Countryman

Market UpdateHopes grow for resumption of $1.7 billion trade to China

Hopes for a renewed trade partnership for canola exports with China are growing as it remains a major buyer of Australian grains, with the industry remaining committed to diversifying trade options.

Georgia Campion

Grains Australia chief executive Richard Simonaitis.

Kingston Farms superfine merino wool, from sheep fed seaweed supplements to cut their methane emissions.

methane trackingCSIRO scientists use wool to verify sheep methane production

Melissa Pedelty

Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association executive officer Ben Swain.

MLP Project classingMLP Project validates sheep classing integrity

The visual classing of sheep played a pivotal role in learnings of the selection process outcomes from the $13 million Merino Lifetime Productivity project.

Bob Garnant

CBH Group's upgraded Broomehill receival site.

CourtSupreme Court knocks back appeal, CBH ordered to pay up

WA’s grain handling giant has been ordered to cough up more than $22 million for a rapid loading station build in the Great Southern following a failed Supreme Court appeal.

Georgia Campion

Pingelly woolgrowers Kevin and Vanessa O'Brien were wrapped in wool after their Merino wether lambs sold for a WA record price of $397 at the Katanning Regional Sheep Saleyards.

Record lamb price‘Wrapped’ in wool with record lamb price

Pingelly woolgrowers Kevin and Vanessa O’Brien were rapt after setting a new WA record lamb price of $397 per head at the Katanning Regional Sheep Saleyards, where limited supply brought strong demand.

Bob Garnant

Harvest Road's Koojan Downs feeding facility at Moora.

premium beefHarvest Road embraces beef-on-dairy practice

A WA beef processor is embracing the beef-on-dairy farming practice to help boost its beef business.

Melissa Pedelty

GRDC managing director Nigel Hart presenting at the 2026 WAFarmers conference in Albany.

LEVY SYSTEMSGRDC levy queried at WAFarmers conference

The significant reserves held by the Grains Research and Development Corporation has again come under fire, with critics calling for structural reform and a three-year reduction to levy payments.

Rebecca Nadge

The LambEx AMPC Carcase Showcase producer panel included Dr Pete McGilchrist, Todd Heaysman, Kate Johnston, Braden Johnston and Sam Clothier.

LambEx Carcase ShowcaseLamb performance data serves up a champion recipe

Australia proudly championed lamb this week with a showcase that aimed to prove that the industry was more geared towards data performance and not exclusively breed or feed specific.

Bob Garnant

WAFarmers CEO Trevor Whittington. Pic Mogens Johansen, The West Australian

The levy harvestOpinion: The levy harvest

Close watchers of federal politics may have noticed the Albanese Government’s proposal to preference companies with union-backed enterprise agreements when awarding Commonwealth contracts.

MLP Project classingMLP Project validates sheep classing integrity

The visual classing of sheep played a pivotal role in learnings of the selection process outcomes from the $13 million Merino Lifetime Productivity project.

Market UpdateHopes grow for resumption of $1.7 billion trade to China

Hopes for a renewed trade partnership for canola exports with China are growing as it remains a major buyer of Australian grains, with the industry remaining committed to diversifying trade options.

Drs Michael Livingston and Kelvin Gray, Livingston Medical, with a Sandpiper Bag.

Road traumaCall for formal emergency responder network

A Ravensthorpe doctor says a formal emergency responder network that includes rural generalists could save lives on country roads.

Danielle Marsland

methane trackingCSIRO scientists use wool to verify sheep methane production

A team of Australian research scientists has discovered determining a sheep’s methane production is as easy and inexpensive as reading a wool sample.

Melissa Pedelty

Subscriber Exclusive

On the left, mould found in rooms at Rio Tinto's WPV .

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Mining
exclusive
Mould outbreak plagues Rio Tinto camp

Mining giant Rio Tinto admits that one of its primary iron ore accommodation villages requires immediate upgrades after staff blew the whistle on a mould infestation.

Adrian Rauso

New data reveals the State’s top salesperson is Damyn Strang, of Abel Property, who is largely unknown by the general public and even in his own industry.

