Queensland Country Hour

Many pet owners will tell you they know what their animals are saying, but what if you could be sure? CSIRO scientist James Bishop is using artificial intelligence to find out, and it could help improve animal welfare in the cattle industry. And if you've ever wanted to have beef for dessert, one ingenious butcher has found a way: Wagyu ice cream.

In the brutal drought of the late 1990s, many farmers were forced to walk away from the land. Dave McGiveron was determined to get back on it, but he wanted to do it different. With the help of his partner Bianca, a facebook page, and 150 dedicated farmers, he's doing exactly that, through Our Cow.

Beef Australia, the week-long cattle convention held once every three years in Rockhampton, is a massive drawcard for one segment of the population: politicians. So does federal agriculture Minister Murray Watt think it's brave when he's called out for a lack of leadership in front of 700 people?

There is currently more cattle in Australia than in the USA, which at about 28.2 million head, is at its lowest point since 1951. US analyst Lance Zimmerman grew up in Kansas, and shares his insights on the future of a key competitor for Aussie beef.

It employs almost 200,000 people, is worth about $14 billion, and on average Australians eat 19.2kgs of it per year. Beef is big business, and once every three years that business gathers in central Queensland at the 'Beef Capital' of Rockhampton to do deals, eat meals, and turn the wheels of the cattle industry.

As the nation debates if supermarket prices reflect the true effort and cost of producing food, one price farmers are getting is remaining high - for their land. Fewer farms are being sold, but rural property prices continue to rise. It's boosting confidence but would it be enough to encourage even the bravest investor to buy a meatworks?

The Federal Government announced it will spend more than $925 million over the next five years to provide people with financial assistance, to help them flee violent relationships. But rural health advocates like Marianne Hendron want to see tailored policies supporting rural women in their unique circumstances.

When it was first created, farmers flocked to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme as a source of willing, reliable workers, but now they're walking away from it. But after reports of mistreatment of workers, new labour laws were introduced requiring minimum weekly hours that farmers say make the scheme unworkable.

Farmers who once bragged they didn't have to lock their doors are now finding themselves the targets of opportunistic thieves, and it's changing the way country people live. But the true picture of just how much rural crime is rising is harder to see, but there are efforts to shine a light on the issue.

The science to breed fruit trees without seeds is rapidly improving, putting a future where everything from seedless avocados to zucchinis is within reach. While the challenge in some fruits is greater than others, the pioneers of pip-free's potential - watermelons - say there's good reason to give new varieties a try when you get the chance.

Growing up on a cotton farm in southern Queensland, Annie Henwood is no stranger to how tough life, and the people, on the land can be. So, when she had the courage to voice the parts of her own experience that others fear to share, she used it to soften them up to the idea of talking more through her podcast Pieces of the Mind.

As the number of nests found at Oakey is rising, but its rising rivers nearby that have experts truly worried. For months, the Condamine-Ballone river system has been in-and-out of major flood following heavy rainfall in January and February. It's not much of a problem for residents used to it, but that was before they new fire ants were in the area. The crafty critters can build rafts to travel on flooded rivers, and finding them in one of the largest catchments inside Australia's largest river system could have devastating consequences for everyone.

A nutritious native nut once eaten by dinosaurs has huge potential to be part of the booming Indigenous bush food industry.

Queensland remains one of Australia's largest coal states, and young people are flocking to mining for well-paying jobs in a cost of living crisis. Ambitious new emissions reduction targets are now set in law, but without the the people, the land and the planning approvals in place can it truly decarbonise? As farmers stare down significant long-term threats to farm productivity, resilience and sustainability, Australia's top scientists say now is the time to change

From natural disasters, to poor prices from retailers and world markets, there are plenty of reasons not to become a farmer. But as some veteran producers retire and others exit altogether, there are plenty of keen beans ready to take up the job.

The term 'horse-power' may have come about as a marketing tool to sell steam engines in the 1770s, but for the biennial Eidsvold Cattle Drive in country Queensland it's still literal. Using horses to move cattle into town, they're raising money for charity at the same time. In age of urbanisation it could be easy to forget the role horses play in our food supply chain, or the careers on offer working with them, like becoming an outback horse trainer. On the eve of a planned trial of driverless trucks, it shows just how far moving goods around Australia has come.

The Australian wool industry has set new sustainability standards, and wants to spruik its green credentials to the world. But is it fashionable, or even affordable, to wear wool anymore?

The state government has bought the outback station nestled between Longreach and the Diamantina Lakes, planning to create a corridor of national parks in some of the most unique country in Queensland. It's the next chapter for a landscape known for its opal bearing-ranges, indigenous watering holes and as a cattle and sheep grazing operation. It comes as the federal government outlined the next stage of it's plan for a tough new Environmental Protection Agency to police conservation efforts.

You don't have to live in the bush to benefit from a little less screen time, and a little more green time. Farmers have long benefited from keeping pastures green and landscapes vibrant, but being a custodian of nature has its challenges, especially when it comes to the devastation caused by floods, fires and droughts. As they work to improve the resilience of their land, new research suggests they may also be improving their brain health and mental health, and all it takes spending time in nature.

They've survived since the Jurassic period, at least 145 million years, but now Bunya Pines are under attack, and national park lovers could be contributing to their demise. Bushwalking, mountain biking, four-wheel-driving, timber harvesting and feral pig incursions can all spread the problem, but there's a simple way to prevent it if you read the signs.