Latest news with #AgricultureVictoria
ABC News
3 days ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Ashlee Aldridge
Alpine resorts could not be happier with up to 19 centimetres of fresh snow recorded overnight — and more snow to come. 1h ago 1 hours ago Sat 7 Jun 2025 at 3:37am Renters mark five years since Victorian legislation changed to allow tenants, including those in public housing, to keep pets with their landlord's permission. Sat 31 May Sat 31 May Sat 31 May 2025 at 11:01pm A coronial inquest fails to determine the cause of death of a three-month-old boy, whose body was found during a police welfare check in rural New South Wales. Fri 30 May Fri 30 May Fri 30 May 2025 at 7:16am Witnesses tell a court in Melbourne they were left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket after Mr Stevens failed to build swimming pools they had paid him for. Wed 21 May Wed 21 May Wed 21 May 2025 at 9:00am Police are investigating after vandals damage popular waterfalls already fragile from erosion. Mon 12 May Mon 12 May Mon 12 May 2025 at 5:34am The earlier than normal arrival of this year's flu season has doctors urging Australians to roll up their sleeves to get vaccinated. Fri 11 Apr Fri 11 Apr Fri 11 Apr 2025 at 10:26pm Ambulance Victoria has confirmed that a two-year-old girl has drowned in a dam near Nagambie in Victoria's north. Sun 23 Mar Sun 23 Mar Sun 23 Mar 2025 at 11:14pm Agriculture Victoria confirms the highly pathogenic H7N8 strain of avian influenza has been found at a third Euroa property. Thu 20 Feb Thu 20 Feb Thu 20 Feb 2025 at 10:58pm Victoria's peak farming body says the conventional caged egg system has been in place since the 1960s and shoppers have come to rely on it. Thu 13 Feb Thu 13 Feb Thu 13 Feb 2025 at 4:31am The Victorian premier says strong action will be taken to contain an outbreak of avian influenza at a Euroa farm, as backyard flock owners are urged to report any cases of unexplained bird deaths. Sun 9 Feb Sun 9 Feb Sun 9 Feb 2025 at 3:52am Residents living near bushfires at the Grampians National Park and Little Desert National Park have been warned to leave immediately while storms are forecast to hit Geelong and Melbourne's outer west. Sun 2 Feb Sun 2 Feb Sun 2 Feb 2025 at 10:15am Victorian detectives investigating the tobacco wars have released footage of a woman being told to shut down a Wangaratta shop or face the consequences. Weeks later, the business was set alight. Mon 20 Jan Mon 20 Jan Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 3:28am Police have seized a Holden Commodore believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run that critically injured a four-year-old boy on the Victorian–NSW border. Sun 12 Jan Sun 12 Jan Sun 12 Jan 2025 at 1:18am Bev Vinge has been teaching line dancing on the Victorian/New South Wales border for more than three decades. Fri 10 Jan Fri 10 Jan Fri 10 Jan 2025 at 1:05am In the rural town of Bethanga, volunteers still answer the call of the nostalgic sound of a community siren. Wed 1 Jan Wed 1 Jan Wed 1 Jan 2025 at 10:39pm Forty-year-old John Torney fronts Shepparton Magistrates' Court on a fresh charge, following the death of Cobram woman Emma Bates in April. Tue 17 Dec Tue 17 Dec Tue 17 Dec 2024 at 5:53am Questions still remain over the death of a three-month-old baby found in a freezer on a rural New South Wales property in 2022. Wed 11 Dec Wed 11 Dec Wed 11 Dec 2024 at 6:58am Specialist crews have "peeled back" a section of the Great Alpine Road to reveal a 6-metre-deep pit. Tue 26 Nov Tue 26 Nov Tue 26 Nov 2024 at 11:51pm The SES says a sinkhole on Victoria's Great Alpine Road likely occurred over an unused mine shaft. Sun 24 Nov Sun 24 Nov Sun 24 Nov 2024 at 3:13am This boss now wants to get on a four-day work week himself after seeing how happy and productive his staff are after he implemented it for them. Sun 17 Nov Sun 17 Nov Sun 17 Nov 2024 at 6:44pm A machine that revolutionised printing in the 19th Century is among the equipment being maintained by a team dedicated to preserving a small town's history. Wed 6 Nov Wed 6 Nov Wed 6 Nov 2024 at 7:16pm Victorian authorities brace for difficult fire conditions with high temperatures and storms with dry lightning forecast this week. Sun 3 Nov Sun 3 Nov Sun 3 Nov 2024 at 7:20pm The town of Corowa is just across the border from Victoria, where the use of Nazi salutes and symbols has been outlawed. Sat 12 Oct Sat 12 Oct Sat 12 Oct 2024 at 4:56am The Wodonga man is the third patient to die after bilateral knee replacement surgery performed by the same doctor at a private hospital, an inquest hears. Sat 28 Sep Sat 28 Sep Sat 28 Sep 2024 at 12:38am Police say the 64-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to his upper body while hunting with a group of people in the Noojee region. Sun 22 Sep Sun 22 Sep Sun 22 Sep 2024 at 7:39am
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Invasive predator strolls through Aussie suburb as crisis grows
