Country Today

Country Today has been at the United Dairy Farmers of Victoria conference in Ballarat. It’s the first in several years after the divisive leadership under former VFF president Emma Germano, which saw the UDV leadership walk away and form a breakaway group, Dairy Farmers Victoria. Just short of three years, and they’re back. You’ll hear from UDV president Bernie Free, who now has...

The Victorian Government has finalised five of the state's renewable energy zones. So does this mean the zones are cast in stone? You’ll hear from VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker    It’s 15 years this month since the Australian Government suspended live cattle exports to Indonesia after shocking footage of being beaten and their throats cut, left to an agonizing, slow...

Dairy farmers call it the silly season when milk processors announce the opening milk price.  Without a decent increase, more farmers will be walking away from the industry. You’ll hear from Shadow Agriculture Minister Darren Chester about the Treasurer not coming clean on the changes to Capital Gains tax The wool market is tantalisingly close to 2000 cents a kilo an...

Australia’s largest olive producer, Cobram estate is choosing to expand its olive production in California rather than here, in large part due to the Murray Darling Basin Plan. We’ll take a look at what’s happening in the cattle market with significant price rises after recent rain. Then we’ll head to Western Victoria where, again that autumn break has pastures looking the...

The End of Live Sheep Export: Canberra Killed It. The War in Iran Buried It. That is the analysis of Episode 3's Andrew Whitelaw. Campaspe and Gannawarra Shire mayors are calling for fairness in the Murray–Darling Basin Plan review, they say their irrigation communities have already made major water savings and shouldn’t face further disproportionate cuts. Cynthia Mahoney, she’s...

Quad bikes are now the leading cause of death and serious injury on farms. Today you’ll hear about how regulations are going to tighten and it will likely to compulsory roll bars, helmets, and only riders 16 years and above. It’s called the Green Sheep Project and it’s designed to help sheep producers understand how important data collection is becoming in the path to more sustai...

One of the most divisive issue in many rural communities at the moment is the roll out of renewable energy. It’s pitting farmers against power companies and also farmer against farmer. There is help at hand. The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, former National Farmers Federation CEO Tony Mahar. Farmers are deeply disappointed in the Labour Government’s budget decision to...

Renewable energy versus the right to farm. That was the focus of an emotionally charged forum held in St Arnaud in Victoria’s Wimmera, Defending your right to Farm. It attracted Federal and State politicians including Nationals Leader Matt Canavan, federal shadow agricultural minister Darren Chester, Victorian Nationals leader Danny O’Brien. But the mood amongst farmers was emotional a...

China has re-approved 425 US beef plants following a summit between US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping. The Defending Your Right to Farm at the St Arnaud Town Hall in the Wimmera, The race to renewable energy is sweeping through prime agricultural land, with wind and solar farms popping up right where farmers and regional communities don’t want them. We’ll...

Severe drought across Northern New South Wales has caused the price of hay to soar. Feed Central is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, 'Feeding Through the Drought 2026.' to help farmers navigate the challenges. The South Australian government plans to lift a fracking ban in the state’s south east. Farmers say it shows very little concern about the impact this will have on prime agricultural l...

United Dairy Farmers of Victoria will once again be united, with the break-away group Dairy Farmers Victoria agreeing to kiss and make up. If, or when, there's ever an outbreak of food and mouth disease in Australia, livestock producers will go broke. That's the blunt assessment of livestock vet Dr Ross Ainsworth who has had many years of working with the live cattle export trade to Indonesia...

Coles Supermarkets has been found in breach of consumers laws and misleading customers with its “Down Down” campaign and is likely to face very large fines. The latest New South Wales Farmer Business Sentiment Survey is very revealing: 80 per cent of farmers are expecting business conditions to worsen. We'll travel around Victoria to see who got what rain. There were very few falls ove...

The National Farmers Federation’s reaction to the Federal Opposition response to the Albanese Government's latest budget. Let's take a look at some of the devil in the detail of the Albanese Government's latest budget because a few things are emerging that primary producers hadn't been aware of, but farmers can still think themselves lucky. The weekly wool report and the market eased slightl...

