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Seeding at North Doodlakine.

GIWA CROP REPORTPremiumFarmers ‘cautious’ as tale of two seasons plays out

Two very different scenarios are playing out for grain growers taking a “cautious” approach to seeding crops across WA, with bone-dry conditions at farms near Geraldton and waterlogging in the Great Southern.  

Cally Dupe

CBH Group's new wagons in action.

NEW TRAINSPremiumCBH Group’s first wagons of $400m rail spend hit the tracks

Regional drivers may have noticed some unusually shiny, clean grain wagons rolling through the countryside in recent weeks. 

Cally Dupe

Esperance farmer Matt Hill, right. The Liebe Group graduate research and development officer Georgia Keeffe starts seeding trials at Brad McIllroy's property near Dalwallinu. Seeding vetch at Bruce Rock, bottom left.

Seeding startsPremiumSeeding starts in earnest with sheep feed, plot trials

Seeding has started early and in earnest in WA, with farmers rolling tractors out of the shed to put in sheep feed and limit-testing plot trials after recent rain. 

Cally Dupe

Moora farmer Jim Hamilton, Walkaway farmer Gareth Rowe and Yuna farmer Brett Warr check out a soy bean crop in Krasnodar, Russia. Cally Dupe

TRIP OF A LIFETIMEPremiumCBH Group unveils 2025 Grower Study Tour to China

WA grain farmers will head to China for the annual CBH Group study tour this year, marking the first time the annual expedition has travelled to the Asian superpower nation since 2016. 

Cally Dupe

Funk Cider founders Martin and Dustin Michael who have launched their first beer called Funk Farmers Ale.

TASTE OF SUCCESSPremiumFunk Drinks Co’s Farmers Ale a paddock-to-pint reality

Martin and Dustin Michael have created their own paddock-to-pint beer — called Farmers Ale — which has been made almost entirely from products grown on their farm at Bolgart. 

Cally Dupe and Simon Collins

Barley ready to be harvested.

GRAIN PRODUCTION PremiumKulin farmers a stand-out during challenging year

Kulin farmers were the shining light of a disappointing cropping year in 2023-24, with new figures showing the region achieved the highest total grain production in Australia. 

Cally Dupe

CBH chair Simon Stead.

CBH AGMPremiumCBH AGM: Seesawing grain deliveries ‘test resolve’

CBH chair Simon Stead is standing behind the co-operative’s Path to 2033 strategy in the face of seesawing harvest grain receival totals varying up to 50 per cent year-on-year. 

Cally Dupe

Clayton South, of Wagin, and Tarnya Fraser, of Quairading.

NEW LEADERSPremiumSouth rises to chair CBH Group’s Growers’ Advisory Council

Wagin sheep king Clayton South will now serve as a key conduit grain growers after being named chair of CBH Group’s Growers’ Advisory Council. 

Cally Dupe

More than 600 items were offered through the Merredin Farms Online Disperal Auction.

History madePremiumAustralia’s most lucrative clearing sale nets $31m

WA can now lay claim to the richest and biggest clearing sale in Australian history after more than 600 items were sold for a whopping $31 million across a “truly amazing” six days in the eastern Wheatbelt. 

Cally Dupe

GRDC chair Sharon Starick, a South Australian grain grower, said weeds were one of the most most persistent and biggest challenges facing Australian farmers, who forked out on average $196 per hectare to manage the issue. 

WEED HIGHPremiumWeeds in the firing line through $47 million funding boost

Australia’s biggest grains research organisation has unveiled a $47 million weed management initiative designed to help tackle an invasive issue costing farmers more than $4 billion a year 

Cally Dupe

Beverley farmer Duncan Young has been named Australia’s best cropping farmer.

FARMER OF THE YEAR PremiumDuncan Young named Australia’s best cropping farmer

WA grains legend Duncan Young says he was shocked and surprised to be named Australia’s best cropping farmer after being recognised for his on-farm excellence and industry leadership. 

Cally Dupe

Premier Roger Cook with Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens on Friday.

state election 2025PremiumCook spruiks promise of State-owned freight rail in Albany

The Premier has touted the Great Southern as the big winners of Labor’s plan to bring WA’s freight rail network into State control, flagging financial benefits for the agriculture sector and community safety. 

