Countryman’s 140th birthday: Journalists and editors that shaped the publication since 1885

For 140 years, the Countryman and its predecessor The Western Mail have been guided by generations of journalists and editors who helped shape the publication’s identity and crafted the words within its pages.

Their memories reveal a publication built on trust and storytelling, one that offered a front-row seat to the triumphs, tensions, and transformations of rural and regional WA.

For many, it was far more than a newsroom; it was a community, a classroom, and a career-defining chapter.

Countryman caught up with some of these inspiring storytellers to find out how they ended up at the Countryman, what they loved about the role, and why it is still such an important publication today.

JOHN DARE FORMER EDITOR (1992-1996)

When John Dare became editor in 1992, Countryman was still published as a magazine — and agriculture was a world he was only just entering.

Prior to taking on the mantle of Countryman editor, John Dare was a sub-editor, and picture and letters editor at The West, with little-to-no prior experience of agriculture.

That all changed when he stepped into the role in 1992 after being asked if he was interested in taking on the mantle.

“It was good, I really enjoyed it — lovely people, and I’m very pleased to know that it’s still going,” Mr Dare said.

He said the hardest part about transitioning to Countryman was learning the fine balancing act between editorial and advertising in what was at the time, partially a trade publication.

“It was hard coming down from The West where had a very strict line between editorial and advertising,” Mr Dare said.

“I had to learn to blur the edges a bit and work as a trade paper, because basically that what we were; a paper for the agricultural business.”

Working alongside his staff, a young team of journalists, was a highlight of his career at Countryman which was then published as a magazine.

“I think it was just working with the young staff — some pretty terrific young reporters — and I think we were pretty well respected,” Mr Dare said.

“We did cover news stories, but they used to concentrate a lot on what farmers were doing and things of interest to farming people.

“It was a good training ground for a lot of young people, particularly journalists, to learn.”

NATALIE LEE FORMER REPORTER (1999-2002)

Before joining Countryman, Natalie Lee was a journalist with the Kalgoorlie Miner, having already spent four years working with West Australian Newspapers Limited after starting her cadetship at The Narrogin Observer.

“I was keen to move closer to my now husband Andrew, who was moving back to his family’s farm south of Kukerin,” Ms Lee said.

She initially took up a part-time general reporter position with Countryman, based in Dumbleyung, before transitioning into a full-time role as the publication’s grains writer after about six months.

“I was with the Countryman from the start of 1999 and worked until the end of 2002 when our first son, James, was born,” she said.

Ms Lee worked during a period of significant change and challenge in the agricultural sector, with major debates and extreme seasonal conditions shaping coverage.

“Some of the big news stories included the debate over the single desk issue, with AWB Ltd in particular being in the spotlight,” she said.

“At that time, most farmers wanted to retain the single desk, and I remember attending a packed meeting in Katanning (during harvest time) where farmers turned out in their hundreds to express their support for keeping the single desk.”

Another major issue was the proposed corporatisation of CBH Group.

“Some of the CBH AGMs were quite fiery,” Ms Lee said.

Her time at Countryman coincided with the millennial droughts, which had a deep and personal impact.

“It was the time of the millennial droughts with the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 being shockingly dry,” she said.

“It was sobering to see the impact on farmers and the broader agricultural industry. Countryman was not immune as it reduced advertising. The droughts hit close to home as our farm was affected – it was quite a tough time.”

Despite the challenges, Ms Lee remembers the role fondly, particularly the diversity of the work and the connection with farming communities.

“I loved the variety and the fact that no two days were the same. Of course, I also loved the buzz of getting a scoop!” she said.

“I really enjoyed talking to farmers and travelling throughout the grainbelt — from Geraldton to Esperance.”

Working in regional WA before the era of smartphones required a hands-on approach to photography.

“This was the time before smart phones, so photos were not supplied and you had to take them yourself,” she said.

“Initially at Countryman we used traditional cameras and we would express post the film to Countryman for processing.”

Ms Lee also recalls the transition to new technology.

“Journalist Mel Williams (nee Vaisey) – was also regionally based at Wongan Hills. Countryman was an early adopter of digital cameras which changed things for the better,” she said.

