The ABARES report for the June quarter predicts national crop production will fall by more than 20 per cent, with profits down 70 per cent for broadacre farms. 

Tens of thousands of homes are left without power and the SES receives hundreds of calls for help, with the roofs torn off two apartment buildings, as WA's southern half is hammered by more severe weather.

Two people have had a lucky escape after a tree fell onto their car on a major highway in WA's South West, as strong winds lashed the region.

Pioneering photographer Bert Saw captured Federation-era life and experiences in Denmark, Albany and surrounding communities throughout the 1900s.

The tenets of permaculture are attracting a new generation of home gardeners. It's perhaps no surprise, considering the movement has firm roots in the world's last oil crisis in the 1970s.

Emergency hay deliveries to drought-stricken areas resume after thousands of dollars in donations from school students and charity groups.

Engines roar for Albany Classic weekend: Hundreds turned out for the 90th Albany Classic on the weekend with more than 140 cars competing in the street races. The Albany Classic is one of the last races in the streets of regional WA towns, with Northam hosting the only other. The weekend was opened with the Mount Clarence Hill Climb and was won by 82-year-old Dick Ward in a 1967 Fiat Abarth, while the overall Classic was taken out by Brad Peters with 62 points in a 1965 Ford Cortina GT.

Image: ABC Great Southern/Will Corbett

Lights out in the regions: More than 20,500 homes were left without power on the weekend across the South West and Great Southern in the aftermath of the storm. While night one brought the rain, night two saw wind gusts of up to 135 kilometres per hour recorded at Cape Naturalise on Sunday evening. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed low lying areas flooded, with high tides and 'monster swells' pushing water onto land. Western Power addressed the issue when it was safe to do so.

Farmer fined for rogue sheep: A Great Southern farmer has been fined $6,050 for allowing sheep to roam from his property and failing to properly register and microchip his dogs. The Albany Magistrates Court heard sheep were found on the road or road verge in Bow Bridge near Stephen Robert Bain's property on several occasions between April and August last year. Tags on the sheep identified them as belonging to the 70-year-old. On two occasions, rangers from the Shire of Denmark received calls from drivers concerned about near misses with sheep on the South Coast Highway, adjacent to Bain's property. Bain's defence told the court the sheep had been grazing in a blue gum plantation that he no longer used.

Chasing Colours exhibition hits Narrogin: The Chasing Colours exhibition in Narrogin is showcasing natural dyeing and printing techniques, using 40 different types of eucalypts found within a 50 kilometres radius of the town. Organiser Dianne Strahan told Peter Barr on ABC Regional Mornings it's the accumulation of a four-year period.

Boogity Boogity Boogity! Stage 1B of the Albany Motorsports track has officially opened, with a ceremonial lap from some local rev-heads to break it in. The 1.1 kilometre sealed track in Drome is set to accompany several others in the same complex, with the neighbouring motocross course already lauded as the state's best. At the opening event, Mayor Greg Stocks thanks those involved in the "long road" to the track's completion.