Sat, Jan 11, 2003
Landline is featuring, for the first time on television, a programme-length documentary on one of the great contributors to our pioneering past - the riverboats of the Murray River. The story covers one of the most colourful events of our Centerary of Federation celebrations: a memorable journey down the mighty Murray - from its source in the Kosciusko high country to the sea at the town of Goolwa in South Australia. The flotilla which took part in this epic trip included more than 200 paddle steamers and riverboats - some more than 100 years old.
Sun, Mar 2, 2003
In Australia there are nearly two thousand certified organic farmers growing all manner of produce such as fruit, nuts, vegetables, meat, wool, coffee and grain. One of the oldest players in the industry is based in Toowoomba, two hours west of Brisbane. Kialla Pure Foods has reached the stage many organic producers are aiming for; selling to supermarkets and securing lucrative overseas markets.
Sat, Mar 15, 2003
A constant complaint these days is about the taste of tomatoes, why don't they possess the flavour they used to have? And why are the skins so thick? The answer to those questions are partially to do with mass production and partially to do with ease of transport, after all, thin-skinned tomatoes do not travel well. A Victorian company is trying to address these shortcomings in the modern tomato. The solution, apparently, starts with hydroponics.
Wed, Mar 26, 2003
Around this time last year, Landline reported on the concerns of farmers in Victoria's High Country about what might happen if the area had summer bushfires. The concerns were obviously justified. More than 1 million hectares of farmland and forest remains vividly charred by the worst fires in many years.
Sat, Mar 29, 2003
For more than a decade, Queensland's native red claw crayfish has been promoted as the next big thing in aquaculture. To date the much-promised boom has failed to achieve more than a whimper. But speak to the new crop of growers and they'll tell you there's been a revolution in crayfish production. They are quietly confident this time they really are on the cusp of a bonanza.
Sat, Apr 5, 2003
We've come to rely on road transport delivering not just the food and fibre we produce but most of the freight that sustains families and farming communities right across the country as well. Now one small town's fifteen minutes of fame has also turned up on the back of a truck, a very long truck, as it turned out.
Sat, Apr 12, 2003
Agriculture is about 10 per cent of the world's trade but about 90 per cent of the world's trade problems. Our next report has been provided by the BBC's Panorama program. It highlights the hypocrisy of the European Union and the United States in particular when they complain about not getting access to other countries because of trade barriers. Australia is a victim of these trade practices. Among many barriers, we cannot get our beef into Europe and we cannot get our sugar into America. But the countries that suffer most from unfair trade practices are those that can afford it least.
Sat, Apr 19, 2003
Next week many of the Australian beef industry's heavy hitters will be in Rockhampton for its triennial Beef EXPO. Obviously it will be a critical barometer of how the industry is travelling, both domestically and internationally. The ongoing issue is of course quality - consumers are demanding better quality beef and in most markets that means tenderness and taste. And while second guessing individual tastebuds is a tough call, Australia is giving that question a pretty good shot by commercialising the world's first DNA test for tender beef.
Sat, Apr 26, 2003
Those involved in a new industry are usually excited when growth follows investment. However Australia's rural history is littered with industries that grew only to be troubled by oversupply and undeveloped markets. One new fruit industry is determined it will not follow this same sorry path. Persimmon growers know they've reached a cross roads and the decisions they make in the next year or so will determine the scale and profitability of a relatively unknown industry.
Sat, May 3, 2003
All the movers and shakers in Australia's beef industry have been in Rockhampton for the past week, taking part in Beef Expo 2003. They had a lot to talk about live exports, SARS, the rising dollar, the sale of Stanbroke and, of course, the growing trend towards the branding of beef. These days the triennial event is not so much a cattle show but a stock take. Last years drought put a dent in cattle numbers.
Sat, May 10, 2003
The Royal Flying Doctor Service came about under the guidance of the visionary John Flynn. Dr Flynn's combination of medicine, aviation and communication, helped overcome the tyranny of isolation for the people of the Outback. John Flynn's legacy grows stronger each year. But one part of his heralded life remains virtually forgotten. Dr Flynn was an avid photographer and his photographs played a crucial role in realising his dream.
Sat, May 17, 2003
Speak to the person in the street about alpacas and they will probably assume you are a shonky tax scheme operator looking for someone to dupe. While the reputations of many emerging rural industries took a battering in the late 1990s at the hands of those who have never got their hands dirty, alpaca breeders have been quietly growing the largest alpaca herd outside of South America. And while that is not a lot of animals yet, the industry is confident its fleeces will one day rival the finest merino wool at the high end of the luxury fibre market.
Sat, May 24, 2003
It is not often you come across a qualified chemist who does not like to use chemicals or an organic farmer who strongly supports the use of genetic engineering. But the winemaker who owns Australia's largest organic winery is such a man. Furthermore, he has just joined forces with several other organic grapegrowers to become the biggest producer by far of organic wine in this country.
