Agriculture

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© 2025 SA Farmer

Agriculture

South Australian farmers hang hopes on better year ahead

A MAJOR national industry report has shown South Australia’s primary producers – including those in the Mallee, Mid North and Riverland – have increased confidence about 2025’s agricultural potential. Australian farmers have entered the year...

2025 cereal and pulse disease guides out now

VICTORIAN Mallee grain growers can now access their disease management plans for this season’s winter crops, with a new guide containing the latest disease information. Agriculture Victoria’s recently released the 2025 cereal and pulse disease...

Peter Magarey: Pioneering plant pathologist shaping our ag future

RECENT struggles within the farming industry have revived a long-standing conversation about plant diseases and pathologies affecting crops amid record heatwaves and shifting climate patterns. With local growers facing an increase in plant diseases...

Sebastian Calderon

Meeting the challenges facing Australia’s food supply chain

A MAJOR report has found the food supply chain workforce to be essential, but facing challenges, including issues specific to regional, rural and remote Australia and the availability of accessible education and training. The Jobs and Skills...

Staff Contributors

SA agriculture “well placed to master the year ahead”

SOUTH Australia’s agricultural sector is well placed for the year ahead – despite expected rising global geopolitical tensions, an underperforming Asian economy resulting in low consumer confidence and a volatile energy market – Rabobank says...

Staff Contributors

Gazania wars: Things you need to know about tackling a persistent weed

TRIALS being conducted in Loxton are helping to inform the ongoing management strategies of a weed found across the Mallee. Gazania is no longer just a roadside problem for farmers – this resilient invader is making its way into cropping paddocks...

Staff Contributors

Understanding nutrient removal and maximising input efficiency for 2025

AS the dust settles on the 2024 harvest, farmers across the Mallee are diving into their yield data, evaluating how drought and frosty conditions impacted their crops. With this valuable information in hand, it’s the perfect time to assess the...

Staff Contributors

A date with history

A RIVERLAND date palm producer will be recording the first history of the species and industry in 2025, following the introduction of the palm to Australian soil to its modern cultivation across the state. With the support of the prestigious 2024...

Madison Eastmond

Soil microbes - farming with your underground livestock for healthy soil

IF you want to grow plants, either on the farm, fruit block, or in the home garden, chances are you have considered your soil and thought about adding something to make the plants grow better. What if there was something that you could encourage in...

Staff Contributors

Olive Grove’s new era

BEING new to a town is never easy. There’s a lot to take in while getting to know your new surroundings, and adapting to the change of environment. So, when you throw taking over a successful business in one of the most well-known country towns in...

Next steps in preparing SA for varroa mite

SOUTH Australia’s preparedness for the possible incursion of varroa mite and its future management has taken the next step as the SA Varroa Detection Response and Transition to Management Plan has been approved by industry and is now available...

Water research seeks to boost grain yields

RESEARCH is underway in South Australia to push the limits of water productivity in cereal yield potential across low (LRZ) and medium rainfall zones (MRZ). National science agency CSIRO and Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) have...

Crop rotation study yields important results

LONG-TERM research across Victoria’s Mallee region is highlighting the impacts different crop managements on soil carbon and nitrogen. Agriculture Victoria (AgVic) has been conducting a research trial, dubbed MC14, at Walpeup since 1985 to...

Silo health crucial as harvest nears

Mallee grain growers are being encouraged to ensure storage silos have a ‘clean bill of health’ as attention turns to winter crop harvest. The advice comes from the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s (GRDC) Grain Storage Extension...

Precision agriculture can benefit citrus and almond growers

SUSTAINABLE harvesting is amongst the ideal situation for any farmer in Australia, but with recent climate disruptions, new pests and rising costs, the use of new technologies and the responsible but effective limitation of fertilisers are among...

Sebastian Calderon

Mel’s Arabian therapy herd

PROVIDING quality therapy services for the wider Riverland community, Mel Sargent’s breeding of an Arabian herd is hoping to make lasting change for those struggling with mental health and disability. Born from a childhood love of horses and...

Madison Eastmond

Using ‘white noise’ to stimulate soil and ecosystem recovery

HUMANS have studied soundwaves for centuries and the idea that themselves move in waves goes back to the first century B.C, with the Roman engineer Vitruvius and Roman Philosopher Boethius theorising that sound moved in waves. Fifteen centuries...

Sebastian Calderon

Farmer by name, farmer by nature for family-owned Aussie potato dynasty

SOUTH Australia is the heartbeat of the Australian potato industry, and the Farmer Group – headed by Matthew Farmer and his son Luca – are changing the game with exciting new technology. Farmer Group’s roots date back to 1956, with Matthew’s...

Farmers sow seeds of fitness

A LOCAL group of farmers are swapping the work boots for sneakers and hitting the gym as part of a program to get workers up on their feet. A new partnership between grassroots health initiative Fat Farmers and The Hospital Research Foundation Group...

Changing mindsets through regenerative farming

LOCATED just outside Kapunda, Gilberdale is applying regenerative agricultural practices to offer high quality lamb products to the region. Brenton Karger and Sharlene Sampson-Karger purchased the 57-hectare property about 18 months ago, and...

The pistachio potential

INCREASING harvest volumes and demand in Australian markets is driving the ongoing success of a Riverland pistachio grower. Third generation Paringa-based grower James Simpfendorfer – operator of Permedah Fruits – is preparing to harvest his...

Hugh Schuitemaker

Mallee dinner to showcase local produce

The Southern Mallee deserves a better reputation as a food-producing region – and an upcoming dinner aims to help address that anomaly. That’s the view of Janet Flohr, project manager for the Southern Mallee Producers Dinner, to be staged in May...

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