An invasive predator was spotted strolling around an inner-city building this week, shocking Aussies passing by on their way to work. Photos show the brazen red fox casually strutting up a flight of stairs in Parkville, Melbourne, before wandering along what appears to be an apartment complex's fence — all in broad daylight. The destructive pest, which locals say they have affectionately named 'Frédérique', was caught on camera by a curious man who briefly followed the animal. However the seemingly innocent scene is anything but. Foxes are increasingly making their way into Aussie suburbs and major metropolitan areas, with cities like Perth, Sydney and Melbourne hosting the highest populations in the country. And it seems that residents are very aware of their presence, with some revealing online that they see 'Frédérique' walking around 'like he owns the place' on a daily basis. 'I hate that they're so cute but at the same time such a pest. I see them relatively frequently around the northern suburbs,' one Melburnian commented on the Reddit post. 'They're unfortunately quite common,' another added. Urban areas have a higher population of foxes compared to rural areas due to the availability of food, water and shelter. It's estimated that there are as many as 16 foxes per square km in Melbourne, according to Agriculture Victoria. According to recent research by the Australian National University, there are thought to be some 1.7 million foxes across the country, with populations found on 80 per cent of the continent. Their presence, along with feral cats, has had a devastating impact on our wildlife, contributing significantly to Australia's status as having the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. Each year, foxes kill about 300 million native mammals, birds and reptiles. Along with human activity, foxes are speeding up the loss of native animals in our cities. 'The red fox has played a major role in the decline of ground-nesting birds and small to medium sized mammals in Victoria,' Parks Victoria says. 'Foxes are opportunistic predators and scavengers that impact native wildlife, spread weeds and cause production loss in livestock systems.' In Victoria, foxes are declared as established pests, therefore all homeowners and land managers are required to take reasonable steps to help control their spread. 🚘 Predator spotted on Aussie road exposes sinister reality 🐢 Aussie council under pressure as iconic species ravaged by predator 📸 Sad story behind image of emu toes amid Australia's invasive species crisis Earlier this year, a fox was photographed standing in the middle of a busy Perth intersection in the middle of the day, not long after local authorities revealed the predators had killed 300 turtles in an ecologically significant set of wetlands over the span of a year. In autumn, young foxes are 'on the move' in search of new territory after being 'kicked out of home', population management specialist Gillian Basnett recently told Yahoo. However, in cities, it is particularly difficult to completely remove foxes. 'Because we're so close to human habitation and pet animals, it leaves us with a limited set of tools to manage fox numbers," she said. Despite this, Basnett said there are things you can do to help protect local wildlife and deter foxes. They include: Don't leave pet food outside overnight Use enclosed compost bins Keep domestic animals secure at night Remove fallen fruit around fruit trees Keep garbage bins covered Block entry points to drains Close off access to underneath buildings Use fox-proof enclosures for poultry — remember foxes dig and can climb Turn off outside lights that might attract insects Reduce weeds that provide food and shelter, such as Blackberries Record sightings in FoxScan. Deterrents need to be intermittent as they will habituate quickly. E.g. sensor spotlights rather than lights on all the time. Have gardens with lots of plants that wildlife can hide in, grasses, shrubs, rocks, logs, etc. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Composting cattle trial prepares industry for foot-and-mouth disease
On a research farm in north-east Victoria, a trial is underway to prepare the country for an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). A series of neat piles of soil with thermometers stuck in the side are formed into composting windrows, containing 70 cattle carcasses buried beneath. The cows, which died from toxic weed poisoning, are being used in the trial to establish whether the infected carcasses can be safely decontaminated underground to create a compost by-product for commercial use. "For a couple years we've been preparing for an emergency animal disease, like foot-and-mouth disease, but more recently avian influenza," Agriculture Victoria's emergency animal disease waste disposal manager, Bronwyn Green, said. "We want to prove how composting could work in a large outbreak with a range of animals, and hopefully get a good product that can be put back to land." Six different methods of composting have been trialled on the property at Rutherglen. They have used green waste, mulch, hay, straw, and different volumes of water. "Compost is a great way to get rid of weeds and seeds," Ms Green said. "Done properly ... temperatures are reached and those weeds are destroyed." She said it took about four months for the compost to kill any of the diseases found in the carcasses. "In the case of foot and mouth … we've already hit [the] temperature that will kill that disease in a week or two," she said. "Some diseases you can't compost your way out of, but avian influenza and foot and mouth absolutely can. "You can end