Farmers spraying weeds this summer are reminded of the golden rules to prevent drift and avoid damage to neighbouring properties.

NSW Farmers’ Agricultural Science Committee Chair Justin Everitt said taking several key precautions remained essential when planning to spray.

“We’ve always got to monitor weather conditions closely when we’re spraying, and while we’re all on a time crunch, it’s important to stop spraying as soon as conditions change and are no longer suitable for spraying.

“Spraying as close to the target as possible and ensuring you’re using the appropriate spray nozzle also helps enormously in pre­venting spray drift.

“It never hurts as well to consult your agronomist on your spray mix and its impact, so you have all the information you need to spray safely this summer.”

Off-target spray drift can occur when agricultural chemicals or vapour become airborne and drift outside the intended area when sprayed. This can happen if chemicals are applied at the wrong time of day, or during the wrong weather conditions.

“We’ve seen significant damage to crops in the past as a result of off-target spray drift, so it’s critical we keep prevention top of mind this season,” Mr Everitt said.

“Our neighbours will thank us for it, and wouldn’t it be brilliant if 2026 was a stellar production year for us all.”

Safety and compliance during the busy harvest period is very important. Operators need to be aware of their responsi­bilities and ensure that all warning devices and travel requirements are adhered to.

Agricultural machinery owners and opera­tors are invited to pick up a free “Moving Harvest Machinery” USB from all agricul­tural machinery retailers and rural supply stores in the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shires areas. The USBs will also be availa­ble at the Councils’ Administration Offices.

The ‘Moving Harvest Machinery’ USBs contain all the relevant notices for safely and legally moving agricultural machinery, combinations and trucks on the road, along with other useful information.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Coun­cils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the Councils develop and distribute the USBs each year to help farmers and contract harvesters have all the relevant information at their fingertips – and they are usually extremely popular.

“Safety and compliance during the busy harvest period is very important. Operators need to be aware of their responsibilities and ensure that all warning devices and travel requirements are adhered to. Regu­lations do change and these USBs help to ensure that people have up to date infor­mation.

“The USB contains the relevant notices, operator guides and other useful informa­tion. The USB also contains a live “link’s” document, which provides the web address for the documents on the USB and other useful tools and information. It is advisable to regularly check the National Heavy Ve­hicle Regulator’s website (www.nhvr.gov.au) for updated notices and/or changes to operating conditions,” Ms Suitor said.

There are over 800 USBs available – so call into your local agricultural machinery retailer, rural supply store or the Parkes, Forbes or Lachlan Shire Council Adminis­tration Offices to collect yours before they are gone.

“This year we also have a limited num­ber of windscreen stickers to give away.

You can attach these to your machinery as a quick reference guide for travel require­ments such as pilots, lights and signage.”

Ms Suitor said.

NSW Farmers has welcomed calls from the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Compe­tition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh to introduce a legislated right to repair for agricultural machinery.

NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said commitment to legislate this was long overdue. “Right now, much of our modern farm machinery can only be fixed by an ‘authorised repairer’, but this often costs a fortune and there’s the likelihood of costly delays,” Mr Martin said.

“We can choose who fixes our cars and trucks, but can’t choose who fixes the ag machines that help us feed and clothe the nation – and that’s costing our industry time, money and productivity.

“Farmers should be able to choose to use and support a qualified local repairer or do repairs and maintenance work them­selves if they’re qualified, so they can get their machinery fixed without huge costs or wait times.”

According to the Productivity Commis­sion, legislating a right to repair agricultural machinery would boost agricultural produc­tivity by $97 million annually.

“We need our tractors, headers and other machines to be fixed efficiently if we’re to keep putting clothes on backs and food on tables,” Mr Martin said.

The Albanese and Minns Labor Governments are continuing to ensure regional communities are able to thrive with a new powerful online tool to help NSW farmers better prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters including fire, flood, and drought.

