IN BRIEF.

(From Canberra Times)

Organics wasteful Organic farming was no better for the environment than other forms of farming, an international specialist in crops said yesterday. Holger Kirchmann, of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, told a conference of 1000 crop scientists in Brisbane that organic farming had become an ideology rather than a practical farming exercise. He said that on several fronts organic farming was actually worse for the environment than traditional forms. Yields from organic farms were 25 per cent to 45 per cent less than from their traditional counterparts. That meant organic farming required one-third more land to sustain food production with animals, and 82 per cent more land when it came to farming without animals.

Employers provoking Employers are now responsible for most of the long-running industrial disputes in Australia, new research has found. And Australian employers lock out their workers more often than any other country in the Western world, the first national study of lockouts has found. The study, by Chris Briggs, of ACIRRT - Sydney University's centre for industrial relations - found employer lockouts in labour disputes rose dramatically in the past five years, while strikes fell to historic lows. The study, which looked at the frequency of lockouts and strikes over 10 years, found employer lockouts accounted for 57 per cent of all disputes between 1998 and 2003, compared with 7per cent between 1993 and 1997.

Locusts hatching NSW farmers could be facing the worst locust plague in 30 years as warm spring weather brings on an explosion of hatchings. This week 459 properties have reported new locust hatchings to the Rural Lands Protection Board, taking the state's tally to 705 properties. Coonabarabran in the state's north was worst affected, with 112 reported hatchings. Tamworth, Dubbo, Mudgee-Merriwa and Narrabri were also hard hit, while hatchings had been reported as far west as Brewarrina and Wilcannia. Deputy ...