up with a product that can be reused rather than put in landfill which has potential impacts to ground water and the environment." The cattle composting windrows have been set up next to covered burial pits that hold chickens culled during Victoria's H7N8 avian influenza outbreak in Euroa earlier this year. Ms Green said they had been a successful way to clean up infected material. "When composting the chickens, we keep a very close eye on the temperatures, and the burial pits are covered over and capped with clay," she said. "Then we monitor the environment for another 12 months to make sure there's no impact to the environment." Australia is the only continent free from the H5 strain of bird flu, which humans can catch. Ms Green said Agriculture Victoria was still preparing for the potential outbreak in Australia. "We've got more funding to keep going with our preparations, especially with the increased risk of avian influenza around the world," she said. Foot-and-mouth disease affects cattle, sheep, pigs, deer and buffalo. Australia is free of the highly contagious disease, but it continues to be a risk as it is present in neighbouring Indonesia. If it were to enter the country, industry group Cattle Australia said it could cost the nation's economy up to $80 billion over 10 years and cause significant disruptions to the food supply chain. "Government and industry investment in research and development is an essential part of improving our preparedness and minimising the potential impact on our industry," chief executive Chris Parker said. Dr Parker said he hoped Australia would not have to deal with an outbreak. "Prevention is the best form of cure and by exercising vigilance, we can keep FMD out of Australia," he said. Ms Green said composting cattle in the event of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak would be a simple way for farmers to manage the waste. "This work is really important to ensure we are ready and prepared as much as we can be," Ms Green said. She said similar trials had been undertaken in South Australia and New South Wales with sheep and pigs.
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Mystery over new detection of tomato rugose virus in Victoria
New South Wales authorities are investigating the source of a new detection of a devastating tomato virus after previous outbreaks in South Australia and Victoria. The tomato brown rugose fruit virus has been found at a glasshouse in northern Victoria, after an outbreak at the same place in January this year. Routine testing of seedlings arriving at Katunga Fresh, which is still under quarantine, found they were infected with the destructive exotic disease. But the infested seedlings came from a commercial NSW nursery; a state with no previous links to the virus. The virus is highly contagious, and deforms and discolours tomato, capsicum and chilli plants. It is listed as a national priority plant pest so authorities are attempting to eradicate it. Eating infected fruit does not harm people, but the economic impact for growers and their employees is significant, with the disease causing yield losses of up to 70 per cent. Australia remained free of the disease until August last year, when it was discovered on three farms in the North Adelaide Plains in South Australia. The properties were plunged into quarantine, with crops destroyed and hundreds of jobs lost, while some other states imposed bans on SA tomatoes. Despite the control measures, infected seedlings were transported without authorisation to northern Victoria, leading to a new outbreak there. On Friday last week, Agriculture Victoria said new seedlings sent from a nursery in New South Wales to Katunga Fresh had tested positive for the virus. Victoria Chief Plant Health Officer Stephen Dibley said tracing was underway. "We're continuing to do our investigations on where potentially this virus has come from," Dr Dibley said. A NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) spokesperson said the NSW nursery which supplied the infected seedlings "is not known to have received any material from any of the infected businesses in South Australia or Victoria." The department initially placed the nursery under quarantine, but testing "showed no evidence of the presence of tomato brown rugose fruit virus." It said the quarantine direction was removed "once conclusively negative diagnostic results showed the virus was not present in the seedlings." The spokesperson said the department would work with and monitor the nursery. Greenlife Industry Australia, which is a peak body representing the country's nurseries, has been part of a committee consulting authorities managing the outbreak. Its biosecurity director, John McDonald, said the Katunga Fresh detection could be a brand new outbreak, given New South Wales had not had the virus and the nursery had no links to previous outbreaks. But he said further testing was needed. "The consultative committee is meeting and is discussing the new detection in NSW and (DPIRD) is actively doing its investigations and tracing," he said. "The virus is known to lay dormant in vegetated material, so plants, stems, fruit, leaves and seed as well tools, equipment be on our hands." Dr Dibley said the control measures at Katunga Fresh were continuing and there was no evidence the virus was present elsewhere in Victoria. "We know this is a very challenging situation for the impacted business," he said. The South Australian outbreak has also been contained to the three affected properties which remain under biosecurity control.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Inside the forensic journey to unmask a deadly mushroom meal
