ABC Radio's Country Breakfast is an entertaining look at rural and regional issues around Australia.
Latest Programs
Saturday 4 Feb 2017
Dairy industry reacts as former Murray Goulburn boss Gary Helou makes his first public comments on the industry crisis, major fruit growing region on the brink of a labour shortage, Q fever cases double in South Australia and flooding rain boosts optimism ahead of the barramundi season.
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This week we investigate how a devastating oyster disease has transformed the Australian industry; and ask do you still need a telephone landline?
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Old army tanks were used to make dams and clear timber in post war years; meet the shearing team with an average age of 75; Korean students learn Aussie horse skills; and playing cricket, Pilbara style.
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Saturday 28 Jan 2017
Australia agriculture disappointed as Donald Trump pulls US out of the TPP, former NT chief minister joins Hancock Prospecting, competition watchdog begins inquiry into the dairy industry and Bellamy's share price falls as investors launch class actions.
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Crocs and cattle don't mix on a Northern Territory station; meet a specialist alpaca shearer; and a fish restocking program pays big dividends in the Kimberley.
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Why the dairy crisis has more to do with global conflict and trade wars than the fresh milk Australian shoppers buy.
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Saturday 21 Jan 2017
We're foraging for edible weeds on a roadside in northern Tasmania; get reacquainted with the old-fashioned rosella fruit; hitch a ride on a cane train; and go barra fishing in the Kimberley.
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In 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program.
We're looking back at the biggest agricultural stories to celebrate 70-plus years of ABC rural broadcasting.
This week the 1980s when farmers rally for their rights.
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This week Craig Zonca takes us to Shanghai in China to see how Australian agriculture is going, tapping into the lucrative and growing Chinese market.
China is currently Australia's number one agricultural export market, but other countries also want to cash in.
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Saturday 14 Jan 2017
Afghan refugees are happy to call Shepparton home; training up the next generation of jackeroos and jillaroos; we cruise Wilson Inlet with fisherman George Ebbett; and give baby crocs a helping hand into the world.
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In 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program.
We're looking back at the biggest agricultural stories to celebrate 70-plus years of ABC rural broadcasting. This week the turbulent 1970s.
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A former sugar cane farm in the Daintree region in far north Queensland is being returned to the forest. A 15-hectare site is being replanted with rainforest trees.
Further north in Torres Strait islanders are being encouraged to embrace a healthier lifestyle.
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Saturday 7 Jan 2017
We're looking for the grey-crowned babbler in Northern Victoria; Indonesian students are loving life on a Northern Territory pastoral station; and a Cairns butcher reveals the secret behind his meat display cabinet.
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In 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program.
We're looking back at the biggest agricultural stories to celebrate 70-plus years of ABC rural broadcasting. In the 1960s all eyes turn to the Kimberley and the Ord Irrigation scheme.
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Saturday 31 Dec 2016
Ornithologists and volunteer twitchers search Kakadu National Park for the endangered yellow chat; goats make a meal of weeds in the Bega Valley; we visit a dairy farm with a difference - this one milks camels.
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In 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program.
We're looking back at the biggest agricultural stories to celebrate 70-plus years of ABC rural broadcasting. It's the 1950s and Australia is riding on the sheep's back.
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Indigenous nurses make medical history on Thursday Island, and life in the Torres Strait through the eyes and music of Aunty Dolly
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Saturday 24 Dec 2016
We search for bum-breathing turtles in the Mary River in Queensland; bait foxes in the remote and rugged Burrup Peninsular; and join citizen scientists looking for fungi in the Tarkine Forest.
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In 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program.
We're looking back at the biggest agricultural stories to celebrate 70-plus years of ABC rural broadcasting. We begin in the 1940s and the start of the Snowy Mountains scheme.
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A special look at one of Australia's nearest neighbours, East Timor, and the efforts being made to improve food security and the diets of its people.
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Saturday 17 Dec 2016
Oyster farmer confirms POMS disease returns to Tasmania, Bellamy's share price crash a lesson for the boom and bust of China, Murray Goulburn appoints beverage executive Ari Mervis as its new CEO, South Australian family prepares to take over world's largest cattle station and meet the WA shearing team with an average age of 75.
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The Mistake Creek State School is small in size but big in spirit; a school tuckshop in Mackay celebrates its cultural diversity; we harvest tea in the Daintree; and watch an exotic flower show.
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This week we meet 90 year old 'PK' who's about to celebrate his final harvest in Victoria's grain belt. And we discuss free range eggs - consumer groups remain unhappy with free range standards, while the egg industry is hitting back at claims cage laid eggs are poor quality.
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Saturday 10 Dec 2016
From drought and a broken neck to bumper harvest, 3D meat products the new food for aged care homes and restaurants, Federal Government extends dairy concessional loan scheme, dairy industry welcomes legislation aimed at evening out 'balance of power' and dairy co-op Norco leads the way with domestic violence leave.
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A former shearer turns his hand to growing native flowers in the Wimmera; scientists conduct a bio-blitz on Fraser Island; we spice up the day with a visit to a pepper farm; and meet a world champion tractor collector.
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How do you churn out more than half a million ready-meals a day? And how farmer friends turned chefs developed a specialist line in bone broth.
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Saturday 3 Dec 2016
Farmers and regional communities battling the backpacker tax political saga, winners and losers from free trade to Asia, canola yields better than expected and airport fuel shortage hits cray fishermen during peak season.
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Abandoned working dogs and puppies find new homes; solar power runs composting machines; and Matt Wilson is living the dream, opening his own micro brewery in Albany in WA.
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Could the future of the Australian verandah be in peril? We find out why the hardwood timber industry is concerned for its future; we get an insight into why raw milk cheeses could be on the rise in delis and an important message about health.
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Saturday 26 Nov 2016
Australian farmers fear Trans Pacific Partnership is dead, sugar tax battles, Fiona Simson becomes first female president of National Farmers Federation and woes for dairy companies.
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Walk through a heritage rose garden; farmer Alex Cant collects shearing memorabilia; 90-year-old Bryan Pearce loving tanning hides; and value adding deer products for the Chinese medicine market.
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Communities in the northern Murray-Darling Basin are hopeful changes to water management in their region will help towns stay alive.
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Saturday 19 Nov 2016
Australian farmers closely watching Donald Trump trade policies, agribusinesses Elders and Graincorp both post profits, wild weather wreaks $200m havoc for Murray River farmers and a vet makes a shock discovering during a feral cat autopsy.
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Professional bloggers travel to the Barkly Tableland to talk to rural women; we're harvesting home-grown garlic bulbs; brewing tropical fruit cider; and learning how to crack a whip.
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As the wool industry plans to tackle shearer drug use, the dairy industry remains at odds over dollar milk.
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Saturday 12 Nov 2016
Farmers react to Donald Trump presidential victory, Coalition's backpacker tax plans in disarray as Senate opposition firms, tomato growers feat future as Woolworths dumps SPC Ardmona deal, record Chinese demand for WA yabbies and a farmer working to make teff the next big thing in ancient grains.
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Two young sisters buck the trend when it comes to rural stereotypes; tractor trekkers take to the road in Tasmania; we check out the Frog Hollow nursery; and harvest peppercorns in far north Queensland.
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The latest research shows that animals can feel a range of emotions from fear to love and depression; and we explore what a Trump presidency could mean for global trade.
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Saturday 5 Nov 2016
Woolworths accused of unconscionable conduct, Bega Cheese shares slump, hemp food decision delayed, mining industry battling drug and alcohol abuse, glyphosate debate divides grain industry and farmers tweeting crop photos to deal with diseases.
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Volunteers are tagging turtles off the Pilbara coast, and we check out new-age hoof care for horses. Old fridges and bath tubs get a new lease of life in the Beswick community garden, and we visit an edible flower farm off the coast of Brisbane.
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We're heading state-side this week with a look at the US Presidential election, set to be decided within the week.
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Saturday 29 Oct 2016
Dairy processors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra lift milk prices, Bega Cheese shares slump on infant formula profit warning, dairy farmers still waiting for government assistance, Joyce accuses ALP of adopting communist-style land clearing laws and self-managed superannuation funds buying in to Argyle pink diamonds.
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Victoria's famous river red gum wetlands get a good soaking; Bec Bovell is Cygnet's mushroom lady; we go behind the scenes at the Weengallon ladies day; and Stan Heausler calls last drinks at the Grove Hill Hotel.
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We meet some of the families behind the milk price crash, how are they coping? And an exotic beauty proves big business.
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Saturday 22 Oct 2016
Murray Goulburn cutting milk price and profit forecasts, cattle tycoons battle mining magnate for Kidman cattle empire, farmers have mixed opinions about Adler shotgun, lamb roasts 'too big' for consumers and avocados linked to crime.
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Australian prawn farms are expanding to keep up with demand; artisan beer is being brewed at a South Australian winery; pride is on the line at the Australian sheepdog trials; and a flamboyant peacock is a chicken protector.
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There might not be the clopping of horses, or the smell of kerosene lamps, but there's no doubt Central Victoria is once again home to a gold rush.
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Saturday 15 Oct 2016
Water recovery efforts hitting northern communities hard, backpacker tax uncertainty lingers, Gina Rinehart bids for S Kidman cattle empire and freight flights from regional Queensland direct to Hong Kong.
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This week we're gardening on the land and in the sea; a touring show brings science to kids in the bush; and organisers of the Merbein rodeo risk running out of food and beer when a huge crowd turns up.
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This morning we're going deep inside our relationship with food; from how we talk to our kids about meat, to whether it matters if something that looks, tastes and behaves like cheese, is actually a potato.
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Saturday 8 Oct 2016
Farmers across the country counting the cost of wild weather, poor internet continuing to hold back regional businesses and farmer picks 15,000 pumpkins in WA as Halloween demand increases.
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It's all about food and produce this week. There's rogue oysters to hunt down, new season mangoes to pick, micro herbs to harvest, and bushfoods to eat.
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Catching crays in Cooktown to send live to Hong Kong diners; and using backyard weather records to predict extreme events like droughts and floods
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Saturday 1 Oct 2016
Farmers react to Federal Government backpacker tax backdown, growers want more help to secure seasonal workers, crops destroyed as wild weather whips across South Australia, live cattle export boats in limbo as Indonesian importers negotiate new rules, sheep meat producers trying to capitalise on Brexit and pig poo power plant set to boost jobs and energy in northern Victoria.
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Follow a day in the life of a Hunter Valley horse stud; lawn mowing goats prove to be great weed busters; and distance education kids practice for their school musical via telephone and webcam.
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From virtual fences, to drones dropping predatory bugs onto crops, Australian farmers are increasingly adopting new technology. But experts say farming innovation doesn't just need to happen in the paddocks.
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Saturday 24 Sep 2016
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra announces $807 million profit amid industry crisis forcing farmers out, commodity forecaster ABARES tipping value of farm production to surpass $58 billion, Pink Lady apples not pink enough for European consumers
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We go in search of the superb lyrebirds that live in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges; a commercial fisherman makes dog treats from unwanted fish; and ex race horses find new homes in western Queensland.
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This week we pump up the biceps to go big game fishing in northern Queensland; it's 50 years since Cairns become known as the home to the elusive black marlin. And we talk about a tax on sugar; should Australia follow the overseas lead of taxing sugary foods to try to tackle health crises like diabetes?
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Saturday 17 Sep 2016
Politicians battle over proposed backpacker tax hikes, irrigators call on authorities to increase floodwaters in the Murray-Darling Basin, Monsanto and Bayer AG strike deal to create world's largest seed and chemical supplier, agribusiness Elders pulls out of live export industry, Indonesia set to import 700,000 live cattle and extra Indian buffalo and Australian farmers tipped to produce record winter crop yields
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Meet the grey nomads, 'glamping' their way across northern Australia; tropical flowers love a warmer winter; harvest begins at the world's first abalone farm; and an old-fashioned blacksmith fires up the forge in Cargo.
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Calls for Australian farmers to follow the lead of Europeans how they trademark and brand the products they produce and farmers offered higher prices to supply GM-free milk.
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Saturday 10 Sep 2016
Farmers hope foreign-owned farm register will ease investment concerns, Victorian farm lobby and Coles launch new milk brand, farmers producing less milk as dairy crisis bites, Tasmanian Government and industries fight proposed backpacker tax, regional phone coverage concerns prompts ACCC investigation and new multilingual lamb ad aims to increase sales.
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Age is no barrier to 90-year-old Maisie Brooks, still running the family farm in Victoria; rural vet Claire Law gives a cow a pedicure; Pilbara ringers show off their stock skills; and growing cymbidiums.
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Pigs are wreaking havoc in the Daintree forest, but there's concern about how they should be controlled; and why a 'pastured egg' could be your new breakfast choice.
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Saturday 3 Sep 2016
Victorian farmers welcome permanent ban on fracking, Productivity Commission warns restrictions will increase costs and stifle innovation, Queensland graziers hang hope on wild dog fencing to protect their livestock, miner offering shareholders a golden dividend and calf rescued by cavers after falling into sinkhole.
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A poor wet season sees a drop in northern quoll numbers in the Pilbara; the scallop season begins in Tasmania; home delivery scheme good for farmers and consumers; and the Brook Hunt Club chases an elusive fox.
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After record-breaking winter rainfall, parts of drought ravaged Queensland are starting to see sheep and cattle return.
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Saturday 27 Aug 2016
Dairy companies Bega Cheese and Murray Goulburn reveal profits, Victorian Government mandates electronic ear tags for sheep and goats, Tasmanian potato grower wants genetic modification redefined and European study reveals dairy farm dust is stopping farm kids developing asthma
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We're keeping tabs on barramundi; the Yandina farmers market explodes in a riot of colour; we meet a young woman with a passion for her hairy belted galloways; and we do the rounds during lambing time
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This week it's about thinking outside the square - from avoiding food waste to finding a way around the proposed backpacker tax to learning how to farm from retired farmers.
