Agricultural industries react to the abolition of the 457 visas with pig farmers saying they are likely to lose workforce when visa is removed and that training and skills need to be improved. It is also expected to affect areas like exporters and smallgoods manufacturers.

The changes to the 457 skilled migrant visa have elicited mixed responses from the oil, gas and mining sectors. 457 Visa holders made up less than 3 per cent of the mining workforce during the boom, and have dropped significantly. The mining industry is hoping it's business as usual, while maritime workers say the changes don't go far enough.

The health of workers in the Australian fishing industry is currently being looked at as part of an extensive national survey. Researchers from Deakin University are hoping to find out more about the challenges of the industry - particularly the stress and mental health impacts.

A Great Southern sheep producer says she has never seen foxes so big, and in such good condition. The good season has fattened them up and rabbit control is also playing a role.

More federal government departments may soon be tagged with relocation to a regional area, under a new decentralisation push by the Turnbull Government. Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash has announced that every minister will be asked to examine their own portfolio, to find departments, entities or functions that would be suitable for relocation.

It has been revealed the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Chemicals Authority sent official talking points to staff to use over the long weekend, when the conversation with friends and family turned to the plans to move the chemical regulator out of Canberra.

Nominations for this Years Farmer of the Year are now open. Matt Dunbabin was the 2015 Farmer of the Year. Matt also took out the Diversification Farmer of the Year award that same year.

By close of business today, South Australian authorities will further restrict the movement of Western Australian horticultural produce in an effort to prevent the spread of Tomato Potato Psyllid.

Tony Galati has reportedly closed down his banana operations in the Kimberley - blaming 'aggressive price cuts' from German discount supermarket ALDI. Doriana Mangili from the Sweeter Banana Co-op says his claims stack up, and it's affecting Carnarvon growers whether they supply ALDI or not.

As China moves towards a self-reliant food future, West Australian farmers are being reassured that there will always be demand for our high quality products.

The Gascoyne is on track to see its first ever lithium mine. Lithium Australia have been granted five exploration licenses which make up the new Gascoyne Project - based about 370 kilometres east of Carnarvon.

Western Australian commercial shark fishermen are being drawn into the debate on how to manage great white populations.

The Wyndham Port will today load its first cattle ship of the year, with around 3,000 head getting exported to Indonesia. The shipment marks the start of the Kimberley's live export season, with another boat due out of Broome next week.

New West Australian research has found burying vegetable waste and compacting it could be a simple and very effective way of controlling stable flies. Trials have shown a 95 to 99 per cent reduction.

At the national camp draft competition there's a tangible increase in female competitors.

The Grains Industry Association of Western Australia monthly crop update for April found growers are moving away from wheat and barley due to low prices and towards canola and lupins

Farmers in the Kimberley's Ord Irrigation Scheme will grow mung beans commercially this year for the first time in more than two decades

The Federal Government announced today it will abolish the 457 visa and replace it with two new visas

Meat and Livestock Australia has warned the beef cattle industry that global beef production is increasing, which will have an effect on prices

A Brahman cow called Elrose Naomi is set to revolutionise the northern cattle industry as her genome is sequenced as part of a million-dollar project

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says the newly elected State Government should not be allowed to give the go-ahead to uranium mines approved by the previous government

Utah Point in Port Hedland may become the only port in the state able to ship unprocessed spodumene, if an application to the Department of Environment Regulation is approved

New research from consultancy firm, Wine Intelligence, has found flavour descriptions on the back of wine bottles have more influence on Australian consumers than staff or critic recommendations

The competition watchdog is set to hand down a decision on whether telecommunications companies should be forced to provide roaming services for all mobile users

Kondinin Group general manager Ben White has been researching the effectiveness of in-car repeaters to boost mobile phone coverage

A study has found the Australian sheep industry stands to benefit from growing consumer demand in developing countries, where sheepmeat consumption is increasing, despite rising prices

Butchers say customers have started to feel the squeeze of high beef and lamb prices, and retailers are worried consumers will turn away from red meat

The Australian mining industry is on the verge of a new mining boom based around so-called tech metals

Pantoro gold mine in the Kimberley had its most productive quarter on record, which was boosted by a high gold price

The Karratha Woodside gas plant lost power at the weekend during what the company has describes as a production outage

West Australian marri honey prices have doubled in the past month thanks to a boom in international demand

Riding a donkey backwards proves to be a winner during the Mexican Donkey Race at the Aileron Rodeo

Farm lobby group WAFarmers discussed biosecurity, the struggling dairy industry and grains research in its first meeting with the new Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan

Farmers and fruit pickers have been warned about a European wasp nest found in the roof cavity on a house in Busselton because the pest could spread

New Zealand fruit growers are hailing a group of hotel cleaners as heroes for discovering an exotic pest known as a stink bugs in a guest's room

A heifer named Belinda and adopted by ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt reporters has given birth to a calf to demonstrate the process of artificial insemination

The Shearing Industry Association of Western Australia is calling for an improvement in shearing shed safety because its members say ageing infrastructure is leading to injury and hefty compensation claims

New research from the University of Western Australia has found that plants can listen for water by sensing vibrations

The northern prawn fishery will be able to supply seafood ahead of the Easter holidays after the season was open two weeks early following a favourable wet season

Commercial barramundi fishermen in Wyndham have been enjoying a great start to the season in the Kimberley

Wool markets in a significant recovery following a slight drop in prices at sales last week

A new oat variety that was marketed to farmers as a rolled oat variety has fallen short of milling standards for human consumption

Farmers in the Ord Irrigation Scheme are looking to get more value from their annual chickpea harvest and hope to develop their own "ready-to-eat" chickpea products like chickpea chips and pasta

West Australian blueberry production is set to increase by around 20 to 30 percent this year after a dramatic spike in plantings

A native title law specialist says claims that proposed amendments to the Native Title Act were designed to help a controversial coal mine are incorrect.

