Almond plantations are guzzling so much water from the Murray Darling Basin that even the Almond Board of Australia wants new orchards to be put on hold until the water supply can be assured. Daniel Pedersen reports.
bees
A large commercial beekeeper in Darlington Point in the Riverina, southern NSW, has been forced to pack up and move after hundreds of beehives were devastated by pesticide-drift from nearby cotton farms. It is thought the bees died due to the spraying of neonicotinoid insecticides.