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Saturday 20 Aug 2016
Farmers told not to bother applying for government dairy loans, Liberal MP calls on government to revisit dairy loan criteria, Federal Government's latest backpacker tax review gets underway and lamb the new star on the North American stage.
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A market garden in Burnie helps feed local families; hairy highland cattle win a beef award; we limber up with tractor yoga classes; and join the Deadly Runners group on Thursday Island.
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The debate about GM food seems to revolve around whether or not you think it's safe to eat and that's got one science writer hopping mad, because he says it's the equivalent to the debate around human-induced climate change.
Deep in a lab, in multiple locations around the world, scientists are working away at a very big problem - growing enough food to feed a 2030 world.
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Saturday 13 Aug 2016
Australian cattle price benchmark hits record high, quad bike death inspires Victorian farmer to invent automated text alerts and anger building as regional people battle poor internet and phone reception.
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The Country Women's Association makes itself relevant to modern professional women; we learn about heritage pig breeds; visit a coffee plantation; and check out a boutique cheese factory.
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This week it's all about climate - from the parched Queensland channel country, to rural communities building their own renewable energy projects.
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Saturday 6 Aug 2016
Farmers welcome partial backtrack on CSIRO climate cuts, farmers compete for national leadership, agricultural industries keen for an Indonesia trade deal, breakthrough technology to stop processed avocados browning and rose farming not so glamorous after all.
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The Buchan community eagerly awaits the re-opening of their pub; real four-legged horse power is put to work in a vineyard in Western Australia; heavy winter rain turns Wagner's rose nursery into mud and slush; and coffee culture hits outback Queensland.
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German consumers and farmers are trying to understand each other better, thanks to the push toward sustainable agriculture.
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Saturday 30 Jul 2016
Widespread rain brings a shortage of leafy green vegetables, wet weather to continue through to spring, and Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus found in Western Australia's crops.
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This week helping migrant women settle into regional Australia; we learn about aquaponics from some cute five-year-olds; visit a vegetable farm under attack from wild ducks; and get the low-down on low-line cattle.
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We explore better ways to teach agricultural students about modern farm business, and look at the transfer of traditional knowledge in Indigenous cultures.
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Saturday 23 Jul 2016
Productivity report slams red tape for farmers; Federal Government admits proposed backpacker tax is too high and chickpea farmers face financial crisis.
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We forage for food in a pine forest; get some working dog training tips; cheer on competitors in the endurance riding championships; and saddle up for a junior rodeo event in the Northern Territory.
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It's all about expertise this week with some tips on what makes a successful cheese judge, and the future of farming.
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Saturday 16 Jul 2016
Some glimmers of hope shine through the dairy industry's gloomy outlook, plans too boost mango and macadamia production and good news for winemakers.
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A pop-up cinema brings drought-stricken communities together; we visit the opal mining town of White Cliffs; catch the Hammond Island ferry in Torres Strait; and pick native flowers in South Australia.
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Tassie has a passion for fermenting foods and it wants to establish a centre of excellence; we talk about the greyhound racing ban with a breeder and the first crop to be planted in four years for the tiny town of Walgett.
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Saturday 9 Jul 2016
Questions over the fate of Australia's involvement in the TPP and the fate of the Kidman station arise as the federal election has delivered a powerful cross bench with strong views on trade and foreign investment.
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There's divine intervention as the truffle harvest gets into full swing; Isabella Britton rules the kitchen on Alderley Station; we taste test fresh wasabi leaves and stems; and take to the skies with flying padre David Shrimpton.
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United States farmers, like their Australian counterparts, are in a political battle to secure seasonal workers to harvest crops.
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Saturday 2 Jul 2016
Dairy farmers facing another year of milk prices below production costs, UK farmers face uncertain future after Brexit referendum and farmers and scientists call for bipartisan leadership to help agriculture adjust to climate change
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After nearly 35 years Val Lawson and Leslie Fitzpatrick have organised their last theatre bus ride to Melbourne; migrants get help understanding Aussie slang; and we visit the stock camp on Pigeon Hole station.
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What will decide votes for rural Australians this election? And if politics drives you to drink, take heart from a home grown distillery.
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Saturday 25 Jun 2016
Treasurer grants Chinese Cubbie Station owner more time to sell up ownership stake, western Queensland rain a godsend, but still far from drought breaking, Bega Cheese announces opening price for the new milk season and divine intervention as former bishop blesses truffle dogs with good noses.
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Today we check out the growing popularity of campdrafting, the fastest growing horse sport in Australia; go behind the scenes on Alderley Station; and pick and pluck saffron flowers.
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Farmers across the country are white hot with anger at the lack of internet capability in rural areas.
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Saturday 18 Jun 2016
Tasmanian farmers demand climate change action after floods ruin farm, lobby group Australian Dairy Farmers calls for action, not political rhetoric, new milk price below the cost of production for farmers, avocado orchards in NZ targeted by thieves as prices spike and demand surges and Australian wine exporters hope to benefit from Chinese gift-giving day.
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Meet the women of the CWA as the organisation celebrates 94 years in NSW; a sheep farmer turned publican puts her own lamb on the menu; we're off to auctioneer school; and the truffle harvest begins.
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Tasmania's floods are bringing out the best in communities, not least for the state's devastated dairy farmers.
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Saturday 11 Jun 2016
Farmers counting the cost from flooding across the country, farmers debate genetically modified crops as Monsanto marks 20 years of GM in Australia and calls for the Federal Government to settle live ex cattle ban class action
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They're harvesting yellow-tail kingfish off the coast of Geraldton; lime growers value-add their fruit; we check out the latest milkers in the Bega Valley; and Indonesian students get hands-on experience on Pigeon Hole Station.
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From satellites giving information about soil quality to robotic fruit monitoring and water quality sensors for oysters - agricultural technology is being taken up at a rapid rate among Australia's farmers.
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Saturday 4 Jun 2016
Politicians battle over Commonwealth dairy support package, banana prices slump as warm, wet winter causes glut, dry weather behind prawn glut in northern New South Wales and markets shocked by early arrival of green mangoes from the Northern Territory.
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This week fabulous fungi in the Tarkine wilderness; Fish Creek hosts a tea cosy festival; Nathan Griggs makes a monster whip for a world record attempt; and success for an indigenous working scheme in the Kimberley.
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Dairy farmers considering small-scale milk processing to flee the major processors that have retrospectively cut prices
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Saturday 28 May 2016
Peak dairy lobby overhauls senior leadership amid milk price crisis, Bega Cheese boss slams processor competitor Murray Goulburn, crowd-funder DomaCom re-enters the bidding circle for Kidman cattle empire and Oxfam Australia wanting greater transparency of mine donations to governments.
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This week baiting for foxes in the Burrup Peninsula; we fly in to Tibooburra for a flying doctor clinic; meet a cute whip-wielding toddler; and go behind the chutes for the poddy calf ride at Kununurra.
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Foreign investment in Australian agriculture has polarised communities for years, with farmers on one side of the debate opposing the rest of the community.
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Saturday 21 May 2016
Federal Greens unveil agricultural priorities ahead of July election, Federal Government delays controversial plan to hike taxes on backpackers and Victorian farmers welcome new Coles milk fund after prices were slashed by processor Murray Goulburn.
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This week we're beach fishing for Australian salmon; breeding maggots to kill destructive fruit flies; value-adding rosella fruit; and taste testing the new 'bravo' apple variety.
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Dairy farmers are rallying in the country's southern states over low incomes and a bleak future but how much of that fortune can be laid at the feet of consumers, and how much is simply the reality of a global market?
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Saturday 14 May 2016
Corporate regulator ASIC reviewing dairy processor Murray Goulburn, epic dry continues in Queensland with 84 per cent of state drought-declared and farmers welcome the rain in southern Australia, mixed reviews in WA.
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This week scientists and anglers join forces to help save an endangered fish; we muck in at a junior cattle handling course; find out what to do with feijoa fruit; and bake bread in an 1880s oven.
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This week the personal story of one man's decision to sell off his sheep; and exporting fresh milk by ship to Malaysia.
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Saturday 7 May 2016
Chinese-led consortium withdraws Kidman cattle empire offer, virus set to trigger 'carp-ageddon' in the Murray River and dairy processor Fonterra cuts milk prices for Australian farmers
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Summer storm rain brings some hope to the Glasson family on Greenlaw Station; heavy horse loves gather for a world record attempt; and the annual short-tailed shearwater migration is underway.
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The big news in the federal budget for rural Australia was changes to the wine tax rebate, money for inland rail and status quo on the backpacker tax.
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Saturday 30 Apr 2016
Dairy co-op Murray Goulburn cuts milk prices, MD Gary Helou departs, federal Labor vowing to reinstate restrictions on land clearing and strong prices expected for canola as global stocks fall.
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Learn more about the amazing bum-breathing Mary River turtle; check out some outback bee hives; grow asparagus in a warm climate; and hear why Katherine residents are going batty about flying foxes.
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Could barn laid eggs help with consumer demand for low prices and free-range eggs? And we head to East Timor where Australia's longest running aid project is wrapping up.
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Saturday 23 Apr 2016
S. Kidman and Co names Chinese-Australian consortium as its preferred buyer, Australia's largest feedlot set to expand and East Timorese businessman facing prosecution over failing to import dairy cattle from Australia.
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Forget your modern satellite-positioning systems, an old-fashioned magnetic compass is keeping us on course; Kym Masters works in corporate finance but his real love is cheese; and we collect sheep ear tags.
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How foreign investment is considered by New Zealand's farmers and the Australian aid program transforming village life in East Timor.
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Saturday 16 Apr 2016
Federal Parliament set to abolish trucking tribunal, growing interest in investing in agriculture, ag technology start ups booming in the United States and weather models point to a wet winter and spring.
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We saddle up for an historic droving trip in Queensland; follow the premium Aussie olive oil trail from paddock to bottle; and visit Tasmania's only plantation of native mountain pepper berries.
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The Foreign Investment Review Board chairman talks about changing attitudes to foreign investment and his role in the public debate; and we head to cannery SPC where a tomatoes are on the production line for the first time in years.
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Saturday 9 Apr 2016
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We find out what makes the Kimberley so special; taste test some super hot chilli sauce; check out the grapes growing on Flinders Island; and meet Darlene Taylor, the duck lady of Zonia Downs.
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Inside Australia's poppy industry which is providing up to half the world's legal raw narcotic; and the live export industry in Indonesia encouraging the takeup of animal welfare technology.
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Saturday 2 Apr 2016
Consumers in focus with new standards for free range eggs and labelling laws; pork producers warn about imported pork belly and pulled pork and a revival in the fishing industry.
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Sea Lake grapples with its new-found status as a Chinese tourist hot-spot; researchers use a catch and release scheme to better understand wild dogs; and blue-green algae threatens native fish species.
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This week why a former beef industry leader is now spending time curating art; and how a family legacy for find food is spawning a new generation of foodies.
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Saturday 26 Mar 2016
Farmers scramble to find an alternative to the backpacker tax; black lung cases on the rise in Queensland; the first shipment from Gorgon's LNG plant heads to Japan and beef e-commerce surges to China.
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Native angasi oysters are about to be commercially harvested in Tasmania; an Alice Springs bush block is turned into a little bit of paradise; music helps keep the RFDS flying; and we go to cheese school.
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What are UK farmers making of the potential for a so-called 'Brexit'? And how will Europe's turmoil affect agriculture and agribusinesses at home?
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Saturday 19 Mar 2016
Federal Government vows to review backpacker tax changes ahead of July, cabinet approves an effects test to limit market power abuse and canegrower lobby group against a tax on sugary drinks.
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Afghan refugees are happy to call Shepparton home; we're going nuts for pistachios; and join a wild dog patrol in the territory. We also visit Billabong Sanctuary where baby crocs are being given a helping hand.
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Raw milk is banned in Australia but proving popular among UK consumers, and Australian hazelnuts are in hot demand by boutique chocolate makers. We follow one from orchard to shop.
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Saturday 12 Mar 2016
Fracking debate sparks fears of NT job loses, land clearing battle amidst Queensland political turmoil and blue-green algae spreading throughout Murray River.
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We're on the hunt for the endangered grey crowned babbler; peak inside a customised horse float; and meet a couple of campdrafters, one's a rising 16-year-old champion, the other still competes well into his 80s.
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This week we find out why one farming family made the difficult choice to leave, despite being the third generation to own the farm; and how do you choose good food from bad? The science versus social media war over how food is produced.
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Saturday 5 Mar 2016
Allegations labour hire companies are targeting backpackers in 'culture of impunity', fines for underpaying foreign workers, Nationals MP calls on his government to rethink backpacker tax plans and economist predicts lower fuel prices to remain.
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Donated hay brings hope to drought stricken properties; School of the Air students enjoy some 'together time' in outback NSW; a Burnie cafe feeds hungry firefighters; and volunteers harvest grapes at Wagga.
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There are calls for agriculture to rethink how it presents itself if it wants to attract investment from superannuation funds. First State Super's Damien Webb says one of the biggest barriers the scale of agricultural investment.
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Saturday 27 Feb 2016
Union calling for a cap on live cattle export numbers, grain prices fall on global markets and Federal Government appoints new ACCC ag commissioner.
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Meet Dr Homer Reith, the man behind the Minyip Philosophical Society; 90-year-old Peter Tripovich walks around Australia; Chuck Edwards opens his own bagel factory; and Tom Edwards tries to bag a barra.
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We'll meet a man who left a high flying career in finance to return to the family farm, working as a butcher's apprentice along the way; and we venture to the remote Bremer Bay canyon in WA where whales, sharks, seals and other marine life feed on the rich waters.
