Oil and biodiesel plant at Wagga
The NSW Government has given the green light to a new $75 million oil and biodiesel plant at Wagga on 39.5 hectares of rural land north of the Bomen Industrial Estate. The plant, owned by Riverina Oils, will employ 300 workers during construction and 79 during operations. It will use 165,000 tonnes of oilseed per year producing 75 megalitres of biodiesel as well as other products such as refined edible vegetable oil and refined glycerine. This project will be a considerable boost to the agricultural sector in southern NSW.
Herbicide resistance spreading in southern NSW
Annual ryegrass with herbicide resistance is now common in southern NSW, according to research recently completed by the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation at Wagga Wagga. Researchers at the Graham Centre, John Broster and Eric Koetz, have found high levels of resistance in ryegrass to widely used herbicides in studies conducted from Dubbo to the Victorian border and east west between the Hume and Newell highways. Professor Deirdre Lemerle, Director of the Graham Centre, said these findings showed a large increase since the last survey. Around 80 per cent of paddocks surveyed had significant levels of resistance to Group A ‘fops’ herbicides with resistance to Group A ‘dims’ seen in 20 per cent of fields. Levels of resistance to Group B herbicides are in 65-70 per cent of paddocks however, resistance to simazine and trifluralin was in less than 10 per cent of paddocks. These high levels of resistance, now present in southern NSW, reinforce the importance of developing new non-chemical weed control techniques into weed management strategies.
Murrumbidgee Farm Fair
New dates have been announced for the 2009 Murrumbidgee Farm Fair, held annually at the Yanco Agricultural Institute. The event will now be held mid-week on Tuesday and Wednesday April 21-22. Organisers felt that the switch would ensure the event provides the right environment to the rural community and brings it into line with the other major field days held in eastern Australia like Henty, AgQuip and FarmFest. The Murrumbidgee Farm Fair has been running since 1988.
Water testing
Various schools across the Catchment, including Canowindra High and West Wyalong High tested water samples from local landholders for salt, pH, phosphorus and turbidity providing specific information on each sample and at the same time giving an overall picture of water quality in the Belubula River, Mandagery Creek and Bland Creek Catchments. Lachlan CMA’s Waterwatch Coordinator Leah McCarroll hoped that the exercise gave students an opportunity to be involved in a practical exercise that will benefit individual landholders and in turn the whole Catchment.
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