IFAJ Star Prize for Photography

October 30th, 2007

In September 2007 I was awarded the only ‘Highly Commended’ issued in the annual International Federation of Agricultural Journalists ‘Star Prize for Photography’, after the first and second prize winners. The ‘Highly Commended’ image was ‘Danny leads the mob in his chopper’, an aerial photograph of mustering contractor and pilot Danny Hayes, taken on Wave […]

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Australian Farming & Grazing Organisations

October 21st, 2007

 The main national agricultural producers body, the National Farmer’s Federation (NFF), has a good list of state grower organisations. The Country Women’s Association of Australia is Australia’s largest women’s organisation. The website has links to the state CWA organisations such as the Queensland Country Women’s Association. Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA) is also a national body […]

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Outback Australia – Climate & Landscape

October 11th, 2007

The Australian outback landscape ranges from vast, naturally treeless blacksoil plains growing Flinders and Mitchell grasses (referred to as ‘downs’ country), to rocky hills covered in spinifex, ghostgums and coolamon trees, to dense grey mulga scrub, red sandhill country, lignum and coolabah swampy channel country, to dusty nondescript scrub of bullwaddy, lancewood, gidyea or eucalypts […]

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Buying a Cattle Station

October 11th, 2007

Almost all the largest cattle stations are owned by companies due to the high amounts of capital required to run them. The biggest have a dozen or more people living and working on them. That’s a lot of housing to provide and maintain and a lot of wages to pay, especially when seasonal conditions or […]

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Volunteer work in the Outback

October 10th, 2007

 These days there are quite a few avenues for voluntary and charity-related employment.  For example, retired teachers may like to consider doing some much-appreciated voluntary teaching, organised via the Volunteers for Isolated Student’s Education scheme (VISE). On remote stations the mother is usually the one responsible for educating the children and the arrival of a VISE teacher […]

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