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Saturday 20 Feb 2016
Regional representation in new-look Federal Government cabinet; Miner offloading Queensland coal mines; Jobs at risk at South Australian steel mine; Almost half of Australian geoscientists underemployed or unemployed; Cattle indicator reaches a new record.
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We're training up the next generation of jackaroos and jillaroos; harvesting onion seed; and visiting Australia's biggest barramundi farm. We also meet third generation butcher Gavin Marsh.
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This week we find out what's driving the new deputy leader of the Nationals in her multiple roles governing rural Australia and find out more about proposed media reforms and the effect on regional newspapers, television and radio.
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Saturday 13 Feb 2016
Joyce elected new National Party leader; Responsibility for ratifying TPP to fall to new Trade Minister; Egg producers welcome Federal Court decision on cartel activity; Testing confirms Tassie oyster virus is the same strain as NSW.
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A sniffer dog helps save tiny pygmy possums; we meet two pet camels; and see how buffalos can revive a family's dairy farm. We also visit a sustainable property near Tamworth where rainbow trout is on the menu.
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It's a year since the Hepatitis A contamination in frozen berries but little has changed in the way of food labelling; and a big week in rural politics with a new leadership team for the Nationals.
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Saturday 6 Feb 2016
Farm lobby group calls on Federal Government to abandon backpacker tax changes; Livestock shippers reject calls for suspension after Bass Strait cattle deaths; Emergency response enacted to deal with oyster disease.
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We re-visit the get-rich-quick scheme of the early 1990s, emu farming; poisoned mangoes are used to control feral pigs; we visit Roger's wacky farm at Coonawarra; and go fishing in Wilson Inlet.
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This week we turn the tables and get politicians asking young people what matters to them; and we remember the devastation of Cyclone Yasi five years on.
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Saturday 30 Jan 2016
Meat and Livestock Australia predict big drop to cattle herd; Union expecting more abattoir job losses as cattle market tightens; Chinese company looking to source cattle from Central Australia; Avocado industry dismisses price manipulation claims; Large beef property bears brunt of Tasmanian west coast bushfire.
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This [series episode segment] has
We celebrate rural Australians who received awards in the Australia Day Honours list, find out more about the threat of plastic in our oceans and discover why some rural businesses are bad at mobile.
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Disused grain silos get an artistic makeover; volunteers help save turtle nests from marauding foxes; and enthusiastic youngsters give up a week of their school holidays to attend Santa camp.
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Saturday 23 Jan 2016
In the last in this summer series of Rural Reporter we visit a prison farm in WA; Barellan barley growers brew their own beer; we feed the animals at the Dubbo zoo; and dress up for a wild west shootout in Broken Hill.
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Today's look back at the success or otherwise of the soldier settlement scheme takes us to the grain growing region of Carnamah, near Geraldton in Western Australia.
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We join our reporter Brett Worthington in the east African nation of Tanzania, where he's been looking at the role of men and women in farming.
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Saturday 16 Jan 2016
In this summer series of Rural Reporter we go mustering in the Northern Territory; Tasmanian women learn the art of fencing; orphaned joeys find a loving new home; and we meet an unsung hero of the Gracemere saleyards.
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Unlike many soldier settlers the Hendrick family managed to carve out a successful farming business near the banks of the Murray River.
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Each year millions of mutton bird chicks are hatched on the Furneaux group of islands off the north-east coast of Tasmania.
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Saturday 9 Jan 2016
We're keeping tabs on migratory birds, plotting platypus with DNA technology; protecting baby turtles; and giving baby crocodiles a helping hand on this week's summer series of Rural Reporter.
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King Island, off the north-west coast of Tasmania, is perhaps one of the most remote areas soldier settler were repatriated to. Here in the face of the roaring 40s they cleared the land to establish the island's dairy industry.
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Skinny cows and dusty landscapes remain the popular image of drought. But the less overt picture is one of a handful of people in each small town rallying their tired community to cope with the on-going financial and emotional stress of yet another failed wet season.
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Saturday 2 Jan 2016
In this summer series of Rural Reporter we go croc spotting in the territory; weeding on Egg Island; and yard dog trialling in Canberra. We also brush up on our car maintenance skills; and meet Holly the working dog.
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In Victoria, after World War I, almost 12, 000 soldiers took up small, often unviable blocks around the Mallee, Gippsland, the Goulburn Valley, and in the western districts.
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In this special two-part program we find out whether the judgement of wines these days is worth the investment, and whether a bunch of average dinner-goers can tell the difference between an expensive bottle and some relatively cheap plonk.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 26 Dec 2015
A feast of stories in this summer series of Rural Reporter. We make our own cheese platter, sit down to a weedy dinner, and harvest edible flowers. We also visit a snail farm and enjoy King Island salt.
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It's a little known fact that some of Australia's iconic farming districts share a link with the bloody battlefields of World War I.
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What are you looking for when you buy a bottle of wine? If you're alone do you reach for the cleanskin? If you're sharing it with friends maybe you want something a bit more fancy, a wine to show off, mark you as someone who knows their stuff.
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This [series episode segment] has
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Saturday 19 Dec 2015
Australian farmers advocating for climate change action welcome Paris pledge; Minerals Council defends coal in the wake of Paris agreement; Study finds cattle produce less methane than initially thought; Bureau forecasting below average wet season for tropical north.
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This [series episode segment] has
Black cockatoos return to the Jarrah/Marri forests of Western Australia; a new app keeps tabs on loggerhead turtles; and roadside Christmas decorations lift spirits in western Queensland.
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This week we're exploring all things Christmas with a special focus on the food we enjoy in Australia, and what overseas palates are craving in the way of Australian produce.
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Saturday 12 Dec 2015
Farm production booming as ABARES revises up earnings forecast; Buoyant outlook for Australian lamb producers; China-Australia free trade agreement to come into force this month; Victorian dairy company introduces laser coding to overcome counterfeiting concerns.
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This [series episode segment] has
This week the view from on board a cane train; the Ah Toy family shuts the door on an 80-year tradition in Pine Creek; teachers sign up for country service; and plump meaty scallops harvested in Bass Strait.
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This week we find out what women in agriculture make of climate talks in Paris; how tree rings are helping map ancient weather patterns; and why rural Australians are choosing drugs to manage pain.
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Saturday 5 Dec 2015
Business council critical of foreign investment changes; Hot dry weather expected to lower grain harvest; Australia won't sign communique on phasing out fossil fuel subsidies; Sugar and grain industries to benefit from ethanol legislation; Mango crop revised down after storms lash growing regions.
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This [series episode segment] has
Sydney kids get a taste of country life in Cowra; we're off to a camel dairy farm in Queensland; and meet self-proclaimed weather 'nerd' Jono Ingram, the new official rainfall recorder for the tiny town of Donald.
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Since world leaders took to the stage in Paris on Monday to talk the talk on climate change, negotiators from 195 nations have been attempting to walk the walk . This week we find out how farmers, arguably on the frontline of climate change, are adapting.
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Saturday 28 Nov 2015
Concern Foreign Investment Review Board changes could scare off potential investors; Farmers bear the brunt of deadly SA blaze; Record 86 per cent of Queensland now drought declared; Hot, dry finish to grain growing season downgrades barley crop; Export demand sending lobster prices booming.
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This [series episode segment] has
Dairy farmers and oyster growers work together to improve their environment; we visit a boutique gin distillery; and go foraging for weeds. And even in the depths of drought Jenny Gordon can still find beauty in her surroundings.
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What effect is El Nino having on farmers around the world, and how are Australian farmers innovating to manage?
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Saturday 21 Nov 2015
Treasurer rejects sale of country's largest cattle operation to a foreign buyer; Esperance community rallies as four die, houses, sheds, livestock and crops destroyed in fires; Climate council warns of longer bushfire seasons; Rinehart purchase 'tip of the iceberg' of interest in rural property: agent.
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This [series episode segment] has
A Tasmanian farmer breeds flies to help pollinate his crops; the Moffat family celebrates a century of pineapple growing; a Canberra couple helps preserve Berkshire pigs; and farmers line up for a haircut at a saleyard salon.
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This week we explore the role of seasonal workers on Australian farms, where one man's good deal is another's deal breaker.
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Saturday 14 Nov 2015
Deaths of sheep in drought stricken area linked to contaminated, donated hay; Weather bureau says El Nino still strong, despite recent rain; Dry and hot start to spring increases bushfire threat in Sa and Tasmania; Cattle shortage sees another abattoir shutdown early; Call for halal beef certification reform.
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This [series episode segment] has
The tiny town of Eromanga's been painted pink in honour of the Channel Country Ladies' Day; farmers give the turquoise parrot a helping hand; and it's free ranging ducks, not chickens on the menu at a Pt Campbell farm.
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Dairy researchers pursue a vaccine for livestock that could reduce emissions by 30 per cent; an aboriginal mining contract company pursues jobs after the boom; and the ongoing row over infant formula.
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Saturday 7 Nov 2015
This week scientific evidence the Daly River catchment's a great fishing spot; and farmers line up to test their fitness at the Esperance Show. We meet chainsaw artist Anthony 'Ant' Martin; and publican Kaye Edwards breathes new life into the Dumbleyung Hotel.
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The Country Hour has been on your radio for 70 years this year, we celebrate our big moments in broadcasting.
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Saturday 31 Oct 2015
Meat industry goes to ground on cancer claims; Senate committee hears concerns of Murray Darling Basin communities; Federal MP Calls for relief for those affected by toxic chemical leak; Hail storm destroys Southern Queensland crops.
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This [series episode segment] has
An exciting week for ornithologists on the hunt for an endangered bird species in the Northern Territory; a mobile bottling unit helps small boutique wineries bottle their wine; and meet singing dairy farmer, Regan Tucker.
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There could be a brave new world of protein shakes, closely tied to insects; and we're heading bush with a bunch of rural doctors who wish they'd known ...
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Saturday 24 Oct 2015
Farmers welcome bipartisan support for China free trade agreement, but wary of 457 visa changes; Live cattle trade with China tipped to grow slowly; Premium beef company reports strong rise in boxed meat sales; El Nino to hit record levels by Christmas; Queensland government to investigate rural debt.
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Country kids use film to tell their story; a tiny country school in WA wins a prestigious education award; four-legged weed controllers put to work in the Bega Valley; and we poke around Darcy's Old Wares in Lucknow.
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Two of Australia's best known exports join forces to recreate a wine story they hope Asia will fall in love with; and we explore the revival in food manufacturing in regional Australia.
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Saturday 17 Oct 2015
Barnaby Joyce ends uncertainty over water portfolio; Senators call for pause in implementing Murray Darling Basin plan; Cattle market slipping back from record highs; Crop forecasters estimate half a billion dollars of wheat lost to heatwave.
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Young would-be scientists encouraged to get dirty at the Perth Royal Show; aspiring rodeo riders learn gymnastic skills; big horses have big appetites; and we visit a backyard chocolate factory in Mudgee.
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Is the cost of drug driver testing costing lives on regional roads? And is climate change making your weekly shop more expensive?
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Saturday 10 Oct 2015
Agricultural tariffs to fall under TPP trade deal; Hot spell causes downgrading of crops; Some Queensland wheat growers having best crops in 30 years; Big dry in Tasmania after three seasons of below average rainfall; Farmer to take GM case to high court.
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This [series episode segment] has
A remote rural community lines up for its annual health check; we replant a wetland; catch up with a world champion whip cracker; and meet some young poultry breeders in Bega
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Australian farmers are pleased with the 12 nation Trans Pacific Partnership, but will the deal be ratified by member countries? We discuss the winners and losers as well as the comparative benefits between the TPP and existing free trade deals.
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Saturday 3 Oct 2015
Cattle leaving Darwin as exporters make a start on filling Indonesian order, St George businesses tell Senate inquiry of social and economic costs of Murray Darling Basin Plan, grain growers fret on warm weather forecast and Western Queensland shire plans to fence off towns from aggressive kangaroos.
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This [series episode segment] has
Three generations of the Wetherell family help out at the Perth show; a Gippsland school takes on a tree challenge; Aussies and Kiwis battle it out in the shearing shed; and tour the historic Tremain flour mill in Bathurst.
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In December 1945 the first Country Hour program went to air, and so began Australia's longest running radio program. This year ABC Rural celebrates 70 years of rural broadcasting by looking back at some of the big events that shaped Australian farming.
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Saturday 26 Sep 2015
Discovery of a body raises concerns for foreign worker welfare; international companies broker $28 million cattle property deal; Chinese interest in cherry farms; production starts at organic dairy processor; live export breach in Oman; Senate inquiry hears no link between halal certification and terrorism.
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This [series episode segment] has
Mud crabbers experience one of their worst seasons ever; Thorpdale commemorates the site of one of the world's tallest trees; we meet an unlikely barista; and join a special nursing home dance class.
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A conservation group formed to protect an outback river system wins an international river prize, and an award-winning bee scientist urges a different approach to land management to protect bee populations.
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Saturday 19 Sep 2015
Farmers welcome new Prime Minister, water portfolio moved into agriculture ministry, call to resettle refugees in regional areas, National Farmers Federation warns $18 billion at risk if China Free Trade Agreement not ratified.
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We sleep-over in the cattle and dairy pavilions at the Royal Adelaide Show; and meet a family of rodeo riders in the Pilbara, A retired school teacher restores his former school; and we visit a hydroponic tomato farm.
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An American journalist, scholar and GM advocate says Australia could be a leader in food biotechnology, while companies are hoping to turn a Nobel-prize-winning discovery into a genetic control for pest weeds and insects.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 12 Sep 2015
Winter rain leads to big jump in crop forecast, penalties for 'dumped' Italian tomatoes, politicians resist calls for Q Fever vaccine program, bull sale sets records and bamboo flooring demand sparks calls for a local industry
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Rural women take time out from the drought; old wool tables are getting a trendy makeover; a Spanish migrant finally realises his dream to become a farmer; and they're trapping animals at Pungalina Sanctuary.
