A Big Country presents stories from around Australia by the ABC's rural reporters.
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Monday 4 Dec 2017
We look for nesting sites of the little tern; meet a former FIFO miner turned chicken farmer; open the gate to social farming; and pen up sheep with 86-year-old stock agent Linton Bradley.
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Monday 27 Nov 2017
We go stargazing in outback Queensland; find out about a ferret rescue society; cuddle wombats on Flinders Island; and go frogging in central Australia.
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Monday 20 Nov 2017
Indigenous women hand paint religious crosses for sale around the world; endangered rock wallabies make a comeback in APY lands; we go in search of rock lobsters; and cook a carrot cake.
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Monday 13 Nov 2017
Farmers pitch in to help a mate in need; we find out what's freer than free-range eggs; kindy kids parade their dairy calves; and tour a collection of pre-1980 electrical appliances.
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Monday 6 Nov 2017
Picking mangoes for a cause; veteran vegie growers have no plans to retire; buy a beer and post a letter at the Cockburn Hotel; and Annette clocks up 57 years at the Maffra Show.
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Monday 30 Oct 2017
Riding in a 'Mystery Road' film shoot; a blues guitarist runs the Bourke newspaper; rodeo bulls have an exercise regime; and its paddock to restaurant plate with a Chinese twist.
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Monday 23 Oct 2017
We sharpen up the knives for a home butchering session; country kids become super sleuths at a science camp; and Lyn Wearing hand-rears poddy lambs on Elabe Station.
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Monday 16 Oct 2017
An organic orchard turns itself into a farm co-op; a Swiss engineer makes boutique olive oil; the Australian Boys Choir sings in the outback; and we go paddling the Darling River.
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Monday 9 Oct 2017
We meet feral buffalo catchers in the NT; hit the road with a travelling nun helping families in the bush; we plant vegies at Ellinbank Primary School; and volunteer at the Birdsville races.
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Monday 2 Oct 2017
This week a remote one-teacher bush school celebrates a 50-year milestone; we go cruising for oysters; take a trip across the Hastings River; and battle the elements at the Come by Chance picnic races.
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Monday 25 Sep 2017
Wallamba Island is transformed from a dairy farm into a wildlife refuge; we cuddle camels at Gympie; make art from fruit and veg boxes; and check out a working dog challenge.
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Monday 18 Sep 2017
Nikki Towell doesn't let her wheelchair stop her working as a wool classer; we grow Asian vegies at Boon Luck Farm; train wild brumbies in the NT; and climb trees in Tasmania.
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Monday 11 Sep 2017
Volunteers held rebuild boundary fences after the Pinery bushfires; we tuck into saffron tea and scones; check out the Kimberley pearl harvest; and meet up and coming jockey Emma Bell.
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Monday 4 Sep 2017
A rare native night bird makes a comeback; we turn beach coconuts into crunchy chips; go snail farming in Victoria; and meet 92-year-old former vegetable grower, turned machinery collector, Bill Ashman.
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Monday 28 Aug 2017
Citizen scientists looks for new species; find out what it's like to be a rodeo clown; we make fruit and vegetable bouquets; and go tractor trekking in the footsteps of Burke and Wills.
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Monday 21 Aug 2017
Living and working on a remote conservation reserve in outback Queensland; we saddle up for a lesson in cowboy dressage; go riding with disabled children; and get a delivery from the Outback Letterbox Library.
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Monday 14 Aug 2017
The humble chestnut gets a make-over; Hughenden revives its rich sheep shearing history; an old aircraft hangar is turned into a whisky distillery; and cameleer John Wilkinson is still going strong at 96.
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Monday 7 Aug 2017
We join a fossil dig in outback Queensland; they're keeping the art of bronco branding alive in Oodnadatta; Val Bragg's been breeding and showing poultry for the past 40 years; and we stop and smell the roses at Eudlo.
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Monday 31 Jul 2017
This week we go behind the scenes with a country vet; have fun at the Winning Bush gymkhana; enjoy delicious seafood on Tasmania's Freycinet coast; and save a country butcher shop.