“These were very new at the time and people were fascinated to see them!”

Reflecting on the paper’s legacy and continued relevance, Ms Lee said Countryman remains vital to rural Australia.

“To this day, Countryman continues the important job of providing fearless and independent reporting on the issues that matter to rural people and their communities.”

GRAEME CURRY FORMER REPORTER (2000-2004)

Writing inflammatory columns, opinion pieces, and covering the national livestock reporting service from about the turn of the century to 2004, Graeme Curry found himself immersed in an industry he hadn’t originally imagined joining.

Moving into the agricultural news space was a somewhat different move for Mr Curry, who now works as an auctioneer and property specialist at Elders.

But it was a move he looks back on fondly, often commenting on the great team of young journalists he worked with and under the talent of Cameron Morse as editor.

“It was a great time to be in the livestock industry . . . I was in the saleyards four and five time a week back in those days,” Mr Curry said.

“I was also providing the National Livestock reporting service, data and commentary for every market that we covered in the State.

“There was lots of good rural journalists around in those days, and The West Australian . . . there was a real camaraderie there with the journalists and the editorial side.

“The whole thing was a great experience . . . it was something completely out of my comfort zone, but something that I certainly came to enjoy.”

Mr Curry highly enjoyed writing provocative opinions on topics of the day — including the move of the saleyards from Midland to Muchea which was completed in 2010.

“When we were taking on the State Government over the moving of the Midland Saleyards to Muchea, through all that I do remember Cameron Morse was the editor . . . I even got fan mail from the Agriculture Minister Kim Chance,” he said.

“My favourite part of it would be raising subjects that probably wouldn’t normally be talking about in mainstream press, and giving lots of interesting commentary and feedback.

“You could touch on some fairly touchy feely subjects and you’d get criticism and love from both sides of the argument.”

SALLY COX FORMER EDITOR (2000-2005)

Former editor Sally Cox fondly remembers her time at the newspaper from about 2000 to 2005, before she became chief features sub-editor at The West.

A keen and avid researcher and editor, Ms Cox advocated for and brought back a page dedicated to displaying readers photos captured from around the State.

“I brought back this page that used to be in the Countryman for years and years — my predecessor dropped it and I brought it back,” she said.

“It was a page of photographs that people used to send in; things like camel trains taking wool back in the day.

“I loved doing that because I would go up to the library — I’ve always loved research and diving into the tomes.”

The first memory of working at the paper that comes back to her was all the good-looking farmers who would grace the pages of the newspaper each week.

“I always remember thinking; there’s all these good-looking farmers and there’s never photographs with their wives — there were only photographs of them with sheep,” Ms Cox said.

The closeness of Countryman’s readership was a special highlight for Ms Cox, and the fun rivalry with Elders Weekly — now published as Farm Weekly.

“I liked being at the Countryman because it was a bit like a community newspaper — you’re much closer to your readers than you would have been at The West or in other major newspapers,” she said.

“We had a great rivalry with the Rural Press publication, Elders Weekly. That was fun, having a bit of a rivalry.”

JODIE THOMSON FORMER REPORTER (2004-2006)

Ms Thomson moved to Countryman after a stint as a general reporter at The West Australian – a move she said was only natural after growing up on a sheep and cropping farm in Tincurrin, east of Narrogin.

She worked as the livestock reporter from 2004 to 2006

“It was a natural transition for me to move from The West to Countryman and do reporting on a sector that I was really passionate about,” Ms Thomson said.

Working as a reporter covering all things livestock from 2004 to 2006, the big stories of the day for Ms Thomson were the Australian Wheat Board oil-for-wheat scandal that surfaced in 2006, climate change, and difficult dry seasons in parts of the Wheatbelt.

One hot topic Ms Thomson remembers reporting on in her livestock round was the 2006 administration of Harvey Beef — WA’s biggest beef processor of the time.

She fondly remembers travelling to farms for “fairly technical” stories and the busy craze of covering field days — particularly the Wagin Woolarama, Newdegate Machinery Field Days, and the Perth Royal Show.