The agriculture industry is the engine room of the New South Wales economy, contributing around $20 billion each year. This tool will help farmers safeguard their livelihoods during the climatic variations impacting their farming operations.

The platform, called myStockPlanner, enables farmers to pro­vide details of their farm, risks and resources so they then in return can access tailored actionable response options to consider and implement with their feed and livestock.

myStockPlanner enhances and brings together the functions that previously existed in a suite of existing tools so they are up­graded into a smarter and single platform. The old tools such as the Drought and Supplementary Calculator, DroughtPack, Feed Cost Calculator and Drought Feed Calculator have been collated into a one stop shop myStockPlanner.

This platform is designed to empower farmers with real-time in­sights, scenario planning, and recovery tracking so they can make better and quicker decisions. Importantly, myStockPlanner allows users to save their business information to a farm profile, which they can access and update anywhere, anytime even if their busi­ness records are destroyed in floods or fires.

Farmers use the free platform to calculate livestock require­ments, develop feed plans and evaluate projected annual costs of livestock sale and retention options to improve the farm’s per­formance. To learn more or sign up – myStockPlanner – https://mystockplanner.dpi.nsw.gov.au

The Minns Labor Government is plant­ing the seeds for a new wave of primary production manufacturing across regional NSW, unveiling a prospectus designed to harvest the economic benefits of the grow­ing plant-based protein sector.

This prospectus is part of the Govern­ment’s plans to strengthen regional econo­mies, build new industries and drive jobs and investment.

The prospectus is aimed at metropolitan and international food manufacturers and is designed to encourage them to consider re­gional NSW as a base for their operations.

The prospectus highlights the competitive advantages regional NSW has including:

• Access to premium raw commodities suitable for plant-based protein food and beverage manufacturing with the ability to scale and meet growing demand.

• Consumer market access with regional NSW ideally positioned and able to de­liver goods to 81 percent of Australia’s domestic market overnight.

• Skilled workforce with relevant education­al backgrounds, export-ready ports, and affordable industrial land.

• Research and development ecosystem that actively encourages collaboration between researchers across universities, DPIRD, CSIRO, Government and agri­business.

The Prospectus also identifies five key re­gions particularly suited to plant-based pro­tein manufacturing: Riverina Murray, New England North West, Central West Orana, North Coast and Hunter Central Coast.

Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said: “Regional NSW offers the ideal combination of resources and advantages, from efficient transport networks and export-ready ports to skilled workforces and affordable industrial land, creating a compelling case for investors and manufacturers.

Grain growers are invited to share their thoughts at the upcoming Grains R&D: Your levies, your views consultation, organised by GrainGrowers. Image: Farmpix Photography.(www.farmpix.com.au/)

Grain growers in the Parkes region are be­ing urged to attend an upcoming grower meeting to discuss issues around grains research and development, levy rates and reviews and the impact on growers.

The Grains R&D: Your levies, your views consultation, organised by GrainGrowers as part of its representative organisation (RO) role with the GRDC, will take place in Parkes on Thursday 11 September at the Parkes Services Club, 10:30am – 12pm.

In total, meetings will be held in 18 re­gional centres across five states from 2 September through until 16 October. The Parkes meeting is one of four being held across NSW.

GrainGrowers CEO Shona Gawel said the meetings are an ideal opportunity for growers to consider the current situation, to put forward their thoughts on the issues and raise questions that they would like considered and answered.

Ms Gawel said in recent months there had been many discussions about grains research and development, and it was im­portant to engage as widely as possible with growers.

“As a grower member organisation, di­rect engagement is in our DNA, and these meetings are designed to allow us to listen and to reflect carefully on the next steps.”

“While our members are free to contact us at any time, growers across Australia now have multiple opportunities to come together to discuss.

“The full schedule of consultations is available via our website. For anyone un­able to attend, we will be holding a virtual session at a later date to encourage the widest possible consultation,” Ms Gawel said.

Further information and to register, at: www.graingrowers.com.au/events/grains-r-and-d-your-levies-your-views-parkes-nsw