Camels and silk worms don't immediately come to mind when you think of beauty products, instead the words conjure images of Bedouin traders and vast stretches of sandy desert. However in a small corner of Australia innovative producers Debra and Stan Corbett run Camel Milk Australia (located in the South Burnett region of QLD) in conjunction with a Droughtmaster [...]
What is going on with the weather? The black cockatoo's are still settling in the belah trees and the slater's are still heading west at the first hint of possible rain so we know we are in for a wet time however other things just don't feel right. The winds have changed for one thing. [...]
Drought, stock-feeding over christmas and New Year and cattle on the road, then floods. Who would have thought January could bring so much changeable weather. Another flood has arrived as I write this and although at this stage it does not appear to be as large as Christmas 2011-12, every flood event brings with it a [...]
This week we have been moving cattle around. The season is getting progressively worse with little rain on the horizon. Although the summer storms have been making an appearance every week or so they remain stubbornly dry. Gusty winds and bad lightning have everyone worried about fires and with the number that have been burning [...]
Most things in life don't go to plan and that is particularly true in the bush. There are two old sayings out here - 'If you have machinery, you can expect breakdowns', and 'If you have stock, expect losses'. At harvest time the former is usually true although touch wood by the time we finish in [...]
From the cane fields of the Burdekin Shire to the vibrant, historical town of Charters Towers. The last leg of my North QLD visit has been entertaining, fun and hugely interesting. At Ayr I was treated to a close-up of a cane field burning courtesy of John Scott of the Burdekin Library and the delightful [...]
Nearly everywhere I travelled last week stories of the recent floods of 2011 and 2012 still abound. From Miles and Charleville to St George and Goondiwindi, everyone has a story, rising water, stranded livestock and pets, water sucking up living room walls, infrastructure and erosion and the greasy, smelly silt left behind in the waters wake. Today [...]
Well it's been another busy week on-farm. Suddenly the weather conditions are looking ordinary again which goes to show how quickly things change out here. We did have good rain during July with a very welcome 50 mm falling however we've had a freezing winter. At one point we had seven consequtive frosts which is [...]
If you are a woman involved in agriculture or you reside in a regional or remote area then the upcoming River of Life conference at St George, QLD in September (5th-7th) may be of interest to you. This year The Queensland Rural, Regional & Remote Women's Network has joined forces with Australian Women In Agriculture to host a [...]
Most weeks blur together for me. Inbetween writing and working on-farm usually I get to friday wishing for a day off, but of course that's a rare luxury when you literally have two full-time jobs. This week we started weaning the calves. It's late for us, however our calendar has been out since the floods earlier [...]