The new chief executive of the Australian Wagyu Association says the industry has a unique opportunity to build up base stocks of premium genetics

Australian Wagyu Association president Peter Gilmour has appealed to West Australian dairy farmers struggling with high milk supply to join wagyu bulls to dairy cows to as a side business

Western ideals about eating less meat are completely at odds with the reality of global agriculture, and could actually pose a threat to trade, according to a global livestock expert

Western Australia's new agriculture minister goes into bat for the state's grain farmers to secure a bigger share of GRDC funding.

Bench-marketing research shows Australian grain farmers are doing OK compared to growers in other countries.

Central Queensland farmers come to terms with losing flood damaged summer crops worth millions of dollars. 'But no time to live in the past' as they get ready to plant winter crops.

Seven Western Australian citrus growers combine forces so they can tackle export markets.

Turning Heywire ideas into reality - Grants worth up to $10,000 available for not-for-profit organisations that work with young people -

After a few years break an Indonesian feedlot starts importing Australian buffalo again.

Online selling website AuctionsPlus records its highest ever listing of cattle

About 17,500 sheep sold at Muchea today, back about 10% on last week. Plainer yarding so prices were down a little.

Miner Rio Tinto says it does not accept a claim by the Australian Tax Office that it owes almost half a billion dollars in unpaid taxes

The value of the West Australian resources sector has picked up for the first time in three years, with iron ore and gold are driving the lift

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy will sublease 20 per cent of Charnley River Station and sell its Brahman cattle herd to Kerry Stokes' company Australian Capital Equity

Rural and regional West Australian families struggle with the cost and difficulty of sending children to school and Perth

Small wheatbelt community of Yorkrakine raise an estimated $20,000 for breast cancer research with a sheep shearing event

Yorkrakine wheat and sheep farmer Quentin Davies says he has been unable to repair costly damage following a January storm and he said the insurance process has been far more gruelling than expected

Climate policy experts are warning the Federal Government that it will fall short of reducing its emissions, despite paying billions to landholders for carbon farming projects

The latest version of the government's reforms to a wine industry tax scheme has won over one of the final pockets of resistance

A tribute to satirist John Clarke from a Clarke and Dawe skit called "Down on the Farm"

Wool brokers say that the national wool market took a "savage" drop this week, but it was relatively insignificant because prices have been at record highs

The Victorian Government is standing by its decision to require all produce from WA to be fumigated before crossing its borders, despite concerns from the West Australian Department of Agriculture over "bad science"

The McTaggart family will sell Bidgemia Station in the Gascoyne after owning the beef property since 1947

Wally Newman will remain as CBH Group Chairman, and Vern Dempster will remain as his deputy following grower elections

Milk processor Harvey Fresh has sent out a letter to its suppliers offering a 'pain share proposal', that could stop farmers losing their contracts because of milk oversupply

The Competition Watchdog will have new powers to expose and crack down on companies that lie about broadband speeds

The West Australian seafood industry met this week to discuss its submission to a Federal Government Senate Inquiry into the risks of importing seafood

The Esperance region's first ocean grown abalone enterprise is set to be up and running by the end of 2017

Broadcasting from the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA) 2017 State Horticulture Update held in Perth

Some Western Australian horticulturists are saying recent biosecurity changes in New South Wales and Victoria have destroyed their most important markets

The two states have extended biosecurity protocols for Tomato Potato Psyllid host material that were already in place for crops like potatoes, to now include a broad range of WA-grown produce such as beets, spinach, chickpeas, tamarind, apples, strawberries, nectarines and corn

Jim Trandos grows corn and beans at Gingin and Broome and he says the new restrictions will have a huge impact on WA's horticultural industry

And we'll find out all the latest advice from Kevin Chennell, DAFWA Executive Director of Biosecurity and Regulation and Sonya Broughton, DAFWA manager of plant security

Ag market researcher Tim Morris believes Australia's agriculture industry can learn from sport about developing a more competitive edge to business

Claire McClelland, Market Development Manager Vegetables WA has some tips on getting export ready

Three more Western Australian dairy farmers devastated after being told yesterday their contracts with Harvey Fresh will not be extended

Congratulations Tanya Dupagne - 2017 RIRDC Rural Woman Of the Year in Western Australia for her work with Camp Kulin helping disadvantaged and traumatised young people

1845 head of good quality cattle sold at Mount Barker today, dominated by weaner heifers with quality Angus heifers selling for as high as 472 cents/kilogram