Special Interests Archives - Page 88 of 118

Jemalong Wool Weekly Market Update

March 7, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

The first weekly loss of the 2019 calendar year, saw the NRI slip 11 cents. Last week’s price rise encouraged more sellers into the market, resulting in 48,948 bales being put before the trade.

Melbourne sold in isolation on Tuesday and quickly realised the losses, experienced in Fremantle last Thursday, with prices generally falling by 25-35 cents.

When sales resumed on the second day, it was Sydney’s turn to catch up, recording losses of 15-35 cents while Melbourne and Fremantle steadied and recorded modest increases for the day. In a contrast to the previous week, there were positive signs to finish the series, with the three regional indicators all recording increases on the final day.

The crossbreds had mixed results, with 28 & 30 microns dipping slightly below last week’s records, while 26 & 32 managed to gain some more ground.

Source: AWEX

Diabetes Wellness

February 14, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

Flannery’s and Life Pharmacies are focussing on diabetes wellness during February and March. “If you are living with diabetes, let’s talk about how your medicines and blood glucose monitoring are working for you and fitting in with your daily routine,” said Flannery’s pharmacist, Tracey Edwards.

“Your pharmacist can sit down for a one-on-one consultation with you to discuss your medicines,” said Tracey. “This process is called a diabetes medication review and helps the patient get a clearer understanding of their medicines and provides an opportunity to discuss any issues or concerns they may have regarding their medications.”

If you would like a diabetes medication review you can come into either pharmacy and speak to the pharmacist.

It also helps to have a good system in place that works for you when it comes to monitoring your blood glucose levels. You can talk to the pharmacists at Life Pharmacy and Flannery’s Pharmacy about your blood glucose meter, monitoring, strips or lancets.

Flannery’s Pharmacy will be hosting a Diabetes Awareness Day with free blood glucose testing on Thursday, 28th February.

“If you’d like to find out more about diabetes feel free to call in on the day and speak to one of our pharmacists or registered nurse,” said Tracey.

NSW Seniors Festival

February 14, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

Putting Our Seniors First

The 2019 NSW Seniors Festival started on Wednesday and runs until Sunday, 24th February.

The NSW Seniors Festival is the largest festival for seniors in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching up to 500,000 seniors each year.

If you are over 60 years of age, the NSW Seniors Festival gives you the chance to make new friends or get together with old ones at an array of local community events, many which are free or heavily discounted.

Presented by the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS), the NSW Seniors Festival is designed to celebrate the role seniors play and the contributions they make to the NSW community, aligning to the policy objective of inclusive communities.

Every year during the NSW Seniors Festival, government, community and commercial organisations hold hundreds of events across the state, encompassing art, sport, music, entertainment, technology, recreation, health, good nutrition and much more! Who is NSW Seniors Festival for?

• people over 60 years of age

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over the age of 50

• people over 50 years of age that have a lifelong disability Each year, FACS directly supports around 800,000 people, reaching a further one million people through local community-based programs, and provides over a million Seniors Cards.

Cutting Edge Technology In Eye Care

Parkes Eyecare Plus has invested in the gold standard of eye health testing that is available today – Optical Coherence Tomography or OCT.

OCT uses optical ultrasound to look at the deeper layers of the eye underneath the surface of the retina. This enables optometrists to detect many eye diseases much earlier than with standard retinal photography.

This cutting edge technology allows more accurate identification and treatment of eye disease and conditions including Macular degeneration, Glaucoma, Diabetic eye disease and Optic nerve damage.

As these conditions can cause vision impairment and even blindness, early detection and management can help to safeguard your vision into the future.

If you are over 40, or have a family history of glaucoma or macular degeneration, an OCT scan is essential in providing the best eye care possible.

One Stop Shop For Drought Support

February 7, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

FarmHub has been launched to support drought-affected farmers. It contains details on assistance with fodder, water, transport, everyday living expenses and health in the one spot. It has been developed in partnership with the National Farmers’ Federation.

Now Farmers have a single and straightforward place to find out what drought assistance is available to them. The new online resource was launched recently bringing together information on drought support available for individual farmers.

Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, David Littleproud said FarmHub brings together the services of the Commonwealth, states, councils and charities. “This will tell farmers what assistance is available for them without any mucking around,” said David.

