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There are several reasons for the existence of this blog. Some of the main reasons are:

- to raise some of the Australian agricultural and rural issues that aren’t being discussed in the media, or aren’t being discussed in any depth (i.e., the intention is to say what a lot of people are thinking, but not writing about)

- to correct a few of the very many agricultural story errors that appear

- to provide facts that are as accurate as possible, to help promote a genuine understanding of rural Australia

The information contained in the blog and on the rest of the website is gained from a huge range of sources – including information provided by customers and my own knowledge of the bush

Blog posting is by necessity a part-time affair and not intended to be a comprehensive journal of everything that happens in rural Australia. That’s what rural newspapers, agricultural magazines, government agricultural bodies and producer organisations etc are for. During extra busy periods and when I am travelling, blog posts are few and far between. This doesn’t mean nothing is happening; quite the reverse – this means it’s busier than usual.

The blog ‘comments’ facility is turned off because to function in a professional manner, it is essential that a public blog discussion is constantly moderated (to ensure postings by other people onto the blog are not insulting others, language used is reasonable, discussions are relevant, etc). Unfortunately I don’t have the resources to be a full-time forum moderator. Writing a blog and managing such a large website are already vastly time consuming activities. If you would like to send me a comment please feel free to do so via the Customer Enquiry page of the website.

Please note that all the content in the blog is protected by copyright in the same way that the rest of the website words and images are protected against unauthorised copying. Years of work have gone into it all and I take a dim view of thieves; this is my living, not some idle hobby. The source of small quotes must be clearly attributed and large quotes are not permitted without prior permission from Fiona Lake (copyright owner). Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that copying other people’s writing (word for word or with just token alterations) will never be discovered. Though there are thousands of commonly used words in the English language we all put them together in an astonishingly variety of ways, consequently it is surprisingly easy to recognise what a particular person has written. In fact it is as easy to recognise plagiarised words as it is to recognise stolen photographs. I stumble across both regularly, and those responsible are invoiced.

Note also that while all care has been taken when posting information onto the blog, sometimes mistakes do occur and of course things change. When errors are discovered corrections are made as soon as possible however accurate but outdated posts are not usually updated. If you discover any errors or the omission of obviously relevant facts, in the interests of ensuring publicly available information is 100% accurate, it would be very much appreciated if you could let me know asap so corrections can be made.

I hope you find the blog informative and thought provoking. Please remember that sales are what fund the running of this website (and blog), so if you haven’t bought a book yet, please consider doing so. If you find this blog interesting, you will also enjoy my books.

Fiona Lake