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An example of a canola crushing plant in Hungary that could be replicated in Western Australia.

Countryman GrainPremiumPlans to open $10 million canola crushing plant near Albany

A Melbourne business and WA grain exporter are rattling the tin to secure $10 million to open the State’s biggest canola oilseed crushing plant capable of processing one million tonnes of canola per year.

Cally Dupe

Minerals Council of Australia WA executive director David Parker at the 2025 LIVEXchange conference at Crown Perth.

Collective ProsperityPremiumMinerals body calls for mining and ag efforts on regulations

Australia’s peak minerals advocate body has urged the agriculture and mining industries to stand together as kindred sectors on regulatory issues and legislation. 

Georgia Campion

The West Australian understands the cause of the blaze is being treated as suspicious 

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updated
WA NewsComments
updated
‘Fires starting up all over’: Locals scramble amid bushfire

A home has been destroyed but firefighters have saved an aged care facility and a primary school directly in the firing line of a ferocious bushfire believed to have been deliberately lit near Geraldton.

Jessica Evensen, Kate Campbell and Josephine Hingst

Holly Ludeman. Photograph: Daniel Wilkins

Media CampaignPremiumLivestock vet urges for community trust building

Veterinarian and The Livestock Collective managing director Dr Holly Ludeman encouraged against complacency in the agriculture industry and urged the sector to build trust with the wider community.

Georgia Campion

Wheat.

The fate of ParaquatParaquat review pushed back to mid-2026 by watchdog

A long-awaited review that could lead to the ban of a popular farm chemical has been delayed a second time, with the Australian chemical regulator’s findings into paraquat now postponed until next year.

Georgia Campion

The Great Southern Landfill between Catchment Road and Great Southern Highway has been greenlighted by Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourne.

Countryman NewsCommentsPremium‘Ticking time bomb’: Residents to rally against rubbish tip

York residents will protest on the steps of Parliament to protest the approval of a controversial rubbish tip after a decade-long fight against the development.

Georgia Campion

Tony Seabrook at his York farm.

Countryman NewsPremiumYork farmer steps down after 11 years as PGA of WA president

The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA’s longest-serving president has stepped down. After 11 years, Tony Seabrook is handing the baton to Kojoup farmer Digby Stretch.

Cally Dupe

Challenge winners from the Western Australian College of Agriculture Cunderdin with SW WA Hub Knowledge Broker Tanya Kilminster (left) and science teacher Kate Strong (right).

Cow to CropPremiumSouthern ag students put to challenge on climate solutions

Students from two agricultural colleges have been put to the test in a competition to design innovative solutions to WA’s hot and dry climate that poses constant challenges to the State’s primary producers.

Georgia Campion

Philip Barrett-Lennard and Sally Calder manage Beermullah farm and Beermullah Shearing Shed.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
‘Great sheditecture’CommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
WA farmer transforms 80-year-old shed into moneymaker

Nestled in rural paddocks next to a pristine lake is an old shearing shed which has been transformed by a WA family of second-generation farmers.

Amy Cavender

LiveCorp Chair Troy Setter presenting the Lifetime Achiever Award to John Edwards.

Recognising a StalwartPremiumLivestock export stalwart awarded for lifetime commitment

The longest-serving chair of the WA Livestock Exporters’ Association has been recognised as an industry champion at the nations largest livestock export conference in Perth.

Georgia Campion

Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA chief executive Jan Cooper at the LIVEXchange 2025 conference, Perth.

Ewes and ViewsPremiumIndustry panel on WA’s sheep flock decline and future

Leading sheep export industry figures have flagged sector impacts as a result of WA’s declining flock following the devastating impacts of COVID and the live trade ban.

Georgia Campion

Former Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb at the LIVEXchange conference at Crown Perth. Georgia Campion

‘Destructive Act’PremiumEx Trade Minister warns of sheep trade ban implications

Australia’s former Trade Minister has warned of the ‘profound harm’ the ban of the live sheep export trade will have on the agriculture industry and the national economy.

Georgia Campion

Denmark's Dellendale Creamery's Churchill Road Raclette has been named Australia’s best semi-hard eye cheese at the 27th Australian Grand Dairy Awards.

