The Story of Aussie Ag Storyteller: Pip Courtney

Pip Courtney.

What else should we say? 

She’s an icon in the Australian media space. Pip started at ABC's Landline in 1993, then became the host of the program in 2012, and she continues to thrive in the role today - but there’s so much more to the story.

She didn't grow up on a farm, but she grew up around ag - cultivating an express interest for the inner workings of farmers, farms and farming. 

“Ag touches you all day, why wouldn’t you be curious about who makes it, how hard it is?”

One of her earliest memories of agriculture was when she visited her grandmother and step-grandfather at their farm in Victoria where they bred award winning Polwarth sheep. She was six, and she was ready to start asking questions.

“I followed him around asking why, why, why, why,  why, I think I've been doing that my whole life.” 

Pip's work in the Australian media scape has brought so many amazing stories to our screen and we're so excited to share a bit of her story with you after she has spent the best part of thirty years sharing the stories of others. 

“I think people love stories about other people and what interests them, I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to know why that person did that or dreamt about that or kept striving for that even though the business fell over or they got wiped out by floods or drought. 

We tell agricultural stories, but through people, so they’re essentially people’s stories, and ag information is the scaffolding around that person or that family or those couple of people.”

In this week's chat Pip covers:

• Her first introduction to agriculture

• Growing up in Launceston and her dream to get to the mainland

• When and how did she start her career in journalism?

• How does she navigate telling the difficult stories?

• The ways agriculture has changed since she began covering the industry

• How does she find her stories and get people to talk?

• Why is Landline succesful?

• What is was like to having a working partnership with her husband

We also got to find out her "coffee" order, what Akubra she wears, what job she'd do if she could do anything and her influence on the next generation of people in ag - from storytellers to scientists.