Australian Farmers: Telling Our Story

What happens when experts in engineering, agriculture, marine and terrestrial microbiology join forces? They develop a company that drops nutrient encapsulated seed pods from a drone, mapping out their placement using artificial intelligence and monitoring their growth using GPS. The method allows up to 40-thousand seed pods to be planted per drone in a single day. It's an Australian company takin...

How many commercial insect farmers have you met? Today, was my first. A woman who always wanted to farm but couldn't afford land or the costs associated with looking after big animals. These tiny creatures are packed with protein and serve as a valuable food source for farm animals and aquaculture. But looking at the bigger picture, these bugs, specifically maggot powered robots, could be the solu...

When you've been farming in the same pocket of South Australia's Barossa region for 7 generations, marrying into that kind of legacy is immense. The family specialty is wine with the oldest remaining vineyard dating back to 1875. But something else is cooking on this impressive estate - sourdough bread - and just like the wine it's baked with the principles of biodynamics and organics in mind. Ami...

An epic quest to learn about her own origins has lead my guest today to pursue an intriguing career that combines art and agriculture. As a young Chinese-Indonesian refugee, whose family started a new life in the Northern Territory, Tisha Tejaya initially wanted to ignore her past but as she's come into adulthood, burning questions developed. Incredibly, many of the answers lead her to migrant far...

What do careers in Australian Border Force and Australian Agriculture have in common? Well, for this couple, the answer is dogs. From training dogs to protect our borders to using them to hunt for truffles is a fairly unique pivot but that's exactly what Mel and Gavin Booth have done, starting up Australian Truffle Traders in Manjimup Western Australia. They grow and supply Australian Black Truffl...

Most of us rely on our local farmers for our food but others rely on them for their livelihoods. On an urban 11 acre farm just outside Port Kembla in NSW young people and refugees are being offered work and mentorship. The produce is sold to the local community through fruit and vegetable boxes, and to local cafes and restaurants. Under the guidance of Farm Manager Emily Henderson, the property pr...

We so often hear farmers say dairy or wool has been in their blood for generations. However, in the case of hemp, producers are having to start from scratch. When Maxine Shea was diagnosed with a rare pituitary brain tumour, she desperately wanted hemp for treatment. Accessing it though was not easy, so she and her partner Mike starting growing it themselves. Now they run The Hemp Collective out o...

Life is busy for most of us but spare a thought for this couple from Sunnyside Tasmania. They run a successful dairy whilst raising nine children. Given that work load, it would  have been easier not to completely overhaul the business from a conventional dairy to a large-scale organic operation, that has also radically progressed to once a day milking. Why do it? Well, they bought a block of land...

It's not often you hear of a boy growing up in a peri-urban area with a dream of being a farmer. But if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen. Not only is he now farming for a living – he and his partner have turned conventional agriculture on its head. The Food Farm uses time-tested slow and regenerative farming practices on the NSW Central Coast, just on the outskirts of Sydney...

If we had to crown a vegetable king in Australia – today's guest would be a contender. He grows cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and kale, all the while producing cows, sheep and chickens for pasture-raised eggs. It's little wonder he's been recognised in the 2022 Farmer of the Year Awards for Excellence in Diversification. The success of his operation is closely linked to his passion for soil biolo...

It's a little cup of joy for so many of us. Coffee is often part of a daily ritual and an excuse to gather with friends and family. Did you know coffee farmers are growing beans right here in Australia? It's thanks to some pioneers who set up the industry – including my guest today. The Zentvelds are second generation coffee farmers in Byron Bay and were the first commercial sized coffee farmers i...

Those living on the land are no strangers to working in the most spectacular of locations. However, few can say their office offers a birds-eye view of landscapes like the breathtaking Pilbara or the desolate plains of the Nullarbor. My guest today is a helicopter mustering pilot who has turned those remarkable vistas into a successful photography business called Whirlybird Photography. The man be...