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A South Australian woman who's using sport to halt the decline of rural communities has been named Australia's Rural Woman of the Year and a look at the debate about foreign investment in farmland.
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Saturday 5 Sep 2015
Above average summer bushfire risk this season, politicians debate the China free trade deal, the ACCC finds pork producers misled consumers, Papua New Guinea drought affecting food supplies and a factory for producing fruit flies under construction in South Australia.
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This [series episode segment] has
Young American volunteers help keep Tasmania beautiful; a new plant species pops up in the Pilbara; Sally's a dog with a nose for weeds; and we banish dark winter spirits with a pagan ceremony.
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A weather satellite to transform forecasting and Tom Roberts gets a retrospective exhibition.
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Saturday 29 Aug 2015
Floods test oyster exports to China, NSW rain a great boost for crops, Damp spring for the west and north and California could reinstate import ban on roo products.
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This [series episode segment] has
A community art project in Tasmania saves and shares seeds; we go off grid with hydro power; and get measured up for a comfy camel saddle. We also cheer on competitors at the Elder Olympics.
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A visit to Italy's cheese bank and the CWA still tackling the big issues after 70 years.
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Saturday 22 Aug 2015
Scientists tip a strong El Nino could be followed by a La Nina, Papua New Guinea bans Australian vegetable imports, Australian farmers battling to compete with New Zealand, Brazil and South Africa, and a financial turn around for Treasury Wine Estates.
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This [series episode segment] has
Sugar gliders find a nice new warm home in the Bega Valley; Wyatt Nipper prepares for the novice bull ride; Clifton Street school students forage for food; and farmers want you to eat alpaca meat.
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Mining magnate Andrew Forrest building up his herd on his Pilbara cattle station to meet the needs of fine diners, and Western Australia's wildflower season captured on canvas by local Indigenous artists.
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Saturday 15 Aug 2015
China live trade deal ratified, Indonesian trade minister replaced, Australian properties being sold direct in China, and good rains lead to upgraded wheat forecasts.
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This [series episode segment] has
This week it's all about food. We're eating weeds in Geurie; harvesting bush raisins in central Australia; growing tropical nuts in the cold Gippsland climate; and entering jams and preserves in the Ekka.
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From western Queensland Cameron Wilson reports on the social cost of drought and how communities respond.
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Saturday 8 Aug 2015
Adani ruling delays cattle station sale, Hendra vaccine for horses approved, yet another dairy price fall, and Brazil currency pushes sugar price down.
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This [series episode segment] has
Orphaned joeys find a loving new home; a miner swaps her hard-hat for a fascinator; wild deer over-run the town of Moranbah; and historic Richmond Park gets a grand new entrance.
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,The Canning Stock Route through the eyes of Indigenous Australians, and a national research project explores the potential of quinoa production.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 1 Aug 2015
Study paints poor picture of regional health, pears can ease hangovers, west coast families oppose SA time change, and parents welcome Telstra's internet change.
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This [series episode segment] has
Pint-sized scientists help save an endangered crustacean; aquaponics proves a blooming success in a harsh outback climate; we taste test beef in the lead-up to the EKKA; and saddle up for the Halls Creek campdraft.
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Grapes of ridicule: In this special two-part program we find out whether the judgement of wines these days is worth the investment.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 25 Jul 2015
Federal Government approves new Country of Origin food labels, concerns China deal will leave Australia short of cattle, El Nino could worsen frosts, and lake flows to revive Darling River.
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This week meet retiring Tarpeena postie Shirley Little, and the olive oil producer supplying top Melbourne restaurants. We find out about racing pigeons, and brew ginger beer in Tasmania.
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What are you looking for when you buy a bottle of wine?
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Saturday 18 Jul 2015
Farmers hit by dairy price slide, a lower than expected Indonesian import quota for Australian cattle shocks pastoralists and sparks political debate, Elders switches on CCTV to monitor cattle slaughter in Vietnam and unprecedented prices for cattle expected to effect domestic consumption of red meat.
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We visit the Strelley community school in the Pilbara; cross the ditch to New Zealand to visit a tea plantation; go behind the restricted access doors at a quarantine facility; and meet Holly the working dog.
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Eight years after the collapse of managed investment schemes in timber, fruit and other projects, attention is again focused on the financial advisers who recruited investors. Sarina Locke investigates.
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Saturday 11 Jul 2015
Windsor, Joyce angry about coal mine approval, huge crowd at Barham condemns Basin Authority, El Nino tipped to strengthen, and drought situation desperate around Vic-SA border.
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This week women swap city life to work on a vast cattle station; Julie Gooch breaks the stereotype of a typical truckie; we follow the wattle seed trail; and discover the secret to fermented garlic.
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Every year, two or three generations of Tasmanian Aboriginal birders gather on Babel Island for the month-long mutton bird harvest.
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Saturday 4 Jul 2015
Queensland MPs reticent about backing Pacific trade agreement, Foreign farmland register starts tomorrow, Falling euro challenges Australian dairy, and Changes to Pacific workers program.
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This week we're cruising for crocodiles on the Katherine River; meet a woman foraging for rainforest seeds; go preg testing with a young Brazilian vet; and join a group of indigenous trainees on a pastoral skills course .
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On remote King Island, off Tasmania's north-west coast, there is a revolution in landholding underway.
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Saturday 27 Jun 2015
Millions of dollars invested in 499 mobile black spot base towers across Australia, the latest Hendra horse death, 'no surprise' says NSW vet, Harvey Norman invests $80m in Victorian dairy farming, and Google Sheep View, a website that collects images of sheep caught on camera by Google.
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The Nyabing community is growing crops to buy and do up their local pub; we tour a Kangaroo Island free range egg farm; visit a school garden scheme battling the drought in Queensland; and go to an auctioneers' school.
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Increasing the number of women in representative roles in the Australian fishing industry, and it is cattle sale day in Meserani village in Tanzania.
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Saturday 20 Jun 2015
Government determined to implement plan for the north, marketing needed to take advantage of China FTA, ombudsman confirms exploitation of chicken workers, and wellbeing plummets in drought areas.
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A pop-up cafe in Collector provides a community meeting place; we join a stone making workshop in the Hunter Valley; Bass Strait sea water is made into salt; and the Pt Hedland CWA branch turns 80.
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According to one food industry expert, the next generation of food production is about convenient, healthy, snacking foods for growing populations of wealthy city dwellers.
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Saturday 13 Jun 2015
Public feedback sought on new labels, Choice won't apologise for free range egg claim, Israeli abattoir sacks workers over cruelty, winter crop production steady despite El Nino.
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We saddle up for the Tom Quilty Cup; the Murray River celebrates the centenary of lock building; we meet a bladesmith who makes chefs' knives in Bundaberg; and taste dwarf tomato varieties.
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What is needed to unlock the economic prosperity of Australia's north and how do you turn political talk into real action?
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Saturday 6 Jun 2015
Higher prices give woolgrowers more confidence, the NFF says drought programs not delivering for farmers, desperately dry in WA grain belt and SA outback rain falls at the right time.
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This week an insight into the world of deer farming; we embrace all things woolly at the historic Campbell Town Show in Tasmania; and join an Adelaide family on an outback adventure.
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Calls for Australia to do more to tap into China's growing middle class, and fears a reduction in coal consumption will restrict growth in regional China.
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Saturday 30 May 2015
Government brings forward tax breaks, backpackers deserting Australia after budget, Heffernan reads letter attacking himself, Painkiller misuse a serious problem in rural areas.
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This week we harvest sea urchin roe; go to prospecting school; and meet a bloke who collects electric fence chargers! We also we step back in time to the "wild west" when the Silverado Shootout comes to Broken Hill.
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Wine industry behind TPP deal, home grown wine jostles with Australian imports in China and Craft beer sparks a rural revival.
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Saturday 23 May 2015
Queensland drought the 'worst in living memory', drought-hit South Australian farmers feel ignored, beef price hike shocks industry and consumers, Joyce pressures Animals Australia over Vietnam animal welfare breach and a Mareeba banana farm cleared of Panama disease.
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We reminisce about the days when Australia rode on the rabbit's back; visit a farm that breeds rodents and reptiles; and hunker down for the cold months ahead - planting out winter veggie crops and pulling on some locally-made woolly socks.
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While Australia was busy debating the merits of an inquiry into the iron ore price, a deal that dwarfs our production levels was clinched between China and Brazil.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 16 May 2015
Budget 2015 for rural Australia, Miners attack FIFO tax changes, El Nino outlook a daunting prospect for farmers, and a year since Longreach had a cattle sale.
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Barellan barley growers brew their own beer; farriers and blacksmiths hammer it out in the Hunter Valley; we celebrate Alpaca Week; and meet a medical student gets hands-on rural experience.
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All eyes have been on Canberra this week for the unveiling of the 2015 Federal Budget.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 9 May 2015
Government still supports visa system, ID card for backpackers suggested, lamb processors cut back, and Queensland worst off with drought.
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This [series episode segment] has
The RFDS flies into Oodnadatta for a women's GP health clinic; ladies in Broken Hill learn basic car maintenance; we try our hand at basket weaving; and farming women knit for an on-line business.
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Wine industry bid for marketing cash, the future faces of beef farming, and abuse of workers on farms exposed.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 2 May 2015
Country of origin labelling consultations begin, anger at sugar import from El Salvador, processors helping out flooded dairy farms and 'green shoots' for wine exporters.
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This [series episode segment] has
Macadamia farmer Errol Vass looks to the future after Cyclone Marcia; conservationists help save the phascogale; discover new uses for spinifex grass; and water transforms a Wimmera farming community.
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Indigenous communities speak about life in 'remote communities' and western NSW farmers big winners in Australia's first carbon abatement auction.
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Saturday 25 Apr 2015
Widespread damage from NSW storms, Cold and wet in the Pilbara, Wimmera farmers may have to dry-sow crops, Bureau sticks by wet weather forecast.
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The mustering camp is up and working on Anthony Lagoon Station in the Northern Territory; we cook up a storm with students and teachers at the Biggenden State School; and discover the secret to making good apple cider.
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Following World War I Australia set up the soldier settler scheme, creating around 23,000 farms across 9 million hectares, and Baxter Boots is Australia's oldest boot maker, run by the same family since the late 1800s.
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Saturday 18 Apr 2015
All banana growers asked to pay Panama disease levy, concern over chemical used on banana farms, frozen berries returning to supermarkets, and wool growers fight back against PETA campaign
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Pioneering DNA technology is being used to track platypus; a Centurion tank makes a crushing appearance at Keith; we make vodkas and liqueurs; and introduce you to Lochlann Fanning who keeps the Gracemere saleyards clean.
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It's crunch time for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the ambitious and controversial attempt to create a free trade bloc for the Asia-Pacific.
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Saturday 11 Apr 2015
Another banana farm tests positive for soil disease, concern trans-pacific trade deal could be jeopardised by US Congress, backbencher hints at changes to drought support and and Aussie vet heads to China to look after huge dairy herd.
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Apple growers adopt very different farming methods to remain viable; grey nomad volunteers help with post cyclone clean up; Dajarra school kids prepare for a major footy competition; and meet a Fergie tractor collector.
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From press conferences to peering at udders: journalist becomes a dairy farmer, the other Pyrenees: a drop of France in rural Victoria , and the wine industry’s new best friend: sniffer dogs to detect vine disease.
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Saturday 4 Apr 2015
Competition policy review recommends changes to collective bargaining, the Climate Council counts the cost of worsening drought, Adelaide Hills wine grapes test positive for smoke taint, cyclone affected banana crops in Western Australia turned into banana bread, and dogs in training to sniff out vine diseases.
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Broken Hill residents celebrate all things Italian; and city slickers take up the sport of sheep dog trialling. A Melbourne couple swaps corporate life to set up a pomegranate orchard; and we find out how the custard apple gets its name.
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Coroner's inquests in four states to assess proposals to make quad bikes safer through design, compulsory helmets and licensing, and chocolate lovers pushing up demand at one of Australia's oldest chocolate factories.
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Saturday 28 Mar 2015
Weather outlook turns from dry to wet, the senate will hold a broad inquiry into wine industry, dental warning for professional wine tasters, and the grain industry disputes Roundup cancer finding.
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A young couple looks to the future on Badalia Station; Thorpdale turns to spuds to spearhead a local recovery; we meet Australia's all round high school cowboy; and women are encouraged to get behind the wheel of heavy haulage trucks.
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What is in store for rural voters as they go to the polls in New South Wales this weekend? And is nut milk all it's cracked up to be?
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Saturday 21 Mar 2015
Vanuatu fishing and agriculture hit hard by cyclone, crown land market gardens to provide fresh produce for Christmas Island population, world dairy prices take a tumble, Senate launches inquiry into the red meat industry and the onion industry capitalising on Tony Abbot's viral raw onion munch.
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Volunteers protect baby turtles from hungry goannas; we pick flowers that are good enough to eat; and meet international agriculture students studying to stay in Australia. We also check out a young bull called Chivalry, being prepared for Beef Australia 2015.
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Is food production undervalued? Can Australian farmers continue to adapt in the face of a changing climate? Country Breakfast considers the future of food production in Australia and around the world.
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Saturday 14 Mar 2015
Government confident of delivering labelling changes, dairy industry plays down Fonterra blackmail incident, another positive test for banana disease, and orange roughy fishery revives.
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This week we tag and release migratory birds; the re-opening of the local grocery store helps save a country town; we learn about breeding snails; and the historic Glencoe woolshed comes back to life.
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As the banana and melon industries battle devastating virus outbreaks, the citrus industry finds holes in its surveillance, the future of regional post offices is pondered and hundreds of passionate rural romance fans and authors take over the nation's capital.
