Country Today - February 26th

February 26, 2026·22 min·1 clip

Australian farmers have nearly doubled production in 20 years, but is calling them 'resilient' now doing more harm than good?

Country Today opens with a plain measure of progress. Libby Price says Australian farmers can take some credit for strong production growth over the past 20 years, while ABARES puts real growth at 45%. That sets up the first interview. Dr Jared Greenville is asked which sectors drove the productivity lift, with cropping named as a standout, and how agriculture sits in the net zero transition. Then the program shifts into trickier ground. A University of Adelaide study asks whether calling farmers resilient can dump too much responsibility back onto individuals, especially women in farming businesses. Dr Emily Buttle explains why women were at the centre of the work. Her focus groups followed broader farmer interviews, and her own farming background made her more alert to voices often cast as the quiet non-farming partner. The answer is not neat. Women told her resilience felt real because weather, prices, and uncertainty are part of the job. The trouble starts when the word comes from outside. When government, media, or others call farmers resilient, it can start to sound like a demand to keep coping. Buttle connects that to mental health and to familiar stories about stoic, salt-of-the-earth farmers who are expected to push through. The program also notes recovery work in Victoria's south-west after January fire and flash flooding. Federal politics closes the excerpt, with Nationals member for Mallee Anne Webster asked about new Liberal leader Angus Taylor and One Nation's rising popularity. She says the Coalition already held some policies One Nation is now promoting, and points to the Farah by-election in South Australia as a test of how far voters are prepared to park their vote with One Nation, even with Malinowskis strongly popular.

As heard by us

A measured rural briefing that connects productivity, resilience, and politics to real-world consequences.

Country Today follows the episode as it shifts from production gains to the harder questions around resilience, with the January fire and flash floods in Victoria's south-west still hanging over the story.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a clear rural round-up without the jargon haze?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Country Today