Sat, May 31, 2003
A few years back we introduced Landline viewers to Damara sheep, an African breed which arrived with great promise for our live exporters. In the early days, the Damara certainly had its fans but it is taken the drought to have the breed prove its true value. While many sheep have struggled in the ongoing dry, the Damaras have flourished and exports are booming - in fact the numbers are only governed by how fast they can be bred.
Sat, Jun 7, 2003
When it comes to lamb Australians eat more than just about any other nationality. Only New Zealanders beat us in the lamb stakes. We consume around 13 kilograms per person per year and almost 60 per cent of households buy fresh lamb. But with the ever increasing price of prime lamb, butchers need to make each cut go further.
Sat, Jun 14, 2003
Australia's olive oil industry may have only a minute share of the world market, but its reputation for producing premium quality olive oil is growing rapidly. So rapidly, Italian oil buyers are currently scouring the country seeking thousands of litres of our freshest and best. The fledgling Australian industry has learnt from the mistakes of other olive growing countries. However, one age-old and crucial problem remains. No one has yet perfected a mechanical olive harvester.
Sat, Jun 21, 2003
Run your eye down the classifieds in our major rural newspapers and magazines prior to the mustering season and you'll find plenty of jobs for jackaroos and jillaroos. And right beside them are ads for an increasing number of entry-level cattle industry courses offered by rural colleges across the country. Some of the most popular are run at the Northern Territory University's Katherine campus which this year will turn about 500 "ring-ins" into top end ringers.
Sat, Jun 28, 2003
Jatropha Gossypifolia, commonly known as 'bellyache bush', is a particularly nasty species. Bellyache bush is one of the northern pasturelands most invasive, indestructible weeds and has choked beyond use, thousands of fertile hectares. It has killed numerous livestock and has made an inestimable number very, very sick.
Sat, Jul 5, 2003
A look at a product which it is claimed will prolong your life and it will fight cancer and it will reduce heart disease. That's not all - the really good news is that it is a red wine or at least a style of red wine. We did not have to travel far to give wonder wine a test taste, we found it at a small winery not far from Brisbane.
Sat, Jul 12, 2003
Three months ago all hell broke loose in Australia's key scientific establishments. A virus believed to be fatal to wheat had been found in CSIRO glasshouses. Tens of thousands of plants were destroyed. The grains council claimed the virus could put a $200 million dent in the national grain income. But last month, the Agriculture Minister announced an about-face on the status of the virus, saying it was not such a problem after all. Mr Truss claimed the virus was probably endemic across much of the wheat belt, with no real impact. And farmers could go back to business as usual. What on earth happened in between?
Sat, Jul 19, 2003
Tasmania's beef producers are approaching what they admit could be a seminal moment for the industry in the island state. Despite being justifiably proud of the quality of beef produced in Tasmania, it has widely acknowledged that mainland Australia is streets ahead in just about every other facet of beef production. The question is what to do about it, the Tasmanians are not giving up. They are about to embark on an industry re-structuring, which it is hoped will give beef producers the necessary confidence in their own future.
Sat, Jul 26, 2003
The Queensland Biennial Festival of Music is this country's biggest and most diverse celebration across the musical spectrum. For 10 days there are performances all over the state which include jazz, classical, rock, country, theatre, opera. You name it - it is bound to be performed somewhere at some time. There is also a host of specially commissioned pieces including an innovative creation at Winton, better known as the birthplace of Waltzing Matilda. As you will see when the festival asked for community involvement, the locals from Winton responded with considerable enthusiasm.
Sat, Aug 2, 2003
By world standards, Australia's trout industry is a minnow. Production in Europe is around 400,000 tonnes while Australia would be lucky to push out a mere 2,000 tonnes. But importantly Australian trout is free of most of the diseases, which cause problems in Europe and, despite drought-related production difficulties, our trout industry is confident of a bright future.
Sat, Aug 9, 2003
At its heart the EKKA is still very much an Agricultural show and that competition always brings out the best livestock from across the country. Its obviously a huge logistical exercise to get all the animals here, settled in stalls and then primed for their big moment before the judges. Regardless of meticulous preparation over many months, there's always the possibility of a last-minute medical hurdle or two to clear. But with so many highly strung entries, not to mention their owners, who'd be a royal show vet?
Sat, Aug 16, 2003
Farmers in many remote rural communities are used to solving their own problems. In Queensland's far north, one rambutan grower has won praise for his solution to a problem that was causing conflict between conservationists and farmers. He is growing a fruit most Australians have never heard of. However, there is smart money that says with clever marketing, it could become as closely associated with Australia as the Kiwi fruit is with New Zealand.
Sat, Aug 23, 2003
Many viewers would not be aware that this delicious nut is actually native to Australia although it was a group of farmers from Hawaii who first realised the potential of macadamias. But through a combination of circumstance and hard work, the macadamia industry was eventually re-established where it rightfully belongs, right here in Australia. And there is little doubt this would not have occurred had it not been for the foresight of one Craig Paton.