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Saturday 7 Mar 2015
A hot February worsens drought, Forrest wants to 'drought-proof' Australia's farms, SPCA demands action on food safety and a supermarket code of conduct comes into effect.
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We're off to a garlic festival; sample a homemade cordial that tastes like apple pie; meet the birdman of the wet tropics; and buckle up for a driving lesson in a remote community in the NT.
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A study finds price, fat and appearance more important than country of origin in food labels; and future trade relationships between Australia and China look to strengthen with a growing middle class.
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Saturday 28 Feb 2015
Cyclone wrecks pineapple crop, rural counselling budget to be maintained, ACCC increases scrutiny of regional petrol prices, remote parents worried about childcare review and a Senate inquiry into developing regional cities.
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Queensland farmers suffer from the effects of a cyclone and the ongoing drought; a food rescue program makes sure nothing goes to waste at the Coffs Harbour farmers market; and we meet the Pilbara's only commercial baker.
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The debate around food safety following the outbreak of hepatitis A from frozen berries imported from China, has now morphed into a conversation about country of origin labelling.
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This [series episode segment] has
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Saturday 21 Feb 2015
Berry growers defend local fruit, low fat milk creams the field, farmers call on ACCC to investigate Wodonga saleyards and a cattle station pushes for compensation over bushfire.
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This [series episode segment] has
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This week feral cat control measures are working in Western Australia; a good wet season is transforming the desert country across central Australia; and it's a bumper season for bunya nuts..
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About this time every year, Parliament House in Canberra plays host to about 40 young people from all over regional, rural and remote Australia.
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Saturday 14 Feb 2015
NFF questions foreign investment changes; the Federal Government defends drought loan system; NSW farmers fear missing drought aid and a dry summer hits milk production.
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This [series episode segment] has
Thousands of baby crocs hatch out in the Top End; the science behind producing a low alcohol wine; native oyster species make a comeback; and we're off to shearing school.
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They can repair the soil, tackle herbicide resistance, save on fuel, pick fruit and vegetables; for the next generation of farmers and farm technology, robots are a game changer.
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Saturday 7 Feb 2015
Pacific trade agreement getting close, China FTA a bonanza for lobster sales, PM says foreign agribusiness register on the way, robot engineers wanted, croc' breaks in to barra farm.
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We go behind the scenes at the Western Plains zoo; bees bunker down to escape the wet; volunteers get their hands dirty at a Landcare nursery; and fancy chickens the new backyard accessory.
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Children's author Jackie French is on a mission to bring a love of reading and storytelling to rural children; and opal miners in north-west New South Wales have been digging up opalised dinosaur fossils.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 31 Jan 2015
January rains didn't end the drought, a Liberal MP wants wine tax changed, beef gets more expensive and a Northern Territory citrus farm moves into bananas.
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This [series episode segment] has
Landholders in western Queensland are desperately waiting for the wet season to arrive; we sound out a bell collection; handspin alpaca yarn; and get down and dirty collecting soil samples in Tasmania.
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As Queenslanders go to the polls, the major political parties are both promising agriculture is a high priority and why are crates full of far north Queensland mangoes on their way to the bin?
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Saturday 24 Jan 2015
In the last in this summer series of A Country Breakfast we're off to a special children's writing workshop in far north Queensland; clamber on board a bulk carrier berthed in the Pilbara; meet the volunteers who keep the ski slopes safe in winter and 12-year-old Georgia Auricht who rides pet cows, not horses.
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Saturday 17 Jan 2015
We saddle up for the annual saltwater muster in Tasmania; young Aborigines connect with their land and customs in north Queensland; researchers control European carp; and meet punk rocker and farmer Ross Knight.
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Saturday 10 Jan 2015
We trap foxes and feral cats at Uluru; chickens protect Victoria's borders; and classical music comes to the outback. Crowd funding helps pig farmers; and we watch high flying action at the Casterton kelpie muster.
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Saturday 3 Jan 2015
The Apsley community celebrates the grand re-opening of their pub; we travel the Barkly Highway in the Northern Territory; and meet a singing stockman. Failed racehorses find a new life in the show ring; and we find out how landholders have coped with on-going drought in NSW and QLD.
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Saturday 27 Dec 2014
All aboard for a steam train ride on the wilderness railway in Tasmania's wild west; we visit an archaeological dig on the banks of the Murray River in Victoria; meet the crew who shear the Wartaka mob in South Australia's Gawler Ranges; and chat with shearers' cook Elva Barker about feeding the hungry team.
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Saturday 20 Dec 2014
Highest wheat prices in five months, scientists fear for animal health after Budget cuts, tougher stance against dumping, rain forecast for Queensland in the new year and a record pyrethrum harvest.
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This [series episode segment] has
This week we're delving into the ancient and mysterious art of water divining; school kids help save two endangered species in a local creek; flowers bloom in Victoria's dry north west; and we go cray fishing.
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For this week's Christmas Country Breakfast we're serving up old fashioned smoked ham made by a family who's been in the business for generations and eggs in the form of the latest development in the free-range vs cage egg debate.
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Saturday 13 Dec 2014
Dairy Australia argues for raw milk packaging change, fresh US pork import pressure worries Australian producers, ACCC tackles free-range egg mislabelling, an alpine cattle grazing trial ends in Victoria and the commodity price drop pushes mining town real estate values down.
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This [series episode segment] has
Bush kids come to town to learn how to be good team players; young farmers happy as pigs in mud with their pork business; country teens get a new set of bicycle wheels; and indigenous stockmen from the Woorabinda community saddle up for a droving trip
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Travelling the Torres Strait: Australia's frontline for agricultural biosecurity. Reporter Charlie McKillop joined Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce on his first trip to the Torres Strait.
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Saturday 6 Dec 2014
More drought loans for NSW and Queensland, predictions of a national honey shortage, mixed views on Senator Chris Back's bill on animal cruelty footage and a trial on a Cairns-prawn trawler may help reduce the fishing industry's reliance on ozone-depleting refrigeration gases.
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This [series episode segment] has
A former chef turns her hand to cooking up beauty creams; the New England region showcases local produce; Marble Bar is famous for gems; and farm tours help bridge city/country divide.
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Ever considered alpaca as a meal? A Melbourne-based Peruvian chef is introducing Australian diners to the experience. And ever considered a box of beef as a gift? It's a unique marketing approach for one beef business in Britain.
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Saturday 29 Nov 2014
Report says no profit in Top End crop expansion, NFF says India trade deal too hasty, CSIRO cuts worse than expected and a Senator goes into bat for coal.
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This [series episode segment] has
Disadvantaged young people get work experience picking apricots; South African blade shearers show off their skills; we farewell a bucking bull called 'Rocksalt'; and meet a city couple who've made a mango tree change.
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Chinese interest in investing in Australian food production is considered to be significant, but action to finalise deals is slow.
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Saturday 22 Nov 2014
It's been called everything from a 'game changer' to a 'bitter disappointment. ABC Rural reports on the implications for Australian agribusiness.
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This [series episode segment] has
Food and wine producers roll out the red carpet to international foodies; and judges sample entries in the Australian Grand Dairy Awards. Native flowers flourish in arid sandy soils; and a Swiss couple live underground at White Cliffs.
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Faced with a changing economy and fewer farmers in their heartlands, the Nationals are reinventing themselves.
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Saturday 15 Nov 2014
Yoghurt company wants social media restricted, an urgent Senate hearing on Timbercorp collapse, Coles sprung over apple ads and a review recommends changes to rural financial counselling.
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This [series episode segment] has
More young women opt for a career in the wool industry; and Pilbara locals look to native plant species to green up their gardens. The small rural community of Bungarby stops to remember Armistice Day; and we're off to the opera in South Australia.
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Country Breakfast heads north to investigate the future of farming, the NT's first pineapple farm, and to discover what family farming looks like in the Top End.
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Saturday 8 Nov 2014
More drought loans expected, the hottest ever October for NSW, Vietnam wary of Australian fruit imports and China's plans for a Top End station.
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We visit Pardalup Prison Farm that produces almost 30 per cent of all fruit and vegies consumed in the West Australian prison system; Tassie olive oil punches well above its weight when it comes to quality; and gun dogs and their owners put their skills to the test at a dog retrieval championship.
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Take a trip down memory lane as one farming family decides to sell a property they've owned for more than a century and the 1914 drought is revisited.
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Saturday 1 Nov 2014
Labor's regret on livestock exports, more urged to join live export class action, carbon farming bill set to pass finally, and more farm chemicals could be a terror risk.
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This [series episode segment] has
A knitting-led recovery helps the superfine wool industry; and a hungry caterpillar holds the key to weed control. The sport of kings is alive and well on King Island; and a hat making workshop is welcome drought relief for women in western Queensland.
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The live export debate fires up again this week as northern cattle producers launch a class action and a former Labor minister takes up a role with the Australian Livestock Exporters Council. And a shake up of the CSIRO with the appointment of a former technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist as CEO.
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This [series episode segment] has
Saturday 25 Oct 2014
Federal Agriculture Green Paper investing in new dams, farmer representation fractured, El Nino unlikely in 2014, former agriculture minister John Kerin talks of Whitlams lasting 'regional' legacy and red-heads in ginger marketing campaign.
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Ladies from western Queensland turn the tiny town of Betoota pink; and we stop in for a beer at the Pooncarie pub. A Hobart school wins a junior Landcare award; and dogs and their owners go to working dog school.
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Can a zero carbon-economy thrive? Research shows 'going electric' may work. And the next generation of internet connectivity in Australia could pave the way for remote controlled farming.
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Saturday 18 Oct 2014
Great Artesian Basin funding secured, Murray-Darling Basin Authority chair Craig Knowles leaves' big shoes to fill', dairy investment a 'game changer' for the industry, Wagyu marketing integrity scrutinised, a massive illegal seafood bust in Victoria and researcher warnings of a US mega-drought.
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Tiny Egg Island in the Tamar River gets rid of its weeds; an intact fish fossil is found in north-west Queensland; we enter scones in the Loxton Show; and it's the end of an era as the Monte Christo cattle herd leaves Curtis Island.
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Alcoholic cider sales outstripping competitors, the changing nature of Australia's wine trade to the United Kingdom and a premium price for sparkling wine produced in the UK.
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Saturday 11 Oct 2014
Drought moves south, Locust watch in NSW, rain arrives just in time to save some Victorian grain crops, Timber employees jailed over illegal export and Japan buys up Australian carrots for popular juice.
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We meet "Trevor from the Gorge" who gives flood updates to people living in the Clarence River valley; and farming women in Tasmania learn how to wrestle with barbed wire. Broody brolgas get a swampy nesting site in northern Victoria; and an endangered fish finds home in a bore drain.
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Mental health issues can be enormously confronting for many in rural areas, not least because it can be so hard to access help, and so hard to acknowledge having mental health issues when you're living in a small community.
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Saturday 4 Oct 2014
Rural Airport security concerns, Prime Minister promises to cut red tape in food processing industries, Government refuses to block Fiji ginger, and an early gain harvest for South Australia.
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This [series episode segment] has
Today it's all about food and fine wine. We're smoking salmon in Tasmania; making our own cheese platter; and sampling heritage apples. We also check the health of fine wines, cellared for at least 15 years.
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A visit to a NSW island that is reinventing itself, and truffles, the fungus first harvested in Australia only 15 years ago and is fast becoming one of the most lucrative products we have.
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Saturday 27 Sep 2014
A fine for falsely labelled free range eggs, Police investigate Landcare's fake email, rain at last for grain regions and banks agree to reveal more about farm debt.
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This [series episode segment] has
Chowilla Station celebrates 150 years of continuous family ownership; and a Welsh springer spaniel is enlisted to fight feral animals. We saddle up for a gymkhana; and rehearse for a school musical.
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It's Australia's largest agricultural market, so it's no surprise China is interested in Australian farms. Andrew Forrest says farmers need to take their clean, green image seriously to hold on to Chinese markets and Jessica Rudd becomes Australia's 'organic ambassador' to China.
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Saturday 20 Sep 2014
A drop in the Australian dollar delights grain farmers, irrigators debate power prices, growers furious over Fijian ginger imports, a water shortage could halve the cotton crops and seals beat fisherman to the catch.
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This [series episode segment] has
Amateur radio enthusiasts broadcast to the world from a Tasmanian lighthouse; and we visit a tropical flower farm. Vintage tractors roar into life for a ploughing competition; and veterans retreat to Meentheena Station.
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ABC Rural analysis of food labelling: the truth behind free-range and biodynamic agricultural labels.
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Saturday 13 Sep 2014
Murray Goulburn agrees to withdraw 'racist' ad, red tape cut for live exports angers RSPCA, the national grain crop downgraded again, fisherman backs new Abbot Point dredge spoil plan and FIFO diet could be increasing disease risk.
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This [series episode segment] has
This week discover what makes a good truffle dog; and meet a couple who've made a cracking move into the free range egg market. The Ali Curung aboriginal community solves a fresh food problem by growing its own; and we find out about pearly shell buttons from trochus shell diver James Hicks.
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The facts behind the labels: the truth of organic, biodynamic, free-range and grass-fed food labelling
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Saturday 6 Sep 2014
Forest fire threat identified for this summer, spring rain critical for successful crop production, a call for clearer laws on drones and a worldwide mohair and lemon shortage.
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This [series episode segment] has
Drought stricken farmers are treated to a day out at the Gympie Music Muster; and Tasmania's midlands get a green make-over. We find out about growing salty succulents: and a social media campaign revives gardens in outback Queensland.
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The world bank on the future of farming, climate change and fruit tree survival and turning farm waste into energy.
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Saturday 30 Aug 2014
NBN study questions value of connecting the bush, Senate condemns covert filming on farms, mining boom helped the economy but not farmers and BlazeAid volunteers complete their drought project in Queensland.
