More premium Victorian grown fruit and vegetables will make it onto local supermarket shelves thanks to grants awarded to install new netting on Victorian farms – protecting crops and increasing productivity.
For Agriculture Victoria Plant Pathologist Dr Joshua Fanning, winning the 2023 Grains Research and Development Corporations (GRDC) ‘Emerging Leader Award’ was honour enough, but it was the icing on the cake to travel to America and Canada to tour leading research institutes and cropping regions.
Agriculture Victoria’s long-term cropping research in the Victorian Mallee is unearthing important results which could impact agricultural land management in the region.
ABC presenter and journalist Virginia Trioli and Australian food legend Annie Smithers will be talking about their books at the Phee Broadway Theatre in Castlemaine.
The Central Highlands Growers & Producers Hub is inviting expressions of interest from local food producers and culinary creatives to be part of the upcoming Forage & Feast Festival set for early next year.
A poultry housing requirement that has been in effect to control the spread of high pathogenicity avian influenza near Terang and Meredith was lifted as of last month for some birds.
There is still time to grab a ticket to the Wimmera Biodiversity seminar that is back for its 27th edition with the theme 'Pests, Partnerships and People Power'.
The Victorian Government has announced that it's backing regional farmers and food and beverage businesses to increase their exports and explore new markets by partnering with the Australian Government.
Australian culinary hero Alla Wolf-Tasker has accepted the Gourmet Traveller's Readers’ Choice Icon Award for her Daylesford restaurant Lake House, which celebrated its 40th anniversary recently.
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) will invest $3 million in a new five-year soybean breeding program that will be led by the University of Adelaide and aims to deliver new elite soybean varieties to Australian growers.
Victoria’s biosecurity system will be strengthened with a $6.1 million investment by the Victorian Government for projects that help prevent, monitor, and control diseases in cattle, sheep, goat, swine and honeybee industries.
Beekeepers are being reminded to report and treat notifiable diseases after a large scale commercial western Victoria apiarist was found guilty of failure to manage American foulbrood (AFB) in hives.
Hepburn shire residents have helped divert an impressive 275 tonnes of composable material from landfill in the first three months since the shire's new food and garden organics household bins started being collected.
I had some time last week so I did a bit of a Google around about farmland and farm zones. I realise there are experts just waiting on Facebook but instead I went to the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning.
While the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance applauds Hepburn's efforts in the Rural Hepburn Strategy to protect agricultural land from further inappropriate development for so-called lifestyle blocks we assert that the town structure plans as drafted will thwart this intent to the detriment of both valuable farmland and the character and liveability of our shire's towns.
I want to start by acknowledging the sheer enormity of the work council staff have undertaken in the development of the draft structure plans for the entire shire.
The Great Takeaway 24 is a chance for visitors to dine using some of the finest materials, textiles, glassware and ceramics produced in the Ballarat region – and then take the handcrafted materials home with them.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council is inviting the community to join a special free lunch event and shared storytelling at the Kyneton Town Hall on Friday 22 March to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week.
Scientists at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, have achieved a breakthrough in molecular plant pathology, marking a technological leap forward for breeding durable disease-resistant crops.
The Victorian government has strengthened enforcement power and increased penalties to better manage biosecurity incidents and protect Victoria’s valuable agriculture sector for the future.
Sometimes there are people who wander into our lives and our communities with an unexpected gift of compassion and connectedness. It is often hard to articulate the extent of their reach. Raman Richards is one such example.
Kerbside bin collection is set to change in townships in Hepburn Shire with the introduction of a weekly food and garden organics service (also called FOGO) from Monday April 8.
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is this month celebrating a decade of reducing the population’s waistline through its scientifically backed program, the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet online.
The Victorian Government is giving a former COVID-19 rapid testing lab a new lease on life – transforming it into an emergency animal diagnostics and plant disease van.
Local apiarists remain on high alert for any sign of the dreaded varroa destructor mite after Agriculture Victoria conceded in recent days that it will now transition its emergency response to a management phase for Varroa mite.
Want to warm up for winter? Head to the Guilly. A friendly family pub just this side of Castlemaine.
The pub is well back up and running after a little incident, ok, they had a small fire, and ready to receive locals and visitors alike.
Potato and bacon soup, baked ham with roast seasonal veg, piping hot apple and rhubarb pie with cream... I could be at a cafe, pub or restaurant – or a good friend’s place about to be fed. But no I’m in the Uniting Church Hall on a Thursday surrounded by the Good Grub Club’s good deeds in action... and it’s all pretty yummo.
Community and industry feedback is being invited on Victoria’s new Biosecurity Strategy to help strengthen the existing system against increased pest and disease risks.