“Farmers just need to go to farmhub.org.au and type in their location to find help available. It will show what fodder, water, transport and living expense assistance is available at an individual farm, as well as mental and physical health services. This has all been pulled together and verified by the National Farmers’ Federation,” said David.

David also launched a National Drought Map to help coordinate the drought response and so governments, business and communities can make informed decisions. “The National Drought Map is a clear and precise picture of conditions and the drought response across Australia,” he said. “This will help us to be flexible and responsive to the drought when conditions change. It has information such as rainfall, soil moisture, available government assistance, numbers of farm businesses, agricultural regions and employment by industries.” FarmHub and the Drought Map are dynamic sites that will continue to improve over time. The National Drought Map is available at map.drought.gov.au.

Lifestyle Change Opportunity

February 7, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

Now for sale is a property located just 28km south of Forbes. Property 2496 Wirrinya Road at Garema is a great opportunity for anybody wishing to purchase their first rural property.

Consisting of 90.65 hectares, this property is set up and being run as a Boer Goat Stud, currently carrying 140 Boers due to the dry conditions. In previous years, the carrying capacity has been on a 400 head. There are plenty of natural grasses.

The current owners are relocating so this property is for genuine sale. They have invested heavily in steel fencing and gates, with laneways allowing for easy stock movement. In addition, with water troughs in each paddock feeding from the tanks and dams, it ensures continuity of water throughout the year. Pumps at dams are included in the sale.

The house has been renovated during their ownership and with an inground pool and entertaining area; this will make a great home for families. There is a sealed road to the front gate and school bus services into Forbes.

For further information refer to the front page.

The Future Of The Wool Industry

February 7, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

The Australian Wool Institute’s (AWI) $10 million project, in partnership with Ranken Research and Robo Shear, aims to develop a prototype machine for fully automated end to end wool harvesting. The project was established because there is a national shortage in shearers, despite the rising global demand for wool and record high prices per kilogram.

According to a 2016 report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are about 2,800 shearers and 73 million sheep in the country.

Despite historic peaks in wool prices last year, shearers are leaving the industry to pursue generally, less labour intensive, opportunities.

The machine uses jointed mechanical arms driven by electric motors and computer programs have been built to reach the back and sides of the sheep – the most important parts of the fleece.

The process works with a camera capturing 3D imagery of sheep during the various stages of the shearing process. That data is then used to reconstruct what the sheep would look like without wool, which is fed into the robot when it begins shearing.

According to AWI, the machine is not intended to replace shearers but to be used in conjunction with traditional shearing methods.

“I think Australia’s wool industry is ready for innovation,” said National Farmers Federation (NFF) President, Fiona Simson, who is excited by the prospect of change in the wool industry.

“The romanticism of the old outback that people knew and the old farms that people knew are being replaced by lots of technology.

“I’m really confident we can embrace that in wool as well… while protecting the welfare of both animals and workers,” said Fiona.

(Source: https://farmers.org.au website).

Jemalong Wool Weekly Market Update

February 7, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

The merino fleece sector performed with mixed results this week. Better style wools, with favourable additional measurement results continue to attract excellent buyer support, resulting in very little change for these types, while off style types, carrying higher VM and those with high mid-breaks lacked the same support.

Overall the NRI added 8 cents for the series, making it the fifth consecutive week of positive movement.

In the skirtings, long low VM types continue to outperform the rest of the market and these wools recorded very little change, while the increasing supply of higher VM types eased, with lots carrying fault such as cott and colour most affected.

The crossbreds were by far the best performing sector this week, with 26 to 28 microns gaining 80-100 cents, while all other microns were generally 25-45 cents dearer, once again it was the better prepared lines that attracted the strongest competition, and posted the largest gains.

Currently, there are 40,426 bales rostered for sale next week.

Source: AWEX

Jemalong Wool Weekly Market Update

January 24, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

51,703 bales were offered this week, making it the largest national offering since April last year. However despite the larger offering, the overall quantity is still well down on the previous season, with a reduction of 175,524 bales offered (-16.8%).

The merino fleece market was mixed in its performance. The three centres behaved slightly differently, with varied positive and negative movements recorded across the board.