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This [series episode segment] has
Students create and illustrate books under the working title "If I were a farmer"; we make a stockwhip; King Island celebrates a centenary of football; and Australia's first commercial wild abalone farm is established in WA.
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Making lamb sexy, free-range ducks and chickens to online order and making beef pay with small scale processing on-farm.
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Saturday 23 Aug 2014
A huge oil find off the Western Australia, no money for the Murray Darling Basin post 2017, welcomer rain for grain and Tasmania's poppy monopoly broken by Victorian farmers.
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An organic olive grove rises from the ashes; we clamber on board a bulk carrier; and meet the on-site farrier at the Brisbane EKKA. We also visit a farmers' market which operates under very strict protocols.
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Chasing Southern Blue Fin Tuna off the NSW coast and northern prawn trawl crews volunteers for a CSIRO monitoring project.
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This [series episode segment] has
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Saturday 16 Aug 2014
Russian import ban sees fruit and dairy look for new markets, government says farmers need rain not drought aid, frost hits grain growers, independent MP's push to legalise industrial hemp for food.
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This [series episode segment] has
Volunteers help keep the ski slopes safe; a Clydesdale called "Troy" struts his stuff in Charters Towers; and we use gum leaves to dye wool at the EKKA. We also meet singing stockman Ben Heaslip.
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Imagine 2050; nine billion people roaming the planet, needing to be fed from what is existing agricultural land. The Green Revolution of the 1970s set out to prepare for this future, but at what cost?
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This [series episode segment] has
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Saturday 9 Aug 2014
Jeff Kennett announced as Coles farmer liaison, the future of Landcare as Green Army arrives, producing sterile fruit flies and the battle again mice goes online.
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This [series episode segment] has
A South Australian couple are committed to developing Australia's bush food market; grey nomads fossick for gold; and old dried fruit dip tins get a trendy makeover. We also visit a boer goat farm; and harvest native grass tree stems.
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Animal Welfare has moved from a fringe campaign to a mainstream concern as farming becomes more intensive.
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Saturday 2 Aug 2014
Land clearing tensions re-examined after fatal shooting of environment officer, Woolworths claim Jamie Oliver campaign a success, emergency funding to tackle canola virus, angry, hungry bees wait for late blossoming almonds.
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A 13th generation cheese maker sets up shop in Tasmania; we head into the kitchen on Lorraine Station; and meet identical twin posties in South Australia. We also get a good belly laugh at a community recovery workshop in Queensland.
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Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges facing farmers worldwide; there's no single remedy, and businesses and relationships can be destroyed if it's not done right.
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Saturday 26 Jul 2014
Gas prices a bigger burden than carbon tax on food processing, trade restrictions on Russia could trigger wheat market flood, new Indonesian president may make trade difficult, drought assistance fears.
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Today stories of survival for two small Victorian country towns. We check out a collection of dog and rabbit traps that's up for sale; and line up for a quick trim from mobile hairdresser Zillah Williams.
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From tastier tomatoes, to pre cut carrots, food fads and fashions are booming in Australia and with them are increasing cases of food fraud.
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Saturday 19 Jul 2014
NFF welcomes the carbon tax repeal, RSPCA challenges PETA, Liberal Senator plans legislation to force immediate handover of animal abuse footage and US tops Japan as biggest market for Aussie beef.
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We're diving for coral in the crocodile-filled waters off the Top End; jockeys and jocks both feature at this year's Marble Bar picnic races; and we meet shearers' cook Elva Barker. We also drop in on a special leather crafting workshop in Alice Springs.
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Australia is growing its reputation for luxury products. Crocodile leather and fine wool are the latest to find a niche in high-end fashion houses.
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Saturday 12 Jul 2014
An exhibition celebrating Indigenous men and women who helped build Australia's cattle industry, the last Aboriginal police trackers calls it a day, Yams cultivated for food and culture and a ranger program changing the lives of indigenous boys in Western Australia.
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Live export report criticised, PETA targets shearing sheds, fruit growers await decision on chemical use, cheaper agricultural degrees pull students to New Zealand.
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This [series episode segment] has
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This week what does your local post office mean to you? We visit the small rural community of Bemboka to find out; and get a drone's eye view of a farm in South Australia. Exotic shitake mushrooms are growing on Aussie blue gum logs; and Indonesian exchange students get a taste of station life in the Northern Territory.
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Saturday 5 Jul 2014
Gina Rinehart buys in to the beef business, concern about antibiotic resistance in chickens, a record year for banana production, desperate farmers continue to battle in drought and Australia's biggest truffle unearthed.
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This week we train up the next generation of shearers and check out life as a FIFO miner for Chinese nationals working in the Pilbara. A Tasmanian pig farmer proves you don't need a big property to be commercially viable and bison replace cattle in a campdrafting arena!
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Nuts about nuts: macadamia growers crack the Chinese market, healthy nut snacks in a billion dollar export trade and help harvesting hazelnuts.
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Saturday 28 Jun 2014
Dairy industry welcomes Clive Palmer's vote to abolish the carbon tax, the weather bureau forecasts warmer and drier conditions, hopes another Hendra outbreak will encourage owners to vaccinate and the ACCC's warning to food producers.
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Crowd funding helps pig farmers expand; students in SA launch a weather balloon; and the prawn season starts in Western Australia. We also revisit the Bottle Bend wetland, which is now brimming with life.
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We wade in to the wild rice paddies with scientists hoping they may be key in feeding the world. And the Australian ingredient, found in anything from shoe polish, to chewing gum, that's in hot demand the world over.
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Saturday 21 Jun 2014
A national standard for free range eggs, fly-in, fly-out work linked to mental illness, a national honey shortage, questions over the quality of financial advise to farmers and a warm winter a worry for fruit production.
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This [series episode segment] has
Traditional owners and a mining company protecting significant cultural sites; Australia has its first internationally recognized olive oil sommeliers; and knobbly sweet potatoes turned into works of art. We make aromatic parsley oil, and meet Queensland's singing grape pickers.
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We explore welfare-friendly white meat consumption and its growth in popularity in Australia. And year 12 agriculture students pay a visit to the butcher to watch the beast they've nurtured for months be prepared for the dinner table.
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Saturday 14 Jun 2014
Rural women sceptical about paid parental leave, plans made for developing northern Australia, Landrace groups look for alternative funding, scientists unravel the genetic makeup a gum tree.
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This week we're trapping foxes and feral cats in the shadow of Uluru; get stock handling lessons in north Australia; and head into the poultry pavilion at Bega. And if you like dogs then you're going to love the Casterton kelpie muster auction and high jump.
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Pacific Island waters are being plundered of their fish, oyster populations under threat and combating fake flake imports.
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Saturday 7 Jun 2014
Drought loans for Queensland farmers, a GrainCorp restructure sees job losses, farmers attack minimum wage rise and an Island in the Kimberley goes up for lease.
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This week authorities re-new their aerial assault on the yellow crazy ant; and retired trapper Bill Morris reminisces about life catching wild dogs. An urban farm blossoms in Darwin; and the SSO visits the School of the Air in Broken Hill.
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A look in to the world of protestors and farmers campaigning against three coal mines and a coal seam gas company, in north west NSW.
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Saturday 31 May 2014
A landmark court case on Genetically Modified crops, The ACCC Investigates the egg industry, welfare groups oppose live exports to Iran, regional CSIRO labs shut down and fears the Pacific Islands could run out of fish.
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This week young indigenous shearers go to work on Bruny Island in Tasmania; we roast chestnuts; and tour historic Booubyjan homestead in Queensland. We also go to a unique wine tasting event in Adelaide.
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Not even an army would get rid of the wild dogs on the Monaro in southern New South Wales.
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Saturday 24 May 2014
Rural doctors attack the Budget, Federal Government says it still supports CRCs, Joyce says rural counselling review is 'routine, 10,000 coal mine jobs lost in two years and giant cuttlefish return to South Australia's Spencer Gulf.
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Blazeaid volunteers help with the drought; we visit an Aboriginal fish farm co-op in Gippsland; and harvest saffron. We also join ladies in tropical north Queensland who prove you don't need to live somewhere "cold" to make "warm" things.
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Slaughter practices in Muslim countries capture headlines, but Australian Muslims condemn cruelty.
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Saturday 17 May 2014
Analysis of the federal Budget for primary producers with cuts to agricultural research, Landcare and ethanol subsidies and money for road infrastructure and rural financial counselling.
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This week we're shearing on Wartaka Station; and visiting a former pine plantation in Tasmania's north-east. Fireworks light up the sky at country shows; and they're making Aussie cricket bats from local willow.
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ABC Rural's in-depth analysis of the cuts and the funding programs for primary producers and regional communities from the 2014 Budget.
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Saturday 10 May 2014
NBN warns remote areas will face internet restrictions, ACCC to test the strength of new legislation on Coles, Victorian Budget criticised for being too city-centric, plans made to grow poppies in the Northern Territory and China toughens controls on milk formula imports.
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This week we get fit and healthy in a banana shed; a school garden helps feed the community; and we taste test alpine berries. The road crews are out in top end; and we meet Georgia Auricht and her pet cows.
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After every wild party there's a mess to clean up and some bad hangovers, in economics there's a bust after every boom.
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Saturday 3 May 2014
Farmers fear diesel rebate will be scrapped, Indigenous cattle production to increase in northern Australia, the grape industry wants to pay 'lazy' workers less, a crackdown on fake flake and an old abattoir being use to make paper from spinifex.
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This week we tag and track European carp; dissect a sheep's head; and go gardening in Marble Bar. Kids help out in the shearing shed during school holidays, and we make a pit stop at the Renner Springs roadhouse.
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ABC Rural paid a visit to a handful of mining towns to find out how the locals manage to ride the rollercoaster of the mining industry.
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Saturday 26 Apr 2014
Irrigators and conservationists debate the threat to the National Water Commission, El Nino implications for wheat exports, a rise in the retirement age could hit farm labourers and a wet winter ahead for WA.
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Courses with horses to help improve attendance levels at a Pilbara school; and it's the end of an era when Daly Waters hosts its last B and S ball. A sculpture wall emerges in the Tasmanian wilderness; and native orchids make a comeback in the lab.
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Critics of the Japanese trade deal labelled 'hysterical', live cattle trade prices at an all-time high and optimism in the lamb industry.
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Saturday 19 Apr 2014
Help for Queensland farmers hit by tropical cyclone Ita, sowing begins early in SA, Wilkie left on the dock and is 59 Grange worth loosing your job over?
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This week a steam train ride in Tasmania's wild west; we meet a therapy llapaca called "Forest Gump"; and travel to the very remote Cameron Corner store, a dot on the map where the borders of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet.
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Scientists question the Federal Government's commitment to agricultural research, the Sydney Royal Easter Show gets a regal visit and a pair of comedians explore the complicated world of animal rights using humour.
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Saturday 12 Apr 2014
Australian farmers reflecting on the Japanese trade deal, SPC on track to break even, a perfect autumn break amid news of a likely winter El Nino and a higher quality wine vintage expected for NSW.
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This week a puppet show spreads a special cancer message; we meet Australia's youngest urban beekeeper; and fire up an old sunshine harvester. We cook Anzac biscuits and prepare a horse for Sydney's Royal Easter Show.
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Australian farmers respond to the Japanese trade deal and a buffalo export boom the catalyst for stopping 'back-door-deals' on the trade of the animal.
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Saturday 5 Apr 2014
A Russian ban on Australian beef surprises the industry, mustering in the Top End begins, a Senate inquiry calls for a tougher approach to biosecurity, mixed blessings from the rain and commercial fisherman battle a jellyfish plague.
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This week how a trip to the hairdresser can lift a girls' spirits; high school students pick and process grapes for vintage; and we try some barra-flavoured jerky. We get a soft serve from a hot pink ice cream van, and meet Reggie the toad sniffer dog.
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Australian beef producers focused on overturning a Russian trade ban, climate change tipped to shrink farm production in Australia and one of Australia's largest hay convoy's for drought affected farmers, arrives in Kyancutta on its way to Bourke.
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Saturday 29 Mar 2014
Weather analysts predict an increased chance of an El Nino weather pattern this year, while good falls of rain are recorded in eastern states. There are plans to import a new rabbit calici-virus strain from Europe and Meat Free Week sparks a counter campaign for more BBQs.
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We go behind the wheel of a road train on the Barkly Highway; check out a bush regeneration project at Strahan; and find out about verjuice. We also meet Greenvale's bird lady, Pat Heywood.
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Live export opportunities growing in both the Vietnamese and the Egyptian markets. Reporter Matt Brann investigates the market in Vietnam, while Australia's live export ban to Egypt is lifted.
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Saturday 22 Mar 2014
Australian cattle exports resume to Egypt, the drought playing havoc with cattle markets in NSW and Queensland, a pest fish found in a pristine river system and Tasmanian blueberry growers scratching their heads over a poor harvest.
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A weekly cricket competition helps take farmers' minds off the drought; a 100-year-old traction engine fires into life; and we join community choirs in Wentworth. We also learn about making non-alcoholic sparkling wine; and blokes enter the baking competition at the Tanunda show.
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Submissions to a horticulture review show growers are dissatisfied with research priorities.
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Saturday 15 Mar 2014
Plans for Australia's largest dragon fruit farm, SPC does a deal with Woolworths, increasing competition for Asian grain markets and feral peacocks a pest on Kangaroo Island.
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Oysters feel the summer heat; we find out about Pannawonica's legendary boot tree; and help clean up rubbish on Palm Island. We also find out about growing and processing capers; and discover the secret behind the Bemboka Secret Cheese Society.
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ABC Rural hit the road to tour drought affected parts of south west Queensland.
"This month marks 3 years since we've had... a good run of water into our main water supply."
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Saturday 8 Mar 2014
Australian soil suffers in drought conditions, dairy farmers expecting a threefold increase in income, Riverina orchardists enjoying an increase in juicing demand and the wallaby population survives the SA bushfires.
