David Claughton

Sydney

Executive Producer and Reporter at ABC News (Australia)

ABC, Executive Producer, NSW Rural team, journalist/song writer. Views are my own. Tweets on #agriculture #mining

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Articles

Country Hour veteran reflects on $450,000 ram and decline of wool industry

1 week ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

Times were tough in 1989: mortgage interest rates were hovering around 17 per cent,andeven Sydney's real estate market was feeling the pinch. But someone still found $450,000 to spend on a single ram. As the Country Hour gets ready to mark 80 years on air, the ABCpicked the brains of former rural reporters about the stories they will never forget. For Leigh Radford, the former head of ABC Rural,it was that day at the Royal Adelaide Show when a merino ram sold for a world-record price.
Capturing life on the land through a camera lens and breeding butterflies

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

On a farm in Western Australia's remote north-eastern Wheatbelt, Ellie Morris sits in a tractor with her dog Marley on her knee and a camera at her feet. While the 24-year-old's main source of income is from her work as a farmhand in Perenjori, 341 kilometres north-east of Perth, her passion is capturing the world around her with her camera. If you spot a small orange butterfly fluttering around St Arnaud in western Victoria there is a good chance it was raised by Ellen Reid.
Farmers face 'new world' of extreme weather as scientists urge action on climate change

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton |Michael Condon |Cara Jeffery

Farmers say the recent floods in NSW were unprecedented, terrifying and exhausting. Internationaland Australian science agencies link the flooding to climate change. Experts say approvals for fossil fuel projects need to stop, and a national disaster plan is needed. Scientists and politicians are warning big policy shifts are needed to mitigate extreme weather impacts, following what farmers describe as unprecedented flooding in the New South Wales Hunter and Mid North Coast regions last month.
Telstra launches Australia's first direct to satellite text messaging service

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

An Australia-first service using satellites to deliver text messages anywhere in the country could be a game changer for Australians living in mobile black spots. Telstra has launched a mobile-to-satellite service for some customers, delivered through SpaceX's Starlink service. The technology is considered a significant breakthrough, providing coverage for people outside of land-based 4G and 5G networks.
Country Breakfast

4 weeks ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

Take your favourite podcasts and radio with you
Owners go to remarkable lengths to save horses from floodwater

1 month ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton |Lara Webster

Owners have shared remarkable vision and insights of rescuing their horses in flooded areas of New South Wales. The Mid North Coast and Hunter are significant horse breeding, training and agistment regions. People in the horse industry say it will take time to count the costs of lost animals and infrastructure. Jess Yates was asleep on her property in the NSW Hunter region when she received a distressing call.
Learning on the land at school farm and country music and opera collide in an outback performance

1 month ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

A West Australian secondary school has restored its agricultural education program after two decades, giving students hands-on experience in the paddock and the chance to study in their South West town for longer. There are two genres of music people love to hate — opera and country. Under a kaleidoscope of stars in outback Queensland, the two styles have merged and found a surprising audience.
Dairy farmers devastated by floods across parts of New South Wales

1 month ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton |Josh Becker |Claire Simmonds

Record-breaking floods along the NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter regions have left dairy farmers isolated, with stock losses and terrible conditions for their cows. Flood heights are at record levels in many areas of the region, with Wingham, Taree and Croki the hardest hit so far. The area has received about five times its monthly rainfall to create a new annual rainfall record. Tragically for farmers and the animals, livestock have been washed into floodwater.
Ombudsman warns telcos of 'life-threatening situations' after 3G shutdown

1 month ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

Australia's Telecommunications Ombudsman says the shutdown of Australia's 3G network has resulted in "life-threatening situations". Cynthia Gebert released her department's first quarter report, which showed that while complaints to the ombudsman about the 3G network had fallen, the issues that remained were complex.
Forest booming after removal of ferals and native daisies turning fields pink

1 month ago | abc.net.au | David Claughton

Standing on the banks of Barmah Lake, you might spot spoonbills, pelicans and egrets bathing at the water's edge. It would be just a glimpse of the 270 animal species and 500 native plants that live in Barmah National Park — a landscape that has started to thrive since the controversial decision to remove its population of wild horses. The park sits on Yorta Yorta country, stretching across the flood plains of the Murray River in northern Victoria.