Regional centres and towns are important social and economic communities throughout Australia.
Whereas the capital cities are concentrated mainly along the Australian coast, rural towns have spread across the countries interior to service the outlying farms and farming communities.


Why are regional towns and centres so important to the farming community?
Regional towns and centres provide farmers with the opportunity to live in a community which provides basic services such as grocery stores, doctors, banks, petrol stations, clothing retailers and small businesses.

Farmers in most regional areas need to have access to basic things we find in all urban communities such as schools for their children, public pools and libraries.

Without regional towns, farmers would not be able to survive in these isolated areas in which they farm.

Regional towns also provide farmers with the opportunity to socialise with other members of their community and help each other deal with hardships. This is important in regional towns as they have an understanding about farming and all the factors influencing them, whether they are positive or negative.

All of what has been mentioned is often taken for granted and not given a second thought by families who live in the city. We have everything at our finger tips food,
textiles and other goods and services.

How will they be affected if changes to farming practices occur?
If changes occur to farming practices then
*The people in the towns will have to make changes to their lifestyle and employment.
*The people will have lower food production which will affect both their own food availability and their income from farming.
*It may cost people more money to transport food into town which they previously had produced themselves.
*Local shops will not be able to keep running, many would need to close down as people move closer to cities to earn a living.
*It can cost a lot of money to live in a small town as things like petrol are very expensive (up to $3/L in some rural towns)This will place more financial strain on struggling farmers and towns people.
*They will need to change their lifestyles and farming practices to use less water, to prepare products to meet export standards.
*If the shops and the services in the towns close down, the farming community will
not be able to survive. Likewise if the farmers are not able to farm the land and make a living, then the farms may close in which case there is no need for the regional townships anymore.

Therefore it is essential that farming communities and regional town centres work together to make sure they are supporting each and every aspect of the community as they are dependant on each other for survival.

" Farming is an economically and culturally important part of life in Australia."

There are many challenges that face our farmers each and every day, this was something that we didn't realise was happening and how difficult it was for the farmers to overcome until we started doing our research.

Some the challenges faced by farmers include drought, floods, bush fires, salinity, soil erosion, soil acidity, diseases, introduced species ( plants and animals), economy, wool prices and a shortage of workers just to mention a few.

Weather patterns are one particular challenge that farmers deal with each day. It can be unpredictable, extreme and ongoing. Recent conditions have been connected to climate change. With these extreme conditions occurring farmers have weeks/ months/ years with or without rain. This then causes food shortages, affects growth and development, the quality of the fleece, diseases, paddock growth, job opportunities and the economy.

Since 1788 we have had many introduced species make Australia their home. Most
of these have become a hinderance to farmers, killing their stock, destroying fences and competing for food. One animal in particular that is causing extensive damage to farmers flocks is that of the "wild dogs" .

To highlight the damage that is being done Year 6 watched an episode of the 7.30
report that discussed the issue of "Wild Dogs" in Queensland and how they were
killing lambs and ewes. This was quite disturbing and we hadn't actually realised how serious this problem was and the effect it was having on wool farmers.

Queensland farmers are facing problems with wild dogs now this isn't confined to one state, other states are experiencing similar problems.

The number of sheep in QLD alone has dropped from 20 million to 2 million. These
statistics are frightening and suggests that in 10 years if we are lucky our sheep population could be almost extinct. Imagine that, this could have a disasterous effect on the wool industry. Farmers are seriously considering leaving the land as it is becoming too difficult. The stress with losing stock, as well as the financial burden. Some farmers have employed Wild dog hunters to trap and kill these wild dogs. For each skin they can get they paid up to $500 

Other ways that farmers have begun to try and protect their ewes and lambs:
* hanging dog trees
* a fence that travels from QLD to Vic trying to stop the dogs getting in(  But they are very cunning and still find ways to get in).
* Traps
* Baits
* Alpacas in with the sheep
Through awareness hopefully we will be able to work towards reducing the number of wild dogs and protect our lambs and sheep from being wiped out.

The 7:30 video: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3836155.htm

Years 5 and 6 from Gwynneville Public School travelled to Bathurst for our three day camp.Our destination was the Sheep and Cattle Drome.

When we arrived we met the owners, unpacked the bus and got put into our lodges.
Once we had our rooms set up we all met in the auditorium and watched a show about all the different types of sheep and cattle that were on the farm.

Some of us got to milk a cow, crack a whip and watch a sheep being shorn.
We had some much fun !