Melissa Sheil

SLR Agriculture research agronomist Kate Witham and Albany Entomologist Svetlana Micic.

GRDC UPDATESPremiumGRDC Updates: Svetlana Micic and Kate Witham scoop awards

An Albany-based entomologist and an Esperance-raised research agronomist leading work exploring long coleoptile wheat have received major awards at the State’s biggest grains conference. 

Cally Dupe

WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti at a CCIWA breakfast at Burswood.

RAIL BUYBACKPremiumRita Saffioti claims ‘no response’ from Arc on rail buyback

WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti claims she has had “no response” from Arc Infrastructure about plans to buy back the State’s rail network, one month after flagging ambitious plans to do so.

Cally Dupe

CBH director Russel Inman.

CBH ELECTIONPremium Cadoux grower Russell Inman named CBH director

Cadoux grain grower Russell Inman has edged out stiff competition from two former directors and a female farming trailblazer to be voted in as the newest director on the CBH Group board. 

Cally Dupe

CBH chair Simon Stead and CBH chief executive Ben Macnamara at the co-operative's Broomehill site.

GRAIN BOOSTPremiumBroomehill super bin: Massive upgrades complete

Bigger grain trains will be able to be loaded more quickly at CBH Group’s Broomehill receival site after multi-million-dollar “game changing” upgrades were finally finished after two years of work.

Cally Dupe

Harvest at Mingenew.

HARVEST TOTALPremiumCBH Group records third-biggest harvest on record

WA grain growers have defied challenging conditions to help CBH Group receive its third-biggest crop on record, with 20.3 million tonnes of grain tipped into its bins from Geraldton to Esperance. 

Cally Dupe

CBH group chief executive Ben Macnamara.

GRAIN ON RAILPremiumCBH boss back’s WA Government’s rail buyback bid

The boss of farming co-operative CBH Group has hit out at Arc Infrastructure over its sub par-investment in the State’s rail freight network, saying WA would be better served with a government-run system. 

Cally Dupe

Rita Saffioti said there was a ‘huge economic benefit’ to the bid.

state politicsPremiumOpposition rails against Labor’s blank cheque for freight

A bid to buy back WA’s regional rail network has been labelled ‘hollow’ by the Nationals, as the Liberal party predicted taxpayers could be forced to fork out a staggering amount.

Jessica Page

Wheatbelt farmers are being urged to check their paddocks for skeleton weed over summer.

PEST CONTROLPremiumSkeleton weed program shifts focus

An ongoing campaign to eradicate skeleton weed is ramping up, with surveillance efforts expanding into parts of WA’s Wheatbelt where the crop pest has yet to be recorded.

Adam Poulsen

Some of the Merredin Farms Portfolio gear to go under the hammer in February.

MERREDIN FARMS PORTFOLIOPremiumWA’s biggest ever machinery auction expected to yield $35m

The biggest agriculture machinery auction in WA history will take place next month as the Saudi owners of the State’s largest farm aggregation seek to offload their vast inventory.

Adam Poulsen

Wheatbelt farmer John Nicoletti.

GRAIN KINGPremiumNicoletti: ‘I’d rather farm than go fishing or play bowls’

Grain king John Nicoletti says he would rather farm than go fishing or play bowls in his “old” age after being revealed as a major buyer of WA’s biggest farm aggregation.  

Cally Dupe

Merredin Farms Portfolio is regarded the biggest corporate landholding in WA.

LANDMARK SALEPremiumShires optimistic as Merredin Farms sells to locals

WA’s largest farm aggregation — estimated to be worth about $200 million — has been returned to local hands after more than five years of foreign ownership.

Adam Poulsen, Cally Dupe & Olivia Ford

Labor is planning to reverse the ‘reckless’ privatisation of WA’s freight rail network two decades ago, but is refusing to reveal how much it is willing to pay for it.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
state politicsCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Labor’s rail buyback to solve ‘trucking hell’ on roads

Labor is planning to reverse the ‘reckless’ privatisation of WA’s freight rail network two decades ago, but is refusing to reveal how much it is willing to pay for it.

Jessica Page