinar Series

Oct. 15, 2020 | 1 min read

As part of the NSW Government's Regional Digital Connectivity program, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has set up three commercial demonstration 'Farms of the Future' sites across NSW to showcase currently available farm connectivity and sensor technology.

Summer cropping

First fall armyworm detected in NSW between Moree and Boggabilla

Oct. 13, 2020 | 1 min read

A pest which has the potential to destroy crops has been discovered in New South Wales for the first time. Growers in northern NSW have been urged to be on the lookout for fall armyworm in crops following the positive identification of a single male moth trapped between Moree and Boggabilla on Tuesday.

Winter cropping

Researchers investigating virus outbreak in faba beans

Oct. 12, 2020 | 3 min read

A combination of a wet start to the year and the perfect breeding ground for aphids may have been responsible for unusually severe outbreaks of viruses in faba bean crops in northern New South Wales this season.

Herbicide & fungicide resistance

Stacking the odds against awnless barnyard grass this summer

Oct. 9, 2020 | 4 min read

Sometimes herbicide resistance comes with a fitness penalty that growers can use as an Achilles’ Heel to drive down weed seed production. Unfortunately, glyphosate resistance seems to confer no such disadvantage on awnless barnyard grass. In a recent random survey of summer-growing weeds in the northern grains region, 36 per cent of awnless barnyard grass (Echinochloa colona) populations proved resistant to glyphosate.

Winter cropping

Gene search aims to combat heat stress in canola

Oct. 2, 2020 | 2 min read

Identifying the genes that make canola heat tolerant is the aim of a five-year Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) research project now underway, with field trials planted in New South Wales and Western Australia in 2020. The long-term objective of the research (full story available in GroundCover™ online) is to provide heat-tolerant germplasm to plant breeders.

Agribusiness - Tropical agriculture & sugar cane

Potential to expand horticultural industries in Northern Australia

Oct. 1, 2020 | 1 min read

Northern Australia has long been regarded as an important gateway to the Asian market. However, due to Australia’s focus on supplying the domestic market, horticultural industries in the region have yet to take full advantage of international market opportunities.

Rural Business News