Although there was an inconsistent pattern, the overall trend was upward. By the close of trade the NRI had gained 12 cents, closing the week at 1,960c/kg.

Skirtings managed to record upward movements, generally by 2-40 cents, wools coarser than 19 micron attracted the most attention and as a result enjoyed the largest gains. The oddments varied between centres, the North and West recorded 20-30 cent rises, whilst the South posted a small reduction.

The crossbred sector performed the best, with large gains of 50-80 cents experienced in the 26 to 28 micron range.

Currently, there are 41,503 bales rostered for sale next week.

Source: AWEX

Walk Into A Healthy 2019!

January 24, 2019 by Maggi Barnard

Set yourself up for a healthy year ahead by starting with a health check at Flannery’s or Life Pharmacies. “High blood pressure, excess weight, smoking and physical inactivity are some of the main risk factors for preventable illness, so setting yourself up to improve one of these areas can have a significant impact on your health and wellbeing,” said Tracey Edwards, pharmacist at Flannery’s Pharmacy.

“Our registered nurse or pharmacists can check a range of indicators, including blood pressure and weight, and discuss healthy lifestyle options with you,” said Tracey.

One way to reduce weight is to increase physical activity. “The recommended amount of activity for good health is at least 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity each week, which can be accumulated throughout the day,” said Life Pharmacy pharmacist, Clare Parmeter.

“Walking helps maintain a healthy weight, reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack, strengthens bones, reduces risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improves balance,” said Clare.

Ideas for increasing your step count include:

• walk to get the paper

• take the stairs instead of the elevator

• take the dog for a walk around the block (or beyond)

• park a bit further away from the shops

• take the rubbish out to the wheelie bin more often

• walk with others or form a walking group

If you’d like a health check or more information on improving your physical activity, call in to Flannery’s or Life Pharmacies and speak to one of our pharmacists.

Signs You’re Struggling With High-Functioning Anxiety

December 20, 2018 by Maggi Barnard

Despite it being the most common mental health condition in Australia, there are plenty of misconceptions around anxiety.

Sufferers are typically thought to be paralysed by panic attacks and withdrawn from the world but this isn’t always the case. While it’s not an official diagnosis, “highfunctioning” anxiety is something many people identify with.

SANE Australia Psychologist, Suzanne Leckie says that anxiety can affect different people in different ways and that high-functioning anxiety is an alternative manifestation of the condition, rather than an alternative condition.

“Sometimes people with anxiety inadvertently shrink their own world by avoiding activities that trigger their anxiety. Other times anxiety can motivate people to try harder across all aspects of their lives.”

She says that those living with high-functioning anxiety can be perceived by others as achievement-oriented, perfectionistic and highly motivated.

“Their own reality is likely to be one of racing thoughts, restless bodies and a sense that they are never doing enough.”

The usual symptoms of anxiety are present for those living with high-functioning anxiety, including catastrophic thinking, excessive worry and irritability.

“The difference with high-functioning anxiety is that people experiencing this may feel the desire to achieve more as a way to manage their fears and doubts,” Leckie says.

If this sounds like you, here are some of the other signs you might be struggling:
1. People describe you as a “Type A” perfectionist: You strive for perfection in everything you do.
2. You exhibit controlling patterns: This “perfectionism” can manifest in controlling habits and strict routines.
3. You’re constantly busy: Your to-do list is a kilometre long and your weekends are packed with plans.
4. You’re not sleeping well: All that tossing and turning during the night can be a true reflection of what’s going on in your head.
5. You have aches, pains, repetitive habits or ticks: There can often be physical manifestations of your mental state, like that constant knot in your stomach or unexplained neck pain, biting your nails, chewing your lip, tapping your foot or cracking your knuckles.
6. People have a hard time reading you: You’ve been described as stoic and unemotional but you know that couldn’t be further from the truth.
7. You have a crippling fear of letting other people down: Obsessive and intrusive negative self-talk is a big indication of high-functioning anxiety.
8. “No” isn’t part of your vocabulary: The dread of letting people down leads you to taking on more than you can handle.

If this sounds like you, contact the SANE Help Centre on 1800 187 263 or email helpline@sane.org for information, support and guidance from mental health professionals.

Source: WomensHealth by Lauren Williamson.

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