A Big Country

Mar 02 2025 43 ep. 25 mins 512
A Big Country Podcast artwork

The ABC's team of specialist reporters introduce you to the people and places that make up country Australia.

  Society & Culture
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Shearing sheep with blades and country town overtaken by dog show

Mar 02 2025 25 mins  
Teenager reviving traditional technique of blade shearing; behind the scenes of an annual dog show that takes over Bermagui; the apprentice butchers vying to be the country's best; reflecting on one family's long association with scouts and guides.

125 years of outback tennis club and breeding very cute sheep

Feb 23 2025 25 mins  
Outback tennis club reflects on 125 years of matches; couple in remote town take on the task of tending to gravesites; the 'teddy-bear' of sheep are becoming a more common sight on Australian farms; chef using travels and tastings as inspiration for gourmet creations.

Three generations at tiny country school and celebrating native grains

Feb 16 2025 25 mins  
In this tiny two classroom rural school there's three generations of one family; how a hobby led to a career change for keen brewer who is aging beer in barrels; scientists, farmers and Indigenous community come together to celebrate harvest of native grain crop; teen juggling farming, politics and school.

Life of a country cop and growing local coffee beans

Feb 09 2025 25 mins  
Taste tests show promising signs for Australian grown coffee beans; how a posting to a tiny rural town helped a police sergeant avoid big city burnout; there's huge demand for lemon myrtle, but growers face challenges getting it to market; a love of growing mushrooms has given Charles friends all over the world.

Giving tourists a taste of native ingredients and old woolshed becomes family home

Feb 02 2025 25 mins  
Chefs giving tourists visiting Kakadu a delicious taste of the bush; restoring an old shearing shed for its new life as a family home; growing greens was a hobby for a former electrician now its his full-time job; fancy fungi spawning in converted shipping containers.

Farmers celebrate 70 years of shared life on the land and uncovering secret garden

Jan 26 2025 25 mins  
Farmers share recipe for long marriage; secret garden spotted on Google Earth; country clinic training next generation of veterinarians and cider maker's long family history in the craft.

Planting trees for endangered bird species and bringing back oysters

Dec 08 2024 25 mins  
Farmers and volunteers planting trees to help endangered Regent Honeyeater birds; restoring native shellfish reefs on the Noosa River; retiree buys himself an outback caravan park for 70th birthday; in nearly 40 years growing rambutans in Australia, Kerry Eupene has seen the sweet, tropical fruit become more popular in local markets.

Scientists studying sounds beneath the surface and adding value to fruit and grain crops

Dec 01 2024 25 mins  
Apple grower making alcohol from fruit that might have gone to waste; grain farmers milling wheat for baking flour; Irish dog breeder having success down under with working dogs; researchers' deep dive into sounds below the surface of water.

Cleaning up island's coastline and harvesting salt on outback station

Nov 24 2024 25 mins  
Tapping salty resource on outback station; tour guides cleaning up island paradise and encouraging others to do the same; remote northern stations preparing for isolation of wet season; garlic harvest gathering pace.

Flying award for remote muster pilot and brothers revive family farm

Nov 17 2024 25 mins  
Outback pilot recognised with aviation award; brothers become full-time market gardeners, reviving family farm; the small town backing a solution to recycling plastic waste; harvest time for farming couple who have been growing cherries for four decades.