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Monday 24 Jul 2017
Bush mums raise awareness of remote education; a wedding photographer ditches the brides and grooms for an outback adventure; we polish up some gem stones; and hear tales around the campfire.
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Monday 17 Jul 2017
This week we toast an urban wine project; Carol Cosentino opens her home and heart to injured wildlife; we go behind the scenes at a commercial worm farm; and try our luck in a stockman's challenge.
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Monday 10 Jul 2017
We step back in time for morse code week in Alice Springs; jump on board a cane train; check out a secret crop growing on the Sunshine Coast; and saddle up with veteran dressage rider Esther Brooks.
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Monday 3 Jul 2017
Yellow-footed rock wallabies bounce back in South Australia's northern pastoral region; we're cooking sausages in Cloncurry; making lunch at Helen Springs Station; and whipping up a duck-egg pavlova.
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Monday 26 Jun 2017
Top end banana growers pick their first crop in four years; funky pumpkins grow in Manjimup; all Aussie-made merino jumpers for the test cricket team; and meet financial planner turned fencing contractor Sara Carey.
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Monday 19 Jun 2017
Volunteers help unearth Aboriginal rock art in the Blue Mountains; English-born chef Tim Burn calls the outback town of Tibooburra home; and 'chicken couture' for a brood of featherless chooks.
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Monday 12 Jun 2017
A tree planting project transforms a Bega Valley landscape; a young couple grinds out a living off just eight hectares; we turn unwanted fruit and veg into edible powder; and meet four-year-old dog trialler Alyssa Brown.
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Monday 5 Jun 2017
This week shopping for fruit and veg 24/7; taking on a 100-year-old apple orchard; meet the young brothers breeding and selling funky chickens; and riding out with the Yee Haa Rangers.
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Monday 29 May 2017
This week meet hypnotist and water diviner Ziggy Sieczka; horses and riders bond in a mustering camp; we take a carriage ride around Clermont; and a former Melbourne teacher swaps cold Victoria for life in the Northern Territory.
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Monday 22 May 2017
Natimuk pre-schoolers go bush for outdoor kinder; Miriwoong man David Newry goes searching for native bananas; an Irish lass swaps Belfast for an outback pub; and we go to an alpaca handling school.
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Monday 15 May 2017
In northern Tasmania edible native plants are making a comeback; hazelnut growers harness the sun to dry their nuts; we go trackside at the Tower Hill picnic races; and check out a shearing collection.
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Monday 8 May 2017
This week turning pearl meat into a seafood delicacy; Hamilton gets all steamed up for a machinery rally; we follow the AI trail with a black angus heifer; and pull up a bar stool in the Mt Mary Hotel.
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Monday 1 May 2017
Citizen scientists seek out the elusive malleefowl; we go behind the scenes at the CWA tea rooms; learn a trick or two about riding a donkey; and check out an 'eggcellent' free ranging egg business.
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Monday 24 Apr 2017
After a couple of very dry years both fresh water yabbies and barramundi are back in good supply; volunteer tutors lend a helping hand in outback NSW; and lamington ladies are in action in the Cardross community hall.
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Monday 17 Apr 2017
Blaze Aid volunteers help farmers get back on track; sisters unite to keep the family dairy running; we crack nuts in Tasmania; and lie back and relax in a mud bath in outback Queensland.
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Monday 10 Apr 2017
Outback volunteers respond to a simulated disaster; Aboriginal ringers are put through their training paces; they're racing billy goats in Balranald; and Peter Rowe delivers mail along the Oodnadatta track.
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Monday 3 Apr 2017
Wine and cheese a good mix on a Barossa Valley farm; Jim Young collects vintage sewing machines; the Sleep family turns their backyard into an urban farm; and new ringer recruits head to the territory.
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Monday 27 Mar 2017
This week a sneak peek inside the classroom at Ibis Creek Station; Aboriginal students get hands-on experience driving a mine truck simulator; we sample a craft beer in Pt Lincoln; and get a colour guide to race-day fashions.
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Monday 20 Mar 2017
Pull on your active wear and join Manangatang locals at their weekly fitness class; footy fans get their AFL fix at Moe; we enjoy a glass of ginger beer in Burnie; and learn how to correctly age a fish.
