User Profile

Allan Murphy

Allan is a senior journalist at Sunraysia Daily. Email [email protected] to get in touch.

Marsupial back from the brink

A FEISTY marsupial known for its unusual breeding strategy -- where males die following the annual mating cycle -- is again roaming around Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary in far south-west New South Wales for the first time in more than a century. The tiny...

01 Jun 2025

News

Pest free area status to go

THE Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area, established in 2006 to help protect local horticultural industries from Queensland fruit fly and enhance market opportunities, is to be abolished. A statement released by Agriculture Victoria said Queensland...

12 Jul 2024

News

Funds for threatened birds

A SUCCESSFUL funding application will allow a project that aims to educate people on the conservation of the Mallee emu-wren and other threatened native birds to become a reality. The Threatened Species Conservancy-led project plans to support...

17 May 2024

North West Farmer

Deep ripping is paying off

ONE of the region’s farmers who has turned to deep ripping for improved production is Carwarp’s Clay Gowers. He says this is his third season of deep ripping and is confident it is helping his enterprise.“Our subsoil moisture has been adequate...

03 May 2024

Dryland Farming

Mixed bag for grain growers

MILDURA-based Omnia Sunraysia agronomist Ken Reed says sowing season is going flat out in much of north west Victoria after a “bit of a start”.Which most recently was “bitty” in the extreme with regional rainfall two weeks ago showing amazing...

03 May 2024

Environment

Numbat numbersbouncing back

REINTRODUCED populations of the endangered numbat appear to be increasing in wildlife sanctuaries in the lower Murray Darling Basin, five years after a drought triggered a decline in populations. Ecologists at Australian Wildlife Conservancy are...

17 Mar 2024

Wine Grapes

Wine industry faces pruning, says ABARES

WINE grape growers are forecast to leave the industry for more profitable returns following forecasts of higher production but weaker prices in the years ahead. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource...

08 Mar 2024

Environment

Watching grass dry the key to summer safety

THE Country Fire Authority is calling on residents in north-west Victoria to become “citizen scientists” to help contribute critical information about the state’s fire risk. As the 2023-24 fire season is expected to be hotter and drier than those...

10 Jan 2024

Wine Grapes

Wine sector sets carbon targets

A NEWLY released Emissions Reduction Roadmap for the Australian grape and wine sector has outlined effective and practical steps to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions by more than 40 per cent before 2030. Developed by Wine Australia in...

26 Sep 2023

Environment

Victoria remains varroa mite-free

AGRICULTURE Victoria says it remains confident that Victoria remains free of varroa mite despite a recent outbreak just across the NSW border at Euston. Strong protections were initiated to guard against a future outbreak and a Control Area Order...

17 Sep 2023

Fresh Fruit

Table grape season ends on a high

THE Australian table grape season has concluded on a positive note despite an ominous early season. Australian domestic and export sales for 2023 made a marked recovery on the previous two years, despite climatic events affecting producers in several...

07 Jul 2023

North West Farmer

KICK IN THE GUTS: Growers slam council’s farming rate hike

PEAK horticultural groups say a plan by Mildura Council to increase farming rates while cutting dues for residential ratepayers will be the final nail in the coffin for some of the region’s growers.

04 May 2023