Western Australia Country Hour

A Perth butcher says he has seen a decline in his otherwise stable chicken sales in recent weeks which he attributed to unfounded public anxiety about the threat of bird flu.

Parents from Munglinup are heading to Perth this weekend to lobby for increased permanent school housing for their town.

Cotton picking in the Ord is officially underway.

Gemma Cripps introduced pasture-based chickens to her cattle station after a regenerative agriculture course inspired her to trial what soil health benefits chicken scratching and manure could deliver.

The WA grains industry is concerned changes to the backpacker visa could affect growers ability to effectively and efficiently harvest the crop this season.

Fourth generation Harvey dairy farmer Phil Hall and his family have made the very tough call to sell up and get out of the industry.

CBH has unveiled its new locomotives and Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw says a lot of work and money has gone into them. 

Every five years GrainGrowers puts out a report and its latest shows the Australian grains industry's production average has increased by nearly fifty per cent since the last one. 

Today you're going to hear why politicians debating a rail safety bill means so much to Mid West pastoralist Lara Jensen. 

Frost events in the last week have damaged some canola grown in parts of Western Australia's grain growing areas. 

We're off to two rodeos today. Australia's biggest was held at Mt Iza yesterday and Roebourne hosted its second event on Saturday. 

A couple of novel new strawberries are now being grown commercially in Australia.

WA's Agriculture Minister says an advisory group made up of wildlife experts will be created to inform the state's response to bird flu.

A growing demand for camel meat for pet food is helping to manage feral numbers on pastoral properties. 

A 500 kilogram gold bar worth $100 million is the star attraction at this year's Diggers and Dealers mining conference.

A biofuel enterprise in WA's wheatbelt is calling on the state and federal governments to support the development of locally produced renewable diesel.

Australian wine exports have fallen to their lowest level in more than 20 years. 

Australia's egg producers are bracing for a bird-flu outbreak after authorities confirmed the deadly virus is now spreading from bird to bird here in Australia.

The Invasive Species Council is calling on the WA government to cull an elusive herd of feral horses in the state's South West. 

Today you'll hear reaction from Western Australian vegetable growers to a Four Corners investigation which found some food and beverages sold in Australia have mis-leading labels. 

Murdoch University's vet school says it's extremely disappointed vet students haven't been included in the federal government's expanded list of the paid practical payment scheme.

A new 12.5 per cent tariff has been placed on Australian exports to the United States.

The Northern Territory government has set aside 185 hectares in Darwin’s rural area for a possible $40 billion data centre to be powered by gas from the Beetaloo Basin.

The Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association is calling on the state government to urgently allow northern pastoralists to cut hay on their stations to feed cattle.

The Prime Minister has opened Australia's door to artificial intelligence companies and more data centres to power the growth of AI.

Backlash is growing over a plan to allow more of a so called 'forever chemical' onto berries grown in Australia.

WA could be on track to match or break last season's record grain crop of just over 27 million tonnes.

WA could be on track to match or break last season's record grain crop of just over 27 million tonnes.

WA farmer and vice president of the NFF John Hassell says he's concerned about the possible outcomes of a US investigation into lamb imports, one of Australia's key export markets.

Farmers who've held onto their sheep and cattle through some tough seasons are being rewarded with high prices for their livestock in saleyards across the country.

Poultry producers and wildlife organisations are on high alert after confirmation the H5N1 bird flu has now reached native Australian bird populations.

Wool Producers Australia says the aim to launch the Future Flock initiative at LambEx in Adelaide this week, was far too ambitious. 

A hydro harvester, that stores water taken out of the atmosphere, will be put to the test at a native seedling nursery at Beverley in WA's wheatbelt next year.

Plum Grove Logistics has entered into a three year agreement with Mid West Ports to export 600, 000 tonnes of grain from the Geraldton Port.

Speculation is mounting over Alcoa's future mining intentions and the implications for WA's native jarrah forests, following its $8 billion deal to buy South 32's bauxite and alumina operations.

Farmers in rural WA say they have struggled with power outages and frequent maintenance issues after being moved off the grid and on to standalone power systems by Western Power.

Authorities have detected a suspected case of the H5 bird flu in metropolitan Perth.

Bee industry representatives from across the nation held an emergency roundtable this week to discuss the critical next steps in managing varroa mite.

The WA Government's container for change scheme comes into effect today. 

Seafood menus across Australia are set for a major shake-up as new national labelling laws come into force.

Australia's outback is transforming during one of its wettest years on record. 

Another suspected positive case of the H-5 bird flu has been detected in Western Australia.

For most couples, marriage comes with its challenges. Add in the demands of farming and running a business, and those pressures only grow.

A Tasmanian poultry farm has decided to lockdown its operations, following confirmation of two cases of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in seabirds found along Western Australia's south coast last week.

Australia's chemical regulator has applied new restrictions to the use of the controversial herbicide paraquat, which has previously been linked to Parkinson's disease.

State agriculture minister Jackie Jarvis says Western Australia is still in a surveillance and monitoring phase for the deadly strain of bird flu, not at an outbreak stage.

Some of our truck drivers and the PGA believe a proposed new truck-trailer set up will not fix the problem of truck roll-overs.

A crop and livestock producer in the Great Southern, with a passion for filmmaking, says it's incredible how many farming skills carry across to the set of a movie or television series.

Bravo apples from Western Australia arrived in China over the weekend.