Agriculture and the food system, joined up

It is easy to picture agriculture as the work that happens between sunrise and milking. In practice, a farm is one link in a long chain that runs from seed and stock through processing, transport, retail and finally the kitchen table.

Decisions made off-farm — at a co-operative board, in a supermarket buying office, in a freight schedule — shape what is viable on-farm. That is why our agricultural coverage spends time with the people who handle product after it leaves the gate as well as the people who raised it.

We also pay attention to land use changes, water rules, animal welfare standards and the slow shift toward different crops and stock classes. These move on the scale of seasons and decades, not news cycles, but they are some of the most consequential stories in the country.

Good food reporting starts in the paddock and the orchard, and follows the product the whole way.