Embracing cannabis

PREVIOUSLY known for its fruit growing, dairy and cropping, Shepparton and the surrounding area is looking to diversify and take advantage of gaps in the…
Eggs from the embers

ON the day of Black Saturday, Diego Tuyol chose to stay and defend, a decision he feels he should not have made in retrospect. Old…
Regenerative farming

DANIEL Kelton of Alexandra’s Holistic Pastoral wants to see the land he is farming transformed to “waist high grass, wet all year round despite ever-increasing…
Everybody loves a winner, or two

DON Hamley of Port Phillip Bay Scallops has been entering the Australian Food Awards for a few years now. And for a company that has…
Guano – a tale of two birds

IT was the best of times. It was the worst of times. This might have been the thoughts of the guano miners shovelling and bagging…
Sher Wagyu is a boutique operation

“HOW often do I eat Wagyu?” “Oh, not more than five times a week,” Nick Sher said with a laugh. And so Nick sums up…
Marketing the future

For small scale farmers who have employed more labour intensive models of farming focusing on best practice, it is often difficult to demand the prices…
Discovering Wrenwood

FOUR years ago, Lizabeth and Jayson Souness bought Wrenwood, a small acreage farm in Bungowannah, with the intention of opening a farm shop, gallery and…
Gold fever in Tolmie

FIRST impressions of Kevin Marriott, of Tolmie Gold Saffron, is his inherently positive outlook on farming and his appreciation for all the lessons learned, good…
A truffle obsession

“FROM early childhood I used to go out with my father and collect mushrooms for eating,” said Dr Peter Stahle, Victorian truffle farmer and president…
SPC sale confirmed

IT has been confirmed that Goulburn-Valley based SPC has been purchased by the Shepparton Partners Collective, a joint venture assembled purely to acquire the fruit…
On the up and up

TEN years ago, goats were considered a pest in Australia – ranked alongside rabbits and foxes. Today, on a kilo for kilo basis, they are…
The natural gardener

PLUNGING her hands into the soil, Simone Boyd excitedly retrieves a small white radish. “This is what vegetables used to look like,” she said. “If…
“Faulty and selective”

TWO of Australia’s biggest quad bike manufacturers, Honda and Yamaha, have confirmed they will pull out of the market if the ACCC’s safety recommendations are…
Shepparton migrant workers to receive $50,000
A LABOR hire company will change the way it pays its workforce after a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation found it had failed to correctly compensate…
The cattle are home in Merrijig

EVERY year, Bruce McCormack wonders if it will be the last. The last time his children and grandchildren saddle up and ride into the high…