The multi-award winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery is looking forward to a good 2008 vintage with grape harvesting and pressing well underway. CSU Head Winemaker Andrew Drumm says, “Good rainfall during the growing season ensured grape vines were unstressed and produced high quality fruit.  While the vintage started early, the cool February has slowed ripening, allowing time for the grapes to develop flavour and colour.” The CSU Winery, located on the Wagga Wagga Campus, is receiving fruit from its vineyards in Wagga Wagga and Orange, as well as from growers at Wagga Wagga, Young, Tumbarumba, and Orange. Grape varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, for table wine production. The Winery is taking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce sparkling wine as well as a Portuguese variety Touriga to make CSU Port.

Australia’s beef and live export industry will have a greater understanding of Indonesia’s beef market with the launch of a two and a half year project by the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre (AARC) at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the project ‘Benchmarking the Beef Supply Chain in Eastern Indonesia’ is a collaboration with four Indonesian institutes and the world-wide network agri benchmark. Project leader Dr Claus Deblitz says, “The Indonesian beef supply chain has been identified as a crucial area in Eastern Indonesian agriculture and is one of the most complex”. Drawing a comprehensive picture of the stakeholders, product, finance and information flow, proposals will be developed investigating how the Indonesian supply chain can be more effective and competitive, and provide farmers with higher incomes.

There was loud applause for awarding-winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash as he received public recognition for his work in the fields of agricultural and veterinary sciences and environmental sciences. Professor Ash was named earlier this year the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence 2007. The CSU academic received his award from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter during the graduation ceremonies on the Wagga Wagga Campus in April. Professor Ash, from the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to innovative research in plant pathology, identifying and determining the risk posed by diseases in crops and exploring innovative approaches to the management of diseases and weeds. Since joining CSU at Wagga Wagga in 1990, Professor Ash has attracted more than $4.2 million in research funds, written for over 150 publications and supervised 38 postgraduate students. In the last five years Professor Ash has authored 27 refereed publications and gained 27 research grants.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) team lead by award-winning researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash has developed a novel approach to attacking exotic snails that devastate crop and pasture production across southern Australia. Professor Ash and his team have found a local nematode that injects itself into the snails and delivers a deadly bacterium that kills the snail and allows the nematode to feed on the decaying body. The round worm, from the Rhabditids group, was collected from soil near Wagga Wagga, NSW, and is endemic to Australia. They kill the common white snail, white Italian snail, conical snail and small conical snail within four to eight days of being introduced. “These pests are a significant threat to Australian grain exports. They feed on emerging crops, clog up farm machinery and contaminate harvested grain which puts our exports at risk due to quarantine problems,” Professor Ash said. Based on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus, the research is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Links will be strengthened between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and leading Pakistani agricultural researchers during a visit to the Wagga Wagga Campus tonight, 16 June, 2008, aimed at improving the nation’s dairy industry. Also in attendance at the visit will be the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner. "Pakistan is the fourth largest dairy producer in the world, yet manufactures very little of its raw product, with most milk consumed within 12 hours due to the lack of refrigeration and the need for constant supply," said Peter Wynn, Professor of Animal Production in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. A CSU research team, working collaboratively in Pakistan for six months, has increased  productivity by working with farmers and agricultural agencies to implement changes in the industry.

Registered nurses are training to become registered midwives in their local communities and hospitals through a Charles Sturt University (CSU) distance education course which aims to keep midwives in inland Australia. The students will gather at CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus this week for their bi-annual residential school, where they supplement distance education with face-to-face teaching. Lecturer in nursing and midwifery, Ms Pam Shackleton, says the student midwives remain a valuable asset for the community by working at their local hospitals across Australia while completing the year-long course. “The sixty five nurses who will finish their midwifery training at the end of this year will be warmly welcomed and will go a long way to addressing the Australia-wide shortage of more than 600 midwives,” she said.

Cargill Beef Australia has been praised for its support of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) student team which competed in the 2008 Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition (IMJC) in Armidale in July. The company provided sponsorship for the team and allowed the CSU students access to its facilities and staff at its abattoir in Wagga Wagga for training. The training in June also included a group of Japanese university students who visited CSU prior to the competition in Armidale. “This IMJC is unique in that it is the only forum in Australia where students from any educational institute have the opportunity to learn the finer points of carcass evaluation from Australia’s experts,” said CSU Professor of Animal Production Peter Wynn. “None of this would have been possible without the sponsorship and unstinting support from Cargill. Junee Abattoir also gave generously of its staff time and facilities for training with lamb carcasses.   The support of local companies to enhance the practical skills of CSU students across the spectrum is invaluable,” said Professor Wynn.

The new $9 million Veterinary Clinical Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga has received a major design award shortly before its opening by the federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Bob Debus, in July. At the Australian Steel Institute Awards, Merit Architects, Wood & Grieve Engineers, Joss Construction and Southern Centre Engineering were awarded a High Commendation for the striking architectural steel design of the new building. Inside the building is the latest in surgical and medical facilities for large and small animals as well as a reproduction unit. With fourth year veterinary science students the first to benefit from the new facilities, the Centre is under the direction of Associate Professor Bryan Hilbert. He is supported by clinicians experienced in surgery, anaesthesia, radiography and reproduction. At the recent opening, Mr Debus told more than 180 guests that the veterinary science program at CSU is “serving the national purpose”.

Some of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) brightest science minds will gather at the Wagga Wagga campus on Thursday 17 July to present their innovative research at the annual Faculty of Science postgraduate seminar day. Of the 200 undertaking Master degrees and PhDs at CSU, 70 will speak before an audience of peers, lecturers and colleagues about the significant research they are undertaking. Convenor and Sub-Dean of Graduate Studies, Professor Patrick Ball, said ”The day encourages students to communicate their research in terms that are easily understood by anyone who does not have an in-depth knowledge of their topic, and it is also an opportunity for students to hear what others are researching. Covering a broad range of areas including irrigation, social impacts, viticulture and advances in animal and plant science, the day is an opportunity for students to present their ‘big ideas’, many of which will contribute to advances in science in Australia,” he said.