Rain Shadow ends - and what is Yonees disease?

I really have been enjoying the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Rain Shadow. Sadly, the last episode is on Sunday.

The story line is simple enough. An enthusiastic young city vet Jill Blake (Victoria Thaine) arrives in the small drought stricken South Australian town of Paringa to work with notoriously "difficult" Kate McDonald (Rachel Ward).

Set to work, Jill immediately encounters many of the problems of dry-land farming in stark relief: a farmer who can cope with neither the drought nor his mounting debts; another forced off his land by the bank; and a third confronting the vexed issues of succession and future planning. Then there's the spectre of a notifiable sheep disease, the mere mention of which turns Kate's prickly attitude to open hostility.

While initially criticised by some critics as too slow moving, the program has evolved into a gripping six part mini-series that has become compulsive watching for my wife and I. However, one thing puzzled me. What was this mysterious "yonees disease"?

Now I grew up in a fine wool merino region and I had never heard of it. Finally, I got so annoyed that I went searching. As best I can work out, it is in fact Ovine Johne’s disease (OJD), a chronic wasting disease of sheep caused by the sheep strain of the bacterium, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, which grows mainly in the small intestine.

The intestine wall slowly thickens and the animal has increasing trouble absorbing nutrition from its food. A sheep with clinical OJD usually continues to eat and remains bright, but slowly loses condition. There is no cure - the animal usually dies within 3 to 6 months. According to the NSW Department of Primary Production:

Since it was first found in Australia in 1980, Ovine Johne’s Disease (OJD) has proven to be a costly disease in Australia. It spreads slowly, is difficult to detect early on, causes lower weight gain and wool production and can kill about 10% of adult sheep each year if left unmanaged. Recent NZ research has been reported as showing losses of 17% of weaner weight and 10% of wool cut in sub-clinical cases in crossbreds. Once it gets into an area all flocks are at risk. The earlier you act, the less the impact of OJD on your business. Assuring sheep buyers about the OJD status of your sheep is becoming the norm.

Now I feel a little better about not recognising it since it did not exist in Australia when I was growing up.

Regional Australia food - creating regional differences

Photo: Cape Willoughby Lighthouse, Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

Interesting off-line discussion triggered by my last post on Regional Australia food, olives and agriturismo.

There were two main lines of attack.

Number one: to what degree can we talk in any meaningful way about variations in food across Australia? Number two: in suggesting that areas should aim to build their unique features in wine, food and cooking, am I guilty of trying to create artificial differences?

On the first, I think that there are already differences in food and cooking across Australia, although these are largely driven by differences in climate and availability rather than than differing regional histories and cultures. You only have to compare menus in, say, Port Douglas and Hobart to see what I mean.

On the second, perhaps I am.

I am certainly not suggesting that Australian regions should aim to create the type of regional variations that exist in Italy because these are deeply rooted in long regional histories and in varying home life. But I do think that that there is scope to focus and build on the special features belonging to each Australian region to the benefit of both locals and visitors.

We can see this to in South Australia's Kangaroo Island, for example, where they are consciously promoting local food and wine as part of the overall Island package. In their words:

The lack of large-scale development has meant that small industry has flourished and now includes a variety of products such as free-range chicken and eggs, olive oil, native jams, smoked fish, sauces and marinades.

Kangaroo Island's apiarists harvest honey from the pure strain Ligurian bees, and regional cheeses and yoghurts continue to find a place in food lovers' hearts.

Fresh seafood is featured across the Island and seasonally you can enjoy a variety of natural and farmed produce such as oysters, prawns, crayfish, whiting, snapper and, not forgetting freshwater marron - it's so easy to get a taste for Kangaroo Island!

Now all this is mouth watering. But I would like it to go a stage further, moving from differences in local produce to dishes based on that produce. Now these dishes do not need to be unique, simply specialities based upon local produce that can be presented as part of the visitor experience. In time, this will naturally produce a local cuisine if such does not already exist.