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This week sentinel chickens put themselves on the front line to protect Victorians; we find out about bucket wine; and join the pistachio harvest in South Australia. There's a mysterious sweet treat to taste; and we meet mobile butcher Matt Christison who loves life on the road.
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ABARES: a crystal ball on the fortunes of agriculture, fisheries and forestry for 2014.
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Saturday 1 Mar 2014
Drought aid approved for farmers; ACT bans factory farming; and and short, successful tuna season
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City slickers head bush to take part in one of Australia's biggest ever cattle drives; and we meet a man with a passion for collecting old shearing gear. They're growing quandongs in Alice Springs; and we visit a butterfly farm in suburban Brisbane.
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Not enough cash in the drought package; and a rise in farmland values
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Saturday 22 Feb 2014
Welcome rain in some drought declared areas, the details of the Korean free trade deal, floods force English farmers from their land and stumbling on a gold-ball sized sapphire in Queensland.
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We check out the peat which gives a Tasmanian malt whisky its distinctive flavour; and bring back childhood memories with a special citrus syrup. A retired racing greyhound is learning to live life as a companion pet; and we head out into the paddock with rabbit researchers.
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A focus on health and wellbeing, with an look at doctor shortages in rural Australia and communities committing to recognising the signs of depression.
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Saturday 15 Feb 2014
Joyce buries Exceptional Circumstances
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This week we look for flatback turtles; Goulburn residents put free wifi in a local wetland; and we harvest rose petals for the bridal market. We also meet grazier and keen photographer Angus Emmott in outback Queensland.
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Hugs and high fives at SPC Ardmona
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Saturday 8 Feb 2014
Floods and drought dominate the news this week.
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This week we unearth Aboriginal shell middens; get ready for race day in Devonport; and take to the skies in an old World War 11 vintage DC3 aircraft. We also find out how punk rocker Ross Knight juggles life with Cosmic Psychos with life on the farm.
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Drought relief is called for; BlazeAid moves to the Grampians.
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Saturday 1 Feb 2014
SPC-Ardmona's woes leads this week's ABC Rural News stories
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This week we saddle up for a saltwater muster in Tasmania; find out how chooks keep their cool in a heatwave; and join an exercise class in north-west Queensland, bringing rural women together.
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SPC and Shepparton vow to fight on; bushfire recovery - and a talking camel
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Saturday 25 Jan 2014
It's a hidden gem in north Queensland that many people simply don't know exists. In fact the owners of Robin Hood station, about 90km south of Georgetown, only discovered Cobbold Gorge existed on their property about 18 years ago.
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From the outside it looks like any other big shed, but inside it's a very different story. There are aisles upon aisles of narrow metal shelves, and stacked neatly on the shelves, all carefully numbered and labelled, are samples of rocks and soil.
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There's nothing like a hot, steamy bath to get rid of your winter chills, but did you know turtles like them too?
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Distance education students and their families go extraordinary lengths to attend their school camps.
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Johnny Cash sang the Folsom Prison Blues, Elvis Presley did The Jailhouse Rock, not it's the turn of country music stalwart Bill Chambers to take his music behind bars.
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Marg Kreele is a woman full of surprises. Her farm house at Rainbow in western Victoria is immaculate and she never uses a teabag or drinks tea from a mug. But Marg Kreele is also a woman with a mission, determined to trap the wild dogs which can kill thousands of sheep each year.
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When you're a child living on a remote outback station life can become a bit dull. There's no mates to hang around with and you're sick of playing with your old toys and reading the same books. That's where the mobile toy library comes in.
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Have you ever looked at a fertilizer bag or the inner tube of a tyre and thought it would make a great dress? Well Marg Enkelmann does! Marg and her husband live on a farm near Murgon in the South Burnett region of Queensland.
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Quambatook in north-west Victoria is not known for its lush tropical rainforests. So it's a bit surprising to find a froggie haven in this flat wheatbelt town.
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Saturday 18 Jan 2014
They come in all colours and sizes have a hairy coat, a bit like the fleece of the sheep. They're known as the Tassie woolly pig and they're being bred on a property near St Marys in Tasmania.
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Seaweed harvesting is a million dollar business on King Island in Bass Strait. The kelp is washed up on the beaches, and then hung up to dry on racks.
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Victorian wine maker Rick Kinzbrunner always wanted a big wine cellar at his Giaconda vineyard near Beechworth and now he's got it!
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Once upon a time many country towns had their own cordial and soft drink factory. Many have closed down. But in Charters Towers in north Queensland the tradition lives on.
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Walking hundreds of cattle for four days along 60km of old stock routes and back roads, and even through a bog hole, might not be everyone's idea of a holiday. But it's an annual escape for long-time mates Ted Habermann and Ron Bligh
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Between March and May each year the pine plantations around Oberon in the central west of New South Wales are filled with carloads of visitors on the hunt for wild mushrooms.
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Tradition is very important to the Fechner family from Tanunda in South Australia's Barossa Valley. Three generations have been tending the wood fired oven and making bread there since the 1920s
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It's a form of compulsory volunteering. Parents of children attending the Ouyen school in Victoria's north-west run the canteen tuckshop at the local saleyards, raising more than $5000 a year for their school.
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It's one garden where caterpillars are very welcome! At St Arnaud in Victoria's west Ellen Reid breeds butterflies in her garden, where she can have up to 500 caterpillars munching away at any one time.
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Saturday 11 Jan 2014
They gather once a month with their banjos, ukuleles and violins in the back room of the Yinnar Hotel in Victoria's Latrobe Valley. The band's motto is 'making people smile through music'.
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For the past six years the group, Conservation Volunteers Australia has camped for two weeks on the Coburg Peninsula, on the very tip of the Northern Territory, monitoring the green turtles which come ashore to lay their eggs.
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It's the end of an era for weather forecasters in north-west Victoria with the recent release of the last hydrogen weather balloon into the skies above Mildura. The Bureau of Meteorology is phasing out the release of hydrogen weather balloons in favour of vertical pointing radars.
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It can be thirsty work living in the tropics of north Queensland. But having a collection of 4,500 beer cans could be considered a bit obsessive!
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Scientists in the Simpson Desert have harnessed the support of volunteers to help study one of Australia's rarest trees.
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The Honeycombe Valley Farm on the mid north coast of New South Wales has all the key elements needed to attract city folk to a country retreat including a purpose built bee motel.
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You'd think Australia would be a world leader when it comes to manufacturing eucalyptus oil for the pharmaceutical market as the trees are native to this country. But cheaper imported product has seen the number of local producers decline, and now just a few are left in the industry.
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It stretches more than 5000km up the east coast of Australia, from Healesville in Victoria to Cooktown in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The aim of the bi-centennial horse trail is to preserve part of Australia's pioneer and droving history and it's been a great adventure so far for Brisbane-based lawyer Belinda Ritchie.
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Saturday 4 Jan 2014
It's known as the Melbourne Cup of endurance horse racing in the southern hemisphere. Now in its 48th year the Tom Quilty Gold Cup is a test of strength and fitness for both horse and rider as they cover a 160km course within a 24 hour period.
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A hotel in Spalding in the mid north of South Australia is home to one of the more unusual collections in the country. Behind the main bar and down a corridor is a museum dedicated to barbed wire!
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A group of kindergarten children in country Victoria are having their very own bush adventure in the Grampians National Park, near the town of Dunkeld.
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Members of Hobart's Hazara refugee community are being introduced to the Australian bush through a special "Get Outside with Community" program run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
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They're a long way from home and having the time of their lives! Keen young female horse-riders from the Canberra region are heading to the Pilbara in Western Australia to work on huge pastoral stations.
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Thousands of head of livestock come through the gates of the Royal Queensland Show in Brisbane to be paraded and judged. And their owners aren't far behind, bunking in with their animals in the cattle pavilions for the duration of their stay.
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When you think of a traditional circus you think of performing lions, tigers and elephants. But there's a circus touring northern Australia that claims to have Australia's only performing cow act.
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Saturday 28 Dec 2013
Fresh supplies of leatherwood honey will soon be on the shelves as apiarists head into the Tarkine forest in north-west Tasmania with their hives.
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It's a classic case of city girl heads bush, gets a cow and then learns how to make cheese! With so much fresh milk on hand she decided to teach herself to make cheese and has since taught thousands to do the same.
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The saying 'to save one's bacon' means to narrowly avoid a bad outcome, and for North Queensland organic pig farmer Julia Powell that's exactly what's happened, with the help of social media.
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Summer's here and that means the mango harvest is in full swing. It's a family affair at Frank Pozzibon's orchard at Mutchilba, just outside Mareeba.
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As new season apples start to ripen one orchard in Tasmania's Huon Valley is not just bagging them for sale, some of the fruit is being sent to the crusher to be turned into cider.
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Spanish born Angelo Valois loves olives. So much so he's planted hundreds of trees on his property near Bredbo, in south-eastern New South Wales, on the way to the Snowy Mountains.
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For Elina Garreffa life without chillies is simply unimaginable. "I don't remember ever not having a chilli bush."
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In the weeks leading up to Robbie Burns night on January 25th smallgoods manufacturer James Arrowsmith is run off his feet making haggis.
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Saturday 21 Dec 2013
As Australia heads into Christmas, we bring you the news from around the country.
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This week volunteers tackle weeds in Tasmania; and we discover how easy it is to build a worm farm. We try and spot a platypus in the wild; and meet a woman who's bought back the family farm.
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This week: more on foreign investment, and schoolchildren dress as farmers to buy bales.
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Friday 6 Dec 2013
All the week's news from our ABC Rural reporters.
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This week we join a group of young Aborigines connecting with their land in far north Queensland; and catch the opal mining bug in White Cliffs. We find out what it's like to be a home school governess; and meet Doug Rawlinson in his climate change garden.
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The life of a governess; wool to Russia; and life in Ouyen
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Saturday 30 Nov 2013
GrainCorp sale blocked by FIRB and the Treasurer is the week's main story...
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This week we visit a tiny one-teacher school; and see how failed racehorses can be retrained for the show ring. Horses help troubled Aboriginal children in the territory; and Afghan refugees find careers in the shearing shed.
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SPC freezes growers' pay; the 'No Harvest' shindig; and windfarms are not harmful to health, says SA EPA.
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Saturday 23 Nov 2013
All the news from the ABC Rural Department for the week, including camel culls, the WCB takeover, and the supermarket voluntary code of conduct.
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This week students head into a wetland swamp to learn about their environment; and we crack the whip at Wentworth. We meet a couple of Irish lads with a passion for smoking and give horses a massage.
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National rural reporter Anna Vidot introduces some of the new faces of the 44th Federal Parliament.
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Saturday 16 Nov 2013
All the week's news from ABC Rural
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This week we're shearing ultra fine wool and joining school of the air children at a mini school camp. Bundaberg families are making their own pork smallgoods and the Beams family is continuing a wood chop tradition.
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Dairy futures in Victoria; how the FIRB works, and the new Agriculture Minister's maiden speech.
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Saturday 9 Nov 2013
All the week's National Rural News, from around the country and the globe.
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This week a new farmers market sets up in inner city Perth; and a Hobart butcher calls it a day. The Mildura Steam Preservation Society is on the look out for new, younger members; and we go in search of fresh water marron.
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Learning about bushfire; a Japanese farm delegation; the value-for-money farm dog; and judging cheese
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Saturday 2 Nov 2013
All the week's Rural News from the ABC team
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This week we make music at the October Moon Festival; and rear free ranging piglets in Gippsland. The CWA bakes more than 300 scones at the Hobart Show and they're racing at Santa Teresa.
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The battle for WCB; rebuilding an historic shed; and taming wild brumbies in NSW.
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Saturday 26 Oct 2013
All this week's ABC National Rural News highlights
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Ravenswood waits for the gold boom to return; and scientists use audio recorders to keep an ear on the environment. They're racing at Landor; and we go into the announcer's box at the Mildura show.
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Animals seek refuge from NSW fires; the ski industry in trouble; expertise to Asia, and the 'tomatato'.
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Saturday 19 Oct 2013
Bird flu chickens to be culled; Barnaby Joyce backs roos to China; and an NT croc farmer is Rural Woman of the Year.
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Today some much needed rest and relaxation for bush families; we take a spin in aWW11 jeep; and go to a dog show. And mango growers resort to laser lights to scare the magpie geese.
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ABC rural reporter Sarina Locke travels to Cubbie Station.
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Saturday 12 Oct 2013
A free trade agreement with China, what food demands to expect from Asia, more drought aid needed in Queensland, seasonal harvest workers available in abundance and a South Australian cab sav voted the world's best.
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Bush Heritage celebrates a decade of conservation work; botanical artists paint in Menindee; hack horses get a makeover; and the cricket season gets underway.
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Farmers receive back-pay from wheat traded to Iraq in the 1980s, impacts of the Queensland drought hit small rural towns and the once nickel mining town that refused to die.
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Saturday 5 Oct 2013
This week: Indonesia buys Top End cattle stations; Choice complains about free-range certification; and the Elmore Field Days celebrate 50 years.
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This week we put our green thumbs to work developing a community garden; and kids teach kids where their food comes from. We enrol in a rodeo school, and go diving for seaweed.
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Planning laws researched, and a rogue buffalo gores a farmer.
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Saturday 28 Sep 2013
Bushfire threat and drought worsen as hot dry conditions continue, Coles secured the future of Simplot, Australian mangos destined for the US while an end to import restrictions allow the import of foreign bees.
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Wildflowers carpet the desert country; the magpie geese season starts in the territory; wild brumbies find new homes and we meet one of the last bullockies in Australia.
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Turning bulldozed fruit trees into art, bushfire planning for livestock, the growth in urban farming and women behind the welder in the Silver City.