An urgent taxi transported the leftovers further east to the Royal Botanic Gardens, but mycologist Camille Truong had already left for the day. As if following the script of the Ann Brashares novel the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, but for food, a colleague then dropped the food at Truong's suburban home. There the scientist extracted mushrooms from the leftovers with tweezers for the first time. Truong didn't see any death cap mushrooms inside, so she put the lunch leftovers in her fridge at home before taking them back to work and testing again later the next day. Despite using specialist tools, she told the jury she was unable to visually identify traces of death cap mushrooms using her microscope, finding only common field mushrooms. As the meal made its way across Melbourne, the court heard staff at Monash and the Austin hospitals were working around the clock to try to save the lives of the Pattersons and the Wilkinsons. The baked leftovers, now four days old, continued their forensic journey next into the hands of the Health Department and Agriculture Victoria. But still, the jury heard, there was no positive identification of the toxic mushrooms that were by now suspected of sitting decomposing inside the puff pastry wrapped morsels. On August 2, 2023, the leftovers were examined by David Lovelock, a virologist at Agriculture Victoria, who painstakingly examined the samples from the blue plastic bags. Photographs of the travelling lunch food displayed to the jury show the mushroom paste was by now distorted and mashed. Using DNA extraction techniques, Lovelock said he too was also unable to identify any death cap toxins in the sample. Lovelock told the jury he was, however, able to detect death caps in samples taken from a dehydrator that Erin Patterson had used to dry the mushrooms. He said they tested the samples against DNA from Amanita phalloides (the scientific name for death cap mushrooms), ghost mushrooms and yellow staining mushrooms. 'We were able to detect Amanita phalloides in two of the seven test tubes,' he said. Despite receiving treatment for suspected death cap mushroom poisoning on August 4, 2023, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died. The following day, Don Patterson also succumbed, unable to be saved by a liver transplant. It would be another few weeks before the dissected beef Wellington sample continued its journey by road, this time to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Southbank. At 11.30am on August 29, 2023 – a month after the fatal lunch – the court heard the zip-sealed bags arrived at the Kavanagh Street building that also houses the state's morgue. Here, marked with the words biological hazard, the bags were photographed and emptied, again, onto four 12-centimetre-wide trays, picked apart and placed into nine clear vials with white lids. Head of forensic science and chief toxicologist Dimitri Gerostamoulos says his department dissected the meal into tiny samples – separated into pastry, meat and mushroom paste – and let them sit for three hours in a solvent used to draw out substances for detection. This time, for the first time, the court heard the tests finally confirmed doctors' suspicions – traces of death cap mushroom toxins inside the mushroom paste and beef samples. 'I can't comment on the way they've been handled, only on the fact we received them in a large ziplock bag,' Gerostamoulos told defence lawyer Colin Mandy, KC. This court heard this week that it takes three tablespoons of death cap mushroom toxin, or about 50 grams, to kill an average-sized adult. Gerostamoulos agreed the following factors could affect how someone recovers from ingesting toxic mushrooms: the amount they consume, the concentration of toxins within the meal, and their general health, age and weight. Loading The jury heard the toxins in death caps – alpha amanitin, beta amanitin and gamma amanitin – cause cells to stop replicating, and affect kidney and liver function. 'They are quite toxic in terms of their potency. They can lead to someone experiencing symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting and feeling quite unwell,' he said. Gerostamoulos said the toxins, which are only found in small amounts in the mushrooms, can also cause tissue necrosis, organ failure, and eventually lead to the patient's death if they are not treated appropriately in hospital. Samples taken from Don Patterson and Ian Wilkinson, Gerostamoulos says, also later tested positive for a mushroom toxin, known as alpha and beta amanitin. Samples taken from Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson returned undetectable results. Gerostamoulos said this meant the levels were not detectable in the women's samples – but that didn't eliminate the possibility the toxin might have been present. Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder. Her lawyers have said the deaths were a terrible accident.
