Year in Review: Top stories of North Queensland Register

North Queensland Register reported on plenty of major events and milestones in the last 12 months including record bull sales, weather events and business expansions.

A FAMILY who got stranded after their vehicle broke down during a torrential downpour in Far North Queensland used a drone to alert rescuers of their plight.

ACTING Prime Minister Michael McCormack pledged to 'make Charters Towers great again' during a y-in visit to the North.

IRONICALLY the chemical used to cure bacon was the key ingredient in a new bait to kill feral pigs.

THE Ravenswood Gold project, located 90km southwest of Townsville, was expected to bring on an additional 60 permanent positions and more than 100 construction jobs this year.

AN AUSTRALIAN company with family links to one of South Africa's richest men scooped up its sixth big cattle station in the Northern Territory.

THE next series of reality television show Australian Survivor was set to be filmed in the heart of Katter country - and the man in the hat believed it would take grit for contestants to tackle the outback.

THE tropical low off the north Queensland coast developed into Tropical Cyclone Niran, with fears it would intensify into a category three cyclone.

FEDERAL Kennedy MP Bob Katter and state Hill MP Shane Knuth were calling for support for farmers after inspecting a banana farm at Boogan, near Innisfail, that reported 100 per cent losses.

THE Queensland government gave the green light for a new Surat and Bowen Basin gas exploration project.

STEPPING grassroots cattlemen through the many options for agricultural diversification was at the core of a forum and field day to be held in Georgetown after Easter.

THE livestock industry had until May 21 to comment on the Palaszczuk government's major review of Queensland's animal welfare laws.

A VIDEO aimed at encouraging regional recruitment to fill a number of job shortages in the outback and the north west was being launched by the Mount Isa City Council.

THE Richmond Shire Council was seeking a 100,000 megalitre water allocation from the state government and a $100 million grant from the federal government in order to kickstart a bold water capture and irrigated farming project in the region.

CLONCURRY'S cutting edge commercial drone testing facility paid big dividends for Queensland.

ANOTHER step was taken towards the construction of a 10,000 megalitre weir on the Burdekin River 26km north of Charters Towers.

THE Queensland Rugby League and Queensland government were teaming up to bring a rugby league extravaganza to regional and rural communities.

CITRUS growers in Far North Queensland slammed the federal government's plan to import limes from Mexico.

BURDEKIN cane farmers were set to harvest an estimated 7.97 million tonnes this season, on par with the 2020 throughput of 7.91mt.

WORK officially started at a major new hydro project in Far North Queensland, tipped to secure the state's energy system with a reliable supply of dispatchable power.

CROWDS in Richmond gathered in force to attend the much-anticipated Richmond Field Days, which has been running in the region for more than 35 years

LIVECORP chief executive of officer Sam Brown resigned after 13 years with the live export industry research body.

FARMERS were being urged to remain vigilant following the sentencing of one of Queensland's largest ever cases of cattle theft.

TWO North Queensland siblings were recognised as future leaders of the horticulture industry at an award ceremony.

QUEENSLAND recorded its first official case of the deadly dog disease ehrlichiosis.

CROCODILE populations in Queensland were growing after the reptiles were almost hunted to extinction before being protected in the 1970s.

INSTRUMENT landings and more charter flights were some of the benefits the Charters Towers Regional Council anticipated owing from an $800,000 upgrade planned for the region's airport.

NO NEED for snorkels or breathing apparatus - it was confirmed the Julia Creek's Dirt n Dust Festival had been saved.

MEAT giant JBS was again dodging flak after copping another blast from prominent West Australian high roller Andrew Forrest.

SARINA producer Beau North was challenging the norm with his plan to convert 30 hectares of sugar cane to grazing land using regenerative farming practices.

THE McKinlay Shire was among nine local councils to upgrade Queensland's 72,000 km stock route network.

WILMAR sugar celebrated reaching the half way point for the 2021 cane crush, despite lengthy rain delays slowing down harvest in recent weeks.

THE Queensland government gave the go-ahead for a $250 million vanadium mine near Julia.

FARMERS were told they could soon have access to more workers from overseas, following the creation of a new agriculture visa.

DEMAND for buffalo was soaring on the back of low numbers of northern cattle available for live export and innovative emerging market opportunities.

LOOK out Wimbledon, the Ravenshoe Tennis Club could become the birthplace of the next league of grand slam stars.

MORE pop up clinics were opening in parts of North Queensland as part of the Palaszczuk government's push to get Queenslanders vaccinated before Christmas.

GROWERS in the Mareeba district were on high alert following the recent detection of an exotic moth, native to several parts of Asia.

AUSTRALIA'S first solely online used car store, CARS24, launched in Townsville.

BUYERS travelled from north and south to attend this year's Gold City Brahman sale, held at the Dalrymple Saleyards in Charters Towers.

THE future of the Karumba live export facility remained uncertain after it was sold to an undisclosed buyer following years of inactivity.

AN ATHERTON Tablelands community voiced concerns about a proposed wind farm 15 kilometres south west of Ravenshoe.

THE Mount Isa Mines Rodeo announced it would expand in 2022 with the launch of a new outback rodeo series kicking off in Longreach.

CLERMONT had good reason to be proud, when two of its young men went one-two in the PBR Australia 2021 championships, creating history in the process.

THE only stop on the Northern Territory section of the Barkly Hwy between Camooweal and the Threeways north of Tennant Creek changed hands.

MANGO growers were headed for a more bountiful crop this year than last but labour and pest challenges were looming large.

JUMPING from strength to strength, the 2021 Wilangi Invitation Sale achieved a new record top and overall sale average in Charters Towers.

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