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It's baaaack: Tocal Field Days will return in 2021

The NSW Hunter Valley's largest agricultural show, the Tocal Field Days, will return in 2021 after last year's event became a victim of COVID-19.

Event manager Wendy Franklin said the return of the event was great news for farmers and the community.

Ms Franklin said Tocal Field Days gave farmers and farm suppliers a chance to get together, share ideas, and to buy from each other. Local community groups will also benefit from grants issued from the event's proceeds - a record $40,000 was given out in 2019.

"After the drought and then COVID-19, it is time to celebrate and have some fun - in a COVID safe way of course," she said.

Ms Franklin said all Tocal's favourite activities would return including the piglet races, fencing demonstrations, sheep shearing, horse course display, the working dogs, motorbikes, quads and side-by-sides.

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Any business or Group Training Organisation that engages an Australian Apprentice on or after 5 October 2020 may be eligible for a subsidy of 50 per cent of wages paid to an apprentice between 5 October 2020 and 30 September 2021, to a maximum of $7,000 per quarter.

This assistance will support 100,000 new apprentices across Australia, and is in addition to the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy which is helping small and medium businesses to keep their apprentices and trainees in work and training.

Read more here.

A new one-day workshop to give farmers accredited training on the use of drones on-farm. Delivered across NSW by Ben Watts in partnership with NSW Farmers.

The course aims to develop knowledge and skills in safe and efficient operation of drones in an agricultural context; Australian laws related to the use of Remote Pilot Aircraft's (RPA) for private use; and collecting and processing data for use in creating a crop planting map or precision fertiliser program.