Winner WinnerPremiumDenmark raclette scoops honour at Grand Dairy Awards

Denmark’s Dellendale Creamery has been recognised for having Australia’s best semi-hard eye cheese at the national dairy awards.

Georgia Campion

Residents in Wickepin were forced to stockpile water after the town’s mains water supply was shut off for nearly 24 hours in two days following the detection of multiple leaks in the main pipe.

Wickepin Water Shut OffWickepin shuts off water for hours after two leaks in mains

Wickepin residents were forced to stockpile water last week after the town’s mains water supply was shut off for nearly 24 hours over two days following the detection of multiple leaks in the main pipe.

Hannah Whitehead

Grass Valley farmer Milly Dempster at the boundary of her sheep farm where a quartzite mine is proposed to be established.

Mine OppositionPremiumGrass Valley farmer fights back against quartzite quarry

A Grass Valley farmer is fighting back against a proposed quartzite mine she says is an illegal operation that has been incorrectly classified and poses health and environmental risks

Georgia Campion

East Narrogin Community Collective members Marion Price and Braden Lange in front of the transmissions lines located in their area.

RENEWABLE ENERGYPremiumNarrogin residents unite in concerns over windfarm project

Almost 100 residents in east Narrogin have banded together to call for transparency on a “monstrous” windfarm project forecast to sit in the centre of their residential area.

Hannah Whitehead

Police seized packages, allegedly containing about 525kg of cocaine, off the coast of Lancelin this month. Pictured is the cocaine which was allegedly packaged and dumped in the ocean by a international livestock carrier.

COURTPremiumBaby-faced cocaine accused in bid to get home to mum

The 19-year-old was allegedly part of a foiled plot to import 500kg cocaine off Lancelin.

Charlton Hart

Moojepin Merinos co-principal Hamish Thompson and his family will host the WALRC's Livestock Forum in March.

LIVESTOCK FORUM PremiumMoojepin Merinos set to host WALRC forum

The WA Livestock Research Council will conduct a Livestock Matters Forum on March 18 at Moojepin Merinos, located 30kms east of Katanning.

Bob Garnant

National MP Barnaby Joyce has made his future intentions clear. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

PoliticsPremiumJoyce ditches Nationals, coy on One Nation defection

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has quit the rural party he previously led but hasn't confirmed a speculated jump to join Pauline Hanson at One Nation.

Dominic Giannini

Andrew and Kelly Cripps of Independent Rural in Geraldton

LOCAL EXPANSIONPremiumCripps family expands Independent Rural footprint

A major shift in WA’s rural retail landscape has paved the way for Geraldton-founded Independent Rural to significantly expand its Wheatbelt footprint, with the Cripps family set to launch new branches.

Cally Dupe

MLA manager for Sheep Genetics Peta Bradley.

MLA partners with AuctionsPlus PremiumMeat and Livestock Australia collaborates with AuctionsPlus

Meat and Livestock Australia has announced a groundbreaking collaboration with AuctionsPlus, enabling sheep breeders to integrate Sheep Genetics data into online stud listings for the first time.

Bob Garnant

RaboResearch senior animal protein analyst Angus Gidley-Baird

Rabobank defines price swingsPremiumLivestock extreme price swings defined

Australian livestock producers have been faced with unprecedented period of market volatility in recent years, with swings in cattle and sheep prices reaching record extremes.

Bob Garnant

Moora farm manager Andrew Caldwell is pictured during harvest today and is saying it could be a record crop.

HARVEST SHINEPremiumTopsy-turvy season at Moora

WA farmers are officially set to harvest a record grain crop of 26.62 million tonnes — smashing the prior record set in 2022 despite recent rain and hail taking the shine off in some areas. 

Cally Dupe

Moora farm manager Andy Caldwell is pictured during harvest today and is saying it could be a record crop. Michael Wilson

Countryman NewsCommentsPremiumCROP ON! WA farmers set to harvest record 26.62Mt

WA farmers are officially set to harvest a record grain crop of 26.6 million tonnes — smashing a record set in 2022 — despite recent rain and hail taking the shine off some farmers’ crops. 

Cally Dupe