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Monday 13 Mar 2017
Burundian refugees living in regional Victoria feel more at home growing a traditional maize crop; a Mt Gambier couple has bold plans to feed 250 families off just half a hectare; and meet kelpie dog breeder Julie Turner.
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Monday 6 Mar 2017
Hop on board the Roper River taxi service - the only way in and out of Ngukurr during the wet; a feral cat makes a meal of a snake; young cattle handlers put their best 'hoof' forward; and meet Charlie Dunn the pint-sized shearer.
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Monday 27 Feb 2017
Lake Cowal in New South Wales is home once again to thousands of waterbirds; meet a young winemaker with a real connection to the earth; and UK farmer Jim Chapman spreads the farm-safe message.
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Monday 20 Feb 2017
An 'amazing' art work appears on a stock route; we make sculptures from farmyard scrap metal; distil craft gin from rainforest natives; and discover roadhouse gems in the Territory.
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Monday 13 Feb 2017
Four months on the big flood clean up continues for Lake Cowal farmers; a Kimberley icon flavours a local spiced rum; we head out on fruit fly patrol; and get up close to noisy vintage tractors.
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Monday 6 Feb 2017
Old army tanks were used to make dams and clear timber in post war years; meet the shearing team with an average age of 75; Korean students learn Aussie horse skills; and playing cricket, Pilbara style.
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Monday 30 Jan 2017
Crocs and cattle don't mix on a Northern Territory station; meet a specialist alpaca shearer; and a fish restocking program pays big dividends in the Kimberley.
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Monday 23 Jan 2017
We're foraging for edible weeds on a roadside in northern Tasmania; get reacquainted with the old-fashioned rosella fruit; hitch a ride on a cane train; and go barra fishing in the Kimberley.
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Monday 16 Jan 2017
Afghan refugees are happy to call Shepparton home; training up the next generation of jackeroos and jillaroos; we cruise Wilson Inlet with fisherman George Ebbett; and give baby crocs a helping hand into the world.
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Monday 9 Jan 2017
We're looking for the grey-crowned babbler in Northern Victoria; Indonesian students are loving life on a Northern Territory pastoral station; and a Cairns butcher reveals the secret behind his meat display cabinet.
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Monday 2 Jan 2017
Ornithologists and volunteer twitchers search Kakadu National Park for the endangered yellow chat; goats make a meal of weeds in the Bega Valley; we visit a dairy farm with a difference - this one milks camels.
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Monday 26 Dec 2016
We search for bum-breathing turtles in the Mary River in Queensland; bait foxes in the remote and rugged Burrup Peninsular; and join citizen scientists looking for fungi in the Tarkine Forest.
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Monday 19 Dec 2016
The Mistake Creek State School is small in size but big in spirit; a school tuckshop in Mackay celebrates its cultural diversity; we harvest tea in the Daintree; and watch an exotic flower show.
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Monday 12 Dec 2016
A former shearer turns his hand to growing native flowers in the Wimmera; scientists conduct a bio-blitz on Fraser Island; we spice up the day with a visit to a pepper farm; and meet a world champion tractor collector.
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Monday 5 Dec 2016
Abandoned working dogs and puppies find new homes; solar power runs composting machines; and Matt Wilson is living the dream, opening his own micro brewery in Albany in WA.
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Monday 28 Nov 2016
Walk through a heritage rose garden; farmer Alex Cant collects shearing memorabilia; 90-year-old Bryan Pearce loving tanning hides; and value adding deer products for the Chinese medicine market.
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Monday 21 Nov 2016
Professional bloggers travel to the Barkly Tableland to talk to rural women; we're harvesting home-grown garlic bulbs; brewing tropical fruit cider; and learning how to crack a whip.
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Monday 14 Nov 2016
Two young sisters buck the trend when it comes to rural stereotypes; tractor trekkers take to the road in Tasmania; we check out the Frog Hollow nursery; and harvest peppercorns in far north Queensland.
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Monday 7 Nov 2016
Volunteers are tagging turtles off the Pilbara coast, and we check out new-age hoof care for horses. Old fridges and bath tubs get a new lease of life in the Beswick community garden, and we visit an edible flower farm off the coast of Brisbane.