Picture a farm overlooking the ocean. It sounds idyllic for the landowners and the animals seem pretty happy about it too. This 40-acre pocket of paradise is located in southern Tasmania's Birchs Bay. But in their own words – their "soil sucks". So how then do the farmers manage to produce the award-winning produce that is Grandvewe Cheese? See what they did there? That's ewe as in the sheep. Here...

How does a photojournalist end up making a living farming flowers? It started with a redundancy, a passion for gardening and a business that simply shines on social media and on the plate. We are talking about edible flowers. Not only are they gorgeous, but they have also hit the mainstream snapped up by cake decorators and chefs who want that something special for their creations. The owner of Pr...

My guest today has strong ties to Japan having lived and worked there for five years as a salaryman. His wife, Kumi, grew up in rural Japan. Together they are recreating a special childhood for their own kids with a 23-hectare egg farm in Victoria's Gippsland region. More than drawing on their own cherished experiences – their former corporate jobs and the country's famous approach to efficiency a...

Their motto is "When you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves," and so, Little Big Dairy near Dubbo in Central West NSW was born. It is an incredible business, one of only a handful in the nation offering single source milk, meaning the milk comes solely from one farm, is processed on-site and sold directly to consumers. For the family behind the business - qualit...

When you picture a farmer in your mind's eye, maybe a certain image comes up each time. My guest today has made it her mission to change perceptions around people with a disability in the industry. She developed an online platform to raise awareness of and provide opportunities for people living with disabilities. It's a cause close to her heart after a devastating accident in her own family. Foun...

Many of us have heard of mohair but for a fibre that's been around for centuries, perhaps we don't know a lot about it. It is a textile made from the hair of Angora goats. These animals are native to the mountainous regions of Turkey with the Sultan of Turkey first allowing the export of raw mohair to Europe in 1820. Now, they're raised in many other parts of the world, including Australia. Doing...

Nestled on 120 acres in the picturesque Byron Bay Hinterland is a true paddock-to-plate eatery, delightfully named Frida's Field. There you will find a blank canvas in the process of being transformed into a productive farm that grows an abundant variety of foods using regenerative techniques. The owners, Edward Rawlings and Jeanie Wylie wanted to share this produce and ethos with others, so they...

Turning 18% of his 3500-hectare farm into forest is a move that's landed this producer a seat at a very influential table. Mark Wootton travelled from his property just north of Hamilton in Western Victoria, all the way to Egypt for the COP27 world climate conference. There, he was part of a pitch to promote the benefits of farm-grown sustainable timber to solve current supply issues. Personally,...

** Trigger warning ** This episode contains conversations about suicide, so if you need resources or support go to beyondblue.org or for 24 hour free counselling in Australia, the number for Lifeline is 13 11 14.   A childhood on her family farm at Streaky Bay on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula combined with a career as a Clinical Psychologist has given my guest today unique insight into mental h...

Today we are visiting Scone in the NSW Hunter region. So often we think of those in rural and regional communities as farmers alone but there are so many other crucial roles that make up the fabric of rural life – including those who document what's going on in their part of the country and the world more broadly. My guest today is artist Janno McLaughlin. She grew up on the land and knew the mean...

Growing up on the land offers and idyllic childhood for so many kids. But it's certainly not without its challenges for the parents. Motivated by her own experience of raising youngsters on a farm in Tasmania, my guest today saw a few gaps that needed to be addressed. So, she created Australia's first personalised online rural mothers' group. Motherland Village provides greater opportunities for r...

A good wedding anniversary present can be hard to find but when Julie Kos bought her husband Paul a smoker as a gift, they had no idea just how life-changing it would be. They started smoking everything and as egg farmers, well, they gave that a go too. It was a light-bulb moment. Now, the Victorian couple are the proud owners of The Smoked Egg Co – producing an Australian first, raw, cold, smoked...

They say, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree', and the Montague family have proven that to be true. It all started with the patriarch Bill in 1948. Fast forward to now, and his grandson Scott has been busy learning about the orchard, packing, distribution, sales and marketing. As much as we all love a Granny Smith or Red Delicious, the family is continuing to crunch into new ground, introdu...