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Saturday 21 Sep 2013
Coalition agriculture department staff changes shock industry, China and Australian foreign investment, Tasmania's GMO ban to be reconsidered and rehabilitating Australia's largest open cut zinc mine.
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This week we go droving with the Brinkworth mob; head to the Pannawonica rodeo; and meet a young apprentice female jockey. We also pick the first peony flowers of the season.
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The Coalition and China discuss foreign investment, beyond jam and scones for the CWA and a telling insight into the Argentinean beef industry.
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Saturday 14 Sep 2013
Indonesia planning to invest in grazing land in Australia, farmers want a green and red tape reduction, the third largest grain crop on recorded expected in SA and a taste of camel cheese and ice cream.
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This week social media saves a farm; organic grain growers take control of their product; and black garlic's on the menu. There's also high hopping bunnies and performing circus cows.
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Animal welfare regulations won't stop the growth of live exports, farmer's experience used in suicide research and Australian researchers speed breeding resistant wheat varieties.
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Saturday 7 Sep 2013
Comprehensive coverage of the election issues affecting rural and regional Australia, rock lobster prices break a record and the the symbolic first tray of mangoes sells for $30,000.
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This week we're knitting with camel hair, and walking an indigenous heritage trail in Tasmania. Unusual animals are on display at the EKKA and we visit a beer can collection.
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Woolworths supports Australian grown home-brand fruit, to stay or go in a bushfire, beekeepers battling a tough year and meet Marg Krelle, Victoria's only registered wild dog trapper.
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Saturday 31 Aug 2013
Abbott and Rudd on farm foreign investment, the Coalition policy on agriculture, Labor's pledge on a supermarket code and the wine industry with a plan for prosperity.
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This week we visit the remote town of Milparinka, meet the frog lady of Quambatook; and go truffle hunting at Oberon. We also go behind bars with country music singer Bill Chambers.
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A supermarket code of conduct is in the spotlight. Can a mandatory code reduce supermarket power or has it come too late for farmers? And Federal election polling begins in remote Indigenous communities and outstations.
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Saturday 24 Aug 2013
The week's top Rural stories from across the country.
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This week we go bush with indigenous guides, and find out why there's a lighthouse in central Australia. And Aussie wine and cheese take out some international awards.
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Opposition to 'fracking' in Victoria, diversification on the farm and completing the longest and toughest horse race in the world.
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Saturday 17 Aug 2013
National Rural News brings you stories from across the country.
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This week we're collecting scientific data from the sea and under our feet, and the bush comes to the city when Brisbane hosts the Royal Queensland Show, better known as the EKKA.
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Why mines wages are down; GM wheat trials planned; and culling brumbies in the Dead Centre.
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Saturday 10 Aug 2013
The leading stories from ABC Rural's national news for the week.
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This week we're burning cane in the Burdekin, panning for gold at Pine Creek; disadvantaged youth get a helping hand, and coppers versus the bushies at Harts Range.
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Losing carbon, a communicator, and cattle to crocs.
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Saturday 3 Aug 2013
More scrutiny of live export animal welfare, orchardists pulling trees while cheap imports are investigated, the Greens push direct marketing to food consumers, and a call for stronger country of origin labelling for seafood.
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Visit a wine cellar that's been blasted out of a granite hillside; deliver fish eggs to a trout farm; teach young boys and girls to parade their cattle and a special bush tucker garden opens in Alice Springs.
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A battle over temporary trade protection for the Australian canning industry, the future of food production in the face of dire predictions of global food shortages and a rare and endangered orchid gets a new lease on life.
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Saturday 27 Jul 2013
In this week's NRN - a wet spring for the south-east; planning for nuclear; and the queer quolls catching trout.
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This week we make a scarecrow and watch a Superdog show. Horses and fireworks don't mix in Alice Springs and we go camel racing at Boulia.
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This week - the NBN; the Coorong; and wine judging: art or artifice?
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Saturday 20 Jul 2013
The carbon tax scrapped - and all the week's other news.
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We ride the bi-centennial horse trail and fish for scallops in Tasmania. Sick turtles get the spa treatment and we check out a barbed wire collection in South Australia.
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Ugg boots and carbon farming - can either survive in Australia?
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Saturday 13 Jul 2013
All the news highlights from ABC Rural for the week.
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A poor wet season for Territory crabbers, a travelling lumberjack, poultry on the NSW coast and poddies in the NT.
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A green drought in the south, wind farms lose puff, and skinning a croc for cash.
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Saturday 6 Jul 2013
All the news from ABC Rural for the week.
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Spuds, mobile chicken coops, a veteran woodchopper, and sausages. And Elina Garreffa the chilli lady.
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A closer look at the carbon tax, rural innovation, and a giant revegetation project.
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Saturday 29 Jun 2013
Divided response to the departure of Joe Ludwig from agriculture ministry, mining jobs under threat, NSW holding on for a better Murray Darling deal and red wine demand helps boost grape prices.
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Heading bush with the mobile toy library, two lads from Liverpool trying their luck in the bull ride at Brunette Downs, cooking with kangaroo and goanna and researchers in Victoria on eating seaweed.
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Farewelling Tony Windsor, tussles for the top spot in the chook shed and a challenging early history of sugar in Queensland.
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Saturday 22 Jun 2013
A stock-route showdown in Queensland, forecasts of wetter weather, a star-rating for food nutrition and a drought collection for struggling farmers taking off in its first week.
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Cable Beach in Broome a playground for kids from the Port Hedland School of the Air, teasing your tastebuds with Mediterranean olives and native Australian finger limes, and meet two old drovers and their unique annual walk.
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Small town recovery after food manufacturing downturn and the 'mega moggies' of the Northern Territory.
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Saturday 15 Jun 2013
Pig farmers upset at trespassing, push for labelling reform, more questions about GM, the rise of the robot picker.
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Saddling up for the Tom Quilty endurance horse ride, a 160km/24 hour challenge for both horse and rider. An early start to the NSW truffle harvest and we visit the remote Aboriginal community of Kintore where a fully equipped gym is getting a good workout.
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The pork industry and animal activists are at war, and a way to breed more ewes.
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Saturday 8 Jun 2013
Food manufacturing struggles to stay viable, Animals Australia head to head with the National Farmers Federation over animal welfare, Victoria the first state to sign the Murray Darling Basin Plan and seaweed beer snacks on the menu.
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We head to the Simpson Desert to study one of Australia's rarest trees and meet a publican in an outback pub. We're on hand to see the final hydrogen weather balloon lift off in Mildura and we join Charlie McKillop on a cruise along Cobbold Gorge, an oasis in north Queensland.
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Re-claiming blue plantations for broad-acre crops, research showing plants may be talking to each other and tackling homophobia in rural communities.
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Saturday 1 Jun 2013
Drought aid for farmers, Australia's new food plan, tractors driving themselves and scientists predicting when a drought will end.
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One of Australia's last eucalyptus oil producers; a unique farm diversification into bow-hunting tourism, tips on cooking the perfect steak and Dinky the dingo's musical career.
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To many, brumbies are a quintessential Australian symbol, an image presented to the world at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. But environmentalists point to a century of damage as feral horses trample a fragile alpine environment.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
Predictions of a wetter than average winter while the drought takes hold in Qld and NSW, livestock survive the Oklahoma tornado, red diamonds from the Argyle mine, and an Australian cider boom.
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This week a focus on volunteers - meeting the people who spend days, weeks, even months rebuilding fences and communities through the Blazeaid organisation; and they're looking for volunteer firefighters in the Kimberley town of Kununurra. We find out what makes a great working dog; and meet Marg Enkelmann, a woman with a vivid imagination who makes wearable art from farm junk.
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Infant milk formula is in hot demand in China. Baby formula is the only growth sector for food manufacturing in Australia, with start up companies already building processing plants.
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Is Australia's dwindling budget for farm research affecting the efficiency of our primary producers?
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Saturday 18 May 2013
A rural take on the Federal budget, predictions of record breaking grain production and and a class action over horse flu are among the Rural News highlights this week.
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A wild mushroom hunt, kindy kids on a day trip in the Grampians, breeding the perfect orchid and getting messy at an urban wine making experience.
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Cattle producers in Australia's north are shooting weak and sick cattle because of a lack of feed and a poor market, and the award winning science behind a 30 year campaign to eradicate tuberculosis and brucellosis from our cattle herd.
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Friday 10 May 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Thursday 9 May 2013
Struggling Queensland graziers want to donate cattle to Indonesia
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Saturday 4 May 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Friday 3 May 2013
Little wonder the next generation isn't flocking back to the farm.
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Thursday 2 May 2013
We've been hearing a lot from dairy farmers saying that it costs more to produce fresh milk than they're being paid for it.
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Thursday 2 May 2013
Federal Government offers low interest loans to "viable" farmers
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Friday 26 Apr 2013
One by one, the canned food manufacturers have been closing their factories in Australia. First Heinz, who left for New Zealand, followed by McCain, and the latest is the once great farmer cooperative, SPC.
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Friday 26 Apr 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Thursday 25 Apr 2013
Desperate WA grain growers offered support package
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Friday 19 Apr 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Thursday 18 Apr 2013
Pork industry plays down fall in carbon price
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Thursday 11 Apr 2013
The fluid milk market
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Thursday 11 Apr 2013
Almost a decade has passed since the Australian wool industry struck a deal with Animal rights campaigners to phase out surgical mulesing of lambs.
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Thursday 11 Apr 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Friday 5 Apr 2013
Floods set to increase as climate changes 'for good'
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Friday 5 Apr 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Friday 5 Apr 2013
Whenever the parlous state of much of Australian agriculture is raised as an issue, the defence of an increasing number from the Prime Minister, to economists, and even this week to Rupert Murdoch has been, our future lies in becoming the food bowl of Asia.
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Saturday 30 Mar 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Thursday 28 Mar 2013
Opposition says reshuffle will hurt regional education
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Friday 22 Mar 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia
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Friday 15 Mar 2013
Burke slammed for new coal seam gas oversight measures
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Friday 15 Mar 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 15 Mar 2013
Inghams say it will sack cruel staff
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Friday 8 Mar 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 8 Mar 2013
President distances RSPCA from animal rights groups
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Friday 8 Mar 2013
The past decade is likely to go down in the history books as one of the toughest for Australian agriculture.
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Friday 8 Mar 2013
So what of India, where much has been made of its market potential.
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Friday 8 Mar 2013
850 million people around the world are currently going hungry, not because of a lack of food supply, but simply because they just can't afford it.
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Friday 1 Mar 2013
Similar to claims in Australia, low milk prices are driving farmers away from the industry in one of the world's largest dairy-producing countries.
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Friday 1 Mar 2013
India to open its doors to Australian lamb for the first time
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Friday 1 Mar 2013
It's the end of an era for wool selling in Australia, with the last of the regional auction centres closing this week.
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Friday 1 Mar 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 22 Feb 2013
It's Australia's largest piece of engineering and one of the most complex in the world.
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Friday 22 Feb 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 22 Feb 2013
Dairy delivers in new national dietary guidelines
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Friday 15 Feb 2013
Four years on from the horror of Black Saturday and again there are fires burning out of control ... with only heavy rain likely to put them out.
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Friday 15 Feb 2013
Coalition considering up to 100 dam sites
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Friday 15 Feb 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 8 Feb 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 8 Feb 2013
From Tassy to the mainland now, and fires also swept through the Chepstowe/Carngham area west of Ballarat a month ago.
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Friday 8 Feb 2013
Four years on from the horror of Black Saturday and again there are fires burning out of control ... with only heavy rain likely to put them out.
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Friday 8 Feb 2013
Floods in northern New South Wales have caused problems for many communities, but the rain couldn't have come at a better time for the region's wetlands.
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
NFF wants more focus on agriculture during federal election campaign
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
That very week, the hot, windy weather had everyone in Victoria on edge, stilled haunted by Black Saturday.
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
The remnants of Cyclone Oswald crawled down the east coast of Australia, delivering rain, not in millimetres, but by the metre.
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
The fires in Tasmania were still burning when lightning strikes ignited wildfires across NSW that would eventually burn through hundreds of thousands of hectares in northern NSW, scores of homes and more than a million dollars worth of livestock.
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Friday 1 Feb 2013
Just one month into the new year and Mother Nature has thrown just about everything she has in her armoury at Australia's farmers.
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Friday 25 Jan 2013
We've got snakes and turtles, and even a game of horse soccer for you this week. We're also soaring high above the desert in central Australia, and chilling out with a horse massage. In the Northern Territory Indigenous rangers are mustering feral camels; and they're searching for rare orchids in western Victoria.
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Friday 4 Jan 2013
Some nostalgia and history this week as we head out to a dig site in the Northern Territory that's literally overflowing with fossilised bones; and we get a sneakpeak into a treasured collection of bric-a-brac in Charters Towers. We also fire up some old kerosene lamps in the Kimberley; and take a trip back in time when a flotilla of historic paddle steamers takes over the Murray River. We also go tagging turtles in northern Australia; introduce you to a family of whip crackers; an all female shearing team takes to the boards outside Orange; and refugees bring in the fruit in Victoria's Goulburn Valley
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Friday 28 Dec 2012
This week it's all about food and wine ... an appropriate topic during the festive season. We get an insight into how a community food program works; we go to a recorking clinic with precious bottles of wine; and step up to the tasting table at an olive oil show. We also combine chocolate and beer to make a chocolate-flavoured stout; join some Tasmanian school students as their camembert cheese goes before the judges; and taste some rare native oysters.
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Friday 21 Dec 2012
Rural news and issues for the week, across Australia.
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Friday 21 Dec 2012
Dry summer looking increasingly likely
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Friday 21 Dec 2012
Nowadays the talk in distance education is about satellites and fast broadband, teachers you can Skype, lessons you can download.
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Friday 21 Dec 2012
It's been a special time for School of the Air students in Alice Springs.
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