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Monday 31 Oct 2016
Victoria's famous river red gum wetlands get a good soaking; Bec Bovell is Cygnet's mushroom lady; we go behind the scenes at the Weengallon ladies day; and Stan Heausler calls last drinks at the Grove Hill Hotel.
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Monday 24 Oct 2016
Australian prawn farms are expanding to keep up with demand; artisan beer is being brewed at a South Australian winery; pride is on the line at the Australian sheepdog trials; and a flamboyant peacock is a chicken protector.
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Monday 17 Oct 2016
This week we're gardening on the land and in the sea; a touring show brings science to kids in the bush; and organisers of the Merbein rodeo risk running out of food and beer when a huge crowd turns up.
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Monday 10 Oct 2016
It's all about food and produce this week. There's rogue oysters to hunt down, new season mangoes to pick, micro herbs to harvest, and bushfoods to eat.
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Monday 3 Oct 2016
Follow a day in the life of a Hunter Valley horse stud; lawn mowing goats prove to be great weed busters; and distance education kids practice for their school musical via telephone and webcam.
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Monday 26 Sep 2016
We go in search of the superb lyrebirds that live in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges; a commercial fisherman makes dog treats from unwanted fish; and ex race horses find new homes in western Queensland.
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Monday 19 Sep 2016
Meet the grey nomads 'glamping' their way across northern Australia; tropical flowers love a warmer winter; harvest begins at the world's first abalone farm; and an old-fashioned blacksmith fires up the forge in Cargo.
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Monday 12 Sep 2016
Age is no barrier to 90-year-old Maisie Brooks, still running the family farm in Victoria; rural vet Claire Law gives a cow a pedicure; Pilbara ringers show off their stock skills; and growing cymbidiums orchids.
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Monday 5 Sep 2016
A poor wet season sees a drop in northern quoll numbers in the Pilbara; the scallop season begins in Tasmania; a home delivery scheme works for farmers and consumers; and the Brook Hunt Club chases an elusive fox.
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Monday 29 Aug 2016
We're keeping tabs on barramundi; the Yandina farmers market explodes in a riot of colour; we meet a young woman with a passion for her hairy belted galloways; and we do the rounds during lambing time
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Monday 22 Aug 2016
A market garden in Burnie helps feed local families; hairy highland cattle win a beef award; we limber up with tractor yoga classes; and join the Deadly Runners group on Thursday Island.
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Monday 15 Aug 2016
The Country Women's Association makes itself relevant to modern professional women; we learn about heritage pig breeds; visit a coffee plantation; and check out a boutique cheese factory.
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Monday 8 Aug 2016
The Buchan community eagerly awaits the re-opening of their pub; real four-legged horse power is put to work in a vineyard in Western Australia; heavy winter rain turns Wagner's rose nursery into mud and slush; and coffee culture hits outback Queensland.
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Monday 1 Aug 2016
This week helping migrant women settle into regional Australia; we learn about aquaponics from some cute five-year-olds; visit a vegetable farm under attack from wild ducks; and get the low-down on low-line cattle.
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Monday 25 Jul 2016
We forage for food in a pine forest; get some working dog training tips; cheer on competitors in the endurance riding championships; and saddle up for a junior rodeo event in the Northern Territory.
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Monday 18 Jul 2016
A pop-up cinema brings drought-stricken communities together; we visit the opal mining town of White Cliffs; catch the Hammond Island ferry in Torres Strait; and pick native flowers in South Australia.
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Monday 11 Jul 2016
There's divine intervention as the truffle harvest gets into full swing; Isabella Britton rules the kitchen on Alderley Station; we taste test fresh wasabi leaves and stems; and take to the skies with flying padre David Shrimpton.
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Monday 4 Jul 2016
After nearly 35 years Val Lawson and Leslie Fitzpatrick have organised their last theatre bus ride to Melbourne; migrants get help understanding Aussie slang; and we visit the stock camp on Pigeon Hole station.
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Monday 27 Jun 2016
Today we check out the growing popularity of campdrafting, the fastest growing horse sport in Australia; go behind the scenes on Alderley Station; and pick and pluck saffron flowers.
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