News & Opinion

Rural women help drive Australia's booming ag sector, says Minister Anne Ruston

Rural women

Rural women help drive Australia's booming ag sector, says Minister Anne Ruston

8th Mar 2018 | By AgInnovators

The productivity and profitability of Australia's agriculture sector owes much to the contribution of rural women, including some notable female leaders, said the nation's Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Anne Ruston on International Women's Day 2018.
Fast-growing grain farmers take out Farmer of the Year award

Awards

Fast-growing grain farmers take out Farmer of the Year award

25th Feb 2018 | By AgInnovators

Matthew and Rachel Hinkley, grain farmers who’ve expanded their productive acreage by 400 percent in 13 years, received top gong in The Weekly Times Coles 2017 Farmer of the Year Awards, announced on 22 February 2018.
Australian Organic's latest crop of champions

Organics

Australian Organic's latest crop of champions

5th Jan 2018 | By Merran White, AgInnovators

At its 4th Annual Awards for Excellence, held in mid-November 2017, independent organics-industry body Australian Organic Ltd announced an exceptional crop of ‘organic champions’: producers, processors, retailers, innovators and products – including, for the first time, wine.
Gippsland’s ‘king of salad’ wins 2017 Australian Farmer of the Year award

Awards

Gippsland’s ‘king of salad’ wins 2017 Australian Farmer of the Year award

16th Aug 2017 | By AgInnovators

Kondinin Group and ABC Rural Australian Farmer of the Year, Gippsland producer Andrew Bulmer, attributes his recent success – a 400% boost in production over 18 months – to innovation, best practices pre- and post-harvest, and some serious hard yakka.
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Projects

Reducing Energy Costs in Dairy

Reducing Energy Costs in Dairy

The Reducing Energy Cost in Dairy project was funded by Australian Dairy Farmers to assist farmers in increasing their dollar return on energy investment.  The project built on previous work by NSW Farmers and Dairy Australia. Activities...
Water & Energy Nexus Initiative

Water & Energy Nexus Initiative

In 2014, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage funded NSW Farmers to conduct a study into the connection between energy costs and usage, and water-efficient irrigation practices.

The project involved desk top research coupled...
Farm Energy Innovation Program (EEIG)

Farm Energy Innovation Program (EEIG)

The NSW Farmers' "Farm Energy Innovation Program" was delivered with the help of the Australian Federal Government between 2012 and 2015 under the Energy Efficiency Information Grants program (EEIG).
Next Gen Compost

Next Gen Compost

Next Gen Compost is a two-year project commenced in 2016 aimed at increasing the use of compost made from recycled organic waste in commercial vegetable production. The project is funded by the NSW Environment Protection Authority under its Waste Less Recycle More Organics Market Development Grant Program.
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Case Studies

Farm trials show next-gen compost benefits for vegie growers

Recycled organics

Farm trials show next-gen compost benefits for vegie growers

Trials at the Greater Sydney Demonstration Farm show that adding high-grade recycled-organics composts to soils prior to planting has a number of potential benefits for vegetable growers.
Bathurst farmer grows sweet corn using 'next gen' compost

Recycled organics

Bathurst farmer grows sweet corn using 'next gen' compost

Bathurst mixed-farming operator Jeff McSpedden, who grows corn commercially for Simplot, turned to next-gen compost to replace biosolids, deemed a health risk.
Sydney vegie growers improve soil and yields using 'next gen' compost

Recycled organics

Sydney vegie growers improve soil and yields using 'next gen' compost

Second-generation vegetable farmers Sam and Val Micallef switched to recycled organics compost augmented with slow-release nitrogen to produce more and better vegies for Sydney Markets.
Rejigged tariffs and equipment fixes to boost Riverina dairy farm's bottom line

Energy

Rejigged tariffs and equipment fixes to boost Riverina dairy farm's bottom line

An energy audit of Carramar dairy farm in Womboota found significant savings could be made by renegotiating the electricity tariff for the property’s water pump, optimising the performance of its power-hungry plate cooler, recovering waste heat from the chiller and installing LEDs. Simple.
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