Sat, Aug 30, 2003
It has taken most of that time for consumers to catch on to the fresh cuts formula devised by a Brisbane-based fruit and vegetable entrepreneur. But now with nearly 100 different product lines on supermarket shelves across Australia and business growing by 30 per cent a year. Rob Robson appears to have convenience foods in the bag.
Sat, Sep 6, 2003
The Landline crew have been clicking their heels and whistling country. This week we brought you some of the highlights from the nation's biggest country music festival, from Gympie. In this once-a-year special, Landline broadcast clips of some of Australia's best known and up-and-coming performers. Artists featured included the Bushwackers, Kristina Olsen, Kevin Bennett and The Flood, Fiddlers Festival, Sweeney Killeen and John Williamson. And this year the Royal Flying Doctor Service will benefit from the proceeds.
Sat, Sep 13, 2003
Aquaculture's newest industry is an unusual one. The fish in question are being grown for both the tourist and aquarium markets, not for food, and they are animals some people cannot believe exist. They are seahorses and the industry would not be where it is without the work of a Tasmanian aquaculture Professor and his students nearly a decade ago.
Sat, Sep 20, 2003
Thirty or 40 years ago, mushrooms fetched about the same price per kilogram as wild prawns, but demand was limited to say the least and most mushrooms were sold processed in a can. But as our culinary horizons broadened, the mushroom started to take a regular place in the recipe books of Australia�s kitchens and restaurants. So much so that Australians are now eating more mushrooms than ever before - and the industry is responding with a growing selection of the most exotic mushrooms available.
Fri, Sep 27, 2002
Australians are reknowned for their inventiveness. The postage stamp, the photocopier, the ute, the black box flight recorder, the stump jump plough and the cochlear implant all sprang from the brains of clever Australians. Rural Australians are especially inventive, but getting city financiers to back them can often be so difficult that their ideas never see the light of day.
Sat, Oct 4, 2003
When most of us talk about "buying back the farm" we usually mean 'Australians reclaiming property owned by overseas interests'. For some it's a reassuring, even defiant swipe, against the inexorable globalisation of agribusiness. While for others its a more sentimental statement about reconnecting with unique landscapes, plants and animals. Then there's the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, which is committed, not just to buying back the bush, but working with farmers doing their own bit for biodiversity. What started as a seed of an idea planted 13 years ago in Tasmania has grown into the most significant privately funded conservation group in the country.
Sat, Oct 11, 2003
Turning rural waste into power - there's a piggery in Victoria that's doing it, and sugar mills have been doing it for decades. The latest industry to reap the benefits of utilising its waste is the macadamia nut industry. It's a world first and is going to put more money into the pockets of growers while doing something positive for the environment.
Sat, Oct 18, 2003
Take a look at the deli case in any Australian supermarket and there are probably a bewildering range of specialty cheeses available and most of them will be Australian made. It's a testament to how far the local specialty cheese industry has come along in just 20 years, but as you'll see and hear in this report, there are some critics who believe it still has a long way to go.
Sat, Oct 25, 2003
When Christopher Columbus took chillies from the Americas to the world, it's a safe bet he would never have imagined they'd end up in the coastal ranges of southern New South Wales. But in fact, three enterprising men from Eden, on the far south coast, have started an organic chilli growing venture that is producing gourmet food and wine for an expanding market. Although tiny by world production standards, Disaster Bay Chillies recently won a swag of gold medals at the London Great Taste awards and the World Firey Foods festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sat, Nov 1, 2003
Five years ago we introduced Landline viewers to a regional strategy aimed at mobilising ideas, innovation and investment in a farming community coming to terms with change. While much of that was directed at specific challenges in an area about halfway up the Western Australian coast, the Gascoyne Murchison Strategy (GMS) was also tackling issues common to many folks living and working in rural and regional Australia. The five year plan is almost up, so Landline went back to see how it is working out in the west, and where things are heading from here.
Sat, Nov 8, 2003
With their motto: "Waste is a resource in the wrong place at the wrong time," an enterprising group of food scientists in Sydney has turned one of the cheese industry's biggest problems into potential profit. They've developed a technique for converting whey into pharmaceutical grade lactose, worth billions globally for the manufacture of tablets. But as Sean Murphy reports, there's a big gap between promising research and a commercial venture,
Sat, Nov 22, 2003
Whether plunging, showering or hand jetting sheep for lice control, there's a growing awareness by Australian producers about the need for protection against harmful chemicals. That said though, the full extent of workplace exposure to the group of organophosphates known as diazanon is still unknown. More than 30 years after they became commonplace in the sheep and wool industry, the National Farmers Federation has pushed for a comprehensive trial of diazanon exposure, which could have major implications for future ectoparasite control.
Sat, Dec 6, 2003
Australia has more than 4000 fish species in its territorial waters, but according to the Australian Bureau of Rural Sciences, only four of the 70 most abundant species are considered under-fished. The rest are either overfished, fully fished or classified as uncertain and the trend is likely to get worse, according to a new report which predicts Australia is facing a massive seafood shortfall by the year 2050. Sean Murphy reports on some of the likely trends for commercial fishers and their customers in the next half century.