Pilbara Minerals say they are 12 months away from shipping lithium their first product to China after securing $132 million towards the Pilbara project this week. The company has halted trading today to raise the further $65 million needed to fund the Pilgangoora project in the Pilbara but CEO and Managing Director Ken Brinsden is confident they'll get the money they need to continue construction.

Consultants are fielding desperate phone calls from farmers about feed stocks... with dwindling stubble loads and scarce winter pasture to keep sheep and cattle healthy. Many are weighing up whether it's worth unloading sheep earlier, before feed becomes a real issue, or to buy in feed to sustain them.

The University of Western Australia has teamed up with a farm machinery manufacturer to try and design air seeders that will specifically suit Western Australian farmland. At the moment, most of the farm machinery used in Australia comes out of the United States so not tailored to the soil conditions here.

With farmers hanging on a decent drop of rain over the next couple of weeks, Neil Bennett from the Bureau of Meteorology outlined what the models are telling us and why the season has been so dry so far.

Western Australian Police and Department of Parks and Wildlife Officers have uncovered a clandestine sandalwood distilling plant east of Perth.

Scallop fishers at the Abrolhos Islands have defied expectations catching far more of the sought-after molluscs than expected. Before a heatwave wiped out stocks in 2011, the Abrolhos - off the coast of Geraldton - was one of Western Australia's most valuable fishing grounds for scallops.

The words chicken and fashion might not usually be used in the same sentence but for a group of volunteer knitters they go hand in hand. The group, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, are using their skills to knit vests and coasts to help save a freezing flock of featherless retired battery hens.

As farmers in parts of the state prepare for a poor season thanks to the lack of rainfall in their area so far experienced producers share their advice to young farmers facing their first dry season.

Meat and Livestock Australia is pushing the Australian Meat Processor Corporation to help fund the roll out of objective carcass measurement for cattle in abattoirs. But the potential impacts on producers, processors and the wider industry were yet to be fully identified and considered.

In recent months we've been hearing reports of an increase in spending in the mining industry - particularly in drilling and especially in gold. So does that mean that after a tough few years, with rigs sitting idle, the downturn is finally over?

Meetings are being held across the wheatbelt to give farmers strategies - and a chance to air their worries - given the predictions of a less than average season for parts of the state. The meeting in Mingenew this week had more people than expected, including some young farmers looking for advice on how to handle their first dry season.

Complex flavours of strawberries, pineapple and guavas, with undertones of quince, lemon and mint, it sounds like the back of a wine label, but it's the latest exotic fruit taking Australia by storm. Feijoa tree planting's have increased steadily across the country in the last two years and are continuing to go into the ground as growers try to seize export and local opportunities.

A parliamentary inquiry in Canberra has found driverless vehicles will offers real opportunities to improve the lives of rural Australians as long as some safety and technology hurdles can be overcome.

After smashing a new record last year, Australia's crop production is expected to settle back to more average levels this season. The latest ABARE's estimates forecast a thirty three percent cut in winter crop production, but its not all doom and gloom for farmers so early in the season.

The cattle industry is concerned communication about requirements to maintain their Johnes Beef Assurance score has been severely lacking. A south west cattle producer says their hasn't been enough communication about the new biosecurity plan requirement and says farmers need more time to process the changes.

Animal Health Australia have developed the Johnes Beef Assurance score tool and say they will allow producers more time to meet the new requirements.

Farmers are being urged to report unusual drone activity to police after a number of strange sightings on properties in the south of Western Australia in recent weeks.

The world's biggest floating Liquefied Natural Gas plan will soon make its way from a shipyard in South Korea to the Prelude gas field off the north Kimberley coast.

Its described as the largest feral cat eradication project in the world. As of next year 9,500 hectares on Newhaven Station will be completely void of feral animals and its hoped ten native endangered species will return as a result.

Despite a three week delay in the season for Carnarvon capsicum and eggplant growers, producers are very happy with how the season is turning out with produce looking very good.

An earth and environment professor says Australia must re-focus its energy infrastructure now in order to become 100 per cent reliable on renewable energy in the future

A farming couple from Ravensthorpe in Western Australia's Great Southern region say they are still not sure if they will switch off from the grid for good but are pleased with the results of a 12 month solar trial

ABC National Resources Reporter Babs McHugh explains new and emerging battery technologies and the potential for processing of lithium and vanadium in Western Australia

Yuna farmer Ken Jupp, 89, remembers the first time he used a switch to flick on a light in the 1930s when his farm was connected to electricity

Lobby group Farmers for Climate Action says a 28 per cent reduction in emissions for the electricity sector recommended by Dr Alan Finkel's energy report is inadequate and will shift the burden to other industries including agriculture

Horizon Power CEO Frank Tudor says plans for an integrated energy network in the Pilbara will rely heavily on solar power

Western Power CEO Guy Chalkley says the growth of renewables on a broader scale needs the support of government and changes to legislation

James Eggleston from the Curtain University Sustainability Policy Institute is a special guest for the Country Hour's Powering the Bush feature and says the main issue with regional and remote community electrification is the tyranny of distance between the generator and the consumer

The Dobra family used to spend $14,000 a month on electricity during the peak summer months on their loose leaf lettuce farm near Gingin, about 80 kilometres north of Perth but solar panels now cover about half the energy costs of the entire business

The rising cost of hydro energy from the power station at Lake Argyle has led farmers in the Ord Irrigation Scheme to look at alternatives, including solar, and even potentially even going back to burning diesel and the energy provider

Horizon Power is trialling battery supported solar systems in Carnarvon and Onslow on the Western Australian Pilbara coastline

Mullewa farmer Jenna McGregor says her region has had 296 power outages in the 12 months to March 2017 and she says the last summer was her "worst on record" in seven years of living on the farm

