Today on the Country Hour: the Federal Government defends its record on biosecurity, despite multiple major pest and disease outbreaks that have occurred since it was elected in 2013; Medicinal cannabis available from today if prescribed by a doctor, but whether it becomes a commercial crop for farmers is uncertain; the grains industry is seeking a multi-million dollar investment from the Queensland Government to improve rail network infrastructure; Biosecurity Queensland expands testing area for the prawn disease white spot; milk production forecast to fall to lowest level in 20 years, but Australians are drinking more milk

Today on the Country Hour; The NBN contract with the Interim Satellite Service, which still provides internet access for 8000 customers in rural and regional Australia will be switched off next week . Farmers and researchers say Australia's biosecurity systems are failing due to cutbacks by state and federal governments. WA scientists have developed world-first glass technology which, when used in greenhouses, could produce crops all year round. A Queensland farmer is growing a new variety of purple of mango, that he hopes could extend Australia's mango season by an extra month. The real origins of the kelpie working dog have long been a mystery, but there's no doubting the genetics of pups bred today are calculated and studied intently by their owners. 1000 attend a memorial service in Mareeba for Noeline Ikin

Today on the Country Hour: prawn prices set to skyrocket as imported as uncooked product is recalled for testing; canegrowers say they got little comfort from the Deputy Prime Minister on sugar marketing but he did tell growers he is still willing to intervene if sugar giant, Wilmar, doesn't come to the party; who is responsible for the disposal of cow effluent produced in transit, livestock carriers say there needs to be more disposal sites; The Department of Defence has sent it's revised masterplan for the expansion of military training areas in Queensland to the Defence Minister Marise Payne. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bringing much-needed rain as it lashes the south-west Gulf of Carpentaria, but it is getting exceedingly dry in the SE with cane farmers lodging individual drought declarations. The Q - Fever vaccine could soon be extended to children under the age of 15, pending the results of a new medical trial.

Today on the Country Hour: what was anticipated as a record year for mung bean production has turned sour with heat waves taking a toll on yield; two suspected illegal fishing boats are being towed into Gladstone harbour and 29 Vietnamese fishermen have been detained; Senate inquiry into white spot in prawns; stock theft costs industry $16 million a year and researchers are investigating new ways of monitoring stock movement, GPS and mobile technology to track stock and possible theft; a ewe gives birth to quintuplets; the Chinchilla melon festival is underway.

Expanding the role of the Stock and Rural Crime Investigation Squad has some concerned it will divert focus from stock-related crime; Sunfish says closing boat ramps is not the answer to preventing the spread of white spot virus; a heifer has beaten the bulls at Gracemere's annual February All Breeds Sale; proponents of Rookwood weir say now is the time for potential users of the water to register their interest; photographer and kelpie breeder Julie Turner has a few tricks up her sleeve to snapping working dog photos; and Dame Edna is the MLA's latest recruit in the battle to win the hearts and minds of female consumers.

Dirranbandi residents want to reframe the debate over water buybacks in the Murray Darling Basin Plan; Canegrowers fear electricity prices will go up again if the regulatory accepts Ergon Energy’s tariff proposal; strawberries could be scarce as recent heatwave conditions cut the supply of plantings; northern prawn operators call for a total recall on imported prawns; goat thefts prompt warning as prices boom; farmers and researchers are working on ways to overcome herbicide resistance in weeds; and a solar powered pump that is cutting costs for a Queensland irrigator.

Today on the Country Hour: Labor is threatening to amend the Murray Darling Basin plan to guarantee a minimum if 450 gigalitres are returned to the environment. The owners of the last Logan River prawn farm to test positive for white spot disease, are absolutely fuming, after the government suggested poor on-farm practices may have contributed. A new code of conduct for horticulture, it has taken 10 years to get to this point, can growers and wholesalers finally agree on a way forward? AgForce has developed a new model for drought support and the LNP in Queensland wants the sugar marketing impasse sorted.

Today on the Country Hour: exceptionally hot weather in the south and SW of the state saw temperature records tumble, Thargomindah recorded 47degrees Celsius, the hottest February day ever recorded in Queensland. The heatwave conditions have taken a toll on fruit and vegetable crops, pastures are drying out and dams are drying up leaving landholders seriously in need of rain. Members of the Wangan and Jagalingou people will today ask the Federal Court to strike out a land use agreement between Indigenous groups and the Indian mining giant Adani. Blair and Josie Angus been producing branded beef for 17 years, exporting to a number of countries, and they've submitted plans to Isaac Regional Council for an on-farm boutique abattoir. The Gulf country has lost a leader and a woman who's heart was almost as big as the community she loved and represented so well.

Noeline Ikin lost a brave battle against an aggressive brain tumour on Saturday.

Today on the Country Hour: heatwave condition take a toll on fresh fruit and vegetables, the produce is wilting and prices are on the rise; ongoing investigations by the Environment Department have found flammable levels of hydrogen at a number of locations outside the current caution zone, surrounding Linc Energy's underground coal gasification site near Chinchilla; proposed changes to stock route legislation, which would largely hand back management to Local Government, has been the subject of a travelling parliamentary inquiry; the spread of feathertop rhodes grass, has many landholders in central Queensland say they're at their wits' end and the ABC Heywire rural youth forum concludes in Canberra.

Today on the Country Hour; we cross direct to the first sale of the year at the Blackall saleyards; the Queensland farmers wiped out by white spot disease are taking their complaints directly to the Federal Agriculture minister today. The farmers are also angry at some recent Department of Agriculture figures, which reveal significant numbers of diseased prawns were being imported without authorities knowing. Land tenure uncertainty following a federal court ruling on indigenous land use agreements. The Government to introduce legislation aimed at cutting the waiting period for Farm Household Allowance and expanding the eligibility criteria. Come to a Kelpie stud with the Country Hour team, they are cute and cuddly as pups and make the best working dogs.