“One thing I was always pleasantly surprised at was how much time farmers would give you to do that,” Ms Thomson said.

“They would talk to you for an hour or two around the kitchen table, then they would take you for a drive around the property and show you what they were really passionate about, or what they were particularly interested in at the time.

“It was a privilege because you got a snapshot into their business and how they did things.”

Ms Thomson said the job was a unique chance to not only report on the news of the day, but also provided the opportunity to do technical and human interest stories.

“I think it’s a real privilege that a lot of the sector will let you into their businesses and operations and let you report on what they’re doing,” she said.

“They place a lot of trust in the reporters at Countryman to tell those stories, and I think over the years Countryman has done a great job at telling those stories.”

CAMERON MORSE FORMER EDITOR (mid-2000s)

Taking over the editor role from Ms Cox was Cameron Morse; the former Canberra news bureau chief, group wool writer, and stock, land and livestock editor at Rural Press.

Mr Morse was coaxed into taking the editing role at Countryman by The West’s then-managing director and his former colleague Ian Law.

Mr Morse was told that in no uncertain terms that he would be returning to WA at some stage and was strongly encouraged to take the role.

“We had a great young journalist group who were really hard at it and loved their job . . . they were really dedicated to breaking stories,” he said.

“I loved just getting out and about as well — being editor sort of gave me the ability, although you’re more office bound than you would like.”

“Just getting out to various sales, farms, and industry events — I really enjoyed it.”

During his time as editor, Mr Morse hopped on a live sheep export voyage from Fremantle to Jordan with 60,000 sheep to give insight into the trade — the first journalist to do so.

“It was a money-can’t-buy experience.”

“Everyone was waiting and wanted to find someone who was impartial to say whether that criticism was correct or not.

“I was able to provide that to readers that look inside the trade that no one had ever done before.

“It was the longest two weeks of my life . . . it was pretty boring but at the same time very few people get to do something like that.”

Mr Morse said the importance of Countryman could not be understated as a source of information farmers read to support commercial decision making.

“Whether they should pay more to book bulls this year, what the land market’s going to look like, grain market commentary, or rainfall — they’re all gathering information that goes into the paper and making commercial decisions,” he said.

“I think that’s a position that we should be very conscious, respectful, and proud of.”

LARA LADYMAN FORMER EDITOR (Approximately 2000-2013)

Lara Ladyman had just finished a cadetship with the Geraldton Guardian when she was offered a job at the Countryman, but she believes the “seeds were sown” many years prior.

As a child, Lara was pictured on the front page of the paper with her family’s Hampshire Sheep, while her mother Waverley was a reporter for The West Australian’s country insert — meaning Lara spent many-a-day tagging along on regional adventures.

She joked it was a rite of passage to be given the “pig round”, covering the pork industry, when starting at the paper — but said she quickly jumped at the opportunity to “cover just about everything”.

“I was the meat and livestock writer at one point, and also the grains writer before taking on roles as the paper’s chief-of-staff and editor,” she said.

“Everyone at the paper write on farm stories and covered livestock sales and the major agricultural events and field days.”

During her time, she covered frosts, hail, floods, fires, devastating droughts, amid a time of “immense change” in farming.

Ms Ladyman was there when Australian dairy industry was deregulated in 2000, the Australian wool stockpile ended in 2001, and a year later when in 2002, Cooperative Bulk Handling merged with the Grain Pool of WA to become the CBH Group.

She remembers well the day the Federal Labor Government “threw livelihoods and the industry into turmoil” when it suspended Australia’s live cattle trade, saying it was the only date she could remember the printing presses waiting

“There was also passionate and heated debate around the introduction of genetically-modified crops,” she said.

Ms Ladyman looks back on her time fondly, labelling it her “dream job”.

“Above everything, it was the people who made the job so special.... the people who allowed us to tell their stories, whether it be an on-farm story about a new technology they were using, or one about the worse drought they had seen in their lifetime,” she said.

“It was the people in all facets of life on the land and roles across all the various industries, farming groups, businesses and organisations and politicians, who were not only available to make comment but also provide background to ensure we understood the story.

“It was such a privilege to be able to tell these stories.”