Western Power CEO Guy Chalkley says his organisation is working to improve reliability in the Mullewa region and Western Power is trialling renewable energy solutions across rural and regional Western Australia

Bernie and Ros Giles farm at Dunn Rock, north west of Ravensthrope and they are part of a solar energy trial run by Western Power to test reliability living off the grid

Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart has signed an agreement which could see as many as 300,000 head of cattle per annum exported live to China

West Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan says she wishes Mrs Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting had better informed the WA State Government of their plans before the announcement

Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan sat down with representatives from the dairy industry and the three major processors in the state, Harvey Fresh, Brownes and Lion, to try and find a solution to milk oversupply in Western Australia

The Western Australian honey industry is concerned their profits are going up in smoke, as winter back-burning ramps up in state forests after the Department of Parks and Wildlife conducts its largest burn-off in the state's South West in 29 years

The Grains Industry Association of Western Australia has just released its latest figures and editor Michael Lamond says the lack of rain has seen a drop in the forecast total crop

Eighty-eight year old Yuna farmer Ken Jupp says grain growers need to "stay positive and keep morale up" in the face of low autumn and winter rainfall this year

Around 70 rangers from Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory made their way to the 2017 Southern Desert Ranger Workshop at the tiny indigenous community of Ilkurlka, about 170km inside the WA border

The last remaining wool manufacturer in Australia shows no signs of following the tide of withdrawal from local garment making with the Australian Cricket team manufacturer, Silver Fleece, partnering with South Australian merino wool producers

The federal Department of Agriculture will investigate claims by activist group Animals Australia that at least 600 sheep have been found outside the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System in Kuwait, Australian Livestock Exporters Council has said it will fully cooperate with the investigation

The 2017 Association of Mining and Exploration Companies Convention had a political focus with news about the potential restoration of the exploration development incentive, which was scrapped in the budget, and a look at the effect of GST on the resources sector

The head of Tianqui Australia, which owns 51 per cent of the world's largest lithium project in Greenbushes says there is huge potential for processing in Western Australia as the company completes a $400 million processing facility in Kwinana

Mangoes growers around Kununurra have welcomed the drop in overnight temperatures in the past week as mango trees have begun flowering for the first time this year

A farmer in Western Australia's Great Southern region has rapidly changed his program this year and made the decision not to plant any grain crops and rely solely on sheep due to low grain prices and a lack of rain

West Australian wheat destined for an Intergrain flour mill in the Philippines will be shipped from Kwinana Port for the first time today

Central Queensland University research fellow Dr Kym Patison has received a grant to investigate how stress on animals can be reduced by making sure they are penned up with their "friends"

After dropping the Exploration Development Incentive from the recent budget, it seems that the Federal Resources Minister Matthew Canavan is open to a new scheme, WA's new Lands minister Rita Saffioti has flagged the Government's intent to tackle the long-running saga of rangelands reform, fewer than half of Australia's dairy farmers say they'll make any money this year, taking on more risk and moving from contractors to in-house trials and research are two changes that the national GRDC board discussed whilst in the Geraldton port zone this week, sheep producers are being urged to keep a watchful eye on their pastures with majority of livestock producers in WA currently hand feeding, or needing to start, things are looking up for Australia's wine industry with export markets strengthening and prices rising, keeping fence lines in good condition now easier with the chopper hopper and finally the open cry wool auction is facing digital disruption as Australian Wool Innovation throws in $3.6 million to build an online trading system.

An abalone industry may be on the cards for the Shark Bay region, with West Australian company Pan Holdings looking to expand its aquaculture license

Harvey Fresh will extend the contracts of three dairy farmer suppliers, which it had previously threatened not to renew

One of five Western Australian growers of the Queen Garnett plum variety believes processing the fruit by freeze drying the skins and crushing them into powder will encourage more farmers to grow the variety

Farmsafe WA Alliance Maree Gooch says farmers and rural communities need to be constantly aware of dangers on the farm following the tragic death of a 12 year old boy on a property near Boyup Brook

A major study of more than 1,500 quad bike users on farms shows there is strong evidence to suggest that roll over protection bars and helmets prevent death and serious injury

Rural Financial Counselling Service of Western Australia chairman Julian Krieg says grain farmers feeling anxious with the dry start to the season need to ensure they have a plan in place to cope with the lack of rain, and continue having conversations with the bank, family and friends

Flood affected farmers in the southern growing region of Western Australia will now be eligible for Category C WANDRAA funding, which will make grants available for recovery efforts

Grain researchers are trying to work out how to best live with Russian Wheat Aphid, now that the pest has a foothold in several states

Grower groups say a freeze on grants related to Royalties for Regions funding has left important projects in limbo and there are concerns certain priority projects will have to be abandoned altogether

Police and WorkSafe will prepare a report after a 12-year-old boy died when he fell into a grain silo that was being towed by a vehicle across a paddock on a farm at Dinninup, Western Australia

A farmer in Mingenew hopes to produce asparagus to fill late market opportunities in Western Australia and is set to harvest a trial crop in the next year

A West Australian bushfood grower is praising heavy use of biochar as the saviour of her highly saline soils as part of a trail that could lift the profile of the charcoal product as a way to improve dryland salinity

The rapid growth of the Australian craft beer industry has put it at risk of becoming over-saturated, much like the similar US market

Species like cats and foxes are taking a massive toll in the aftermath of bushfires with research is showing they are going into areas that have been recently burnt to hunt native animals that no longer have the protective cover of vegetation

A multi-million dollar aquarium was officially opened in Broome over the weekend and its managing director Mark Harris has some big plans for the site, including commercial aquaculture