The United States Department of Agriculture is expecting this season's wheat crop to be the smallest it's been since 1972, and it's good news for both global prices and Australian farmers. We'll hear from an economist, to talk us through what’s going on across the globe. We’ll take a look at Rabobank's latest Australian Beef Seasonal Outlook. The Australian cattle industry is expected...

Today we focus on the federal budget. Treasurer Jim Chalmers describes as the most important and ambitious in decades. So what does that look like for the regions? EQ Economics Managing Director, Warren Hogan. Whilst there wasn’t a big spend on agriculture family farmers will be greatly relieved to hear they haven’t lost the exemption for capital games tax. One agricultural sector is d...

Growers in Western Australia have planted 2.28 million hectares of canola, marking the largest area ever recorded for the state. We’ll head to the Wimmera where growers are pleased with the recent rainfall, and according to this weekend's weather forecast, there's more on the way. Australia’s largest breeder of layer hens is introducing technology that can identify the sex of a chick i...

You’ll hear from the new federal member for Farrer David Farley with his views on the Murray Darling Basin Plan, migration and foreign ownership of farm land. His win for One Nation sends more of a message to the Coalition than it does the Labor Government. With plans to run candidates in Victoria's state election, will more votes make the shift to One nation? Persistent drought in the...

Today a very revealing interview with major agricultural supplier who says the federal Government’s underwriting of fertilizer imports announced late last month doesn’t have the confidence of the industry. That two part interview with Josh McGregor agricultural inputs and service provider McGregor Gourlay a must listen. The weekly wool report and the market fell slightly due to a risin...

Today we’re going to try to work out what the Federal Budget means for our agricultural sector. We’ll be joined by President of the National farmers Federation who’s pleased with the $10 billion fuel and fertilizer reserve fund. The bad news is fears that the budget will include changes to exemptions for capital gains tax. Also we’ll try to work out the very vague announcem...

Let’s take a look at the State Budget delivered by the Allan Labor Government yesterday. We’ll be joined by Editor of the Weekly Times, James Wagstaff. Farming organisations led by the National Farmers Federation have called on the Federal Government to introduce an immediate national mandate for ethanol and biodiesel to bolster fuel security. What does that mandate entail? To the Wimm...

Farmers are calling for an immediate national mandate for ethanol and biodiesel production. We’re already producing ethanol, but it’s all being exported. As the war in Iran enters its third month, farmers in the United States are also being hit by skyrocketing input costs. The Australian live cattle export industry met with our largest market, Indonesia, in Jakarta last week to discuss...

Drought affected farmers in northern NSW and southern Queensland are selling cattle at record rates. And it's creating an opportunity for Victorian farmers to secure stock at an affordable price. The weather word on everyone’s lips is El Nino … is too soon to say drier weather is on its way? The latest climate outlook from seasonal risk agronomist with Ag Victoria, Dale Grey. Then we&...

Rabobank's latest property report suggests we’ll see modest growth in Australian farmland prices this year. Farmers are using satellite data to monitor nitrogen levels and crop stress without even stepping foot in the field. Regional banks from across Australia have formed an alliance to lobby against the ongoing closure of bank branches. Australia's $900 million table grape industry trying...

The rollout of the controversial Victoria to NSW interconnector west project, or VNI west. We’ll be hearing both sides of the story. First we’ll hear from the farmer who has been threatened with enforcement action by Vic Grid. He joins us from a protest in Western Victoria. Then the Victoria Energy Policy Centre's Professor Bruce Mountain who says it’s a major policy failure and...

You’ll hear from Victoria’s Shadow Transport Minister Matthew about how he would change the rail system if elected in November. Victoria's Government has boldly announced what it called record investment in the May budget for roads of $1 billion. Regional Cities Victoria which represents the largest 10 councils is calling for double that: a $2 billion package just for regional roads. W...