Jennifer Marohasy

On Monday I posted a graph of rainfall history and suggested that it indicated south east Queensland was not experiencing the worst drought in 100 years – that the current dry spell is not unusual in the scheme of things.
I was surprised how many comments in the thread following the post, and also in [...]

The most severe natural disaster in the history of South Australia will be commemorated this Sunday with the launch of the 1956 River Murray Flood 50th Anniversary Exhibition in Renmark.
Read more here.

Jennifer,
Following are two disturbing reports on “peak oil” you may not have seen.
They could have a big impact on intensive agriculture regarding costs. May be some opportunities for communities to grow and supply a lot more of their own produce, using permaculture or more sustainable/regenerative farming practices.
Certainly glad that I don’t rely on big tractors [...]

Thirty-three different species of weeds are now reported to have developed resistance to herbicides commonly used in Australian farming systems, says Dr Chris Preston, programme leader for the Weeds CRC.
The worst offenders are annual ryegrass, wild radish and wild oats.
And of the thirteen ‘families’ of chemicals used to control weeds, resistance to ten has now [...]