Life on the Land

Carol Mudford is the 2025 NSW/ACT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award State Winner and National Finalist. She’s also the cover star of the current issue of Graziher magazine.   The AgriFutures award celebrates women who are making an impact on rural industries, businesses and communities, and aims to inspire the next generation of female leaders.  The award shines a spotlight on some of the most inspi...

We’re wrapping up our Summer Series with a favourite episode from Sally- Graziher’s Advertising and Relationship Manager. Sally is so impressed with the story of Jackie Elliott, the founder of Rural Women’s Day. Rural Women’s Day Ltd is a registered not-for-profit and a bit of a household name for many in the bush, with events across Australia designed to connect country women with community, coll...

Graziher’s Life on the Land Summer Series continues with co host Em Herbert’s favourite pick. It was her conversation with Jillian Kilby that bubbled to the surface. Jillian is not afraid of the big decisions. As an engineer and farmer’s daughter from Coonamble, in the central west of New South Wales, Jillian has leant on her rural values right through her career. This courage has seen her go agai...

The spark that ignited the Graziher concept was founder Claire Dunne's frustration at not seeing enough farming women represented in the media. She didn't rest on her laurels, but created not just a media stable, but an ethos. A way rural women can not only see themselves represented, but their stories heard well beyond the farm gate. It's Claire's turn to pick a favourite episode for our Summer S...

Life on the Land's Summer Series continues with Graziher's Editor Victoria Carey digging into the archives for her pick, Maya Linnell. The bestselling Rural Romance, or RuRo author has an amazing story to tell. From a startling introduction into journalism following America’s September 11 attack, to realising her aspirations as a novelist at nearly 40 years old, Maya demonstrates there’s no time l...

Our Summer Series continues with a favourite pick from our podcast producer Jayne Cuddihy. For Jayne, it’s the way people tell their stories that’s as fascinating as the events themselves. The way Western Australian artist Lori Pensini described getting interested and adept at art has lingered since the story first aired a couple of seasons ago. From the generous English aunt sending art materials...

We're highlighting some amazing Australian authors this summer and it just so happens Life on the Land's Sammie O'Brien's favourite interview for 2024 was acclaimed children's author Alison Lester. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Magic Beach or My Farm to yourself or a young person in your life, then you are missing out. But it was her long term work with indigenous communities that sup...

It's summer time! Which of course means the Graziher team pick a favourite Life on the Land podcast episode to reshare with you. This week it's Amie's pick. Amie is one of the digital producers here at Graziher and has dug deep into the archives to Em Herbert's original conversation with Tracey Hayes three years ago. This conversation resonated with Amie for many reasons, not least because of Trac...

The sounds of an Australian summer- it can be the blast of a branding furnace, cricket on the radio, delighted giggles from children playing on the beach. Or if you are lucky, the bliss that comes from being absorbed in the pages of a new book. In today's Life on the Land podcast, Em Herbert chats with Clare Fletcher, the author of Five Bush Weddings and Love Match. Clare grew up in Queensland’s S...

According to the Grattan Institute - statistically – those with a non-English language background have twice the chance at meeting grade level expectations for reading than those from regional and remote areas. In this episode, Lucy Campbell tells Em Herbert how she is determined to turn the tables. The mum of two straddles two worlds – working for her city-based corporate job while living and wor...

Melissa Neilsen is a remarkable woman whose journey has taken her from the small Central Queensland town of Biloela, to the expansive plains of North Western Queensland. Growing up on a hobby farm, she’s now settled on some 60,000 acres with her husband, Stewart, and their three children, where they farm Brahman beef cattle.⁠ ⁠She’s a mother, wife, and the driving force behind Rural Women’s Exerci...

Chanel Bowen is a producer and film maker based in Western Australia. The 31-year-old was awarded the Australians In Film Screenworks Regional Screen internship in 2022 -  going on to intern in Hollywood - and has worked on films like Mystery Road and High Ground; all while living and travelling from her home outside Dunsborough in the south west. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for this creative, w...

Five years ago, Jackie Elliott took the ultimate leap of faith. Despite being in a loving relationship, surrounded by good people, she felt isolated in her community and it was starting to effect her mental health.  The then 25-year-old with no experience planning events did something very brave. She put herself out there, hosting the inaugural Rural Women's Day event and watched the ripples expan...

Heidi Trusler knows all too well the challenges of getting consistent, quality health care in the bush. But instead of relying on other people to solve the problem, she founded the second online health service in Australia, POP. With 64 speech pathologists on staff, Heidi ironed out the kinks of telehealth operation well before the COVID pandemic and has assisted over 3000 families to access bette...

Did you know a teaspoon of soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on the planet? Tegan Nock does. The 33-year-old has made the jump from farmer to founder – her company, LoamBio raising $105-million last year in its series B investment raise. Based in Orange, NSW, LoamBio is breaking new ground with a world-first technology which uses fungi to trap carbon and improve soil health....

Pip Kensit is one of those remarkable women who can draw inspiration from whatever surroundings she finds herself. Be it during her idylic childhood on a sheep and cattle property in country New South Wales, or living with a Maasai tribe in Kenya or witnessing traumatic health events in remote Australia, Pip allows her experiences to drive her to better the world around her. A registered nurse wit...

To say that Ella Edwards is fiercly passionate about regenerative agriculture is an understatement. She believes that's not just a moral imperative, it’s an economic imperative. Ella grew up on Bohara, her family’s sheep station on the Southern Tablelands of NSW between Goulbourn and Yass. The 31-year-old now works for Sydney based climate change advisory company Pollination, travelling back to th...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. Did you know as a nation, we consume a staggering 336-million tins of tuna a year – roughly the same weight as the harbour bridge? And that 99 per cent of the 50,000 tonnes of tinned tuna Aussies eat annually is imported? With less than a third of that certified as sustain...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Rebecca Keeley, the 2024 New South Wales winner. Rebecca is fiercely passionate about closing the gap for regional and remote children being able to access speech pathology. Studies show that aussie kids are on average waiting 20 months for a sp...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Belle Binder, the 2024 Tasmanian winner. Belle has established the Farm Work Loop, a first-of-its-kind proactive approach that blends work, travel and community by providing continued employment across diverse farms and is in conversation with S...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Grace Larson, the 2024 Victorian winner, who founded the Sisterhood Project with her with her sister Skye. She’s in conversation with Em Herbert. The AgriFutures award shines a spotlight on some of the most inspirational, courageous, innovative...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Tanya Egerton, the 2024 Northern Territory winner. She's been recognised for her sustainable, ethical, and culturally-focused Indigenous enterprise, the Remote OpShop Project and is in conversation with Sammie O'Brien. The AgriFutures award shin...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Nikki Atkinson, the 2024 Victorian winner who is asking brides across Australia to say ‘Yes to the wool dress’. The AgriFutures award shines a spotlight on some of the most inspirational, courageous, innovative and hardworking women in the busin...

We celebrate the winners of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award in this special series of Graziher's Life on the Land podcast. In this episode you'll meet Mandy Walker, the 2024 Western Australian winner who is supporting regional businesses to diversify and flourish, in conversation with Sammie O'Brien. The AgriFutures Rural Women's Award shines a spotlight on some of the most inspirational, cour...

Leila McDougall… There’s not a lot she hasn’t done. In her own words, she’s had ‘a very elaborate career path’. Fashion designer, school teacher, showgirl, and now film maker; the latter, possibly her greatest role yet.   Just a Farmer is an independent film, set in rural Victoria, exploring ‘generational trauma, love, loss, and the undeniable resilience of a farming community in the face of trage...