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Hort Innovation awards
Tiny ants, big trouble
JULY, 2022
Preview to
the
15th-17th,
Australian
www.farmer news.com.au
July, 2022,
Smoke vineyard sensor rollout to s nears co mpletion PAGES 4-5
PAGE 18
Bendigo
Sheep & Woo , Victoria l Show PAGES 24-26
Your FREE copy of North h East Farmer INSIDE
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THE Pacific Australia Labour Mobility remains the (PALM) scheme workforce primary scheme for shortag meeting agricult the key solution es in the sector ural harvest. Howevefor the current and is being touted and also the as r, industry that both upcoming profess state and federal initiativ ionals are concern enough to ed adequately able to sit address the es have not gone far on issue. With at all levels the tree that little citrus bit longer, is not giving government demands. the issue Picture the urgency scheme, working d is a contractor that it MowbrayFarm. on Agriculture under the PAL Capital’s Turn to page PHOTO: Amy Batten (AGRICU 2 and 3 to read LTURE CAPITAL more. )
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A WORLD throughout first to help vineyar ds the North impact of East detect smoke from the be operati onal ahead bushfires will BY ANITA summer. of the 2022/23 McPHERSON The rollout of 100 sensors amcpherson@ detect the designed impact of nemedia.com.au to smoke in is nearing vineyards completion, get the hardwa remaining with the units expecte operational, re out there and by the end d to be in fully of June. place on how to with training to follow The global utilise the information collect,” he in the world first in any wine region said. they developed is all part of a project The Wine by (known as Industry Smoke Detecto University’s a team headed by ‘WISDs’) will La Professor rs do Ian Porter. Trobe detect smoke Together - they also more than with a new to measur have the ability give grape e air growers the phone app it will with adaptab temperature and to help them necessary humidity, ility to connect tools make early to assess their crop other sensors during a smokedecisions about tempera such things as The sensors event. ture and solar soil moisture, soil have been hours. Professor vineyards Porter said from Rutherg placed in weeks having Glenrowan len down of extrem and ely poor weathethree out to be Alpine valleys, throughout the to fortuito r turned King heading east with the final sensors and to test the capacitus, allowing the team in y of the sensors panels in in the Mount coming days to limited ’ solar locations Beauty valley. “We wanted light. COVID delays, to see if the would cope global shortages solar panels in a down and severe materials during catastro period threatened weather conditio phic bushfi because to derail the ns wouldn’t be Professor res there project but Porter said decided to light either, so we’ve through to they have increase the pushed meet solar input capacity of “It’s incredi their June deadlin - the bad weathe the e. bly exciting to be a blessing out but it r turned out to get them has “Despite all ,” he said. it,” he said. been a massive task the constra to do faced, they ints we “A six month will June, allowin be out by the end have delay on parts of supply of because chain issues train growers g a further six months hikes left on their use to us worryin and massive price 2022/23 before the g we wouldn able to deliver, production ’t be season.” but we have Professor to get them built, evaluat managed the installat Porter said that althoug and get them ed, accredi ion of the h out there.” hardware critical to ted was do the job, Professor Porter the project was estimates taken over compiling major part of the it has 300 format to all the data sensors installehours to get all the provide accurat into assessment e real time a coordinating d on sites, includin for factors includinsmoke taint, drawing risk connection remote access and g on wi-fi with growers from the burn, g grape variety, distance But he said . smoke exposur volume of working through e time and issues will fresh the improve commu He said thosesmoke. industry-wide, nication factors were into accoun with the sensor all taken themselves t units designed part that is in the risk assessm to be durable resist failure. ent - the really powerfu taken eight and years to put l - and has “The most continues important to be develop together and part is to ed. ■
Monday, July 4, 2022
Demons and Dogs draw
All smiles at cattle sale
Page 3
Page 13
Sport
page 3
CULTURE ON THE MARCH INDIGENOUS cultures were celebrated in Wangaratta over the weekend to kick-off NAIDOC Week festivities. Around 50 people joined in a march from the Wangaratta Arts Gallery down Ovens Street to Apex Park for yesterday’s celebrations. Full story page 2. PHOTO: Jeff Zeuschner
Our rental crisis Emergency housing service fears city’s lack of affordable housing set to worsen
EMERGENCY housing service BeyondHousing fears Wangaratta’s rental crisis is likely to get even worse, as rising prices in major cities flow down to the Ovens Murray region. Our city’s rental prices are currently rated as “severely unaffordable” under the Rental Affordability Index and they will most likely continue to soar. According to BeyondHousing, Wangaratta was
BY BAILEY ZIMMERMANN bzimmermann@ nemedia.com.au
the town with the highest increase in moving annual median rent for two-bedroom flats in regional Victoria with a 13.2 per cent increase. BeyondHousing chief executive officer Celia Adams said the current rental situ-
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ation in Wangaratta paints a “dire picture”. “We are seeing the need for social housing rise sharply across our region and rental prices are among the least affordable in the state,” she said. “You only need to look at Wangaratta during the March quarter, when there was not a single affordable one-bedroom unit available for rent, to know that the rental crisis is already here. “And sadly, it is going to
get worse whilst the affordable housing supply continues to diminish.” Ms Adams said that 40.6 per cent of renters are experiencing housing stress due to the inability to afford rent, many of whom are people who have never experienced rental stress before. “Over 350 households in the Wangaratta region sought our assistance to find or keep their private rental housing in the past
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12 months,” she said. “The number of households looking for rental assistance and support is on the rise.” In the Indi electorate alone rent prices have risen 11 per cent over the past 12 months. Ms Adams said the resolution to easing renters’ housing stress is through social housing. “A greater supply of social housing in regional centres is desperately needed to bring asking rents down,” she said. “We know that social
housing is a critical and powerful way to tackle the rental crisis. “We have several programs that can support people facing a housing crisis in the private rental market and encourage anyone in rental crisis to seek help.” If you are struggling with rental affordability, suffering from homelessness or family violence call the BeyondHousing office in Wangaratta on (03) 5722 8000.
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