North Queensland Rural Report
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Latest Report
The beef tour of South Africa
Queensland graziers have returned from a beef tour of South Africa with a few ideas and a lot of confidence in our Australian product.
Twenty-four of Queensland's top producers took the three and a half week tour of South Africa, which included visits to up to three beef properties per day as well as one of the world's largest semen testing centres and a feedlot with more than 85,000 head.
National Australia Bank's regional agribusiness manager Greg Roberts was one of the organisers of the tour and says they were keen to look at the structure of the South African industry and whether any of their genetics could be useful in Australia.
South African production is different to Australian methods in that up to 80 per cent of all cattle go through feedlots, and the vast number of these beasts are entire males, which are slaughtered at around 12 months of age.
Charters Towers grazier David Camm says the Australian industry is "streets ahead" of South Africa, and suggests the grain additives that are used to promote growth makes the South African meat stringier than Australian beef.
Mr Camm says that the South African method of keeping males entire would save him time and money on his property if there was a market available for bull meat.
A special year for the family farm
A South Burnett family will long remember 2008 after they reunited for the 75th anniversary of their family property.
Hyning is at Cloyna (near Murgon in south-east Queensland) and started as a dairy farm.
But diversification has been the key to the property's success, where today the Bishop family farm pigs, cattle and grain.
Russell Bishop says Hyning was bought by his brothers Reg and Norm Bishop in 1933.
"Reg was my grandfather, they came here as dairy farmers, my grandfather was a milkman from Parramatta and they moved here to live in an unsealed slab hut," he says.
"My nan tells me they were the days when men were men and they'd pull snakes out of the ceiling with their bare hands and snakes were longer than six foot."
The stories and photos from taken from 'Hyning' over the past 75 years have een recorded in a book for the Bishop family.
Queensland Features
Flooding rivers bring relief to dry farmers
A monsoonal low is still delivering falls in the region but it's hoped the water will break drought conditions for areas that haven't seen a drop of rain.
A return of the big wet for north west Queensland
A low in the Northern Territory has delivered falls of over 400 millimetres in the past week and broken a regional drought.
Rural Reporter for Saturday, January 3, 2008
We're here to tempt your tastebuds and try our hand at a bit of bush tucker cooking in this week's special summer edition of Rural Reporter.
We stock up with fresh fruit and vegetables at a farmers market; try a couple of fruit and wine liqueurs; and watch a master at work, cooking a traditional damper in a camp oven.
Reporter Emma Haskin also shows her culinary skills, whipping up a wattleseed pavlova for a bush foods competition and we cruise the Daly River for barramundi bait.
Rural Reporter, Dec 27, 2008.
In this week's program we're searching for a missing snake in the Riverland, feeding hungry poddy calves at Glenflorrie Station, and getting spiritual healing for horses. We also follow the fortunes of two wedge-tailed eagle chicks preparing for flight, and learn that it pays to be nice to bees
Seafood on the menu this Christmas
It's a busy time of year for Queensland commercial fisherman as sales soar due to Christmas.
Growing purple sweet potatoes
Think bright purple sweet potatoes would be easier to feed the kids? So did Cairns farmer Mark Gray before he served them up to his kids
Bundaberg Sugar is here to stay
The Belgium owners of Australian company Bundaberg Sugar say they're committed to the local industry, pointing to a recently completed cane transport link at a Far North Queensland mill as proof.
More melons export bound
This season, rockmelon growers in south east Queensland are sending more fruit overseas than ever before.
Chopper cane harvesters turn 50
2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the chopper caneharvester.
Economic gloom throws no shadow for barra farmer
From boom to doom and gloom. How about room? Room for more fish.
