Western Australia Country Hour ABC Podcasts

The federal agriculture minister flew into Perth on the weekend to deliver the news the Western Australian sheep industry hoped it would never hear. Murray Watt says the live sheep export trade will end on the 1st of May 2028. 

The WA farm lobby is not impressed with what's on offer for rural and regional communities in this year's state budget, which is expected to deliver a $3.2 billion operating surplus.

Australian farmers could soon be cashing in on the lucrative Asian bubble tea market. 

Some fruit growers north of Perth say it will take years for their farms to recover from a bushfire which burnt through almost 3,000 hectares earlier this year. 

After six "very challenging" years of below-average rainfall, drenched outback stations in Western Australia's Nullarbor region are transforming into a lush green oasis, and some pastoralists are finally bringing back livestock onto their properties.

The Premier Roger Cook hasn't ruled out the possibility of a freight rebate for producers interested in trucking sheep to the eastern states, but restricted by the cost of freight.