PropertySelling the dream: WA’s top real estate agents revealed

Perth’s top real estate agent is selling an astonishing half a billion dollars worth of property each year — and you have probably never heard of him.

Kim Macdonald

A teenager accused of careless driving in Beaufort River fatal crash has made his first court appearance.

courtsYoung driver in court on careless driving charges over fatal

A young Kojonup man accused of careless driving in a crash that caused the death of a woman and left another with serious injuries has made his first court appearance in Albany.

Jacki Elezovich

Premier Roger Cook has refused to hold an inquest into the baby's death.

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State Politics
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Cook won’t demand inquest into baby’s death at WA hospital

The Cook Government is continuing its refusals to order an inquiry into the death of a baby girl at Kalgoorlie Hospital despite being willing to take swift action in the past for Aishwarya Aswath.

Charlton Hart

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In Case You Missed It

A senior Taiwanese official released an image of the apparent flight path of the Chinese submarine launched ballistic missile, showing the warhead hitting waters near Tuvalu and Nauru.

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World Politics
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China’s spy ship operation before missile test exposed

Maritime data compiled for The Nightly has revealed at least four hi-tech Chinese satellite tracking vessels were deployed to the region in the days leading up to Beijing’s missile test.

Andrew Greene

Broome in WA's Kimberley region is a hotspot during winter as tourists flood to the north west town to escape the cold. Gantheaume Point.

Kimberley callingDiscounted travel vouchers launched

A new State Government program encouraging visitors to head north this season is expected to generate more than $1 million in tourism bookings.

Rebecca Nadge

exclusive
exclusive
Mining
exclusive
Mould outbreak plagues Rio Tinto camp

Mining giant Rio Tinto admits that one of its primary iron ore accommodation villages requires immediate upgrades after staff blew the whistle on a mould infestation.

Naomi Tekea Craig leaves Mandurah Court House.

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Courts & Justice
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Teacher who had student’s baby pictured for first time

The Mandurah music teacher who had a baby with her underage student she sexually abused has been pictured for the first time since details of the incident emerged.

Arun Abraham allegedly misinterpreted radiology reports so frequently his colleagues considered him a menace and complained to bosses at RPH, where he had worked since 2016.

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Public Health
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Suspended cardiologist working in Perth medical centres

A cardiologist considered so inept he was suspended and booted out of Royal Perth Hospital is working in medical centres around Perth.

News

Road traumaCall for formal emergency responder network

Danielle Marsland

methane trackingCSIRO scientists use wool to verify sheep methane production

Melissa Pedelty

2025 Agricultural Shows Australia National Young Judges and Paraders Championships.

WA talentEight WA judges and paraders to compete in national champs

Melissa Pedelty

Feed pellets at Milne Feeds Welshpool facility.

lower emissionsMilne Feeds’ Easy2Gro LM proves its worth

Rebecca Nadge and Melissa Pedelty

analysis
analysis
CNBC news
analysis
Warsh’s taskforces are the key to understanding the new Fed

Fed chair Kevin Warsh stuck to his long-stated belief in his first press conference on Wednesday that ‘inflation is a choice.’

Matt Peterson

Ships anchored on May 16, 2026 in the Strait of Hormuz near Larak Island, Iran.

EnergyCrude oil tumbles after Trump says Strait of Hormuz to open

Tanker traffic plunged in early March due to Iranian attacks, causing the biggest oil supply disruption in history.

Spencer Kimball

Cathie Wood, chief executive officer of Ark Investment Management LLC.

CNBC newsInvestors who took a chance on SpaceX now reap the rewards

For nearly two decades, some of the world’s most prominent investors quietly accumulated stakes in SpaceX while the rocket maker remained largely off-limits to the public markets.

Yun Li

People along the coast of the Persian Gulf, while Iranian and foreign cargo vessels wait in the background for clearance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

CNBC newsHow Strait of Hormuz standoff flipped energy security debate

Iran’s influence over the Strait of Hormuz has inadvertently transformed the energy security debate, effectively casting fossil fuels rather than renewables as the primary source of vulnerability.

Sam Meredith