Lucy Cooper is a reporter for ABC Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program, covering news and current affairs in the Pacific. She previously worked as a multiplatform rural reporter in the Townsville and Toowoomba newsrooms. Hailing from Tasmania, Lucy studied Ag Business at UTAS, and upon discovering she could talk until the cows came home, she knew she was destined for the ABC.
India has been quietly engaging with the island nations of the Pacific for a decade, and those efforts are increasing.
From a smelly serial escapee to a mob on the run, goats with attitude are living up to their reputation as Houdini on Australian farms.
Mining companies hope to begin mining the sea floor for valuable metals soon — upping the stakes at a vote for the top role at the international regulator.
Brandan Espe goes to great lengths — and occasionally puts his life at risk — to collect rare plants due to their environmental importance.
The tree prized for its long, productive life is turning into a headache for the communities that have embraced it, creating a safety risk in some and leaving others with extremely old, unproductive plantations.
From national parks to farmland, feral pig numbers continue to explode despite control efforts. But the pig hunting industry hopes a collection of 10,000 pig ears will provide the answers they have been searching for.
Fourth-generation graziers Michael and Michelle Lyons are the driving force behind a trial that succeeds in striking a balance between managing the land properly and also making a profit from their cattle.
It's one of Australia's most iconic brands, yet on every RM Williams product is something very American.
Alana Moller taught her three daughters at home through distance education, but if she wanted to return to the classroom she'd have to start at the bottom. She says there needs to be more career opportunities for home tutors.
With the cost-of-living crisis forcing numerous small businesses to close, Charters Towers couple Karin and Kale Robinson are thriving against the odds, navigating the retail meat industry while raising five boys.
Jackfruit usually weigh between 5 and 15 kilograms, but a grower south of Cairns has just harvested this "impressive" 45-kilogram monster fruit.
Chocolatier Darryl Kirk says he can taste the rainforest in his Australian chocolate grown near the gateway to the Daintree National Park.
In the cane fields of North Queensland, these Indigenous artefacts lay hidden. Now that they have been returned, traditional owners hope more will follow.
Queensland health experts have been mystified by an "unusual" spike in cases of Q fever, a nasty bacterial disease that has long plagued rural communities.
The recently introduced NX licences that allow the use of gillnets during a phase-out have been criticised as "unworkable" by commercial fishers.
Queensland's fishers say the state's new gillnet restrictions — aimed at ensuring protected species aren't caught — are so onerous they are risking their own lives.
It takes effort to get bananas from the farm to the fruit bowl, with growers relying on a significant workforce to pick and pack. Now scientists are working on technology to make it easier and safer.
Bright yellow with blemish-free skin, bananas at major supermarkets tend to look "perfect", but will a push to sell produce affected by recent tropical cyclones in North Queensland shatter this widespread consumer ideology?
There is no scientific evidence that water divining works, so why are so many landholders still using it as a method to find water?
Heavy rainfall is predicted for much of Queensland as Cyclone Kirrily slowly moves towards the coast. For graziers inland, it could offer a reprieve from extreme heat and dry conditions.
It's the weedkiller that transformed agriculture, paving the way for farming that is gentler on the land, but now an Australian court is set to determine if glyphosate can cause cancer.
Topic:Explainer
There is no shortage of snakes this summer, or ideas on how to avoid them — especially from so-called experts on social media — but those in the field say one simple action might be the most effective of all.
These farm workers will spend Christmas away from their families to keep produce on Australian plates, but they have a found a beautiful way to make sure there is plenty of festive cheer.
Queensland growers are on high alert this week with devastating floods increasing the possible spread of Panama TR4 fungal disease — the greatest threat to banana production worldwide.
Emergency flood alerts have been issued for parts of Queensland's Far North, following torrential rainfall in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.