It's always a great meal at the Daylesford Bowling Club. It starts with a warm welcome as you walk in, sometimes from the manager Neil, or the bar staff, and the good vibes continue.
Theirs is a tale of taking a punt and following that inner vision. For Springmount couple Carmel and Brett Masterson it’s the sort of story that anyone dreaming of a new life direction and of becoming their own boss really likes to hear.
Businesses in Hepburn Shire will need to comply with a new Outdoor Dining and Trading Policy, which guides what furniture can be placed along local council-owned and managed footpaths, roads and land.
On a recent chill winter’s evening, just after dark, the mellow light that issues from our dining destination – the Daylesford Steakhouse - is warm and inviting.
Italian born Daniele Tarasco brings a personal passion for fresh, flavoursome food and his background as a high-end chef to running Meraki certified organic farm at Newlyn North.
Veg Action Macedon Ranges has announced the winners of its annual Edgy Veg Awards, celebrating innovation and excellence in culinary use of vegetables by eateries in the Macedon Ranges area.
WHEN Edward Benedict lived in a bedsit in East Melbourne, his neighbours called him The Farmer. He had a small patch opposite the MCG, where his veggies grew and grew and grew.
The Hepburn Shire says it has successfully engaged with over 70 participants over the last 12 months to help local farmers and land custodians improve land, soil, water and livestock.
A task undertaken by Agriculture Victoria’s animal health and welfare staff is conducting audits of food outlets to determine how they dispose of their food wastes. This can include visits to pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries and so on.
MY dining companion (Paddy H) and I are ravenous as we enter the Daylesford Hotel for lunch, mid Monday, me having done a gruelling morning group weights class and Paddy having arisen well before 11am.
IF you like a good brew...Espresso, filter, pour over, batch or cold brew. If you like your coffee you’ll love Daylesford’s Brew Jays. This new kid on the block...
An on-farm emissions action plan ilot aims to help Victorian farmers reduce on-farm emissions with grant support funding from a pool of up to $5 million.
I RECKON the road to Castlemaine has probably never seen so much traffic since Megan Evans and Tom Allen took over the Guildford Family Hotel at the end of 2021.
A priceless collection of fungi has been replicated for the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to support research and management of biosecurity and food safety issues.
An international consortium of scientists has received a $34 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) fund to improve crop productivity and food security in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has released new research that's expected to help Australians start healthy weight loss in 2023 by tackling one of the biggest obstacles to successful dieting: cravings.
It’s quite literally at the root of all agriculture. Soil and its intrinsic value has prompted a new push to make funding for a soils education and competition program available for every agricultural show in Australia.
A free discussion is on the menu as the Goldfields Library Corporation's Woodend Library hosts 'The Memory Place: Kitchens and cooking in days of old tomorrow, November 24.
Home or gardenware gifts, ethically-produced meats, the freshest fruits and veggies, your pick of great coffee, a pot & parma and so much more. It’s time to remind ourselves of the value of buying local.
I know the weather is still cold and wet in our little world-of-its-own micro climate (how often have you driven out of the foggy, drizzling highlands towards Melbourne to discover that it’s actually sunny down there?), but surely it is time for some lighter dishes on the menu after a steady diet of steaming casseroles and rib-sticking winter stews.
This Christmas the need for support across the Central Highlands has never been greater and Cafs (Child and Family Services) is working harder than ever to support families in need.
COMING from a long line of bakers, it’s no surprise that Rebecca Barnett grabbed at the chance to run her own bakehouse in Maldon, and become the proud new owner of the longest running bakery in Australia: the Maldon Bakery.
THE new chef at the Daylesford Bowling Club Bistro, Lenny Giri, has a philosophy which is that food is the way to healthier living if it's made with soulful dedication and emotions.
Strange fruit - and perhaps a little fear of the unknown
How many of us can honestly say they have never flinched at, or even refused to sample, an unknown, or suspicious looking food item, even if it was eaten with relish by many.
Daylesford has not one but two restaurants on the Delicious. 100 best restaurants in Victoria list for 2022.
Kadota in Camp Street was voted in at number 25 and also took out Best Japanese.
Free hot soup and musical entertainment will be on offer at the Mechanics Institute in Kyneton this Tuesday, August 2, as the community gathers together to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness across both Australia and more locally in regional Victoria.
The state government's Drink Victorian program is backing Victorian drink producers across the state to showcase their produce and encourage people to try more locally produced beverages.
THERE'S a joke told on baby boomers that goes: “If you remember the 1960s, you weren’t there.” The funniest part about that old witticism is that no one remembers for certain who said it first.
You can find anything you need at weekend markets, from fresh fruit and veg to handmade jewellery and wares, throughout the Central Highlands and surrounds.
